₦airaland Forum

carbonado:
,,,which atleast 5 teams are those of the top 10, i want to learn.

USA: Kara Lawson, current coach of Duke WBB

Germany: Olaf Lange current assistant coach of the Toronto Tempo. Important to note that the host nation uses same arrangement.

Australia: Paul Gorris is coach of the Canberra Capitals in the WNBL.
Fun fact also is that Olaf's wife (Germany' coach) Sandy Brondello was until recently the coach of Australia for 5+ years and she held a WNBA head coaching job throughout this period.

Spain:: Miguel Méndez Martínez has been coach of Spain since 2021 and through that period has held coaching jobs with several teams including UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia, Virtus Bologna in Italy and Fenerbahçe in Turkey.

Nigeria: Rena Wakama assistant coach of the Chicago Sky

lovewins:
USA: Kara Lawson, current coach of Duke WBB

Germany: Olaf Lange current assistant coach of the Toronto Tempo. Important to note that the host nation uses same arrangement.

Australia: Paul Gorris is coach of the Canberra Capitals in the WNBL.
Fun fact also is that Olaf's wife (Germany' coach) Sandy Brondello was until recently the coach of Australia for 5+ years and she held a WNBA head coaching job throughout this period.

Spain:: Miguel Méndez Martínez has been coach of Spain since 2021 and through that period has held coaching jobs with several teams including UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia, Virtus Bologna in Italy and Fenerbahçe in Turkey.

Nigeria: Rena Wakama assistant coach of the Chicago Sky

...nice one, remove the Spanish coach as my point is very specific to wnba , not other leagues, why?because it overlaps tournaments, which means, there is limited time to prepare your players, any other league, N.C.A.A is fine.....Even Kara is with Duke and not a Wnba team

carbonado:
...there is no player that you named that is a franchise player.....or even the second option..

Again, it's becoming obvious that you're engaging just to argue and not based on facts. First Kamilla Cardoso is the franchise player for the Chicago Sky along with Angel Reese in 2025. She was drafted no 2 for that reason. She led the entire team in 2 statistical category (Lead in PPG and BPG) for the entire season. Of course she doesn't have the same popularity as Angel but was the key part of their offense. It's how Indiana has Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark as Franchise players even though Caitlin is the most popular.

All of these however is besides the point. None of the players we currently have hope to include will based in current fact ever be a key part of any franchise. None. Not Oluchi, not Gabby, not Uche. So while I just proved that a franchise player was allowed leave of her WNBA team despite being no 1 in their offense and key to defence, it won't be a problem cause based on our current and potential roster at best we have role players.

carbonado:
...nice one, remove the Spanish coach as my point is very specific to wnba , not other leagues, why?because it overlaps tournaments, which means, there is limited time to prepare your players, any other league, N.C.A.A is fine.....Even Kara is with Duke and not a Wnba team

Again mute point. Half of the Spanish roster don't play in Spain. 5 play in the WNBA and 1 in Russia and all were just released days ago. Worthy of note is the fact that the 5 players in question are their best players so even if he hypothetically fan training with the other players he was still without his best players so what's the point?

Also the Kara point is also mute. Have you forgotten that Kara couldn't participate in the World cup qualifying series that held a few months ago in Puerto Rico? She only coached the first game I think and had to leave to face her college job with Duke. Her assistants had to take over her role as had coach throughout that tournament. Isn't that the same thing you're complaining about?

carbonado:
...Nora and Shaj are not in the same class as Oluchi, we talking of players that will potentially make Wnba, not just in a school team...

You're making conclusions based on a small data set. First the reason we are taking about Oluchi like we are today is because she's had significantly more minutes than both players combined and her elevated role in her team last season. Oluchi has averaged 20+ minutes her entire college career and it wasn't until last year (her junior year) she really balled out. Nora Ezike is just entering her Sophomore year (averaged 4mins last season) while Shay is entering her junior year so it remains to be seen how they'll navigate this and the potential outcome from them this season.

