₦airaland Forum

Anyone telling themselves that as of today,that Mali is not stronger is deceiving themselves,in sports a year is like 4 years in real live...a good example is how our darling Super falcons won wafcon 8 months ago and crashed out 8 months after....the way Mali executed yesterday,was impressive,despite losing,then today,they took down Spain...I think they are where we were in 2022....World cup over before it started,we need to move fast before it gets worse than this...

carbonado:
.. if we win that game in your dream,would you believe it, remember what I told you when you said we would finish 3,I told you it was not certain,the team has not been totally convincing in a while....
Efosa does not belong,
Nicole's last days wearing the jersey,
Promise should be eased to the bench,
Balogun is a streaky shooter,she needs to tell herself,when it is not dropping,I should slash to rim or move closer to shoot the jumper...Jordan Obi is mid...I just tire...

I’m tired too! If Dauda, Enabosi (and to an extent, Igbokwe) aren’t going to get any significant minutes, what was the need in bringing them to Berlin?🤷🏾‍♂️

Amy, Kalu, Macaulay and to some extent Musa and Pallas are the only players I can say deserve to stay on after this world cup.

Danielnino00:
Amy, Kalu, Macaulay and to some extent Musa and Pallas are the only players I can say deserve to stay on after this world cup.

My guy, this your list shows you've not done a correct post mortem o.

Kalu and Macaulay shouldn't even be in the conversation again. This needs to be their last game dance with the D'Tigress. Don't forget every training camp, Afrobasket competition and everything in-between that comes after this is primarily to prepare a solid team not just qualify for but to medal at the next Olympic games. Ezinne Kalu will be 36yrs and Victoria Macaulay will be 38yrs by then. Asides the fact that they are now a shadow of the player they used to be, the age factor just doesn't work in their favour. Goes without saying that

Promise Amukamara should step aside to. Grace Efosa like I mentioned earlier doesn't look to me like a Super Falcons material, Ifunaya Okoro put up a better performance than what she's come up with the last 2 games and that's saying something

Depending on how deep the new roster is, Pallas also can be excused. She offers zero on offense and is average at best on defense. But if there's no one better to replace her with she can be a good sub off the bench.

PDPGuy:
I’m tired too! If Dauda, Enabosi (and to an extent, Igbokwe) aren’t going to get any significant minutes, what was the need in bringing them to Berlin?🤷🏾‍♂️

I think coach should have played both of them. They couldn't have been any worse than what Pallas, Obi, Efosa and Balogun were putting up. We were stuck on offense and maybe a new face could have helped.

Sika Kone of Mali is now the first player to record 5 straight double-doubles in women’s WC play, since 1994 😮‍💨😮‍💨

What a talent she is!

Korea wants to finish off these French ladies with 3s 🤯

FT
France 95-69 Korea

The French are now through to the quarterfinals

NIGERIA ELIMINATED

Nigeria is out of the world cup. Not even a win against France will suffice. Last game on Monday is ceremonial at this point.

Putting this out early so people don't invest their emotions unnecessarily.

France wins the group with Hungary and Korea advancing to the next round.

lovewins:
NIGERIA ELIMINATED

Nigeria is out of the world cup. Not even a win against France will suffice. Last game on Monday is ceremonial at this point.

Putting this out early so people don't invest their emotions unnecessarily.

France wins the group with Hungary and Korea advancing to the next round.

Maybe we shouldn't even play France..they will blow us out...

You're right, this team has reached its ceiling....there's nothing more they can achieve


The fact that a 2 month training camp couldn't change anything shows how bad we are...

Danielnino00:
Maybe we shouldn't even play France..they will blow us out...

You're right, this team has reached its ceiling....there's nothing more they can achieve


The fact that a 2 month training camp couldn't change anything shows how bad we are...

I hope Rena plays Maryam and Igbokwe on Monday. The game is of no consequence, so it will be great to see how they fair against an opposition like France.

lovewins:
I hope Rena plays Maryam and Igbokwe on Monday. The game is of no consequence, so it will be great to see how they fair against an opposition like France.

