Basketball
SIX MORE TEAMS BOOK THEIR SECOND ROUND TICKETS ON TUESDAY
Six teams successfully booked their tickets to the Second Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019, with Brazil, Dominican Republic, France, Australia, Lithuania, and Team USA all confirming their spots in a drama-filled Tuesday slate.
By advancing to the next round, all six nations have also assured themselves of places in next year’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament should they not qualify outright for Tokyo 2020.
A couple of upsets rocked the World Cup and shook the balance of power, headlined by Brazil’s one-point escape act over Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Greece, 79-78, in Nanjing. The win propelled Brazil to the next round and forced Greece into a must-win situation against New Zealand on Thursday in Group F.
Speaking of New Zealand, the Tall Blacks stayed alive after Corey Webster’s hot shooting helped them get by Montenegro, 93-83. If Webster’s New Zealand beats Greece on Thursday, the Kiwis are through to the next round.
Joining Brazil in the Second Round are Dominican Republic and France from Group G. The Dominicans sprung the other dramatic upset of the day, dealing fancied Germany a 70-68 defeat at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center before the French outclassed Jordan, 103-64, in the same venue later in the evening.
Both the Germans and Jordanians are now relegated to the Classification Phase of the World Cup.
Also in the Classification Phase are Group H’s Canada and Senegal, who fell by the wayside, as Australia and Lithuania survived what was billed to be the tournament’s ‘Group of Death.’
The Boomers had to scramble in the second half before they put the Lions out for good, 81-68, as the Lithuanians blew out the Canadians, 92-69, in the Dongguan Basketball Center nightcap.
Meanwhile in Shanghai, Japan absorbed their second defeat of their campaign, 89-76, at the hands of Czech Republic, who stay alive to play for a Second Round berth on Thursday in Group E.
Facing the Czechs in that encounter will be Turkey, who somehow found a way to crumble under the pressure and fall short against Team USA, 93-92, in overtime at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center.
Turkey very nearly dealt the Americans their first Preliminary Round loss since 1998, but the European side muffed a number of free-throws in overtime that left the door ajar for Team USA to steal victory from the jaws of defeat.
The result made it two wins out of two for Gregg Popovich’s team, enough to formalize their entry to the Second Round.
Once all Second Round berths have been filled, the teams from Groups E and F will move to Shenzhen for the Second Round to form Group K, while the winners of Groups G and H will troop to Nanjing in a newly-formed Group L. The top two teams of those groups will go on to cross paths in the Quarter-Finals.
FIBA
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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