Ugochukwu Iwuchukwu
Rivers Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu has expressed confidence in his team’s chances of making it to the single-elimination playoffs of the Basketball Africa League BAL in Kigali, Rwanda.
Hoopers were drawn alongside Patriots, Ferroviario de Maputo, US Monastir, Forces Armees et Police Basketball (FAP) and Zamalek in the Nile Conference of the BAL.
Reacting to the draw, Odaudu said the team will work extra hard to reach the knock-out stage of the tournament.
“It is a very difficult Conference as a matter of fact there is no Conference that is easy. Every game is going to be competitive. Everybody has to do their work extra there is no team you would say is a write-off.”
“I feel very confident we can pick one or two games also coupled with the fact that we are going to be playing two of our home games in front of our fans so it gives us an added advantage. Hopefully, we can sneak our way into the knock out stages,” he said.
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Rivers Hoopers have been training in Port Harcourt since February 1, 2020, which Odaudu believes will put his team in good stead.
“So far we have been doing a lot of work practising morning and evening getting fit, doing a lot of ball work and working on our plays. I think we are going to do well we are just going to fine-tune a lot of other stuff and we will be ready for the championship.”
Rivers Hoopers will play five games in the group phase with two games each played in Tunisia and Lagos respectively before their last game in Cairo, Egypt.
Their last group game in the Nile Conference will be away in Cairo against Patriots Basketball Club of Rwanda on May 1, 2020.
Top four teams from the Nile Conference will advance to the single-elimination playoffs (Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, Third Place Game and Championship Game) scheduled to take place between May 26 and 31 in Kigali, Rwanda.