Remember no one in their wildest imagination would have thought Kiki Iriafen will be the player she is today just based off her first 2 years in college. She wasn't even on any potential mock draft board by the end of her Sophomore year. She averaged 6 minutes in her first year and 12 in her second with an average of 5.5 PPG in her first 2 years. Everything however changed in her junior year when she got more playing time and a more pivotal role in Stanford.

lovewins:
Again mute point. Half of the Spanish roster don't play in Spain. 5 play in the WNBA and 1 in Russia and all were just released days ago. Worthy of note is the fact that the 5 players in question are their best players so even if he hypothetically fan training with the other players he was still without his best players so what's the point?

Also the Kara point is also mute. Have you forgotten that Kara couldn't participate in the World cup qualifying series that held a few months ago in Puerto Rico? She only coached the first game I think and had to leave to face her college job with Duke. Her assistants had to take over her role as had coach throughout that tournament. Isn't that the same thing you're complaining about?

..how did you jump from coaches availability to players avalability....we were just talking about you saying the best teams use the same model, you jumped from coaches availabity to players availability, as regards Spain, the only time it wont matter if the coach had the remaining players in camp, is if they wont step on the hard wood...

lovewins:
You're making conclusions based on a small data set. First the reason we are taking about Oluchi like we are today is because she's had significantly more minutes than both players combined and her elevated role in her team last season. Oluchi has averaged 20+ minutes her entire college career and it wasn't until last year (her junior year) she really balled out. Nora Ezike is just entering her Sophomore year (averaged 4mins last season) while Shay is entering her junior year so it remains to be seen how they'll navigate this and the potential outcome from them this season.

Remember no one in their wildest imagination would have thought Kiki Iriafen will be the player she is today just based off her first 2 years in college. She wasn't even on any potential mock draft board by the end of her Sophomore year. She averaged 6 minutes in her first year and 12 in her second with an average of 5.5 PPG in her first 2 years. Everything however changed in her junior year when she got more playing time and a more pivotal role in Stanford.

...Oluchi has been balling out since her freshman Duke days, you probably did not know her, or follow her, i did, i followed her since then , she came from the bench to really did damage, it was like the case of fulwiley at south carolina....she was good enough as a starter but Kara prefered her as the leader of the second unit...

lovewins:
You're making conclusions based on a small data set. First the reason we are taking about Oluchi like we are today is because she's had significantly more minutes than both players combined and her elevated role in her team last season. Oluchi has averaged 20+ minutes her entire college career and it wasn't until last year (her junior year) she really balled out. Nora Ezike is just entering her Sophomore year (averaged 4mins last season) while Shay is entering her junior year so it remains to be seen how they'll navigate this and the potential outcome from them this season.

Remember no one in their wildest imagination would have thought Kiki Iriafen will be the player she is today just based off her first 2 years in college. She wasn't even on any potential mock draft board by the end of her Sophomore year. She averaged 6 minutes in her first year and 12 in her second with an average of 5.5 PPG in her first 2 years. Everything however changed in her junior year when she got more playing time and a more pivotal role in Stanford.

..i dont understand this statement, do you mean 20mins per game or 20 mins in entirety of her college career? player that had a double double in her first college game.

carbonado:
....I am including the old and new, i honestly believe part of the old set will get their callup now, i have been following Kiki and the Stanford squad all season long,however she will not get that call up yet, as qualifiers will clash with NCAA being on,i do believe if we qualify for Olympics proper, she will get her call up, there is another Nigeria in stanford, Nunu Ogara i thinks is her name, also stanford is also suppose to get another Nigerian freshman next season who is a guard. Kiki is really impressive, she plays like Nneka Ogwumike, also there is a freshman guard in Duke, Chioma Okanawan, she plays really really hard, my kind of high energy player. Anyway, as regards the leagues being on, Amy plays in France(Landerneu), Nicole in France too(Toulouse, i hope i got the spelling right), Lauren Ebo plays in Turkey(Balediyespor Tugutlu or sometime like that), Adeyeye also plays in france, Musa also is overseas at the moment, i think europe, could not get the name of the club, her highlights came into y feed a few days ago on instagram, Ezinne in Italy(Oxygen Roma or something like that), Promise and VIctoria play in Russia. Pallas is also in either italy of france, not too sure where, I also feel Micheala will get her call up this time, i think she plays her wnba off season basket in one turkish team.... i also wish they can release the squad list on time.

