Odaudu commends organisers as clubs begin search for glory

Rivers Hoopers’ Coach, Ogoh Odaudu, believes the Bullet Basketball Tournament, which dunks off today, will play a big role in Nigeria’s quest to grow domestic basketball.

Describing it as an exciting tournament, which serves as a tune-up event to the Nigeria Basketball Federation’s (NBBF) Final Eight Play-Off, the former D’Tigers guard is excited that the Hoopers are again involved in the competition.

The Bullet Tournament, powered by the Sam Oguche Foundation, serves as a Grade A warm-up event for Nigeria league clubs participating in the playoffs.

“It’s quite a great opportunity for my team. The fear of entering the playoffs in a very rusty form is gone with the Bullet event. We are going to use it to get very ready for the bigger playoffs event that starts immediately afterwards,” Odaudu said.

The Hoopers, who are the defending champions of the tournament, arrived in Lagos on Sunday ahead of today’s opening of the competition.

According to Odaudu, Hoopers, who are current Nigerian league champions, will love to enter the NBBF playoffs as the Bullet Energy Drink champions.

“Certainly, we are here to defend our trophy, but we are also going to be very careful. It’s a tricky one. We have always wanted an event like this, but we are also going to be very careful to avoid any form of injury. We also want to win the playoffs and be on the continent for BAL,” he said.

Kwara Falcons, Ebun Comets and First Bank (women) are some of the top clubs that will feature in the tournament, which is billed for the Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos, from today to Sunday. The NBBF Final-8 Playoffs will start the following day in the same venue.

The men’s teams in the competition are Hot Coal of Abuja, Nile University, Abuja, Mo Heats of Abuja, Abuja Correctional Services, Ebun Comets, Legends of Lagos, Kwara Falcons, Rivers Hoopers, DYTO of Lome, Togo, Warlords of Ogun, Delta Force of Asaba and Grizzly Bear.

The women’s teams are First Bank, MFM, Air Warriors, Impression Basketball Academy, War Queens, Ogun, Peace Basketball Academy and Tap Queens.