Captain of the national male basketball team D’Tigers, Olumide Oyedeji has defended the performance of the team at the just concluded London 2012 Olympics, insisting that the team should be commended for standing up among the best in the world.

Speaking Thursday in Lagos, Olumide said that D’Tigers, as the national team is called was just a six week old, hurriedly assembled team. “We did our best under the circumstances. You do not expect a team that was assembled under six weeks to outplay a team like Lithuania, the 5th ranked team in the world.”

The Nigerian captain dismissed insinuations that D’Tigers fell in their second game because they underrated Lithuania whom they beat in Venezuela during the Olympic qualifiers. “We didn’t underrate them,” he started, questioning, “how can you underrate number 5 in the world? Olympics is a different ball game.”

Although he admitted their qualification for the Olympics gave them confidence, he said they did not allow that get into their heads. “Our qualification for the Olympics gave us hope and the confidence that we could do it. But people should not forget the fact that we only prepared for six weeks. The Spanish team that contested the gold medal with the USA has been together since the World Junior championship in 1999. You can’t toy with such a team,”Olumide said.

Against the US, Olumide said the team suffered from the absence of their point guard a situation he likened to “a car without a driver,” saying, “everybody knew we could not beat them but injuries and the absence of our point guard worsened our quest for any meaningful performance.”

He called for continuity and urged the Nigeria Basketball Federation to ensure the present squad is kept together because he foresaw a bright future for the team.

“It’s the duty of the NBBF to ensure the players are jealously kept together. Most of them are still young and can still serve the country for another five or more years. The boys are good and with adequate preparation, the sky will be their limit,” Olumide said.

kensandrea: [size=20pt]SO WAT EVEN IF THEY HAD TRAIN FOR THE WHOLE YEAR WUD IT MAKE ANY DIFFERENT......EXCUSES!!!!![/size]

sarutobi: now that is a good excuse.

We always find something to blame.

Lemme wait for those GEJ bashers come in and say it was his fault

searay: Now this my excuse:
I'll blame GEJ for...

Okiki_Oluwa: Story story, Story!
D London 2012 Olympic was confirmed since 2008. If Nig was serious, dey lld have started preparations since 4 yrs ago & not 6wks 2 d tourney. In d year 2016, sumbody ll still kom out & say dat dy only had 2wks 2 prepare aftr a poor performance. Lubbish!

Delafruita:
ignorance is indeed a disease.those guys made themselves into a team.their coach,ayo bakare deserves all the accolades possible for ensuring the team was assembled.those who know about their build-up to the play-offs know what sacrifices each member of the team had to make.do you think they enjoyed the support of the NBBF?those guys spent their own money on flight tickets,hotels,etc.the federation promised to refund them but i dont know if that has happened.they became the first nigerian basketball team ever to qualify for the olympics.they are the first african team ever to win a game at the olympics.gone are the days when we trembled at the thought of meeting angola or tunisia.now we know our boys can hold their own if properly motivated.
most of the athletes spent their own money on training.okagbare,akinyemi,odumosu,oke et al picked the bill for their training.the government then releases money 4weeks before the olympics commence and expects magic and then some ignoramuses start to spew trash on nairaland

Okiki_Oluwa:
u must be a joker hr. Wats d meaning of ignorance blah blah blah. U tink u can jst spit @ pple anyhow claiming dat u knw all whereas u knw nothing. Oya waka pass! Lubbish.

Delafruita:
ignorance is indeed a disease.those guys made themselves into a team.their coach,ayo bakare deserves all the accolades possible for ensuring the team was assembled.those who know about their build-up to the play-offs know what sacrifices each member of the team had to make.do you think they enjoyed the support of the NBBF?those guys spent their own money on flight tickets,hotels,etc.the federation promised to refund them but i dont know if that has happened.they became the first nigerian basketball team ever to qualify for the olympics.they are the first african team ever to win a game at the olympics.gone are the days when we trembled at the thought of meeting angola or tunisia.now we know our boys can hold their own if properly motivated.
most of the athletes spent their own money on training.okagbare,akinyemi,odumosu,oke et al picked the bill for their training.the government then releases money 4weeks before the olympics commence and expects magic and then some ignoramuses start to spew trash on nairaland

kannymoore:


@ okiki oluwa... If you actually read what Dellafruita wrote and you decided to put up such a lousy reply, you must indeed be a nincompoop! Wahllahi!