http://nairanotes.com/sports/afrobasket-2015-nigeria-looking-to-overcome-2013-heartbreak-with-a-first-african-title/

Afrobasket 2015: Nigeria looking to overcome 2013 heartbreak with a first African title.
2013 was meant to be the year that Nigeria finally harnessed its large pool of eligible talent and waltzed its way to an elusive African title.

A hard earned 2012 Olympic qualification meant that some frontline Nigerian-American talent were now considering the country for their national team careers. Long-term Nigeria captain Ime Udoka had just been hired as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Sputs, widely considered as the NBA’s best run organisation. Along with Toronto Raptors GM, Masai Ujiri, Udoka was expected to assist with convincing undecided players and provide assistance to the basketball federation where possible.



Then it all went wrong, and pretty quickly too. National team coach, Ayo Bakare, fell out with Mfon Udoka (long term women’s captain, assistant women’s coach and Ime’s sister) and this cascaded to his relationship with Ime. This rift was reportedly responsible for some curious withdrawals close to the tournament. In addition to the withdrawal of key players like Derrick Obasohan, Chamberlain Oguchi was suspended by FIBA from participating in the tournament, and could not be replaced on the team. Compounding Nigeria’s woes were injuries to Guard Richard Oruche and forward Andy Ogide very early in the tournament. With valuable roster spots also taken by two players (the token home based player and a captain past his prime) who could not contribute any valuable minutes against serious opposition, it meant Nigeria was effectively using a 7 player rotation (of 12 selected players) in the tournament.

It seemed the zeal and talent of the ‘core seven’ would still be enough to carry Nigeria to the title, as the team easily overran all opposition, till it met Senegal in the Quarter Finals. Nigeria’s superior talent was not in doubt in the first quarter as the team built up a double digit lead. Then the Senegalese coach pulled off a masterstroke that exposed Nigeria’s short bench and lack of outside shooting, by changing his defensive formation to a zone from the conventional man-to-man, and slowly chipped away at Nigeria’s large lead.



The pain of the 1 point loss to Senegal remains fresh in the minds of all lovers of Nigerian basketball, especially the players who were denied the opportunity to showcase their skills on a global stage. A silver lining is that major stakeholders in Nigerian basketball seem to have used the disappointment of 2013 to fuel a determination to put the house in order to ensure that Nigeria wins Afrobasket 2015 and secures an automatic qualification to the 2016 Olympics.

A major step in this regard was the recent hiring of William Voigt, a basketball coaching thoroughbred, as national team coach. Voigt’s passion for basketball has seen him in roles including starting his career with an NBA team as a video coordinator, a college head coach, a head coach in the NBDL, and coaching stints in Norway and China. He has previously worked with Masai Ujuri and Ike Diogu (the leader and best player in the Nigerian team) and thus will have some insight on the Nigerian team. He probably realizes that success with Nigeria will open major doors (NBA?) for him, and his contract stipulates he has to win at Afrobasket to get a shot at coaching Nigeria in the Olympics.



Despite the absence of major eligible talent (including Rasheed Sulaimon, Victor Oladipo and Festus Ezeli), Coach Voigt should be able to able to select a formidable team of 12 from the shortlist of 26 players he has invited. The team had a short camp in Abuja before heading out to France, where it has won two preparatory games.



Nigerian basketball fans are once again excited and expectant. Everything seems to be coming together for that Afrobasket title and a good run in the Olympics. Surely, nothing can go wrong now, we hope.



Afrobasket 2015 will hold in Tunisia from August 20-30. Nigeria has been grouped with Tunisia, Uganda and Central African Republic in Group A. The games will be broadcast live in Nigeria on Supersport.

Thanks to teamnigeriabasketball.com for the great ‘prep rally’ video on youtube.

