 Congratulations to Victor Okoro who just got APPOINTMENT into the Board of the Nigerian Basketball Federation, NBBF.
Victor Okoro who filled the vaccum on the Board due to the retirement of CC Ayodele Titus. Recently Okoro was also appointed as Basketball corodinator for NSCDC National Basketball Team and will oversee the affairs of Basketball in the Corps. In her letter of confirmation/congratulations from the NBBF, the secretary General in her words described the appointment as deserving and not surprising. He also doubles as the Personal Assistant to the president of the NBBF, a former National team player, league Director and Chairman Abia state basketball Association.
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 'Yogi Berra, Baseball Hall of Famer and former MLB coach, put it this way, "90% of the game is half mental". What a good book can do for your mindset is equivalent to what good nutrition can do to your physical performance.'- Inma Zanoguera (2016) Alex Aigbike (also known by his pen name Albrin Junior) our man who says he plays basketball has a literary work called Naked Coin out in bookshops. While he may have got us angry by not infusing sports into it; in line with our 'read a good book to improve performance both on and off sporting activities initiative called #readthegamescript, we still going to celebrate him (with an interview) and his work (with a critical review-and we will add own sports aspects to make it more entertaining [hopefully]). Kindly enjoy the long drive.  The Critic: In one of the English translations of a popular book is the phrase '...because time and unexpected events, overtake (man).... For man doesn't know his time. Just as fish is caught in an evil net and birds are caught in trap, so the sons of men are ensnared in a time of disaster, when it suddenly over takes them'. The 'man' here is Ikenna's family including his still living father (Nna; a guru at draft), mother (Nne), his sister (Ndidi), his relative (Igbane) and as discovered later his half-brother Chijioke [a rifle and archery specialist who has a eye to representing Nigeria at Common Wealth Games] and Efosa who didn't die thankfully but lived to marry Ndidi, after he meet her in 'Abia State'. The family excluding Chijioke lived in Benin [where Ikenna an egg/sack race champion and a 'Bend it like David Beckham' specialist gets to play a lot of soccer]. The 'time' rests like butter between two loaves of bread in between the years 1967and 1970, when the two and half year's Nigerian Civil War happened. The 'unexpected events & disaster that suddenly over takes them' alongside the romance is what makes Naked Coin an interesting read. There is 'romance aka roma roma' in this war setting, and it's not about Ndidi and Efosa par say. No! It's about Ikenna and 'your smile that makes my smile, smile', a romantic line phrase Ikenna used to which I turned into an alias for [2021 Olympic bound Nigeria basketball team member] Ivie Osezwa, who Ikenna directed the romance phrase sentence to. [Their Love and Basketball was actually the motivation for the year 2000 film that was written by Gina Prince-Bythewood and produced by Spike Lee et al that grossed +$27 million. Nigerian type of cona cona wantintin love certainly inspires]. Efosa and Ndidi [who uses playing fitness sports and scrabble as means to get away from home to see her ayo aka abula {a type of Yoruba sport} playing Benin man friend] were just nice distractions created by the author to keep us reading; It's the same strategy he used with the jealousy scene when Nne finds out at the same time with Nna, Ikenna and Ndidi that Nna has another son (Chijioke) from another woman with the name Mrs. Anulika who they met when they had to find their way to 'Abia State', as they were setup to believe they needed to run their lives.  The story shows the unexpected change of fortune of this Igbo family at the breakout of the war. Though they live outside the territory called Biafra, the tribal sentiments and suspicion affects them. It is at this time Ikenna who is seeking admission into the University, meets and falls in love with ‘your simile that makes my smile, smile’, who too is equally seeking admission as well. To know if 'your smile that makes my smile, smile' and Ikenna reunite for a continuation of their 'roma roma' after the war separates them, I need to leave the comfort of my home, do a 'Tour de France' to Benin City of the Mid Western State (later Bendel State, now Edo State) and become 'by fire by force' a member of their family without their consent. This I did successfully. Ikenna's family [with their fine 65, 000 seater sports center, just big enough for Meadowlark Lemon 'The Clown Prince of Basketball to entertain the warring factions and make them forget their beef], were well to do but lost it, and would be driven to try to recapture it especially by Nne after the war, who moved from a normal house wife to murderer, not once, not twice but thrice-and if you consider Chijioke's death to be from her directly, that would be four times a murderer. The author did well to keep us glued; gave us many twist and turns. I found myself later scanning [and long jumping] paragraphs quickly sometimes to get to the end to see if Ikenna would reunite with Ivie and hopefully not die. [After their many quarrels on which sport is better and 'your smile...' trying to teach Ikenna how to play and him trying to teach her with a lot roma roma intrigues why shouldn't I?] 