Nigeria has rich talent base Coach Nwora

Nigeria-born Erries Community College head coach Alex Nwora was in Nigeria recently to help with the conduct of the 2011 Dodan Warriors Prospects Camp held at the Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos alongside other coaches and declared emphatically that Nigeria is blessed with lots of basketball talents.

The Nigeria-born basketball tactician who is also the head coach of Cape Verde senior men national team and one of the arrow heads of Global Sport Advantage explained that he decided to be part of the Dodan Warriors programme due to the respect he has for the President of the Dodan Warriors Basketball Programme, Sam Ahmedu.

Coach Nwora told our correspondent that he has no doubt that Nigeria has the ability to rule the African continent and become one of the super-power of world basketball if a little more attention can be given the sport by the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) and the Nigeria government.

Coach Nwora thus pledge to be part of the camp and other programmes to ensure the continuous development of basketball in Africa.

He said Global Sport Advantage is commited to moving the game to the next level in Africa and the world.

We will continue to do our best in helping young players achieve their potential and I must say I am amazed with the pool of talents I saw on ground here during this camp it shows Nigeria has a bright future in the sport the only thing lacking is lack of adequate support from the government, the Nigeria Basketball Federation should also do more to attract more corporate sponsorship to its programmes aside the ones already secured for the league.

Global Sport Advantage is out to give helping hands to young players, clubs, federations across the Africa continent and other places where we feel we can render selfless services to improve the game and as our name implies Global we will take the message to all part of the world.

Meanwhile six players were selected by the four United States-based coaches present at the camp which was held between July 18 and 22 as the best campers.

Leading the pack of the selected player is the reigning slam dunk winner of the 2010/2011 DStv Premier Basketball League All-Star Weekend, Godwin Ikonshul, others include Victor Joseph, Oladipo Osunubi among others.

Coach Josh Bland of the Bridgeport University in Connecticut, United States, the camp was a tremendous success: This camp is one that I dont want to forget in a hurry because I was able to work with so much talent that it made me fulfilled just working out with them, he said.

I love coming out here to work with kids who really want to learn and are enthusiastic about the game. The campers, to my mind, are the best talents assembled and I want to commend Dodan Warriors management for it effort and hope that when we return next year, well have more players to work with.

While commending the talent-base, Bland said the players needed to understand how best to make use of it to become better in the game and learn life skills that would help them in future. The other foreign coaches present at the camp were Alex Nwora, Jackie Knowles and Simeon Akowe one time Dodan Warriors basketball club player.

Afrobasket 2011: Nigeria Popoola 19 other refs make FIBA Africa list

Nigeria FIBA graded referee Babatunde Popoola has been listed by Africa basketball ruling body FIBA Africa alonghside 19 other international referees for the 26th edition of the FIBA Africa Championship for Men (African Cup of Nations) holding in Antananarivo, Madagascar from August 17 through 28.

Of the twenty referees listed for the 2011 Afrobasket fifteen are accompany referees while five are neutral referees.

Popoola was listed as the Nigeria senior national team, DTigers accompanying referee, other accompany referees listed for the biggest Africa basketball show-piece are; Anthony Razafindrakoto of Madagascar; Julio Carlos Angola; Ben Ali Cisse Cote DIvoire; Arnaud Kom Njilo Cameroon; Steve Koukou-Te-Ngbandi Central Africa; Ahmed Medhat El-Falaky Egypt; Chlif Abdelliah Morocco; Moussa Toure Mali; Abreu Muhimua Mozambique; Didier Shema-Maboko Rwanda; Antonn Gomm Stacy - South Africa; Alioune Fall Senegal; Nourou Djeri Togo and Haykel Ksontini of Tunisia.

The five neutral referees which includes two European and three from Africa are Anastasios Piloidis from Greece; Matej Boltauzer from Slovenia; Vitalis Gode from Kenya; Leslie Cherubin from Mauritius and Nachid Messaoudi from Algeria complete the list.