Ftc lalasticlala come move the thread go FP!
This op really tried mehn!
Waiters give him six crates of orijin!

http://nairanotes.com/sports/afrobasket-2015-narrowing-the-26-down-to-12/

Afrobasket 2015: Narrowing the 26 down to 12
William Voigts first major challenge is picking 12 players who can lead Nigeria to her first Afrobasket title and qualification for the 2016 Olympics. The coach also has a lot riding on it since that is the only way he can guarantee an extension to his current short term contract, and get to coach the team in the Olympics next year.

We only have few details from the camp in France, but based on recent form and performance, this is a probable list of 12 that should make the make the final team.

Power Forwards and Centers:

Ike Diogu (Dongguan Leopards): The former Pac 10 player of the year is the leader and best player on the Nigerian team. He has a polished offensive game and has recently added reliable outside shooting to his game. He averaged over 22 points and 10 rebounds this season in China.

Alade Aminu: Al-Farouq’s older brother averaged over 11 points and 5 rebounds in the Turkish league last season. He was a key contributor to the team in the 2013 Afrobasket and is expected to play the same role in Afrobasket 2015.

Ikechukwu Ofoegbu (Maccabi Haifa): An emerging star in the Israeli league, Ofoegbu averaged 17.2 points and almost 7 rebounds over the last season. His presence in the team should relieve Diogu from some the burden of ‘scoring in the paint’.

Seni (Shane)Lawal (Barcelona): Averaged over 10 points and almost 9 rebounds for Italian Champions and Euroleague team Sassari last





season. Has been snapped up by European giants Barcelona in the off-season.



Small Forwards (or as we like to call them, our swingmen):

Al-Farooq Aminu(Portland Trail-Blazers): Showed amazing versatility as he played the small forward, shooting guard and even deputized for Uzoh in the point guard position in the short-handed 2013 team. He, along with Diogu and Uzoh will have the most impact on how far Nigeria will go in the 2015 Afrobasket.

Jamal Olasewere (Viviers-Pepinster) and Stan Okoye (Varesse): These two young swingmen were pure scorers and conference MVPs in college. They have progressed to solid starts to their professional careers in Europe, although former All-American Olasewere has had major injury worries over the last year.

Both players were solid role players for Nigeria in Afrobasket 2013, and are expected to be key players for Nigeria in 2015 and onwards. Perhaps the only knock on them in 2013 was their eagerness to take shots in a hurry, which is not unexpected, given their profiles as college stars. They however need to sometimes defer to other players (especially Diogu and Al-Farooq) when teammates are better positioned for open shots.



Shooting Guards:

Abubakar Usman (Kano Pillars): Abubakar Usman making the team will not be the regular case of selecting a token home based player to make up the numbers. The Pillars guard has been the best player and MVP of the domestic league for a number of years and is an excellent 3-point and free throw shooter. His experience and outside shooting could come in handy during the tournament, especially if facing a zone defence.

Chamberlain Oguchi (Anwil Wloclawek): ‘Champ’ is Nigeria’s best shooter from ;downtown’ (3-point range), and his last minute withdrawal/suspension from Afrobasket 2013 was one reason Nigeria was unable to overcome the zone defence put up by Senegal. He is reportedly having a very good camp and recently got a new contract with a Polish club, after a year away from Basketball.

Michael Gbinijie (Syracuse) In the absence of Oladipo and Sulaiman, Gbinije should be a lock for one of the Shooting guard spots. The Duke transfer is coming into his own at Syracuse and had a solid Junior season where he averaged almost 13 points a game and shot almost 40% from 3-point range.



Point Guards:

Ben Uzoh (Lagos Islanders): The most important player on the team, since the point guard is the coach on the floor and the equivalent of an orchestra conductor or traffic controller. Uzoh is a pass-first elite level guard, and Nigeria needs him to be healthy to win Afrobasket 2015. Uzoh recently took the bold step of moving to Nigeria to play for the Islanders following a major health scare that almost ended his career.