'Die!' Death! For a war setting, if death was not part of the story, it would have been like leopard not having spots; it would have been totally incomplete; totally unusual. Death came quickly for many. It took Igbane, Chijioke, a certain Mr. Chigbo (alongside his solider man), [many young promising sporting stars]; and very emotionally for me Nne's mother who she had not seen for more than twenty years or so (after Nne ran away with her lover turned husband); right there at mother and daughter's reunion [and the basket & soccer balls punctured by the bombs alongside fly infected dead bodies still wearing their sports jersey, though now torn and stained which pained Kobe Bryant when he saw things first hand and again prompted him into charity action].  For a book attempting to make Lagos State Secondary School Literature Scheme of work of recommended books, the authors avoidance of (the use of too many) big English words, was ok; this a trap young or amateur authors fall into. With my busy schedule, I certainly didn't want to consult the dictionary too often, unless they were ‘slam-dunkish’ in nature words. Language level was at Junior Secondary School, so it's easy to comprehend by educated levels above Junior Secondary school. As I was taught, if one is writing for undergraduates, you use the language that Senior Secondary school can comprehend for them. For PhD students, use P.G.D or undergrads language. And if they refuse to comprehend after using their language, basketball ankle break or soccer toros or lawn/table tennis smash etc them [the way Peter Aluma of Nigeria’s mens basketball national team and Liberty University U.S.A, taught me to in order to get them involved]. What attempted to kill my interest though were: poor choice of words for a 1960s Benin setting, typos among others. One was 'Guy' (a nickname for males among young people today). 2020 may be ruled by Americana but in the 1960, it was 'Britico'. Ikenna who was the narrator for the author was in his twenties during the sixties, so he would have being in his fifties in the year 2020-an old man already. 'Guy' certainly won't still be in his 'vocab' to say his children or grand children. Yes there was Igbo language been spoken, as well as Nigerian type of English language. That's naturally and understandable. The author using them gave authenticity to his literary work but in Benin, Pidgin English is the order of the day. I didn't experience it. While the saying 'your smile that makes my smile smile' is actually ok, I would have thought he would have expressed it in pigdin- 'na your smile, dey make my smile, smile'; (unfortunately I can't add 'you dey feel me so', as it's a modern pigdin saying) or he would have attempted to toast in the native Benin language-the author is from Edo state by the way.  A part that would have been interesting was the Igbo versus Yoruba scene, which Nne and her tenant neighbor, Iya Rotimi were given the roles to handle. It died out just as it started, leaving me to wonder why it was brought up in the first instance. Did the author chicken out or was it edited out, leaving just the intro as a strategy? That part could have been used as lessons on tribal tolerance leading to national unity to our young and vibrant youth in highly tribalized no trust of other tribes in our society but it now amounted to a lost opportunity. When Mr.Oyibo a friend of the family informed Nna that they (Nna's family) had been sold out by Papa Rotimi, to which the decision to leave Benin was made, I knew it was a setup, and Nna's house was about to change ownership to Mr. Oyibo. That was an easy read. I had read something like that in another novel, years ago. Then, developing the Iya Rotimi versus Nne part, would been useful here to teach that Yorubas are good people, as in the end it was not a Yoruba man that deceived them but someone from their own- although the author didn't say Mr.Oyibo was Igbo, he did infer that Mr. Oyibo was not Yoruba. The novel did inform about Mr. Chigbo and solider-man are Biafrans. They both as Igbos did plan to kill Nna and Ikenna, then rape Nne and Ndidi-all Igbos. So Igbo can kill Igbo (like Nne did to Chijioke indirectly), rape Igbo, just like any other non Igbo tribe and Yoruba can save Igbo, just like Igbos will do for another Igbo. Also predictable was the killing of Mr. Chigbo and his solider-man. Quality