‘D’Tigers Qualification Rekindles Interest In Basketball’

Published

12 years ago

July 18, 2012

Basketball pundit Wale Aboderin has said that the last minute qualification of the National team, D’Tigers, for the London Games has re-kindled his interest in the basketball event of the Olympics.

D’Tigers early in the week defeated Dominican Republic 88-73 to qualify for the Olympics holding from July 27 to August 12.

The national men’s team was able to defeat fifth ranked Lithuania 86-80 in the preliminary stage and fourth ranked Greece 80-79 in the quarter-finals.

They woke up to the call to secure a ticket to the Games by shaking off the 77-88 loss to Russia by beating Dominican Republic.

D’Tigers now join Tunisia as Africa’s second representatives at the Games.

Other countries that have qualified for the Olympics are Britain, U.S., Brazil, Australia, Spain, France, Argentina, China, Lithuania and Russia.

Aboderin, the President of Dolphins Basketball Club of Lagos, said the victory would propel him and other Nigerians to watch the basketball event at the Olympics.

“Their qualification is absolutely wonderful. They surprised everybody; I thank God we got rid of some older players,’’ he said.

According to him, some of the new boys that propelled the team to victory have yet to be polluted by the system.

“Most of them are coming into the country for the first time. They are absolutely wonderful,’’ Aboderin added.

Also commenting, Felix Awogu, the General Manager of Super Sports, Nigeria, commended the efforts of D’Tigers, for overcoming their Dominican Republic opponents to qualify for the basketball event.

“It was quite interesting. I am excited, the players have made us proud, and our investments have not been in vain; they have equal chances of a medal at the Games.

“All they (D’Tigers) need to do now is to remain focused. They need to be properly motivated by the government to further raise their game at the Games proper.

“They were tactical in their approach and they will have to sustain the tempo at the Olympic Games.

“The boys are simply exceptional, their determination paid off,’’ Awogu said.

A former Chairman, Lagos State Sports Council, Agboola Pinhero, also commended the team and the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) for hoisting the country’s flag at the Olympics.

“I will say this is the first time the NBBF president is breaking the barrier by not using scouts but operated an open camp to select players,’’ he said.

Pinhero said the team’s qualification also showed that trial matches and adequate funding of training tours before the competitions had yielded good results.

He said that the D’Tigers’ performance at the qualifiers was a good omen for NBBF and the team.

“I will like to give kudos to the NBBF president, Tijani Umar and the technical crew of the team for a job well done,’’ he said.

A former player and coach, Alabi Adelanwa, said the team had proved that the country was a good basketball nation and that it could return with a medal.

“I hope the teams in their group will help our boys to go far in the competition,’’ he said.

On his part, the coach of Lagos-based Union Bank Basketball Club, Johnson Ayinla, described Nigeria’s qualification as unbelievable.

“I think our players have done the impossible with the little time they had to go through foreign training.

“By the grace of God Nigeria basketball will move forward from here because we are going to take advantage of this development,’’ Ayinla said.

Expert Wants Parents To Enroll Children In Vector Programme

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

In a bid to have more young talented Nigerians to play professional football abroad, Johnny Ogbah, a sports lawyer and football intermediary, has called on parents to enroll their children in Vector Programme.
He stated that the programme is in conjunction with Conventry Football Club in United Kingdom (UK), saying that the programme includes academics where a child can acquire a degree.
Ogbah, made the call while addressing sports journalists recently in Port Harcourt, as the programme will admit students into Brooke College between the age of 11 and 18 Football Academy.
The major objective of Vector Programme is to give the young ones a career through sports and good education. The programme does not train people on football only but also other things that is related to sporting environment, he said.
According to him, more than 20 Nigerians have benefited from the programme on scholarship and most of them are now playing football in top clubs in Europe.
“Vector programme was poised to create an avenue to give people to play football to the highest level.
Apart from football the child can also have quality education. It will interest you to know that those in Vector programme play friendly games that attracts scouts from different countries and football clubs.
The programme doesn’t train you on only football but also train people on everything that is associated to sports”, Ogbah said.
The former Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) player further disclosed Vector programme pathways provides the practice opportunities that players need if they are to successfully graduate as a professional player.

By: Tonye Orabere

Sports

NLO: Khana FC Coach Blames Players For Missing Chances

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

The Head Coach of Khana FC in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Sam Ledor, has blamed his players as they were unable to convert scoring chances.
According to him, if those chances created in their opening match against Jet Bomber FC at the ongoing Nation wide League One (NLO), in Omoku centre were converted, it would have given them victory.
Ledor, said this on Saturday in a chat with Tidesports shortly after they played goalless draw against Jet Bomber FC in their opening match in 2024 NLO Division in Omoku, Rivers State.
“ We created a lot of scoring chances but could not find the net”, he said.
He explained that playing goalless draw is not a bad result in football but in a competition like this, they need to score goals and win matches.
“ My brother, we missed a lot of scoring chances which is not good. I trainned my players on how to create chances and to convert them.
“ What is important in a competition is winning but as we did not lose the game, we will look forward for our next game.
“We will go back to the drawing board and correct the grey areas in our game and ensure we get better results in our next outing.
“Today’s game is gone, what we need to do is to make sure we win our next game,” he stated.
He pointed out that no game comes easy but the effort you put in will give good result. They tried their best today and the result was good for both teams but we need to win our next game.
“My opponents were also a good side; they tried all what they could but didn’t score also. It was a good game but my team needs to win games,” he added.

By: Kiadum Edookor

Sports

Wilkins Backs Rivers Hoopers To Spring Surprises At 2024 BAL

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

A French-American, John Walter Wilkins is confident Rivers Hoopers can make it to the playoff round of the 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Wilkins, who is the son of former NBA player Jeff Wilkins, linked up with his Hoopers teammates at the team’s training camp in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, ahead of the 2024 BAL Savannah Conference games, which tip off on Saturday, 4th May, 2024, in Dakar, Senegal.
Wilkins is no stranger to African basketball, having played for Moroccan sides AS Salé (2015-2016) and Ittihad Tanger (2017-2019), before leading Stade Malien to a third-place finish at BAL 2023.
Looking ahead to the 2024 BAL, Wilkins says the quality of basketball across Africa has improved, with the BAL requiring a high level of competitiveness, but backed Rivers Hoopers to spring a surprise at the tournament.
“It’s a really high level, a great competition; [it’s] one of the best I’ve played in since I’ve been in Africa. But we don’t need to be scared. We need to just attack the moment, be there, be present, and I think if we are confident in our abilities, we can surprise people,” he said.
Since its inaugural season in 2021, Nigerian teams have appeared twice at the BAL, with Rivers Hoopers playing in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2021 and Kwara Falcons featuring at BAL 2023.
Despite failing to reach the playoffs on both previous occasions, Wilkins is optimistic that with the quality of players in the Hoopers squad as well as the recruitment done ahead of the BAL, Rivers Hoopers will be more competitive in this season’s BAL.
“I’m really optimistic. I know that those past years the teams from Nigeria didn’t do well, but I think with me, Kelvin [Amayo], Will [Perry], and the other guys, I think we can show the way, have some wins, and be more competitive,” he stated.
The Nigerian Champions were drawn in the Savannah Conference alongside former BAL Champions US Monastir (Tunisia), last year’s runners-up AS Douanes (Senegal), and APR (Rwanda).