With the Rio Olympics only a week away, we’re fortunate to get a taste of international basketball in the weeks leading up to the main event.
This year the Jazz will have four team members representing their respective countries. Rudy Gobert and Boris Diaw for France, Joe Ingles for Australia, and Raul Neto who plays for the host country Brazil.
Thursday night gave Jazz fans a glimpse of Neto in international play. The Jazz guard came off the bench for Brazil as they played host to Ingles’ Australian Boomers. Ingles, who did not play after only just joining the team from a quick flight from Australia, could only watch as Neto helped torch the Aussies, winning 96-67 in Sao Paulo.
Brazil, who are without Anderson Varejao, still dominated in the warm-up game with Neto leading the way with 17 points and 3 assists in only 18:41 minutes of play. He made all four of his 3-point attempts too.
Fans seemed to love Neto's game too.
Moving forward, Australia, USA and France are all in Group A, with Brazil in Group B alongside Spain and Argentina.
The Olympics commence on Aug. 6 through to Aug. 21.</P