Micheal Umeh (Tezenis): Umeh will probably be the first guard off the bench, but could be forced into a starring role, if Uzoh’s health does not hold up. Umoh is rumoured to be unhappy at his current club and would be motivated to have a good performance at Afrobasket to attract a new club and get a better contract.







Standby/Alternate

Michael Eric (Emel Brindisi): Son of former Super Eagles keeper and coach, Joe Erico, Eric averaged over 5 points and 4 rebounds in just 13 minutes of action in the Italian League. Played for the Milwaukee Bucks in the recently concluded NBA Summer league. He might just miss out to the more experienced forwards, but do not be shocked to see him as part of the final 12





Final verdict:

Baring injuries, the final team selected by William Voigt is not expected to be very different from our selection above and despite worries about a thin backcourt, the team has enough talent to win a first Afrobasket title for Nigeria.

Hopefully once that happens, attention can be turned to addressing the challenges in the guard positions before the Olympics. Immediate options that can be considered in this regard include the aforementioned Rasheed Sulaimon, and Josh Akognon, a high scoring point guard who averaged over 30 points per game in China last season.

Nigeria beat China 82-76 in Italy tonight.

Waiting on details, but they have won 4 matches on this tour now.

The final team should be released anytime soon. Michael Gbinijie of Syracuse is said to have made the final team.

Nigeria's first game is in a week, and the team is leaving for Tunis in 4 days.

https://twitter.com/nigeriabasket

Nigeria coach Will Voigt denies that he has released the final list to Afrobasket.

Promises to release the list between now and Saturday.

I really just wanna praise your effort in following my second love in sports...I remember as a teen when I watched the 2000 olympics and followed Basketball keenly. The Dream team(USA) and Lithuania really wowed me. I wished we played that year...it has always been Senegal or Angola all these years. Funny enough Nigeria was the first African team to win an olympics game back in 2012. I would follow this thread and follow the team keenly in Tunis. Hope we win this time...well-done OP

Nigeria has won 2 friendly games against China in Italy.

The team is hitting form at the right time and I don't think any country can stop us at Afrobasket.

https://twitter.com/nigeriabasket

Nigeria Basketball ‏@NigeriaBasket 5h5 hours ago
D'Tigers with two victories over China this week! Good competition, D'Tigers hitting the right stride going into Afrobasket

Nigeria has won 2 friendly games against China in Italy.

The team is hitting form at the right time and I don't think any country can stop us at Afrobasket.

https://twitter.com/nigeriabasket

Nigeria Basketball ‏@NigeriaBasket 5h5 hours ago
D'Tigers with two victories over China this week! Good competition, D'Tigers hitting the right stride going into Afrobasket

FIBA has us 3rd in their power rankings for the tournament.

I have us as #1, and I don't even think it will be close.



http://www.fiba.com/news/afrobasket-2015--power-ranking-week-4

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12/08/2015 NEWS
AfroBasket 2015 - Power Ranking : Week 4


Here is what could be the final ranking of the tournament that will tip off next week
ABIDJAN (AfroBasket 2015)- Every week leading up to AfroBasket 2015 tipping off on 19 August, our basketball experts will be ranking the 16 teams bound for Tunis, based on their respective rosters and preparations for the Championship.

NB: The rankings are entirely the opinion of our experts and have no mathematical or theoretical grounding

1
Tunisie

They are in the straight line of their preparation. After a 83 – 64 win against Cameroon, they take over Turkey who are gearing up for EuroBasket 2015. Tunisia are showing undoubtedly that they are able to win it all.
.

2
Angola

Angola have released the final 12 – player- squad. Looking at this list the reigning champions remain Tunisia’s tough challenger for this summer’s event. Angola who had a 72-61 win over Venezuela in three of their four warm-up games, will face South Florida on Wednesday before taking on Spain, Senegal and Poland at Santander’s four- team tournament.