Coach Rena herself should resign and face her WNBA Coaching Assistant job. She seems far more interested in her WNBA job for obvious reasons. Coach Otis Hughley discovered the pillars of this squad. Hughley was a full time Coach for D'tigress and we saw the results and what he achieved with our ladies from 2018 to 2023. We need to get a new Coach who will be full time ( NBBF should look for sponsors ) and who can build a new team. Many basketball lovers in Nigeria are vexed now. After two months in Camp, we came to Berlin to suffer defeats against Korea and Hungary ( two nations we should normally defeat ). All the blame should not be put on Coach Rena . She has tried her best for Nigeria ( 2 Afrobasket Trophies and a strong showing at the 2024 Olympics ). We did not plan very well for Berlin 2026 and we failed to execute our game plan. Cheers.

Danielnino00:
Maybe we shouldn't even play France..they will blow us out...

You're right, this team has reached its ceiling....there's nothing more they can achieve


The fact that a 2 month training camp couldn't change anything shows how bad we are...

There might be underlying issues as to what has played out in Berlin. Have the girls been paid the 100,000 USD they were promised after they won the last Afrobasket tournament ? Have they received the money in their accounts? Was the money released to the NBBF by the Presidency as promised? These questions need to be answered. Coach Rena herself was not available throughout most of the camping period. As @Carbonado pointed out, a good Coach should be full-time and be physically present to inspire the girls and plan very well with them. I feel very bad at the moment.

On a hilarious note, BascoVanVeli you did our girls strong thing with that clip you posted. Lol.

You can't imagine how far that clip has travelled on US twitter. Video is pretty hilarious. Lol

He Who the Gods Want to Destroy, They First Make Mad

At the end of their tenure in February 2026, they were meant to conduct a new election that would usher in a new executive board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation. Instead, they turned everything on its head, with the connivance of some questionable elements within the National Sports Commission.

Their argument did not only revolve around their tenure. It was also about others not coming to reap where they had not sown, because, in their estimation, they had invested so much in Nigerian basketball and needed to reap the rewards.

And what better opportunity to harvest than the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup?

They had just signed deals with Adidas and XeJet — details of which Nigerians and basketball stakeholders still do not know till date — with other deals reportedly in the pipeline.

For them, it was apparently abominable to simply walk away and accept that their tenure had expired at a time when more money was beginning to come into the NBBF.

So they tried every trick in their books, and eventually got an extension.

FIBA, in its quest to protect its competition, played along with the NBBF leadership and extended their tenure until after the 2026 World Cup. They were understandably wary of another administrative mess that had, at one point, seen Nigeria withdrawn from a World Cup under former Sports Minister, Sunday Dare.

Fast forward to the World Cup.

The team is now on the verge of crashing out after back-to-back defeats to South Korea and Hungary — two teams many Nigerians believed D’Tigress should beat if they were serious about progressing from a group that also contains France.

Everything was set.

The script was looking perfect for a glorious ending to a tenure that has presided over the death of domestic basketball — both the men's and women's leagues — the decline of the men's national team, the weakening of developmental programmes and the growing isolation of the federation from the very stakeholders and basketball community it was supposed to lead.

As usual, they had devised a means to window-dress and mask the myriad of problems confronting the Nigerian basketball ecosystem with the successes of D’Tigress.

And, to be fair, it has worked.

It has worked on Nigerians who only follow basketball through what the media reports and what people share on social media.

But it has also worked on some officials within the NSC.

The last time I had a discussion with a top NSC official, he asked me why people wanted Kida out despite the successes he had achieved.

I asked him to list the successes.

He mentioned the back-to-back AfroBasket victories and some flashes at the 2020 Olympics.

I asked him to mention other achievements.

He had nothing to say.

That conversation told me everything I needed to know.

Because while the decay continued to spread across Nigerian basketball, the successes of D’Tigress were being used as a shield to cover the rot.

Domestic basketball was dying.

The men's national team was struggling.

Developmental programmes were being neglected.

Stakeholders were becoming increasingly disconnected from the federation.

Yet, whenever questions were raised about the state of Nigerian basketball, D’Tigress was brought forward as evidence that everything was fine.

Until...

The rot eventually spread to D’Tigress.

And we saw it in the team's struggles in their last two games.

Imagine what would have happened if this FIBA World Cup unimpressive outing happened under a new board?

It would have been the case of AFTER EVERYTHING WE BUILT, THEY HAVE COME TO DESTROY IT.