.....

.apparently, we have been having baskeball discussion since like forever, see me telling you about Oluchi in her freshman year....

carbonado:
..i dont understand this statement, do you mean 20mins per game or 20 mins in entirety of her college career? player that had a double double in her first college game.

Chai this man, how can you highlight a one stat as a retort? Averages are what matters as it gives a broader perspective about a player's performance throughout the season. Shay had double digits game last season but doesn't mean she had a fantastic season.

And yes, I meant Oluchi has never played below 20 minutes per game since her freshman year. As a matter of fact are average minutes over her first 3 years is 23.5 MPG

carbonado:
...Oluchi has been balling out since her freshman Duke days, you probably did not know her, or follow her, i did, i followed her since then , she came from the bench to really did damage, it was like the case of fulwiley at south carolina....she was good enough as a starter but Kara prefered her as the leader of the second unit...

I have known Oluchi since her Freshman year and a quick search shows I'm even the first person to mention her on this platform. It doesn't change the point I made.

lovewins:
Chai this man, how can you highlight a one stat as a retort? Averages are what matters as it gives a broader perspective about a player's performance throughout the season. Shay had double digits game last season but doesn't mean she had a fantastic season.

And yes, I meant Oluchi has never played below 20 minutes per game since her freshman year. As a matter of fact are average minutes over her first 3 years is 23.5 MPG

....okay, i get you now, however, is playing time not a testament to how good you are, maybe not always, but most of the time, even, if you do not start, you will still get significant time...i am rooting for them, i am just stating what i see now.

carbonado:
..how did you jump from coaches availability to players avalability....we were just talking about you saying the best teams use the same model, you jumped from coaches availabity to players availability, as regards Spain, the only time it wont matter if the coach had the remaining players in camp, is if they wont step on the hard wood...

carbonado:
.....i am beginning to feel a certain way about the head coach job being treated like a side hustle....this has to stop, as far as i am concerned, this is one of the reason the team list is not ready. Also we really need to recruite further and more aggressive, what this window has taught me, is that those players in college that have the potential of making the WNBA, will most likely not represent us if it clashes with the interest of their school/college, especially now due to N.I.L, it will only get worse, if they make it into the W. Such players may never play 1 single afrobasket game and also not play world cup games, they might be available for Olympics though, so by my assessment, that is not good enough,. As regards the team, Ezike is not there at all, her games needs alot of improving, I like Nicole, however, she did not show anything during the exhibition games.

Player availability was quite literally a significant part of your initial argument. I bolded it for emphasis. And I've made several points on players availablity throughout the entire conversation. The last post was an addendum that only highlighted how both points intersected with Spain being the reference.

carbonado:
....okay, i get you now, however, is playing time not a testament to how good you are, maybe not always, but most of the time, even, if you do not start, you will still get significant time...i am rooting for them, i am just stating what i see now.

No. Cause the reverse implication is that lack of playing time is testament of how bad you are. I'm not in any way discounting Oluchi's accomplishment in college particularly in her first 2 years,, my point however is that last year was the differentiator for her.

lovewins:
No. Cause the reverse implication is that lack of playing time is testament of how bad you are. I'm not in any way discounting Oluchi's accomplishment in college particularly in her first 2 years,, my point however is that last year was the differentiator for her.