printing was also an issue. There were parts that were faded, thus I could not digest any information-hopefully this and others will be corrected by the next printing. There was the issue of the use of the term 'Abia State'. During the Civil War, there was no Abia State during the Nigerian Civil War, unless I didn't inquire well. Also, am not sure if Abia as a word, town or place existed then. I did find out from online research that Abia is a four abbreviation of the most densely populated regions (Aba, Bende, Isuikwuato and Afikpo) that make up the state formed in 1991, at least twenty one years after the Civil War ended. The author erred there. He should have consulted the history books. Maybe it's a case of poetic license-if so, why for this aspect? What did he hope to gain?  He equally erred by not letting me experience the cannibalism resulting from deep starvation history books informed me about as I toured with the family. No mention of the kwashiorkor infected children, smell from dead bodies which served a fluid and food delight to the house flies and other animals-only bodies falling as they walked. [Knowing david Stern if he knew such would happen, he would have ensured he put no war in the NBA/NBPA Collecctive Bargaining Agreement deal as he cared]. For a war that took close to three years, it looked like three days. If more of this real life horrors etc were there, the literary work would have been classified a 'gothic fiction' fit for turning into a Nollywood show piece. I was able to locate online information like that of Captain Ben Gbulie; a Civil War veteran's interview from the Vanguard newspaper. There was that from Cornel Daily Sun; Vol. 86; Number 73 dated third February 1970 with title 'Biafran Cannibalism'. On rape and torture which are triplets to death during a war, if you exclude starvation etc, then more gory scenes should have been added. Or is it a case of the publisher cutting out information like these to save cost of typing, printing etc, as I have heard happens? The 'disjoint' on page 230 and 231 resulting in the joining of two incomplete paragraphs or sentences suggests this is what has happened. Whatever the case, secondary school students and sport are at a loss here as they will have to wait a longer time to learn from history. History which can help teach unity instead of the face off major tribes have against each other in Nigeria or global unity as dearly needed-the U.S.A Iran faceoff and blown plane etc have certainly got many scared and the role sports played (if any) during & after the war, the role sports played in fostering unity. Two stand outs: man's injustice to man can come from the same tribe-know who really are your friends; and tomorrow can never be predicted accurately. Things that at normal or good now can go bad in a second, but if one picks the good out of bad, one can still succeed. All in all, for a first timer literary work, it's a good start. Interview link
Ohio (z) Okhai Elakhe is a communication executive with interests in sports, brand architecture, research, technology, entertainment and the arts. Find him via the brand name At Ohiookhai via fb, Instagram and gmail blog. @ohiookhai via twitter.  Sport, Entertainment and The Arts: Interview with Albrin Junior (Alex Aigbike) by Ohio (z) Okhai Photography by Ohio (z) Okhai Getting our man Albrin Junior who says he can play hoops to sit with us was not easy due to his schedule, then came the life and times of Covid -19 that locked down things forcing us to wait a while, so with a football goal post and basketball net, we trapped him for a quick talk for the #readthegamescript read a book and improve initiative and as soon as we saw an open shoot before another lockdown happens. Ohio Okhai (@Ohiookhai) is the orchestrator of the trap defense. Q: Albrin Junior is a pen name. What is your real name and why Albrin Junior? Albrin Junior: My real name is Alex Junior Aigbike. I'm kind of a shy and reserved person (lie- At Ohiookhai .) Most people no dey believe when I say so, and wanted to hide for some reasons. I also liked the idea of a pen name because when writing, I'm more or less another person-I think, reason and act differently. So I picked letters from my names and coined Albrin. Junior is my middle name. Q: You were once a teacher-which subjects? Albrin Junior: I taught different levels of pupils and students. I was once upon a time a primary school class teacher. After my graduate studies, I taught Geography, which happens to be what I studied in University. I also taught Literature in secondary schools and tutorials, preparing students for WAEC, NECO and JAMB. At some point, I also dabbled around teaching Civic Education, English Language. (At Ohiookhai: Alex studied at Ambrose Alli University) Q: Now you become a bookwormish ‘efiko’ book writer- What's the name of your book? Albrin Junior: . Don't mind me, na d way the writing take enter my hand that's why I enter am fully. The title of my novel is Naked Coin. Q: Make I flow with you on the way you take respond, yan us about the book. Albrin Junior: . Ok back to English. Naked Coin is a historical fiction, set in the then Midwestern Nigeria. It tells about an Igbo family residing in Benin City, their struggles before, during and after the civil war. Q: You won an award for it, right? Albrin Junior: Yes. Book of the year (2019) award from Book House Prize Nigeria.  