Tag: Hoopers

Rivers Hoopers vice-captain Buchi Nwaiwu is delighted to see league basketball back in Port Harcourt.

The Nigeria Basketball Federation picked Port Harcourt as host for the Final Four scheduled to hold between November 23 and 25 .

Nwaiwu was part of the Hoopers’ roster who last played at home on 22 July 2017 in the 81-65 win over Nigeria Customs.

Speaking during a media tour at the weekend, the 2018 FIBA Africa Zone 3 MVP says it is time to give back to the fans who have shown their immense support over the years.

”I feel very happy and excited to play in front of our home fans,” Nwaiwu said.” It is something to always look forward to playing in front of your friends, fans, family and well-wishers.

”They give us support when we go out there to do what we love and know how to do best. They watch you on live stream and now you have the opportunity to make this happen right in front of them.

Nwaiwu added: ”We are going to make it worth it.”

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Games will be played in a round robin format and the team with the most wins/points will be crowned champion and awarded a ticket to the 2024 Basketball Africa League.

Hoopers will play Gboko City Chiefs tomorrow  before playing Hoops and Read and Nigeria Customs on Friday and Saturday respectively.

”We will not be underrating anyone because for a team to get here shows they have done enough to get here, so we are doubling down on our effort, training and preparation.

”This is the last lap and we have to make it count,” Nwaiwu concluded.

Since Hoopers last played a league game in Port Harcourt, they have gone on to win the 2018 FIBA Africa Zone 3 Championship, 2019 and 2021 Nigerian League, 2021 Crown Elite Championship and the 2023 Louis Edem Invitational Championship.

Rivers Hoopers made it three consecutive wins after an 89-58 demolition of their south-south rivals, Delta Force at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba yesterday.

Bolaji Emilagba (17), Michael Oriakhi (17) and Mustapha Oyebanji (16) all finished in double figures for the KingsMen.

Delta Force started with a 6-0 run at the start of the game before Hoopers dropped four 3s including back to back 3s by Oriakhi to lead by 13 at the end of the first quarter.

The Asaba based team got back in the second, outscored the Hoopers 24-20 to cut the deficit to 9 at the break.

Hoopers made a 10-0 run to stretch the lead to 22 with 5 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Play was halted for 10 minutes as a result of an altercation which ensued between two opposing players as well as a disagreement between some officials of Delta Force. On resumption, Rivers Hoopers ensured they maintained their momentum at both ends of the floor.

The KingsMen were ruthless from the deep, scoring 13 three-pointers in the game, more than the last two games. They also shot 9/16 from the free throw line.

Rivers Hoopers Vice-Captain Buchi Nwaiwu was not surprised at the outcome of the game.

“I was not surprised at all. Delta State and Rivers State are rivals in sports. The rivalry has always been there I expected it, so I came prepared for it.”

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The game which was filled with so much emotion had one of Delta Force players (Faruk) charged for violent conduct on Nwaiwu.

Nwaiwu continued: ”I didn’t react to what happened, I just had to swallow it because I knew it was bound to happen. The goal was to win so I had to keep my head in the game so we could achieve our goal for today.”

”We see it as a warm up game ahead of the tougher challenge ahead of us . We are just getting started and beginning to blend better and we will move on from there, Nwaiwu added.

Meanwhile , Hoopers forward Olatoye Duro-Ladipo, said winning was culture for the team.

”The feeling is the same, it’s not new. We have been here before, winning is our culture so we are used to it and I am happy we are winning.

“ I expected the outcome and we also expected all that happened during the game.”

Rivers Hoopers will play their last game of this conference against Raptors today.

Rivers Hoopers made it two wins out of two games  in the 2023 NBBF Premier League after their 74-59 victory over Lagos Legends  yesterday in Asaba.

Three players finished in double digits for the KingsMen. Toye Ladipo had 13, Victor Anthony Koko and Michael Oriakhi added 10 points each in the game.

Koko shot three consecutive buckets while Oriakhi had back to back three pointers in the first quarter to help Hoopers take a four point lead to second quarter 20-16.

Hoopers increased the lead to 18 points (3-20) midway through the second quarter, but Legends made a 7-2 run in the last 2 minutes to cut down the deficit to 13 at half time (40-27).

The Ogoh Odaudu-led side struggled on the offense at the start of the second half, giving up  seven points, but Ladipo made back to back baskets including a dunk to restore Hoopers’ momentum.

Though Rivers Hoopers were outscored in the last two quarters (8-13, 16-19) Buchi Nwaiwu shot 6 points in the last 3 minutes of the game to ensure they recorded their second victory.

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With 24 seconds remaining, Mustapha Oyebanji shot from the deep as Legends were left with no choice but to run down the clock accepting their first defeat in the league this season.

After the game, Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu was not too impressed with the overall play of the team.

