Nigeria’s D’ Tigers are into the knockout stages of the ongoing AfroBasket 2015 tournament in Tunisia after coming second in her group that contained the likes of Uganda, Central African Republic and Tunisia.
Nigeria will not face against Mozambique in the round of 16 on August 27, where she will how hope to qualify for the quarter-finals.
The Nigerian side with America’s Will Voigt at the head of the technical crew will go into the game well aware of the Southern African nation that also have a rich basketball history.
According to the Sun online, ex-Nigerian international and Lagos State Basketball Association Chairman, Babs Ogunade said of the upcoming fixture: “Against Tunisia, our team looked so ordinary and Olumide Oyedeji did not provide the cover of a big man.
“The wins against Central Africa Republic and Uganda were just a flash in the pan and I had said before the game against Tunisia that the real test was against the host nation. They could not handle the pressure.”
Another ex-international, George Bereofore meanwhile said: “Our players were too individualistic in their approach to the game. There was no inside play as we depended more on the three points shots to make the difference for us. It was very clear that we had no big man on the court because Olumide was just not in the game.”
Mozambique boast the impressive Matos brothers who between them are top scorers for their team. Nigeria meanwhile finished second place in Group A behind host Tunisia with 5 points having their tie against the North Africans by 70-59.
The two teams last played each other in the 2012 Olympics in London with Nigeria winning that tie 60-56.
Tunisia finished as group winners ahead of D’Tigers, Central African Republic (CAF) and Uganda. The winner of Afrobasket 2015 will qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
In a related development, a whistleblower has released documents to the Sunday Times and German broadcaster ARD/WDR, containing names and blood samples of Olympic athletes alleged to have been suspected of taking performance enhancing drugs.
The database contains more than 12,000 blood tests from 5,000 athletes and shows“the extraordinary extent of cheating by athletes at the world’s most prestigious events”.
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