What was supposed to be a glorious ending — a convenient final chapter and false summary of a tenure that has witnessed the retrogression of Nigerian basketball — has instead become a true reflection of the state of the game in Nigeria.

Perhaps this is the irony of it all.

You can cover the cracks for as long as you want. You can use one successful component to distract from the failures of an entire system. You can celebrate isolated achievements while ignoring the foundations that are crumbling beneath them.

But eventually, the cracks become too wide to hide.

D’Tigress was the curtain that had been used to cover the rot.

Now, even that curtain has been pulled aside.

The board has been exposed for what it is.

A FAILURE.

© Oni Guarantor

These Italians would have had an 18+ point halftime lead over Nigeria. No cap

lovewins:
On a hilarious note, BascoVanVeli you did our girls strong thing with that clip you posted. Lol.

You can't imagine how far that clip has travelled on US twitter. Video is pretty hilarious. Lol

Which clip

Maybe this... lol

"I beg you to play defense. I beg you to be proud. I beg you to represent something" 🥶

🇳🇬 D'tigress assistant coach tries to fire the team up during a timeout. pic.twitter.com/x8HqrzBQKL

— Naija Bias Football Channel ⚽ (@Naija_Bias_FC) September 5, 2026

PDPGuy:
Which clip

TheSuperNerd:
Maybe this... lol

"I beg you to play defense. I beg you to be proud. I beg you to represent something" 🥶

🇳🇬 D'tigress assistant coach tries to fire the team up during a timeout. pic.twitter.com/x8HqrzBQKL

— Naija Bias Football Channel ⚽ (@Naija_Bias_FC) September 5, 2026

Oh I see 😂😂

Caitlin Clark has been jazzed today!

WDYM she is 0/5 on 3s 🙆🏽‍♂️

Italy no wan gree o.

We might be in for another major upset...

Redman44:
Coach Rena herself should resign and face her WNBA Coaching Assistant job. She seems far more interested in her WNBA job for obvious reasons. Coach Otis Hughley discovered the pillars of this squad. Hughley was a full time Coach for D'tigress and we saw the results and what he achieved with our ladies from 2018 to 2023. We need to get a new Coach who will be full time ( NBBF should look for sponsors ) and who can build a new team. Many basketball lovers in Nigeria are vexed now. After two months in Camp, we came to Berlin to suffer defeats against Korea and Hungary ( two nations we should normally defeat ). All the blame should not be put on Coach Rena . She has tried her best for Nigeria ( 2 Afrobasket Trophies and a strong showing at the 2024 Olympics ). We did not plan very well for Berlin 2026 and we failed to execute our game plan. Cheers.

Rena is a good coach..I don't agree that she should resign...
Honestly, if you're waiting for the NBBF to appoint a full time coach, then you're looking at appointing a below par coach, cus some of the best coaches in the world aren't the ones coaching a national team where they get to coach players once or twice in a year's window...
Don't forget that Rena herself was a full time coach initially until she got that job with the Sky and Hive BC, which I strongly believe was helped by her impressive performance with the team during the Olympics and afro basket..

What the team needs now is a squad overhaul...

The referees did their best to help the U.S. win

Danielnino00:
Rena is a good coach..I don't agree that she should resign...
Honestly, if you're waiting for the NBBF to appoint a full time coach, then you're looking at appointing a below par coach, cus some of the best coaches in the world aren't the ones coaching a national team where they get to coach players once or twice in a year's window...
Don't forget that Rena herself was a full time coach initially until she got that job with the Sky and Hive BC, which I strongly believe was helped by her impressive performance with the team during the Olympics and afro basket..

What the team needs now is a squad overhaul...

Rena picked her players , so their awful performance and elimination are solely on her

Playing like high school kids versus pro ballers at the moment...

End of 1st quarter

Nigeria 13 - 31 France

May be better for D’Tigress to not turn up for the remaining quarters 😂

After this game, i will give my view of way forward..

Ololooloooo..this suffering is too much....

Mali salivating right now....

France have made TEN 3-pt FG inside the first 15 minutes of this game 🤯😮‍💨

Johannes is a proper cheat code. I really don’t know how she puts in those 3s, even when she is off balance