3
Nigeria

They are performing well in the last part of their preparation ahead of AfroBasket in Tunisia. The players are highly motivated to make history by winning their first continental title. Al Faruq Aminu who recently penned with Portland Trailblazers is confident that they can win it all on the condition they correct the mistakes they did two years ago in Abidjan.

The team beat Texas A&M yesterday by 32 points. 79 -47.

The team is ready. Final roster to be announced tomorrow.

http://www.kbtx.com/sports/home/headlines/Aggies-Fall-to-Nigerian-National-Team-in-Exhibition-Contest-321967922.html

ROME – During its first full day in Rome, the Texas A&M men’s basketball team played the initial exhibition contest of its European Tour, falling to the Nigeria National Team on Saturday by the score of 79-47.

“That’s a very good team we played,” Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy said. “They’ve got a lot of grown men and did a really good job of running their offense. This was a good experience for our guys. We got to play a lot of people. I thought our young guys did some good things in a very tough venue. Overall, this was good for our team and we’ll continue to get better on this trip.”

The Aggies were led in scoring by freshman Elijah Thomas, who scored 10 points during his first action wearing the Maroon & White. Senior Alex Caruso added six points, including a thunderous one-handed dunk on a break-away during the second when A&M outscored the Nigerians, whittling the lead down to just six points before the national team hit a last-second 3-pointer to go into the intermission leading 36-27.

Rookie D.J. Hogg hit a pair of 3-pointers during the opening half, while sophomore Alex Robinson hit a pair of long-range jumpers after halftime.

The contest was played by FIBA rules and featured four 10-minute quarters and a 24-second shot clock at the Stella Azzurra athletic facility

Final team of 12 has been chosen:

Point Guards - Ben Uzoh, Michael Umeh
Shooting Guards - Michael Gbinije, Champ Oguchi,
Small Forwards - Jamal Olasewere, Stan Okoye, Al Farouq Aminu
Power Forwards/Centers - Ike Diogu, Andy Ogide, Alade Aminu, Olumide Oyedeji, Seni Lawal

Time to win the African Championships for Nigeria

Injury scare hits Nigerian camp as Ike Diogu sighted with crutches at team hotel.

http://nairanotes.com/sports/injury-scare-in-nigerian-camp-as-ike-diogu-seen-with-crutches/

Nigeria's 1st game is Wednesday night vs. CAR

Cool

Nigeria always dpmonating in the game...we rock yea....shebi we are No1 in FIFA ranking in Africa



[size=16pt]Lade[/size] says so





NIGERIA'S 1ST e-MAGAZINE? CHECK MY SIGNATURE

Ok

My Space

ok

Fest is Ezeli and Oladipo out?

*dizzy*

But why?

good

As long as Angola and Mozambique are there....it is going to be hard.

Good luck to D'Tigers anyway.

strawb:
Ok

CharlieMaria:
My Space

richardjemedafe1:
J

MrNL:
good

Leyemoshood:
.

Obviously fans of the Angolan National Basketball team.

wish them all the best....#teamNIGERIA

Mynd44:
Fest is Ezeli and Oladipo out?

*dizzy*

But why?

http://nairanotes.com/sports/afrobasket-2015-the-missing-fantastic-four/

Ezeli chose not to go, but there are players as good as he is, maybe even better.

Oladipo is a loss, but the US has invited him. Rasheed Sulaimon is as good, and Nigeria should focus on getting him now

bushdoc9919:
As long as Angola and Mozambique are there....it is going to be hard.

Good luck to D'Tigers anyway.

Nigeria will win it this time.

The preparation has been top notch.

Moz is not even a major player. The main threats to Nigeria are Angola, Senegal, Egypt and Tunisia who would try to do everything to win at home.

LagosEconomist:

Nigeria will win it this time.
The preparation has been top notch.
Moz is not even a major player. The main threats to Nigeria are Angola, Senegal, Egypt and Tunisia who would try to do everything to win at home.

Amen

nigeria really need to win this time around but the host nation Tunisia really need serious attention from our team if they stand any chance.