......the reverse does not necessarily mean that the player is bad, it just mean, there are better players on your team, hence, why some transfer, you still cant compare their freshaman stats and sophomore stats....to Oluchi...hopefully they produce better this season, however Ezike has not passed the eye test for me..

carbonado:
I repeat again, i am not a fan of such model, will never be....If the coach had another job, like a college team, fine and good, that will not clash with international window, but having to get to camp 4 days to go as a head coach is not good enough for me, what time do you have to teach you players how to execute the different plays you have before tournaments starts. Also note, college coaches earn well, if not more than the wnba coaches.

You do have a point, but like Lovewins said, such things are quite common in basketball..
Also, don't forget that the NBBF don't have the financial power to hire a full time coach... Or do you want Rena to quit her job as the Sky assistant coach and Hive BC head coach?

These things can't be helped...

Danielnino00:
You do have a point, but like Lovewins said, such things are quite common in basketball..
Also, don't forget that the NBBF don't have the financial power to hire a full time coach... Or do you want Rena to quit her job as the Sky assistant coach and Hive BC head coach?

These things can't be helped...

The deputy Coach of D'tigress took charge of all the preparations on behalf of Coach Rena. And I am sure Rena must have been communicating with the team electronically 💪. Communication and instructions can be made and passed through several electric channels these days. No worries though. I am awaiting the final roster of D'tigress for the World Cup 🏆🏀🏀.

Amy has linked up with the team...

🚨 BREAKING: D’TIGRESS ROSTER UPDATE 🇳🇬🏀

Here is the latest 12-player roster for Nigeria’s D’Tigress ahead of the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Germany.

🇳🇬 Promise Amukamara
🇳🇬 Jordan Obi
🇳🇬 Elizabeth Balogun
🇳🇬 Musa Murjanatu
🇳🇬 Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah
🇳🇬 Rita Igbokwe
🇳🇬 Victoria Macaulay
🇳🇬 Ezinne Kalu
🇳🇬 Shay Ijiwoye
🇳🇬 Nicole Enabosi
🇳🇬 Amy Okonkwo
🇳🇬 Grace Efosa

12 players. One mission. 🇳🇬🔥

#DTigress #NigeriaBasketball #fibawwc

Danielnino00:
🚨 BREAKING: D’TIGRESS ROSTER UPDATE 🇳🇬🏀

Here is the latest 12-player roster for Nigeria’s D’Tigress ahead of the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Germany.

🇳🇬 Promise Amukamara
🇳🇬 Jordan Obi
🇳🇬 Elizabeth Balogun
🇳🇬 Musa Murjanatu
🇳🇬 Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah
🇳🇬 Rita Igbokwe
🇳🇬 Victoria Macaulay
🇳🇬 Ezinne Kalu
🇳🇬 Shay Ijiwoye
🇳🇬 Nicole Enabosi
🇳🇬 Amy Okonkwo
🇳🇬 Grace Efosa

12 players. One mission. 🇳🇬🔥

#DTigress #NigeriaBasketball #fibawwc

Formidable roster right there, but I’m surprised by that Gabby White was dropped! She is one PG that I thought, based on her performances in the various friendlies, that would make the plane to Germany.

PDPGuy:
Formidable roster right there, but I’m surprised by that Gabby White was dropped! She is one PG that I thought, based on her performances in the various friendlies, that would make the plane to Germany.

...Are you sure she was dropped, or she excused herself....she had a decent showing during the exhibition games

carbonado:
...Are you sure she was dropped, or she excused herself....she had a decent showing during the exhibition games

I see. I hope the latter is the reason…

Danielnino00:
🚨 BREAKING: D’TIGRESS ROSTER UPDATE 🇳🇬🏀

Here is the latest 12-player roster for Nigeria’s D’Tigress ahead of the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Germany.

