Nigeria’s quest for medals begins today

The Nigerian men’s basketball team and canoeist Johny Akinyemi will be making their Olympic debuts on Sunday, reports ’TANA AIYEJINA

 Nigeria’s men’s basketball national team, D’Tigers, will play their first ever match at the Olympics on Sunday (today) when they file out against fellow African representatives, Tunisia, at the Basketball Arena, London.

The match is historic because it is both African countries first appearance in the event and it is the first time Africa will be producing two basketball men’s teams in the Olympics.

D’Tigers are pooled in Group against giants, the United States of America, Argentina, France, Lithuania and Tunisia.

Group B features Australia, Brazil, China, Great Britain, Russia, and Spain. The top four teams from each pool advance to the quarterfinals, which take place August 8, followed by the semi-finals on August 10 and then the finals on August 12.

The Nigerians, ranked No. 21 in the world, claimed the final Olympic berth for the first time ever with a win over the Dominican Republic in the third-place game during the qualifiers in Venezuela after finishing second in the FIBA Qualifying Tournament.

Before that, Nigeria had erased a 12-point half time deficit and shocked highly-favoured Greece in an 80-79 stunner in the quarterfinals.

Nigeria also defeated Lithuania, the world’s fifth-best team, in the tournament, on the way to sealing the historic ticket, which some have described as the ‘ninth wonder of the world.’

After Nigeria emerged third in FIBA Africa tournament last year with largely players from the domestic league, coach Ayo Bakare applied the ‘foreign theory’ for the final qualifiers in Venezuela and it paid off tremendously.

The team has had recent success internationally due to Bakare’s inclusion of American college and professional players of Nigerian descent in the side. There are only three Nigerian-born players on the 12-man roster; the others have dual citizenship through their parents.

However, when the Nigerians enter the court on Sunday (today), they’ll be immediate underdogs. Nigeria is the third-lowest ranked squad in the basketball event, ahead of only Tunisia (No. 32) and hosts Britain (No. 43).

New Orleans Hornets’ Al-Farouq Aminu is the only NBA player in the squad while Ike Diogu, now based in China, had played in the NBA, for several years.

The others are made up of former college players with playing experience overseas.

But Chamberlain Oguchi believes it will count in their favour against USA who have all their players in the NBA and other group opponents France, who have six NBA players. Lithuania have one player in the NBA while Tunisia doesn’t have any.

“Playing college ball in the States helped us understand each other a little better from a basketball chemistry standpoint,” Oguchi told usatoday.com.

“It helps because we had similar styles of coaching. We meshed and it seemed like we just clicked together.

“This is the best team chemistry I’ve seen on this team and I’ve been playing on (the Nigerian) team since I was 19 years old. Nobody is out there for individual glory. That’s what makes this so special. We’re focused on one goal, and that’s winning. I consider myself a winner and it’s been an honor to play with a group of guys who want to win.”

Diogu is competing in the Nigerian national team for the first time and he had to wait for FIBA to clear him since he played previously for the US.” But he believes he can achieve success with his fatherland.

“I think we’re capable of beating top-ranked teams, we’ve proven that,” he said.

 “We just have to stick to our style of basketball. We’re athletic and we need to rebound. We play well together on both ends. Most of all, we’re battle-tested.

“We’re trying to shock the world. We’re trying to put Nigerian basketball on the map.”

Point guard, Anthony Skinn, admits that they are underrated but insists they can cause upsets.

“A lot of people didn’t expect us to be here (London). But we’re not finished yet. We have a constant chip on our shoulder,” he said.

The Tunisians, who are also making their debut at the Olympics,  won’t be easy opponents for the Nigerians and are in high spirits after they defeated Great Britain’s men’s basketball team 73-69 in Antwerp, Belgium,  in a warm-up game before the Olympics.

In fact, the North Africans, ranked 37th in the world, recorded the biggest upset during the qualification for the Olympics when they defeated Africa’s foremost side Angola to win the FIBA Africa tournament and the continent’s only automatic spot.

D’Tigers must watch out for Tunisia’s best player  and the Most Valuable Player of the FIBA Africa tournament, 7’1’ center Salah Mejri.

Mejri scored 21 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked three shots in the 67-56 win over Angola and he is the only member of the Tunisian squad that plays professionally in Europe, with Antwerp Giants of Belgium.

Oguchi knows that after the Tunisian game, he has a greater task guarding the likes of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant, when D’Tigers meet the USA.

 “They’ll have to match up with me,” he said jokingly.  “I respect those guys, I admire them. Before and after the game, I’ll be honoured. But on the court, they’re my enemy. We know we can take down the power houses of the world. We’re not here to just compete; we’re here to get a medal.”

CANOEING

Nigeria will also be making her debut in canoeing in the Olympics courtesy of Johny Akinyemi, who takes to the waters on Sunday in search of Olympic glory.

The 23-year-old shares a major attribute with his basketball compatriots. Akinyemi has lived and trained in the Cheshire town of Warrington in England all his life but will become Nigeria’s first Olympic slalom canoeist at London 2012, having beaten the Beijing 2008 bronze medallist, Benjamin Boukpeti of Togo during the qualifiers in South Africa earlier in the year to secure his place.

Akinyemi’s greatest challenge will come from the Eastern European countries but he is working hard towards winning a medal.

He said, “I have been training so hard to get within the medal range and win a medal. It will be great to win a medal for Nigeria,” he said.