Four match commissioners will be on duty for the championship which will produce Africa sole representative to the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Match Commissioners includes the Head of FIBA Africa Technical Commission Raouf Menjour of Tunisia; FIBA Africa Head of Competition Amara Conde Fod of Guinea President of FIBA Africa Zone-6 Anibal Manave from Mozambique and Alain Ramanarivo from Madagascar.

One of the continent brightest match commissioner and instructor Joseph Amon of Cote DIvoire will act as the referees supervisor during the championship, FIBA Africa Secretariat head of technical department Julien Farran is the championship technical delegate from the Secretariat, Dr. Aboukacar Gueye is the head of medical corp while Arnaud Sevaux is the statistician supervisor.

A pre-competition clinic for all the Referees and Match Commissioners of the competition will be held on 16th August 2011 in Antananarivo Madagascar. The official FIBA physical Fitness test will also be held during the clinic as the referees and match commissioners are expected to arrive Madagascar by the 15th of August.

The Championship will be officiated according to the FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2010, Referees Manual, Two and three Person Officiating.

The quarter-finals through the grand finale will be officiated according to the Three-Person Officiating. All the nominated Referees are expected to be very familiar with the official Three-Person Officiating.

Nigeria nailed 21 points in each quarter to edge the Dutch team

Nigerian National team overcame Netherlands in London. The African representatives grabbed the lead from the very beginning and finished with 84:66 win. Tonight that will face United Kingdom for the top place.
Nigeria took the lead in the start of the opening period and never trailed in the game. They took 21:10 after the first 10 minutes and scored the same number of points in all the other quarters. The second quarter saw 21-14 as the board showed 42:24 at the halftime. Nigeria added 21-19 in the third quarter, while the European team won the last stanza 23-21.
Derrick Obasohan (199-F-81, agency: Beo Basket, college: Texas Arlington) top-scored for the winners with 30 points and Ime Udoka (196-F/G-77, agency: Priority Sports, college: Portland St.) added 18. Oyedeji Olumide (208-C/F-81) ended up with 13 points, while Jayson Obazuaye (188-G-84, college: Colorado) scored 8. Robin Smeulders (208-F-87, agency: Court Side, college: Portland) ended up with 20 points in the losing effort and Stefan Wessels (203-F-84, agency: R.H.Consultancy) posted 10. Jessey Voorn (193-G-90, agency: Court Side) delivered 9, whilst Craig Osaikhwuwuomwan and Dimeo van der Horst had 6 apiece.

Nigeria NT: Derrick Obasohan 30, Ime Udoka 18, Oyedeji Olumide 13, Jayson Obazuaye 8
Netherlands NT: Robin Smeulders 20, Stefan Wessels 10, Jessey Voorn 9, Craig Osaikhwuwuomwan 6, Dimeo van der Horst 6, Kenneth van Kempen (208-C-87, agency: Court Side, college: Ohio) 5

12th Oyedeji basketball camp starts Aug 29

The 12th edition of the Olumide Oyedeji Basketball Camp has been scheduled to hold between August 29 and September 4. The sponsor of the event and Nigeria national team centre Olumide Oyedeji gave the details for the event in a chat with reporters on Thursday in Lagos.

The 6-10 professional basketballer said that the camp for 2011 would take a slightly different style due to the schedule with the national team in the coming weeks.

It is quite painful that I cannot stay all through the week for the programme. I am coming in from Madagascar just as it is starting and I am leaving immediately afterwards to join Team Nigeria in Maputo, Mozambique for the All Africa Games.

But whether I am in or not the goals remain the same. The aim is to help build a future for Nigerian kids. It is not all about basketball but we have to help them develop in and out of the court. Education and their attitude to life still remain a key area of the annual camp, the former Orlando Magic centre said.

DStv PBL All-Star Game: Savannah conference rally to 86-73 points win over Atlantic

It was pay back time for the Atlantic conference at the 2010/2011 DStv Premier Basketball League All-Star Game as Savannah conference ran away with an 86-73 (24-19, 16-19, 23-17, 23-18) points victory at the Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Abuja on Saturday.