🇳🇬 Promise Amukamara
🇳🇬 Jordan Obi
🇳🇬 Elizabeth Balogun
🇳🇬 Musa Murjanatu
🇳🇬 Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah
🇳🇬 Rita Igbokwe
🇳🇬 Victoria Macaulay
🇳🇬 Ezinne Kalu
🇳🇬 Shay Ijiwoye
🇳🇬 Nicole Enabosi
🇳🇬 Amy Okonkwo
🇳🇬 Grace Efosa

12 players. One mission. 🇳🇬🔥

#DTigress #NigeriaBasketball #fibawwc

This is a decent roster. I am happy with this team list 🙂. Four fresh D'tigress players for the FIBA World Cup 💪. Rena must have taken the time to watch all the friendly games against the WNBA teams, 3 games against China, games against Belgium and Spain and the matchup against Puerto Rico 🏀🏀🏀. Uche Izoje and Gabby White are future players for D'tigress. They could feature in the next Afrobasket tournament. I believe Coach Rena chose experience by sticking with Jordan Obi, Rita Igbokwe, Grace Efosa and Shay Ijiwoye. The likes of Amukamara, Macaulay and Ezinne Kalu will retire in a couple of years. More younger fresh players will fancy their chances of snagging D'tigress shirts in the next two years 🙂.

PDPGuy:
Formidable roster right there, but I’m surprised by that Gabby White was dropped! She is one PG that I thought, based on her performances in the various friendlies, that would make the plane to Germany.

Blessing Ejiofor and Ifunanya Okoro did not make the roster. I have not been impressed with Ejiofor 's game for a long time. So I am not surprised she did not make the cut. Okoro on the other hand is not a bad player. I did not really see her in camp. I have not watched the friendly games against China, Belgium, Spain , Puerto Rico. Did Ifunanya Okoro play in the games I have just mentioned ? @ lovewins, @ Carbonado, @ Danielnino, @ PDPGuy etc. Cheers 🏀🏀🏀.

Redman44:
Blessing Ejiofor and Ifunanya Okoro did not make the roster. I have not been impressed with Ejiofor 's game for a long time. So I am not surprised she did not make the cut. Okoro on the other hand is not a bad player. I did not really see her in camp. I have not watched the friendly games against China, Belgium, Spain , Puerto Rico. Did Ifunanya Okoro play in the games I have just mentioned ? @ lovewins, @ Carbonado, @ Danielnino, @ PDPGuy etc. Cheers 🏀🏀🏀.

..I have not been a fan of Blessing for the longest, she is suppose to be a big/power forward, however, i have not seen her do any post plays, let say because of her body type, she does not like to back down players, fine, then be a stretch 4/5 and play like Victoria Macaulay, as the game has evolved, giving more room for flexibility for bigs to be able to shoot and all...I think Rita took Blessings spot, i think Rita is decent, i have seen her show decent low post moves, and i think she is still young, so there should still be more upside. I do not remember seeing Ifunanaya in camp too...

Michaela Onyewere may never play for Nigeria and the reason may be her family's disposition to how Nigeria basketball is being run. This is a comment made by her dad on a post asking why she is yet to play for Nigeria.

So we may just need to keep her out of future D'Tigress roster conversations.

Redman44:
Blessing Ejiofor and Ifunanya Okoro did not make the roster. I have not been impressed with Ejiofor 's game for a long time. So I am not surprised she did not make the cut. Okoro on the other hand is not a bad player. I did not really see her in camp. I have not watched the friendly games against China, Belgium, Spain , Puerto Rico. Did Ifunanya Okoro play in the games I have just mentioned ? @ lovewins, @ Carbonado, @ Danielnino, @ PDPGuy etc. Cheers 🏀🏀🏀.

She should have been out of the team a long time. I'll even take Lauren Ebo ahead of her and that's saying something. For Okoro she didn't participate in the training camp and this may be she to visa issues (not saying it is, but likely) so she was already positionally disadvantaged with her absence. Worthy of note also is that when Okoro featured at the last qualifying tournament Grace Efosa was absent. They are more or less same kind of player. I don't think it makes sense to have both of them on a roster.

She also wasn't necessarily great at the qualifying tournament though the entire team was terrible. She averaged 5PPG and shot 0% from 3. She didn't make one 3 point shot. Not like Grace is significantly better but they are not very different in my opinion.

lovewins:
Michaela Onyewere may never play for Nigeria and the reason may be her family's disposition to how Nigeria basketball is being run. This is a comment made by her dad on a post asking why she is yet to play for Nigeria.