Q: Interesting. You once told me, you love sports, basketball and soccer to be precise. Love enthusiasm is one thing, playing is another; Do you play? Albrin Junior: Yes I do, though it's been about two years I played either of both (not much free time, and lack of easy access to the facilities, especially basketball.) I first fell in love with basketball as a teenager, the idea of bouncing a ball and being guided by rules thrilled me. Eventually, I grew to love football, that's majorly the Nigerian sport. But I love and adore basketball. At some point in my life, when I didn't know what fate had in store for me, I used to tell myself I'd become one of the best basketball player the game has ever seen. 🤦 Now see me.......two years ago I last played. I doubt say I go fit get five clean shot into the net Q: What's your football and basketball handle? Albrin Junior: @albrinjunior on IG & tweeter. Q: Actually I meant which positions you play, but I like your smartness. Albrin Junior: In football I strike. I used to be called Drogba at some point, because I wasn't such a fantastic and skillful player with the ball, my only mission was to find the back of the net. Also I was good with my head. I wasn't an A list striker, but I was a threat to any defense. In basketball, for my height I'm a guard, but I feel like a forward always playing from the wings. I wish . (At Ohiookhai: Like Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, in the song 'the girl is mine' keep [wishing]. .) Some of my favorite players include Chris Paul, Ben Wallace Kobe Bryant among others. Q: When last did you play? Albrin Junior: I last played about three to four years ago, both games. Q: Speaking of Kobe Bryant (Mambalichious). We lost him of recent. . What are your best highlights and memories of him. Albrin Junior: I first began to hear the name, and when he became 'an' LA Lakers player, I watched few of his game and loved his height, shots and determination. I even have a picture of him and LeBron on my phone. His loss is a painful one. . (At Ohiookhai: Two memories of mine are a school friend telling me about this high school player going to the NBA and years later as I didn't have cable TV to watch the NBA like my friend, a mag on him titled 'School's Out' and I think NTA's broadcast of NBA Action were my first getting to know him, then video CDs. While looking for the mag that articled the 'School's Out' ran into another magazine [Marc Eckō's Complex: The Most Hated Kobe Bryant-Doesn't Need Your Love. He Just Wants To Win] in my library.) Q: We equally lost before Kobe's death, Meadowlark Lemon 'The Clown Prince of Basketball' of the Harlem Globetrotters, Peter Aluma (Nigeria national basketball team [Dtigers] and David Stern 'the money'. Any memories on them? Albrin Junior: I first heard the name Meadowlark Lemon back in the 90s from the cartoon globe trotters which always aired on NTA channel 5. He was a remarkable player. I don't know much about David Stern, but he was the old NBA commissioner. As for Peter Aluma, I didn't know him either but I'll sure goggle them to find out more about them to pay them more respect and promote their ‘goods’ in my comments as has when due. (At Ohiookhai: Mine of Lemon was just the little I saw on TV back in the late 70s and early 80s, although am up dating via YouTube. As for 'the money', starting with Newsweek's November 1994 Global ball, which funny enough alongside my Marketing, 11th edition by Etzel et al marketing book that fueled my dream to move from just an ordinary player to a professional sport marketing communication/management/coaching executive. Peter I added as a friend in 1998 or 1997 just after my interest in developing basketball via the national team etc began).  