Basketball
2017 Afrobasket: Nigeria’s D’Tigresses Draw Senegal, Egypt
The national women’s basketball team, the D’Tigresses have been drawn against perennial rivals and defending champions, Senegal, Egypt, Guinea, Mozambique and the yet to be determined representative of Zone 4 in Group B for the 2017 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket.
According to the official draw held on Saturday in Bamako, Mali, teams drawn in Group A are host Mali, Cameroon who hosted the last edition in 2015, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire and Angola. The last spot in the group has been reserved for a wild card team.
The Nigerian ladies who were bronze medallists in the 2015 edition were incidentally in the same group with Senegal who they beat but lost in the crucial semi final to Cameroon. They however, beat the 2013 champions, Angola for the bronze.
FIBA stated that the 12-team competition will take place from August 18-27 at the Palais des Sports Salamatou Maiga in Bamako. It also serves as a qualifier for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2018 holding in Spain.
The First-Phase will be played in a round-robin format, with every team taking on its five opponents in its respective groups. The top four teams from each group will advance to the Second-Phase.
The tournament will be played in a knock-out format from the Quarter-Finals onwards. The Third-Place Game and the Final will be played on the last day of the competition, Sunday, August 27.
The FIBA technical report for the 2015 edition stated that “if statistics are anything to go by, then Nigeria were the better team in the competition (because they) scored more points per game (76) than any other team, they averaged tournament-highs (48.9 rebounds and 17 assists per game) and recorded the highest efficiency rate of 81.9.
The report however, said that unlike Senegal, Scott Nnaji’s team paid the price for allowing Cameroon to come back in the Semi-Final after leading for most of the contest, and that breakdown proved costly.
Musa Kida, the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), has been appointed as a non-executive chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the country’s apex oil company. His appointment is part of the sweeping overhaul that the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu made in the first working day after the Sallah break.
The sacking of the board of the NNPC sees the appointment of Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), replacing Mele Kolo Kyari. Prior to his current appointment, Kida was the Deputy Managing Director, Deep Water Services, of Total Nigeria.
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Basketball
NSC DG Bukola Olopade Congratulates NBBF Boss Musa Kida for new appointment as NNPC Chairman
The Director General of the National Sports Commission NSC, Bukola Olopade, has congratulated the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, Musa Kida, for his appointment as the new Board Chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Olopade said Musa Kida has been one of Nigeria’s most efficient and Productive Sports administrators who has sacrificed a lot for the growth of Nigerian Basketball.
The DG maintained that his latest appointment is a testament to his years of passion, hard work, dedication and a very successful track record in the oil sector for more than two decades.
” Musa Kida is an accomplished administrator whose achievements cut across both the oil sector and Nigerian basketball. I have no doubt that the NNPC Limited will attain better efficiency and attract more investment under his watch”.
” Under his leadership as the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, we have seen the steady growth of the country’s basketball and how the National teams have continued to achieve new heights.
” At the last Olympic Games in France, the Nigeria Women’s Basketball team, D’Tigress was one of the shining stories for Team Nigeria, where they set a new record by making it to the knockout phase before losing to the United States”.
” I personally know the efforts behind the scenes that kida put in for Nigeria to achieve that feat with the girls in France and the Nigerian girls have been an unrivalled team on the continent for some time now”.
The DG added that he does not doubt that Musa Kida will use his new position to further earnest the development of Nigerian Sports especially basketball especially now that there is a new focus on growing a sustainable Sports Economy.
” Whilst the Oil sector will benefit immensely from the Expertise of Musa Kida as the new Board Chairman of the NNPC Limited, Mr President, has further helped to place Nigerian Sports in a better pedestal by putting one of us in a very strategic place like the NNPC”, he concluded.
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Basketball
FIBA names Nigeria’s Agada among those who starred the most on the last day of the 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers
The 16 teams that will be competing at this year’s FIBA AfroBasket from 12-24 August have been confirmed, with some teams securing their places on the final day of qualifying.
A quintet of individuals put in stellar performances to send their teams to this year’s African championship in style.
Teams have 169 days to prepare for the 2025 edition of the AfroBasket set to be hosted by former champions Angola, who will be chasing a record-extending 12th title.
FIBA- Africa looked at the matches and the players and featured nine players who were the stars of the final day on Sunday.
Here is FIBA’s analysis: The return of the Tokyo Olympian has been a blessing for Abdulrahman Mohammed’s Nigeria.
For the second game in a row, Agada was a thorn in their side’s side, scoring 23 points in a convincing 77-62 win over 2021 AfroBasket semifinalists Cape Verde.
The 30-year-old played just over 30 minutes and finished two rebounds shy of a double-double while adding six assists and five steals for an efficiency rating of 29.
Nigeria entered the competition after an 0-3 start, but his disruptive presence on the floor helped them to a 3-0 run to qualify, averaging 19 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
The other players highlighted are: Ousmane Drame of Guinea, Karim Maneof Senegal, Childe Dundao of Angola, Siriman Kanoute of Mali, as well as Ntore Habimana (Rwanda) Aliou Fadiala Diarra (Mali) Allan Dokossi (Central African Republic)and Nisre Zouzoua (Cote d’Ivoire)
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