”I feel good we were able to win the game. It makes me feel good that we didn’t lose, but I am not too impressed with how we have played so far,” Odaudu said.

”We are not where we are supposed to be but I know we are a work in progress and it is getting better. You can tell today was a lot better than the game we played yesterday and i am thinking tomorrow is going to be a lot better so its work in progress and hopefully we improve by the day.”

Rivers Hoopers will play Delta Force  today at 1pm.

Despite being tagged favourites to win the 2023 NBBF Premier league, head coach of the Rivers Hoopers Ogoh Odaudu has refused to be drawn with the favourite tag.

Rivers Hoopers go into this season on a back of their victory at the Louis Edem tournament held in Lagos last month, which they accomplished without a defeat. The KingsMen finished with a 6-0 to emerge champions of the second edition.

Hoopers will be up against Delta Force, Police Batons, Lagos Legends and Lagos Raptors in the first phase of the Atlantic Conference to be played in Asaba.

Odaudu said his team will approach every game like a final.

”We are going to face every opponent like we don’t know them. We are going to approach every game with caution, with a lot of discipline and make sure we do all that we have put in at practice.”

”Basketball is played on the court and not on paper or the pages of social media. I see what a lot of people have been saying on social media but I won’t allow it to get to me.”

It is expected that four teams will make it out of this zone to the Conference Finals and also form the Premier League team for 2024, while the last team will drop to division one league alongside the other two teams Lagos Warriors and Oriental Giants who failed to make it down to Asaba.

The four qualified teams will be joined by the other four teams from Ibadan venue in the Conference Final 8.

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Top two teams from the two conferences; Atlantic and Savannah, will play the Final four tournament to determine who emerges the champion of the league.

The former Nigeria international is desirous to win the league, but explained the need to accomplish other targets.

”My target is to win and to pick the BAL ticket at the end of this campaign.” But the way this format is, a lot of things need to be achieved. First, we need to come out in the first four from this phase to seal our qualification to play in the Premier League next year.”

Odaudu added: ”We also have to make sure we top our group to be in good standing so that when we are going for the Conference finals, if they seed the top teams we will be way up there. It is not just for the seeding alone but to send a message to other teams out there that you have to watch out for Rivers Hoopers if you want to play against them.

Rivers Hoopers will play their first game on tomorrow against Police Batons.

Full Fixtures for Asaba zone

Day 1  (Monday 23rd)

Lagos legend vs Delta force (11am)

Police vs Raptors (1pm)

Day 2 (Tuesday 24th)

River Hoopers vs Police Batons (11am)

Raptors vs Lagos legends (1pm)

Day 3 (Wednesday 25th)

Raptors vs Delta force (11am)

River Hoopers vs Lagos legends (1pm)

Day 4 (Thursday 26th)

Lagos legends vs Police (11am)

Delta force vs River Hoopers (1pm)

Day 5 (Friday 27th)

River Hoopers vs Raptors (11am)

Police vs Delta force (1pm)

Rivers Hoopers have made it to the semi-finals of the Louis Edem Invitational Basketball Championship after a 41-32 win over Ebun Comets yesterday.

Buchi Nwaiwa and Michael Daramola combined for 16 points to extend Hoopers’ unbeaten run to three games.

The first-three quarters ended in slim margins (8-7, 18-16, 28-25), but Hoopers ensured they remained in the lead going into the fourth quarter.

Nwaiwu who had a great game at both ends of the floor explained why he had a better game in the second half.

“I went with the tempo of the game in the first half. I was not flowing with the game and when I got into the second half I knew we had to take this game and not relent so I had to put all i could to make sure we win it.”

Ebun Comets had beaten the Port Harcourt club in February during the first edition of the Louis Edem Invitational tournament. Nwaiwu was not surprised at the way they were stretched by the Ayodele Bakare-led Comets team.

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“When someone has beaten you before he comes with the mind-set that you are beatable and they can do it again. We expected it, but we were just a bit laid back in the first quarter and we had to rally ourselves to avoid it happening again.”

Meanwhile, Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odauau described the game against Comet as a difficult game.

“‘It was a great game like I mentioned earlier, Ebun Comets are one of the best coached teams in this tournament. I knew it would be a difficult game so I had to do a lot of shouting. We have made it 3-0, tomorrow (Thursday) hopefully we will make it 4-0.

Odaudu reiterated the need to win the tournament and the use of running time which has produced low scoring games.

”We need to win this tournament, which has been our target,” Odaudu stated.”

”Our fans should expect to see a better game and better Rivers Hoopers in the semis. The running time we are making use of now is not a true reflection of the team. Hopefully, by the semis when we play the normal 10 minutes game in 40 minutes of play we will see a better Rivers Hoopers team.”

The organizers of the Louis Edem tournament chose the use of running time to accommodate the number of teams competing and games to be played on each day.

The KingsMen will play their last group game against Ogun Warlord today.