AFROBASKET QUALIFIERS D’Tigers’ Final Camp to Open November 23

AFROBASKET QUALIFIERS  D’Tigers’ Final Camp to Open November 23

The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) has announced that final camping for the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket qualifiers will commence on November 23, 2020.

NBBF Secretary General, Afolabi-Oluwayemi Olabisi who announced the dates for the camp said players are expected to fly into Kigali, Rwanda.

On the duration of the final camping exercise, the NBBF President, Ahmadu Musa Kida revealed that the federation would have loved to have a longer final training camp for the qualifiers, but due to the prevailing factors, the camp will have to open four days before the team’s first game in the qualifiers.

“Longer camping period would have been the best option for the team. It would have enabled the boys to have enough time to blend under Coach Mike Brown.

“Some of the players are preparing for the new season with their clubs while others are actively involved in the Euro League, so we cannot snatch them away for long,” observed Kida yesterday.

The NBBF President also explained that the financial implication on the federation also discouraged any attempt to embark on an extended final camping exercise.

“We have to be honest with ourselves as a federation, funding is a key determinant for most of our plans and programmes. According to the popular saying, cut your coat according to your size, but for us at the federation, it is cutting our coat according to our cloth.

“Maybe in future, when our finances improve, we can camp players for as long as necessary,” he noted.

Players have already been invited to camp after series of mini scouting by the technical crew with 12 expected to make the final list.

With adequate plans already put in place by the federation, it is expected that the team will have a hitch-free qualification

The team is grouped alongside host- Rwanda, Mali and Algeria who recently withdrew from the qualifiers taking place between 27th to 29th of Novemberin Kigali.

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