1st November, 2010
Ogoh Odaudu is Chief Coach of Royal Hoopers Basketball Club of Port Harcourt. The assistant coach of the National Under 18 Team, Junior Tigers and a former national team player, spoke with WALE JOSEPH at the Indoor Sports Hall, National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos where his team are preparing for the FIBA-Africa Zone 3 Club Qualifiers dunking off today in Monrovia, Liberia. The former Ebun Comets Point Guard also uncover their plans for the qualifiers and reacts on the age cheat, which rocked the team in Kigali, Rwanda.
How are you preparing for the FIBA-Africa Zone 3 Club Championship qualifiers?
We have been working hard on it and we are getting better. However, there are still some grey areas that need attention and we are working seriously on them. I’m sure before the first jump ball today, we would have worked them out.
About 16 clubs are expected to battle for only two tickets available, how prepared is your club for this challenge?
We are not going into the qualifiers thinking about the 16 clubs, but to take one game at a time. We are going to concentrate on the day’s match, not think about any other match. So we take each game as it comes and see what happens from there.
Your club is based in Port Harcourt, why did you move to Lagos?
We came to Lagos to avoid distraction. This is because most of our boys grew up and live in Port Harcourt and might be easily distracted there. Secondly, we came to Lagos in order to train with a glass upright and get used to it before the qualifiers in Monrovia. The upright we used for the hosting of the final-8 was borrowed from the University of Port Harcourt and we have since returned it.
How has it been in Lagos?
It has been a great experience. We have been able to achieve maximum concentration, which is why we are here in the first place. It’s been wonderful, from the hotel to the training venue and the boys have been responding well to training.
What are the chances of your club picking one of the tickets available?
We have an equal chance of picking one of the tickets as other teams in the qualifier. We just learnt that only six clubs have signified their intention to participate in the qualifiers instead of the 16 clubs, which makes our job easier.
Talking about the just concluded NBBF/DSTV Premier League, what is your opinion about the league?
The league is getting better every day. The standard is improving day by day and I’m sure that very soon we are going to get something like America’s NBA.
Your team lost by just one point to the eventual winners and perennial champions, Kano Pillars Basketball Club of Kano, what happened in the finals of the Final-8 Play-off?
It is something I have not completely got over. I don’t want to think about it any longer because in basketball, it is not over until it is over. However, I’m happy that we gave a good account of ourselves. For a team that was just two seasons into the Premier League to hold a team that has been in the Premier League since inception, before losing by just a point, I think we didn’t do badly. I’m very proud of my boys and we have learnt from that defeat. Hopefully, we shall come back next season to do better.
How do you see basketball in Nigeria generally?
Basketball in Nigeria has a lot of potential. I was in Abuja recently during the preparations of the National U-18 team, the Junior Tigers and I saw a lot of talented young players who were not yet in the league. I just can’t imagine what will happen when this young kids join the league. I can assure you that basketball in Nigeria will keep improving because there is a lot of talent in Nigeria. All we need to do is to get our organising right, which is all about time management, careful planning and well-planned grassroots programmes. With these, Nigeria can rule the world in basketball.
Apart from the Premier League for Men and Women and probably the Division One League for Men, there are no other grassroots programmes where this young basketball players can express their skills, what advice do you have for the Federation?
The NBBF should put their act together. They should look at ways of reviving other divisions like the ones we had in the past, when we were still playing. This will give those that do not have the opportunity to play in the Premier League to play in other divisions. There should be regular competitions for age groups, not just relying on the Nestle Milo Championship which is a yearly programme. In those days, we had so many enthusiasts that sponsored different tournaments like the U-18 and Inter State. This is what the NBBF should look into to improve the game.
What went wrong in Rwanda, in relation to the age scandal of Moses Godfrey?
Moses Godfrey went to Rwanda with a passport indicating his date of birth to be 27 December, 1994, which was different from the one on the Royal Hoopers Basketball Club’ website, where FIBA-Africa got their information. The site is still under construction. The site manager, who is constructing this website just placed information on it randomly to test run it, and that was where they (FIBA-Africa) got the contrary information on his date of birth. Meanwhile, Moses did not present the date of birth placed on the website in any competition. He did not even have a passport that went with that date of birth. Even as the Head Coach of the team, details about me were not on the site, just like some key players of the team. It was just a mix-up. I can assure you that there is no issue of age discrepancy.
What are you doing to correct this anomaly and guide against a recurrence given the fact that the player has been suspended for a year by the continent’s basketball governing body?
As I speak with you now, the club has placed a message on the site that all the information on the site are incorrect. My message to the Federation is to try and keep proper record of all the players so that the problem won’t recur. The NBBF should also ban players who put different dates of birth in their forms.
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