Q: Did you ever follow Nigeria basketball (national and domestic teams)? Albrin Junior: Never followed Nigeria basketball. Q: Which soccer team(s) do you root for? Albrin Junior: I'm not a long term fan of a club per say; reason been I love Jose Mourinho as a coach and so whatever club he coaches, I tend to support. But for this season, I support Liverpool. I want them to win the league. Although Koro don delay things. For me, they have been working hard within the last three years and deserve to be where they are now. (At Ohiookhai: Jose coaches Totheham HotSpurs. Q: What's the performance of Spurs this year? Albrin Junior: knowing you I sense a trick? Which Spurs are you talking about? . If the NBAs Spurs, look forward to their return to top 5. If Totheham nothing spectacular about them yet. They are just average but the coach is trying to build a new team. (At ohiookhai: .) Q: Nigeria Football Federation has unveiled new Nike jerseys. Let me flow again, how you take see them? Albrin Junior: I saw them both, male and female jerseys. To be honest I prefer the female jersey, (maybe na because the girl wen dem use as model fine sha) . (At Ohiookhai: See your life. .) Q: #BBALLtitude #SpeakToAtOhioOkhai #TitansSport have a vex with you as you our guy didn't include sports as a scene in your book. Why? Albrin Junior: . No mind me jare. The thing is in carrying out my research for my novel, there was no where I came across basketball or football in the 60s history (we don't have proper records of those times). I didn't want to just imagine that era, I wanted to record historical events and add my fiction to it. (At Ohiookhai: I no agree, there were at least some football games being played, I remember seeing a photo of my dad with his team mates when he was in school. As for basketball, there must have been something even if to a very big lesser degree.)  Q: Na 30 x 10 curls, 700 x 8 Abs, 9 x 45 bench press, 1, 800meters x 5 runs, 28 x 5 calf raises etc you go do for these mess up. . Albrin Junior: Haaa, ki lo dey? Michael Jordan, or better Shaq no even dream do those kin workouts o. ibeg o, my mama still dey alive o. . Q: . We in our critical review have done a #sportfection (#sportinfection like virus/malaria infection), which might make the book more appealing. How you going to compensate us? . Albrin Junior: . Let me see ............ Well we'll see about that. We still dey together na. Ohio: Your mouth don talk ooo. . Q: Ronaldo vs Messi? Albrin Junior: Hmmmm you start. Messi anytime any day. I'm not a fan of watching football, but watching Messi play is always a delight. Ronaldo is good no doubt, Messi is just the GOAT. (At Ohiookhai: Ronaldo fans, I beg oooo. .) Q. Rangers of Enugu vs Eyimba of Aba? Albrin Junior: Don't know much about the local league, but I've been hearing the name Eyimba right from time, so I'll pick Eyimba. Q: Kano Pillars basketball vs its football team? Albrin Junior: Kano pillars Basketball because I love the sport. Q: Will ManU (my team.) ever raise again? Albrin Junior: I used to support Man, when Mourinho was their coach, because I liked Mourinho. Before then I never really liked them, even worse now. They will rise when they get everything right. But that's definitely not in the coming years. (At Ohiookhai: ManU fans, I beg oooo. .) Q: What's your thought about Ighalo joining ManU? Albrin Junior: I applaud the move, not because I've seen Ighalo play or think he can salvage the current Manu situation (though he has scored some goals), rather because of his belief of "Favor not labor." It worked for him, and I hope he does himself and his country proud Q: Genevieve vs Omotola? Albrin Junior: Are you kidding me???? Without thinking, Genevieve. I've had a crush on her and still do. Q: Moimoi vs Akara? Albrin Junior: This one go hard small oo . Moi moi jare. Q: Shawarma vs garri? Albrin Junior: Both . Q: Coronavirus vs Lassa Fever . Albrin Junior: None of the above. OMG! Those two deadly o!!!! .) At Ohiookhai: Brozzzzz, pick one now, you dey fear? . Now, we laughed as advised in other not to over cry, the serious turns on. Let's hope we can get out of this mess. Shout out to the health workers, they are our heroes. . Albrin Junior: Yes they are the real super heroes. . Q:Regina Askia vs Bianaca Ojukwu? Albrin Junior: Regina Q:Miss World vs Miss Universe Albrin Junior: Miss world Q: Allison Becker is the left back for ManU, true or false? Albrin Junior: . Sake of say, I no too sabi ball, you wan wine me abi? False (At Ohiookhai: Wine ke? Wen you Eva wine kqwa!!!! .) Q: De Long vs Kevin De Bruyne? Albrin Junior: Kelvin Q: Now that I have warmed you up well, here it comes. . You broke our ankle by stylishly giving your contact details. Now is our turn. You got 0.03 seconds left. If you have Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Bill Gates, Akiko Dangote on your team, each standing say 15 feet away from you. Who would you pass the ball to, with the ball travelling at 15 feet per 10seconds? . Albrin Junior: I'd give it to Jordan. (At ohiookhai: apparently, he he has forgotten Vince Carter or has not watched the All Star Dunk competition of late-old school Albrin Junior .) That guy dunking of the ball is from another world. (At Ohiookhai: You dey serious????? For one, Dan, Gates dey your team, na MJ23 you wan pick? Then secondly with 0.03 seconds left? Hmmmm mmm mmhmmm!!!! Got you .) Albrin Junior: For real? You don get me? I don enter one chance be that o. . (At Ohiookhai: No bother yourself, you safe. The question was in line with our #readthegamescript initiative to cause more deep thinking) . Q: What's your next move now?
