13th August, 2013
Barely 72 hours before the dunk off day of the 2012/2013 DStv sponsored men’s basketball league final four playoffs, Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, has postponed the tourney indefinitely.
A board member of the NBBF, Mr. Agboola Pinheiro, who was a former national team coach, told P.M.NEWS Sports that the last minute postponement was to allow teams in the Atlantic Conference, that just concluded their qualification on Monday enough time to prepare for the season ending tourney. He disclosed that a new dunk off date for the playoffs will be announced soon.
The final four playoffs between four remaining teams from the Atlantic and Savannah Conferences was initially scheduled to hold from 16-18 August inside the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos.
Critics of the sport have questioned the reason behind holding the playoffs when some of the players that were supposed to participate in the tourney are with the country’s national team, D’Tigers preparing for the 2013 Afrobasket holding from 20-31 August in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
According to Dr. Onasanya Bolu, a basketball analyst, “holding the tourney after the 2013 Afrobasket in Cote d’Ivoire would do all the participating teams and the NBBF a lot of good than harm.”
—Bamidele Olowosagba