Nigeria’s men’s senior basketball national team, D’Tigers may end up not winning a single game at this year’s African championship in Luanda, Angola, if the words of Gombe Bulls BC’s coach, Samson John are anything to go by.
Sports247 reports that, looking ahead of the competition’s dunk-off this Tuesday, with D’Tigers set to play their first match on Wednesday against Madagascar, Coach John, a well-respected tactician in the Nigerian basketball league, is of a view that the country’s team is not well prepared for this year’s high-profile championship.
Read Also: World Athletics Championships: Leading Nigerian Athletes Commit to Qualifying for Relays as AFN Seeks Financial Support
He declared cynically, “When it comes to all these competitions or championships, we do our own ‘yahoo-yahoo’ style of preparation and all those things ”
Though Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) on Friday came out with a press statement to refute critical comments about the team’s build-up towards the competition and cited an impending friendly with Guinea, John inferred that an overseas tour would have been better for D’Tigers.
He added, “Other countries … like Mali and Uganda … have been travelling to Madrid and other places in Europe, to go and play friendly matches and all of that.
“For Nigeria, I don’t know, it’s only God that’s helping us. That’s why I don’t think we’ll have a good result over there in Angola,” Coach John warned.
Sports247 reports that time will tell whether the Gombe based tactician will be proved right or wrong, as D’Tigers will confront their continental rivals next week in Angola’s capital.
The squad, which has only one AfroBasket title to show, will start against Madagascar on Tuesday, then confront defending champions and three-time winners, Tunisia, in their second group game.
Coach Abdulrahman Muhammed’s side will then end group play versus Cameroon, who have a strong head-to-head record over Nigeria, thereby giving them an advantage for victory in the forthcoming decisive tie.