Albrin Junior: For sports, going back to the court & pitch to show people pepper. For my book, I'm currently working on a short story - Love in a time of massacre. It's a historical fiction too, (don't mind me I love history) and afterwards a novella Abiku. I intend to publish on Amazon a compilation of short stories. (At Ohiookhai: Best then. Look forward to it) (At Ohiookhai: Best then. Albrin Junior: Thanks) Critical review of Naked Coin link Ohio Okhai is a communication executive with interest in sports, research, management, design, brand architecture, technology entertainment and the arts. Find him via @OhioOkhai on IG, and Twitter. At Ohiookhai via FB  It is old news that Africa resources is being used worldwide, in "developed" countries, while the source is still "developing". This does not only go for mineral resources, but manpower. Now, this is not a complaint, but we have a long way to go to build our homelands. Anyway, back to the topic at hand; Nigerian basketball players are proving themselves to be elite players in foreign land, - giving them honours to say the least - for the opportunities provided. I mean, who wants to miss such a chance? Each one of them has worked themselves off and broken limits to be amongst the 12 to represent a whole nation.  1. Nneka Ogwumike (USA) Starting with the most popular, Nneka Ogwumike is not new to the scene and has been very popular and active in the basketball realm. She and her younger sister Chineye Ogwumike went on to be the first WNBA players, as siblings, to feature at the All Stars games. Nneka has won both rookie and MVP in the WNBA. In no surprise she got the MVP title at the recently concluded FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifiers (FIBAOQT), Serbia. Nneka topped the tournament, at Field Goal Shooting (68%).  2. Natalie Achonwa (Canada) Nat is a high and low end defensive player, who averaged 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists. She tops team Canada in Efficiency (18.0) and rebounds, with second in scoring. Her worst game, during FIBAOQT, Belgium was the first against the host. Achonwa played 18 minutes, but came up with only six points. After that; she geared up with her game face, against Sweden and Japan; scoring 16 and 18 points respectively. She is not new to the Olympics haven attended twice. Tokyo may be her last.  3. Temi Fagbenle (England) Temitope is one of the athletes who is deep rooted with her roots and flaunts it occasionally. As the top player representing Great Britain, she averaged 25 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals. Despite her high performance, it was not enough for her to get another shot at the Olympics. China, Korea and Spain displayed more dominance in the group of death. A player, and an artist, we hope to see more of Temitope's exploits on and off the court.  4. Liz Cambage (Australia) Tall (6'8 ft) and energetic Elizabeth Cambage drew serious attention with her personality and prowess on and off the court. She led team Australia literarily with triple doubles at the end of the FIBAOQT, France, to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics proper. Not just the team, but the whole tournament! Elizabeth topped in; Points per Game (26.3), Total Points (79), Free Throws (89.7%), Rebounds per Game (11.0), Total Rebounds (33), Blocks per Game (2.3) and Efficiency (28.7). Despite her performance, she did not get the MVP title in France and the much contested MVP title by fans at 2018 Women's World Cup, which was given to Breanna Stewart from USA.  5. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe(Canada) Light on her feet and clear floor vision, the high spirited Nayo, is a supportive athlete, feeding off on defensive rebounds and assists. She also features for the Canadian 3x3 team; a specialist on that end. Nayo, at the end of the tournament, averaged 6 points 5 rebounds and 2 assists. She also played a vital role in the downfall of Nigeria, during the 2018 World Cup (Canada 73-72 Nigeria), as she picked up vital defensive rebounds, scored 10 points, and was the most efficient player on the Canadian team.  6. Ezi Magbegor (Australia) Teammate to Liz Cambage and plays the Forward position, plus a decent height of 6'4, Ezi manages to average seven points per game, with 4.3 rebounds, and 1 assist. Owning to lesser play time against France (two minutes), scoring nothing, her average points was significantly affected, for with 19 minutes of play against Puerto Rico, she made 15 points. At age 20, her steady improvement in her position looks steady.  