20th March, 2013
For the umpteenth time, the first jump ball of the 2012/2013 basketball league season was postponed indefinitely by the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, last weekend.
Secretary of the NBBF, Francis Gbiri had last Thursday announced the postponement of the DSTV-sponsored league citing inability of some clubs to register their teams for the new season.
Since the 2011/20122 league season ended on 28 July, 2012, the dunk off date of the new season has been shifted in no less than three times, with players, coaches and other stakeholders put in the dark on how to go about their preparations for the new season.
While some clubs’ coaches are indifferent to the unabated shift in commencement date of the league season, others are of the opinion that it is high time the NBBF come out with a realistic date for the league’s dunk off.
Commenting on the situation, coach Adeka Daudu of Dodan Warriors club of Lagos said that the continuous change of dunk off date of the league is dissatisfying, adding that the posponement has caused most of the teams in the league huge financial losses.
According to Adeka, the problem of not starting the league on schedule has posed logistic challenges on the club owners and coaches.
“We have begun intensive training since early February hoping the league would start by mid February, but this is mid March and no one knows when we will start the league.
“We have fully registered our players and I am also aware that other teams are ready for the new season. We want NBBF to open up and tell us the cause of the delay,’’ he said.
Coach Shina Wahaab of Lagos Islanders, in his reaction said that the NBBF had left the entire basketball teams in the dark, adding that his team had been preparing for the new league season since January with no any competitive match to test the state of readiness of his players.
Also commenting on the effects of the continuous postponement of the league, assistant coach of Ebun Comets club of Lagos, Charles Osho said what really bothers them (coaches) is the fact that the NBBF are not communicating with the coaches who are big stakeholders of the league.
He believes it is high time basketball authority in the country comes out with a definitive time plan that would spell out all the events scheduled for the new season in order for the clubs to adjust their plans accordingly.
However, last season’s caretaker coach of the Islanders, Patrick Omo-Osagie believes there is no problem with NBBF postponing the league as long as the change of date would ensure that all the grey areas witnessed in the league last season would be taken care of.
He advised the governing body to take advantage of the delay and harmonise the Nigerian basketball league season in line with the international sporting calendar.
“I don’t have any issue with the delay in the first jump ball of the league as long as it will bring improvement to the standard of the league.
“What is fundamental is that we need to know why is the league being delayed and if the delay would in anyway add to the quality of the league when its dunks off, then I think it’s for the good of the game in the country. If there is a need for us to put off the new season and we sit back and repackage the whole basketball league with inputs from all stakeholders, I think I am a party to that idea,” Omo-Osagie said recently.
—Bamidele Olowosagba