Rivers Hoopers’ head coach, Ogoh Odaudu, has expressed optimism about his team’s chances as they prepare to face Stade Malien in their opening game of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Kalahari Conference playoffs in Rabat, Morocco, this Saturday.
Speaking ahead of the highly anticipated match, Odaudu stated that his team possesses the necessary qualities to surpass their performance from last year’s BAL season. It will be recalled that the KingsMen made history as the first Nigerian team to reach the podium at the BAL, securing a commendable third-place finish.
While the team’s ultimate goal is to achieve even greater success this season, Odaudu emphasized that their immediate focus is on securing qualification for the playoffs, which will be held in South Africa later in the year. “Training has gone well so far; we’ve been working very hard for the past two weeks, and we’ve made tremendous progress,” the coach stated.
“Every tournament is just like an examination, you want to do better than the previous year. We came third last year, but we do not want to jump far ahead of ourselves. Our goal right now is to qualify from Morocco to the finals in South Africa, and then afterwards, we can dream of something else. But right now, we’re not thinking so far ahead, we want to be one of the two teams to qualify for South Africa at the end (of the Kalahari Conference),” he added.
Following their match against Stade Malien, Rivers Hoopers are set to face formidable opponents in FUS Rabat of Morocco and Al Ittihad of Egypt. Odaudu acknowledged the level of competition posed by the other teams in the BAL, stating, “It’s really difficult, right from qualifying from Nigeria. Now everybody knows our name in Africa now, the Rivers Hoopers, so it’s going to be twice as difficult as it was last season. Nobody’s going to underrate Nigeria anymore. They know what we can do. We drew a huge target on our back [last season], and people will be aiming for us now. But we’re just going to play our basketball and hopefully, at the end of the day, qualify (for the playoffs).”
In compliance with BAL regulations, Rivers Hoopers have bolstered their squad with the acquisition of point guard Maxi Shamba from Congo DR, forwards Madut Akec from South Sudan, and Raphiael Putney from the USA. The team has also retained the services of Kelvin Amayo and Peter Olisemeka, who played instrumental roles in the KingsMen’s triumph in the Nigeria Premier Basketball League last year. Additionally, David Ugonna, a promising youngster who was part of the Rivers Hoopers team at BAL season four, has been elevated.
Despite the absence of key players such as sharpshooter Will Perry, the tireless Devine Eke, and experienced John Wilkins, Odaudu remains confident in his current squad’s ability to deliver. “It’s a quite different team; we have a new point guard (Maxi Shamba), we have Raphiael Putney, who’s almost 7-foot tall and can shoot the lights out every court. We also have Madut Akec, who I think is an upgrade of what we had last year. So I think the team is good to go. I am not one to single out players, I’m a team player, and the whole team is equally important for what we hope to achieve.”
With Odaudu’s leadership and a revamped squad, Rivers Hoopers are determined to make a significant impact at this year’s BAL and continue their quest for basketball glory on the African continent.
