Storyline: Nigeria has finally broken through to occupy the top echelon of men’s basketball in Africa. Here’s what we think it will take to propel the D’tigers to international prominence in Rio. Written by 234Sports, Lagos, Nigeria.
Nigeria will play in the much tougher group in the Rio Olympics. Even though the D’tigers are seen as the worst team in that group, we think Nigeria has a good chance of advancing from the group and contending for a medal. How? It’s by selecting the right players for the team’s final roster.
Coach Will Voigt (photo, fiba.com)
Coach Will Voigt and his team are facing a good problem, though. There are more deserving players than there are roster spots. Despite Nigeria’s much lower ranking (#26) compared to its group members (#’s 2, 3, 4, 9, and 12), the team could win enough games to advance from the preliminary phase of the Olympics.
Before Afrobasket, we correctly predicted 11 of the 12 players selected, and have no apologies for being wrong about the inclusion of Olumide Oyedeji, whom we left off the team. We probably won’t be as accurate this time (given the level of available talent) and the fact that some players are either not available/interested or are not being considered by the coaching crew. But, nonetheless, here are our predictions.
We’ve split the pool of players into groups:
- Guaranteed
- Contenders
- Latecomers
- Should Make It But Won’t
- Wish List of the Unavailable
Ike Diogu (photo, jumpshot.sg)
GUARANTEED
- Ike Diogu – He is an undersized, but skilled big man who can score inside or outside.
- Champ Oguchi – The Afrobasket MVP is a deadly 3-point shooter, but sometimes struggles on defense.
- Seni Lawal – He made up for Diogu’s absence in Afrobasket and led the team in rebounds and assists.
- Al Farouq Aminu – He’s coming off his best season in the NBA (Portland) and he’s getting better all the time.
- Alade Aminu – Also coming off his best season as a pro, A-F Aminu’s big brother adds to a talented front court.
- Ben Uzoh – He’s a laid back and cool-headed point guard who’s expected to be the floor general in Rio.
- Michael Gbinije – Michael led Syracuse to an unexpected Final Four appearance. Comfortable at both guard positions, he and Uzoh could dominate smaller backcourts in Rio.
Mike Umeh (photo, Wikipedia.com)
CONTENDERS
- Mike Umeh – Umeh will likely make the team, but he might not be able to help much at the Olympics. A look at Umeh’s stats gives cause for concern: he does much better against lower caliber teams than against better teams. And he’ll be playing against better teams in Rio.
- Andy Ogide: While Ogide began Afrobasket poorly, he came to life in the final three games. But increased competition and the return of Diogu may mean that Andy fails to make the cut.
- Jamal Olasewere: Jamal was hardly used in Afrobasket as Voigt mostly stayed with an 8-man rotation. Having said that, having Olasewere on the bench would mean instant offense in Rio.
- Stan Okoye: Like Olasewere, Okoye did not see a lot of playing time in Afrobasket. But his value is this: a premier scorer in college he could add depth to the team.
LATECOMERS
- Josh Akognon: Akognon is deadly accurate from 3-point range and that makes him valuable to any team. He’s a bit undersized, however, and may struggle on defense against bigger guards.
- Ekene Ibekwe: This athletic forward is having a good run in camp and may benefit from the absence of Ezeli (no show) and Ochefu (not invited).
Rasheed Sulimon (photo, Washington Post)
SHOULD MAKE IT BUT WON’T
- Daniel Ochefu: He’s a skillful center who dominated opposing centers this season, while anchoring the run of a guard-dominated Villanova to the NCAA Championship. He would have been useful off the bench and a great understudy to Diogu, Lawal and Alade Aminu.
- Rasheed Sulaimon: While Sulaimon may not make an NBA roster this season he’s excellent on the ball and a solid perimeter defender. His offense is pretty solid, too, even if not spectacular.
WISHLIST OF THE UNAVAILABLE
- Jahlil Okafor: A stable, autonomous, and well-funded Nigerian Basketball Federation would aggressively court Okafor. Okafor, a supremely skilled big man, had a sometimes spectacular, sometimes tumultuous rookie season in the NBA. Sometimes spending time away from the pressures of the NBA does a world of good, and the Nigerian Olympic team would be perfect for Okafor. Well, it might happen in the future.
- Victor Oladipo: Oladipo would rather scrimmage against the U.S. team than star in the Nigerian team. Sadly, there’s not much more to say.
- Festus Ezeli: Ezeli was in South Africa for the NBA Africa game before Afrobasket (as was Al-Farouq Aminu), but didn’t make it to Tunis. Ezeli is still nowhere to be found.
Our Predictions/Suggestions, Final 12
Al-Farouq Aminu photo, (Yahoo Sports)
Ike Diogu, Al-Farouq Aminu, Alade Aminu, Seni Lawal, Ekene Ibekwe, Stanley Okoye Uzoh, Oguchi, Al Farouq Aminu, Lawal and Diogu are expected to be the starters in a traditional line up, but the depth of the team means that D’tigers will have a lot of versatility in Rio.
- A line up of Akognon, Oguchi, Gbinije, A.F Aminu & Diogu, could be a small-ball nightmare for the opposition with each player capable of shooting the 3.
- A lineup of Uzoh, Sulaimon, Gbinije, A-F Aminu and Diogu/Lawal would offer a speed and defense-focused variant of the small-ball with some loss of distance shooting if Lawal plays.
- Ibekwe, Olasewere/Okoye could join Lawal, A-F Aminu and Umeh in a lineup dominated by athletic forwards. That would make for a run-and-gun team built for speed and cleaning up in the paint.
Voigt and his staff clearly have the depth to create a versatile team that will create matchup problems for opponents in Rio.
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Note: An earlier version of this article was published in Aranotes.