7. Miranda Ayim (Canada) Another veteran on the Canadian team, who has attended two Olympics, going for the third. You would majorly see Natalie Achonwa feeding her with the assists. They both tend to share emotional moments together, like sisters who look after each other in times of need. Ayim has mastered the art of the baseline-reverse layup. At 6'3, she is a very competitive, who loves to rebound, plays defense and yes, watch out for those blocks!  8. Kristine Anigwe (England) At 6'4, Anigwe debuted the British team, and for some unknown reason was benched by the coach Chema Buceta for two of their three games. She was allowed to play the second game against Korea, for 11 minutes and she scored three points, grabbed four rebounds and one steal.  9. Laeticia Amihere (Canada) Currently 18 years of age, Amihere is a rookie on senior team Canada, who plays forward averaged four points, 2.5 rebounds, and 0.5 assists; a good start as she graduated from the junior to senior team. She a graduate, from the University of South Carolina.  10. Monica Okoye (Japan)
Even though she did not feature at the just concluded #FIBAOQT, we could not help but notice her first appearance with Japan at the 2018 Women's World Cup. Then she averaged 8.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals. Her brother, Louis Okoye plays baseball professionally. We hope to see her more in action soon. That is all for now, and this so proves that we have the talent, resource and more to be successful. By the way, this may not be all the Nigerian players out there that we noticed. We believe that there are more, especially those have non indigenous names.  Tokyo Olympic Qualifiers, Serbia - D'Tigress: Senior Women Nigeria National team did it again, defeating Mozambique emphatically, 85-51.
To what seemed slow, but surely team Nigeria under the leadership of Otis Hughley broke down the defense of Mozambique, while theirs appeared to be impenetrable. Team Captain, #11 Adaora Elonu kept moving in stealth for those steals, buckets and block to the unsuspecting opponent. Elonu had 10 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists, 3 steals and 1 block #10 Promise Amukamara rattled the opponents defense with her coordinated handles and shots, while #23 Ezinne Kalu charged her way through exhibiting similar damage. Amukamara got 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals, while Kalu hit 11 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists and 1 steal. All three players made the double digit mark, but what was more important; all players put their names on the score sheet. The collective work of the players, hard work and a little luck has brought them this far, and it does not look like it is going to stop anytime soon. Rookie player Elizabeth Bunmi Balogun caught the attention of the fans, with her scoring ability; creating openings for herself and feeding off team assists. She made 9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals with 16 minutes. As Nigeria got this win, all indications points to an automatic qualification for the Tokyo Olympics. Notwithstanding, they need to keep winning. Next match-up would be against home team Serbia; same time 17:00 (Nigerian)  Coming home after a while, Chinenye Ogwumike nicknamed “Chiney” paid visit to her mother’s Alma Mata; Queens College, Yaba Lagos; and prior to that Avi-Cenna International school, in a giveback quest. The WNBA star, and sports Analyst on ESPN showed excitement, seeing the smiles on the young faces, while she interacted with them, signing autographs and sharing her experiences. Moreso, she met with some of the players from the Nigerian league at Teslim Balogun stadium in a meet and greet moment and presentation. While connecting with the players, she sent her elder sister’s regard Nneka, who was unavoidably absent on an assignment with team USA at the ongoing Olympic World Cup Qualifiers. Speaking with the players, Chiney laid emphasis on Education: “As athletes, we should not ignore other aspects of our lives, rather set goals for ourselves and move toward achieving them”  “Nneka and I were horrible when we started playing basketball, but we were great academically. Nobody thought we would be this good in the game. With encouragement from our parents, we worked hard and it paid off” she said.
