2nd September, 2013
The 27th edition of AfroBasket came to an end on Saturday at the Palais des Sports Treichville in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, with Angola winning the title after defeating Egypt in the final match 57-40.
Angola’s 11th continental title in 24 years did not come as a surprise to basketball pundits in Africa as the Southern Africa nation are a renowned power house in African basketball.
However, what many observers could not fathom was how Nigeria’s D’Tigers could not make it to the podium in Abidjan, after winning four straight games in the opening stanza. Nigeria could not measure up in the knockout stages and finished seventh in Cote d’Ivoire, a far cry from the third position they finished about two years ago when the biennial championship took place in Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Also, the Nigerian team, led by coach Ayo Bakare, against all odds, participated at the 2012 London Olympics for the first time in the history of Nigeria. D’Tigers have not finished beyond 5th position in the AfroBasket tourneys in the previous 10 editions Nigeria participated in.
Critics have attributed various reasons for the country’s poor showing in Cote d’Ivoire, amongst which are players’ indiscipline, tactical incompetence of the coaching crew, Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF’s lack of adequate planning ahead major championship, over-dependence on foreign based players and wrong selection of players for the tournament. The NBBF has, however, absolved itself of any blame over the D’Tigers’ poor performance, claiming that all that needed to be done in terms of preparation were done.
Coach Bakare has also blamed injuries that sidelined two key players of the team, Chamberlain Oguchi and Richard Oruche, FIBA’s failure to register a member of the team and also indiscipline on the part of the team as reasons why the D’Tigers failed to roar in Abidjan. Recourse to buck passing is the usual practice by Nigeria’s sports stakeholders after a dismal performance at any major championship.
As we look forward to the 2015 All Africa Games to be hosted in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, the 2015 Commonwealth Games in Scotland and the 2015 Afrobasket, we hope those in the NBBF would have learnt some lessons from the poor outing in Cote d’Ivoire.
As we begin to plan for these tournaments, the National Sports Commission, NSC, must ensure that round pegs are put in round holes to forestall a repeat of what happened in Abidjan. The NBBF should also ensure that the issue of incompetence among the coaching crew of the D’Tigers is addressed forthwith.
Invitation of players to the national team camp ahead major championships should be based on merit not favoritism as some critics are already claiming. The interest of millions of Nigerians that support the team should also be placed ahead of personal interest by those at the helm of affairs in the NBBF for D’Tigers to roar again.