The Savannah conference coached by the duo of Coaches Sani Ahmed of Kano Pillars and Sani Turi of Kada Stars won three out of the four quarters to reclaim the All-Star Game title having lost by 82-93 points in the 2009/2010 season in kaduna.

Savannah conference and reigning DStv PBL most valuable player, Abubakar Usman led the floor with 32 points, 4 rebounds and two assists to retain the MVP tittle he won last year while his teammate Ibrahim Yusuf contributed 10 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists for the Savannah conference win of the night.

Mohammed Bukar led the Atlantic conference in scoring with 17 points with Azuoma Dike and Musa Usman contributing 14 and 11 points respectively.

The Three-Point shooting contest was won by Yelwa Hawks basketball club of Bauchi Combo-guard, Timothy Terry who scored 17 of the 25 balls within 60 seconds time allocated each of the contestants while Godwin Ikonshul of the Dodan Warriors basketball club displayed a rare skill with a superb dunk to win the Slam-Dunk contest with 48-point.

Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria, Joseph Hundah, praised the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) for making the ALL-STAR Weekend a permanent feature of the federation annual programme.

He reiterated the sponsor commitment to the continuous sponsorship and development of basketball in Nigeria.

The event was graced by top sports personalities with Dorector of Sport Development of the National Sports Commission, Al-Hassan Yakmut representing the NSC and the Sports Minister, Engineer Sani Ndanusa stood in for the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) family among other dignitaries.

DStv PBL: Royal Hoopers storm Lagos for a double

2009/2010 finalist of the DStv Premier Basketball League Royal Hoopers basketball club of Port Harcourt will this weekend be in Lagos for a double games against Islanders basketball club on Sunday and Dodan Warriors basketball club on Monday in an Atlantic conference Week-5 pairings.

Hoopers who in Week-4 rumbled over Chariots basketball club of Lagos by 89-38 points at the Civic Centre, Port Harcourt to take it season record to 3-0 and third on the conference standing behind second and first place sides, Dodan Warriors and Comets basketball clubs.

Three games are on the bill in the league this weekend, in the Atlantic conference bottom placed Chariots basketball club will to the court against Union Bank basketball club in a local derby at the sports hall of the national stadium, Lagos, Savannah conference bottom placed team, Nigeria Immigration basketball club of Kano will be at home to Plateau Peaks basketball club of Jos while Tapgun Rockets basketball club of Jos host Yelwa Hawks basketball club of Bauchi on its new home court the gymnasium of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

On Sunday in Kaduna, Savannah conference leader, Kada Stars basketball club will take the floor against defending champion, Kano Pillars basketball club in what what is tagged, Star Match of the week.

Both sides are yet to taste the bitter pile of defeat in the ongoing season with Kada leading the conference having played a game more than Pillars, Bauchi Nets basketball club will host Niger Potters basketball club of Minna and on Monday in Lagos Atlantic conference leader, Comets basketball club will host Police Baton in a local derby.

Both Monday games in Lagos Dodan Warriors Vs Royal Hoopers and Comets Vs Police Baton will be live on SuperSport-9.

NBBF in London for talk with prospective sponsor

In its bid to better Nigeria basketball the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF will Monday hold an important talk with a would-be sponsor in London.

The NBBF was invited to the One-Day exploratory meeting with the potential investors in Nigerian Basketball. The meeting which is being organized by MD Sports Management is sceduled to hold between 11.00am and 3.00pm at the Air France Conference Centre, World Cargo Centre, Bidg 558, Shoreham Road, Heathrow Airport, TW6 3RN.

The Federation will be represented by its president, Tijjani Umar and a board member Yusuf Tagwai at the all important meeting.

The duo of President Umar and Tagwai who left the country on Sunday morning for the meeting are expected back on Tuesday so as to be on ground for the January 21-23 Stakeholders meeting slated for the auditorium of the National Institute for Sports in Abuja.