By Antonis Stroggylakis / astroggylakis@eurohoops.net
Jakarta, Indonesia – Although Brazil guard Yago dos Santos is quite the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fan, he definitely didn’t seem starstruck when he went up against the Oklahoma City Thunder player in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Far from it.
In one of the most surprising results of the World Championship so far, dos Santos and Brazil handed Canada their first defeat in the tournament after three wins with an average margin of 37.0 points. The new Crvena Zvezda player was particularly instrumental with 10 assists (for just one turnover) and eight points (3-10 shots), including crucial buckets down the stretch.
He made back-to-back layups to put Brazil up 64 – 60 with 26 seconds to play, fearlessly driving to the basket, attacking big bodies and scoring against the entire Canadian peninsula.
Mind you, this is a 5′ 11″ guard we’re talking about.
Dos Santos’ feats took place while sharing the floor with one of his favorite players, as he admitted. Apparently, he doesn’t miss a Gilgeous-Alexander game.
“I watch [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander] every time,” dos Santos said a couple of minutes after he actually beat the NBA superstar on the floor. “He’s my style of player.. his moves.. the assists. I respect Shai as he’s an All-Star player. This was a very good matchup and a good fight for me.”
A few moments before, Gilgeous-Alexander (23 points on 8-18 shots and five rebounds) had commended the entire Brazilian squad for their cohesion as a unit. “As a group they were all really together. They played the right way. And because of it they got the job done.” Canada must beat Spain Sunday (2/9) to secure a spot in the top 8 of the World Championship while Brazil has to defeat Latvia to advance.
Apart from the obvious reason of trying to keep Brazil alive in the battle for a spot in the quarterfinals, this game meant a lot to Dos Santos because, in a way, it was against a lot of NBA competition. Apart from Gilgeous-Alexander, Canada features New York Knicks big man RJ Barrett, Ytah Jazz center Kelly Olynyk, Thunder guard Lu Dort, Dallas Mavericks big man Dwight Powell, Houstn Rockets wing Dillon Brooks and Minesotta Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
“I like that moment. I like playing against NBA players because it is my dream,” Dos Santos mentioned. “I want to play there. I wanted to win this game, for me and for Brazil.”
In July and shortly before he signed with Serbian powerhouse Crvena Zvezda in EuroLeague, Dos Santos played in the NBA Summer League with the Chicago Bulls. This experience was quite beneficial for him for both basketball and non-basketball reasons.
“Summer League was good for me because this is next level,” Dos Santos mentioned. “I finished the season in Germany and went there. For me it was very good because I don’t speak very good English, but I listened more and talked more there. Basketball is different there, there’s more offense every time.
It was an experience that dos Santos savors since it will help him on every level. “I needed that in my game and I needed it for my club and national team,” he said. “The Chicago Bulls people were very good to me.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is a player Dos Santos has made clear that he loves and tunes in to watch. There are others that the Zvezda guard really enjoys as well.
“I like Luca Doncic because he’s different. I like Nikola Jokic, Shai because he’s one guy who makes buckets every time, Chris Paul, and Kyrie Irving. He has the ball all the time and sometimes they pass and sometime, they make buckets. I also love Marcelinho Huertas and I love Facu Campazzo. I watch these guys every time, in every game.”
Dos Santos has professed his admiration for Campazzo, a EuroLeague star who plays for Real Madrid, several times before. They had faced each other in international competitions and will repeat their matchup next season in EuroLeague.
Campazzo actually played for Zvezda last year.
“I take 5 percent of Facundo Campazzo. I take 5 percent of Shai. For me, that’s very good” Dos Santos said with a smile.
Dos Santos, 24, is now averaging 15.0 points, 8.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds in the FIBA World Cup. He’s the team’s leading passer and second-highest scorer after big man Bruno Caboclo (15.5 points), who was dealt several blows to. Canada with his 19 points and 13 rebounds.
After Raul Neto’s injury, dos Santos has found himself in a place where he should carry a lot of extra workload as the guy who mainly runs the team’s offense. Brazil captain Marcelinho Huertas has faith in his young teammate’s capabilities.
“He’s not afraid of making the decisions, take the shots and make plays for others,” Huertas, e decorated European basketball veteran said. “Especially in the end today. He didn’t have a good day shooting the ball but he was able to drive to the basket, draw fouls, create open shots for his teammates. He’s so quick, and he goes really low especially against bigger players. He’s able to match himself and force helps.”
“He’s a very important for us.”
Photo: FIBA Basketball