New coach hopes to improve solve consistency problems

Sometimes even winning gold isn’t enough. Just ask Enio Vecchi who didn’t get his coaching contract renewed despite leading his team to the top of the podium last summer at the FIBA Americas Championship.

Brazil departed Columbia draped in gold and unbeaten but perhaps the shine was taken off their achievement when they then suffered a major disappointment by only taking bronze at the Pan-American Games in October after being surprised by Puerto Rico in the semi-finals.

Whether this was a tipping factor in the decision to remove Vecchi is questionable since his replacement Luiz Claudio Tarallo always seemed to be destined for what has clearly been labelled as a four year project by the Federation.

Tarallo has been handed an opportunity in the wake of winning bronze at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Chile and his knowledge with emerging players has clearly been a strong factor in his appointment.

A key transitional period is preparing to stare a veteran-laden Brazil squarely in the face. Six key players who won gold last summer were aged over 29 years old.

His goals could not have been made any clearer with an aim of firstly ensuring Brazil are firmly established as the world’s best with a strong performance in London and then to take a new generation towards the Olympic Games in 2016 when as host nation, expectation will be even higher.

The challenge is a big one but there is enough talent on the Brazilian roster to potentially deliver against demand and put Brazil back on the Olympic podium.

This will be their sixth successive appearance at the Games but it’s now 12 years since they last won a medal and the expectation is for this barren run to end in the next four years, either in London or most certainly in Rio.

Likely to be leading the charge to recapture the relative glory days of 1994-2006 will be WNBA Finalists Erika De Souza and Iziane Castro-Marques. The duo are both hugely talented players and genuinely world class, especially De Souza who also continues to be dominant in the prestigious EuroLeague Women tournament at club level.

With Adriana Pinto pulling the strings in the backcourt and the sensational teenage talent of Damiris Dantas to drool over, Brazil will definitely be a team to watch.

At the very least, they must improve on their last two finishes on the global stage which saw them finish 11th in Beijing and 9th at the FIBA World Championship in Czech Republic two years ago.