So we may just need to keep her out of future D'Tigress roster conversations.

Well, it is her family's decision 🙄🙄. They can continue to stick with their decision . D'tigress Program is moving on without Michaela Onyenwere. More younger players are showing up for D'tigress training camps and with what I saw during the D'tigress matchups against the WNBA teams this year, we have a large pool of players to select from in the future. Besides, Ezinne Kalu, Victoria Macaulay, Promise Amukamara are also Nigerian-Americans and they played for Nigeria without complaining about corruption and other vices of Nigerian leaders. Cheers.

Danielnino00:
🚨 BREAKING: D’TIGRESS ROSTER UPDATE 🇳🇬🏀

Here is the latest 12-player roster for Nigeria’s D’Tigress ahead of the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Germany.

🇳🇬 Promise Amukamara
🇳🇬 Jordan Obi
🇳🇬 Elizabeth Balogun
🇳🇬 Musa Murjanatu
🇳🇬 Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah
🇳🇬 Rita Igbokwe
🇳🇬 Victoria Macaulay
🇳🇬 Ezinne Kalu
🇳🇬 Shay Ijiwoye
🇳🇬 Nicole Enabosi
🇳🇬 Amy Okonkwo
🇳🇬 Grace Efosa

12 players. One mission. 🇳🇬🔥

#DTigress #NigeriaBasketball #fibawwc

This is not a great list, but also not a bad list. I think we had limited options and Coach Rena had to work with what she had so this is the best we can put hope considering the circumstances.

One player I would have appreciated her inclusion however would have been[b] Michelle Ugonne Onyiah[/b]. She's currently a player with the Indiana Fever even though she's yet to play, but from a college stats alone I think she would have helped us significantly both offensively and defensively. I think she participated in the November 2025 training camp. Her exclusion however isn't mysterious cause she wasn't in any of the preparatory training camp. If she was I don't think Nicole would have made the team.

lovewins:
She should have been out of the team a long time. I'll even take Lauren Ebo ahead of her and that's saying something. For Okoro she didn't participate in the training camp and this may be she to visa issues (not saying it is, but likely) so she was already positionally disadvantaged with her absence. Worthy of note also is that when Okoro featured at the last qualifying tournament Grace Efosa was absent. They are more or less same kind of player. I don't think it makes sense to have both of them on a roster.

She also wasn't necessarily great at the qualifying tournament though the entire team was terrible. She averaged 5PPG and shot 0% from 3. She didn't make one 3 point shot. Not like Grace is significantly better but they are not very different in my opinion.

@lovewins, thanks for throwing light on the reason why Ifunanya Okoro might not have made camp. I like Okoro's game though. However, I have seen Grace Efosa in action and she brings fire to the game on her great days. As for Blessing Ejiofor, she was just a filler in the D'tigress Hamburger . I knew she would be dropped if better players come along to the training camps. And it has happened 🏀🙂.

lovewins:
This is not a great list, but also not a bad list. I think we had limited options and Coach Rena had to work with what she had so this is the best we can put hope considering the circumstances.

One player I would have appreciated her inclusion however would have been[b] Michelle Ugonne Onyiah[/b]. She's currently a player with the Indiana Fever even though she's yet to play, but from a college stats alone I think she would have helped us significantly both offensively and defensively. I think she participated in the November 2025 training camp. Her exclusion however isn't mysterious cause she wasn't in any of the preparatory training camp. If she was I don't think Nicole would have made the team.

Yes, Ugonne Onyiah. Yes, she is a good player. I also agree that she would have been a ruby and a great addition to D'tigress roster to the FIBA World Cup kicking off in a matter of hours. I will be happy seeing her suit up for D'tigress in the future. The next Women's Afrobasket will be very competitive. Nigeria has to be prepared.