“Never use basketball as an excuse not to study, because we cannot do sports for the rest of our lives. When I had to sit out for two years due to injury, ESPN offered an opportunity to work with them as a Sports analyst. Education is the key.” She added. “With basketball we can be what we want to be. Get a role model and a goal model. My sister is my goal model” she chuckled. “She worth emulating” Meanwhile, Chineye gave off gifts such as balls, shoes, jerseys and equipment, sponsored by Adidas.  Head coach of Rivers Hoopers Basketball Club Ogoh Odaudu is expecting a tough challenge when the 2019 Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) Premier League dunks off on Sunday in Ilorin. Rivers Hoopers alongside 12 other teams in the Atlantic Conference have been invited to Ilorin while 10 other teams will battle it out in the Savannah Conference in Zaria from Sunday, October 20 to Monday, October 28. With only one slot awarded to Nigeria in the newly formed Basketball Africa league scheduled to begin in March 2020, Odaudu believes it will be a tough battle against any team. “It is a very tough task. No team will be easy with this kind of situation and you can't afford to have any slip ups or make any mistake,” said Odaudu. “You have to approach each game with 100 percent level of seriousness. We won’t underrate any player or any team we are going to approach each game as if we are playing the Toronto Raptors in the NBA finals. We are going to do our best to finish top and hopefully grab the one slot awarded to Nigeria”. The Lagos State Basketball Association started a City League in June and Odaudu thinks it has handed the Lagos based teams an advantage over others due to inactivity of the National League. “It is a great advantage for the Lagos teams. Practice is entirely different from playing matches they have played lots of matches in the City League experiencing different ball situations. It will affect us but hopefully with the team that we have and amount of talent on the team, we are confident that we can overcome them.” Rivers Hoopers will leave Port Harcourt on Saturday morning for Ilorin, venue of the 2019 NBBF Premier League.  The National Final 8 of the 2019 Zenith Bank Women Basketball League will take place at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos from October 17-24, 2019. Following the conclusion of the Conference playoffs in Ibadan, First Bank of Lagos maintained their unbeaten run in the 2019 season to top the Atlantic Conference ahead of MFM who finished second. Dolphins and Asaba based Delta Force finished third and fourth respectively to confirm their spots in the Zenith Bank Women’s Basketball League National final 8. In the Savannah Conference played in Abuja, Air Warriors stayed true to their name as they defeated all seven oppositions to qualify for the National Finals on a high while Customs under Coach AbdulRahman Mohammed finished second. Plateau Rocks and Zenith Bank sponsored league debutants, Blackgold Queens will also be coming to Lagos after their impressive display at the conference phase. The two National finalists will qualify for the 2019 FIBA Africa Zone 3 Champions Cup qualifiers to be hosted in Cotonou, Benin Republic from October 28 to November 3.  Babatunde Ogunade, popularly known as "Babs", was inducted into the Hall of Fame of UNILAG, in 2005. To qualify for the hall of fame honors in the University of Lagos, you had to be representing the University and the senior National teams of your individual sport Simultaneously. He studied History and English at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. After gaining admission into UNILAG, 1977/1978 session, Babs partook in Nigeria University Games (NUGA) and played for D'Tigers at the Africa Games, Algiers, Algeria. He graduated in 1981.  Other athletes who simultenously played for Nigeria, while in school, were Dr. Alaba Evboma; a Vertinary Surgeon from the University of Ibadan and Barrister Athanasius Tyodem from Ahmadu Bello University who studied Law. Peter Nelson did the same, but played in the Junior category. In addition to the Hall of fame inductees we have; Dr. Bode Karunwi, Mr. Yinka Fisher, Mr. Garien Siekpe(Cricket). Chief. Chris Olufunlola Okunnowo,Dr. Evelyn Urhobo, Ahmed Adio (Athletics), Adokiye Amiesiamaka, Felix Owolabi (Football) . Dr Babasola Thomas (swimming) Cecilia Arinye (Table Tennis) and many others. There are still many other Athletes waiting their induction into the illustrious group.   After a wakeup call, missing the second round of the World Cup championship in China, the D'Tigers of Nigeria managed to secure the Olympic ticket by being one of the top seven teams, at the on going tournament. Nigeria matched out against the host team China, with a fully packed gymnasium, and were able to secure the deciding victory, 73-86. The game which started on a slow momentum for the winning team, picked up from the second quarter till the end. Josh Okogie had a perfect scoring performance at the free throw line, with 9/9, Ekpe Udoh and Stan Okoye too. Nnamdi Vincent showed he is one of the best "catch and shoot" athlete on the squad; he sunk a long trey and another under pressure from the defender, without putting the ball of the floor. He had a 100% on two point range, 2/2. In summary here are the stats: #20 Josh Okogie 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assist, 3 steals, 2 blocks #8 Ekpe Udoh: 13 points, 2 rebounds1 steal #10 Chimezie Metu: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block #22 Nnamdi Vincent: 11 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal. "A medal or quarterfinals would have been nice, but team Nigeria accomplished something big, which kept the dream alive." said a fan. Looking forward to the next as the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, celebrates with his team and officials for the wonderful results from both the women and men. |
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