The Nation Newspaper

Tag: FIBA

  • Basketball: Nigerians expectant as FIBA set to announce wild cards

    Basketball: Nigerians expectant as FIBA set to announce wild cards

    With just two days to the announcement of the four successful bids for the wild cards for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Nigerian basketball family is expectant as the Central Board of the world body meets in Barcelona, Spain on Saturday.

    The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) along with 15 other federations met the October 30, 2013 deadline for submission of bids for the wild cards for their national teams and NBBF president, Tijanni Umar said in an interview in Abuja that the federation expects to be among the successful bids.

    He stressed that Nigeria’s basketball would be greatly honoured to be the first African side to bag a wild card for the World Cup following the country’s formidable team’s failure to qualify directly at the 2013 Afrobasket held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

    Umar argued that the national male team failed in Abidjan “largely due to a depleted roster caused by major injuries and the players are itching to redeem the team’s profile.”

    Still advancing reasons why Nigeria should get a wild card for the World Cup, the NBBF president said: “Our team has a pool of sustainable talent in some of the best basketball leagues across the world that can perform and compete against the best at the highest levels of the game (i.e.the Olympics and the FIBA Basketball World Cup)”, adding that the country’s best players have committed to play in the FIBA Basketball World Cup if the bid is successful.

    Asked how competitive he expects the Nigerian team to be and whether he is confident the team will feature its leading/best players, Umar said: “If given a wild card, our team will present its best-ever roster for maximum impact and our team captain has written a commitment letter on behalf of his colleagues which is enclosed in our bid document.”

    The countries jostling for the four available wild cards alongside Nigeria (ranked 18 in the world) are, Bosnia-Herzegovina (57), Brazil (10), Canada (25), China (12), Finland (39), Germany (14), Greece (5), Israel (37), Italy (21), Poland (40), Qatar (42), Russia (6), Turkey (7) and Venezuela (28).

  • Fans rue Nigeria’s quarter-final loss to Senegal

    Fans rue Nigeria’s quarter-final loss to Senegal

    Some supporters of D’Tigers, the Nigerian basketball team on Thursday in Abidjan described the quarter-final loss to Senegal in the on-going African Nations Basketball Championship (Afrobasket) as painful.

    NAN reports that the Nigerian side which progressed unbeaten to the quarter-final lost 64-63 to Senegal on yesterday.

    The report said that apart from ending the team’s dream of lifting the title for the first time, the loss also ended its bid to book a place in the World Cup.

    The D’Tigers had beaten Mali 74-59, Congo 93-75, Cameroon 91-84 in the first round, and Central African Republic 112-75 in the second round.

    Some of the supporters who spoke to NAN after the match said the slim loss was heartbreaking and unexpected, judging by the performance displayed since the beginning of the tournament.

    Bright Moses, President of the Association of Nigerian Youth in Cote d’Ivoire, said the loss to Senegal, dwindled the surging morale of supporters.

    “It was actually not a good day for the team; we saw them bungle similar opportunities that they utilised in the previous matches.

    “They clearly did not come out with the kind of force we saw in the previous games, we all came out of the venue dampened,’’ he said.

    Another supporter, Nkono Maximus, a Nigerian trader based in Abidjan, described the loss as “cutting short the joyous moments brought to Nigerians in the country since the game began.

    “Truly, this is not where we hoped to end, it was painful but we must take it as one of those things in sports.

    “When we won, some persons mourned and wept, today we have lost, it happens in the world of sports,’’ he said.

    Another Nigerian, Ruth Isibor called on the team not to be dismayed by the loss but to go back to the planning table for future competitions.

    “It is true that our hopes and joy have been cut short, but we must go back and plan, we have a team that can go far’’ she said.

    The 2013 edition is Nigeria’s 25th appearance in the championship since its premier edition in 1965.