2013 Afrobasket: D’Tigers Begin Title Chase In Abidjan

Nigeria men’s national team, the D’tigers and 15 other African nations on Tuesday  in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire began competition in the 2013 Afrobasket for men and the tourney would come to an end on 31 August.

All the teams would not only be battling for the tournament’s silverware but also the three qualification tickets for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup holding in Spain.

Tunisia stunned perenial African champions, Angola in the final of the 2011 Afrobasket held in Antananarivo, Madagascar to claim their first continental title ever.

Angola are the continent’s most successful team having won 10 African championships.

Out of the 16 teams campaigning in Abidjan, Nigeria are ranked second behind Angola on the African continent.

The D’tigers are however, ranked 17th in the world rankings.

For the first round of matches, the D’tigers are drawn in group D with teams such as Mali, Republic of Congo and Cameroon.

Group A consists of championships hosts, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Senegal and Algeria.

In Group B, we have the defending champions, Tunisia, Rwanda, Burkina Faso and Morocco.

Angola, Mozambique, Central Africa Republic and Cape Verde are in Group C.

The coach Ayo Bakare led team are pundits’ faourites to qualify for the next round of matches considering they are ranked highest among all the teams in the group.

No other team in this year’s Afrobasket has attracted as much expectation as Nigeria, especially because of their successful 2012 Olympic qualifying tournament held in Caracas, Venezuela.

Sports minister and chairman National Sports Commission, NSC, Bolaji Abdullahi on Saturday at the Send-off party organised by the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, at the West Point hotel, Wuse Zone 7, Abuja charged D’Tigers to do the nation proud in the Ivorian capital.

The sports minister said he will not give the team a target of winning the trophy but will rather task them to do Nigeria proud.

”I will not tell you that you must win the trophy, but I believe in the quality in this team and in this generation of players and confident you can do it for the first time. I am sure that you can do Nigeria proud. Go and do the nation proud. I am optimistic because most of you who played at the Olympics are still in the team, which means stability. The board that took you to the Olympics is still the board leading you to Cote d’Ivoire so that tells continuity also. You have to do Nigeria proud so that younger ones aspiring to be like you will emulate you,” Abdullahi said.

Nigeria have not won the championship since the past 26th edition. In 15 past appearances, D’Tigers had won three silver medals (1997, 1999 & 2003) and three bronze medals (1995, 2005 & 2011).

In Abidjan, coach Bakare will not be short of experienced and talented players.

Six of the twelve players that competed for Nigeria at the 2012 London Games are still in the team already in Abidjan with other equally talented players in the team. Players such as Ike Diogu, brothers Al-Farouq and Alade Aminu, Chamberlain Oguchi, Olumide Oyedeji, Richard Oruche and the addition of both Ben Uzoh and Gani Lawal.

The only one home-based player is Stanley Gumut.

With the massive talents in the Nigerian roster, many pundits believe it is a win now-or-never tournament for Nigeria.

Masai Ujiri, the general manager of the Toronto Raptors of the NBA, believes with hardwork and quality technical instructions from the coaching crew D’Tigers could win the elusive title in Cote d’Ivoire.

“It is a travesty that Nigeria have not won the Afrobasket trophy despite the abundant talents we have in this country,” he said.

“I just hope we would be able to put all hands on deck this time around because mal-administration has always been one of our bane. If the players keep working hard and the coaches pick the right player I believe we could surprise critics this time around,” the former Denver Nuggets manager told P.M.NEWS in an interview in Lagos recently.

For the Mr Bimbo Faniran, the Chief Executive AKOFA Ivy basketball league, the D’tigers do not only have to win the elusive trophy in Abidjan, they need to prove a lot of their critics wrong that they deserve their qualification for the last Olympics.

“We have a good side that are capable of beating any team on the African continent. It is our hope that they would be able to justify all the preparations they have been through in America, China and in the country,” Faniran said in Lagos recently.

In terms of preparation, the D’tigers have not had it as good as they did heading to Abidjan.

Prior to their departure to Abidjan, the Nigerian team had training camps in Abuja, Los Angeles and Orlando, both in USA, and  also participated at the 2013 Stankovic tournament held in China.

Nigeria finished third in the tournament that included hosts, China, Puerto Rico and Argentina.

NBBF president, Tijjani Umar, while commenting on the level of preparation of the team ahead the 2013 Afrobasket, said: “I am satisfied with the way we have been able to put this team together.

“We have been able to prepare the team adequately so that the players would no excuse not to perform.”

One challenge that would confront the Nigerian team is the fact that majority of the team, other than Olumide Oyodeji, Chamberlain Oguchi and Gumut, are competing at AfroBasket for the first time.

But Diogu insisted this would not pose a big threat to their determination  to win gold in Abidjan.

“We don’t want to overlook anybody,” he warned. “This is a tough tournament with a lot of great teams. Our goal is to make history.”

As the D’Tigers get ready to play against Mali in their first match, inside the 8,000 sitting capacity Palais des Sports, later today, most pundits of the sport would be hoping they win the match and go ahead to lift the trophy for the first time on 31 August.

—Bamidele Olowosogba