Brazil revolts against coach

Sep 1, 2007 - 6:02 AM By Gabriel Batalla Special to PA SportsTicker

LAS VEGAS (Ticker) -- Brazil coach Lula Ferreira was heavily criticized by one of his own players in the Lance newspaper on the eve of Saturday's semifinal game against Argentina in the FIBA Americas Tournament.

Forward Marcus De Souza, who plays with the NBA's New Orleans Hornets, had some unkind words in regard to his coach.

"Everybody can see Lula's mistakes," De Souza said. "The training is poor, the team has no tactics at all and he makes mistakes in his rotation system. It is very difficult to have a winning team with a bad coach."

Brazil has lost to Puerto Rico, Argentina and the United States thus far in the tournament. But if they beat the Argentinians on Saturday, the Brazilians will qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

"We have tried to understand the reason behind the team's poor performances, and we agreed that the players will now decide the plays and the time of the replacements," De Souza said.

De Souza stated the squad had a meeting in which it decided to continue down the road to the Olympics without Ferreira's guidance.

"After a players' meeting, the coaches were given the news," he said. "We told Lula that he will no longer be in command of the team."