...To strengthen the Team, to camp in Port Harcourt
...Shower praising on the Rivers State Government for their unflinching support
By Oluwatobiloba Zeal-Adepetu Kumoye who was in Port Harcourt for the NBBF Men's Premier League Final 8
"We goal and target for the 2025 Africa Basketball League (BAL), is to go a step higher and possibly win the prestigious honour."
This is the submission of the Head Coach of the back to back Nigeria Basketball League winners Rivers Hoopers, Ogoh Oduadu in an interview with your authoritative and award-winning news channel FIRST ZEALMEDIACAST BLOG shortly after they were crowned champions in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, South South, Nigeria.
Oduadu who once managed D'Tigers, Nigeria's senior men national team said Rivers Hoopers have what it takes to go beyond the third place finish it achieved some eight ago in the 'Land of a thousand hills -- Rwanda.
"Every time you undertake a project, you always want to do better than the previous one. So the last time we came third, we're hoping that you can go out there and give a better performance. There are quite a couple of new teams, stronger teams coming around this time around, so I want to do our best to see what we can do to better position," he stated.
Third position is not a bad idea, but we want to go a step further this time around.
The team is expected to open its camp in Port Harcourt early next year ahead of the BAL Conference finals scheduled for April next year.
"Whoever we're bringing to the team, we will bring them to Port Harcourt for camping, we don't know which of the conferences we're going to be playing in but wherever we will be pIaying we will arrive two weeks before to do some training," he explained.
The 2025 BAL season will feature the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries playing 48 games in:
✓ Rabat, Morocco
✓ Dakar, Senegal
✓ Kigali, Rwanda
✓ Pretoria, South Africa
The 12 teams will be divided into three conferences of four teams each.
Each conference will play a 12-game group phase during which each team will twice face the other three teams in their respective conferences.
★ The Kalahari Conference will take place from April 5 -13 in Rabat, Morocco
★ The Sahara Conference from April 26- May 4 at the Dakar Arena in Senegal
★ The Nile Conference group phase is scheduled for May 17 - 25 at BK Arena in Kigali
Eight teams from across the three conferences will qualify for the Playoffs in Pretoria, which will tip off on June 6 and end with the 2025 BAL Final on June 14.
This season, the national league champions from seven countries:
✓ Angola
✓ Egypt
✓ Morocco
✓ Nigeria
✓ Rwanda
✓ Senegal
✓ Tunisia -- automatically qualify for the BAL Conference finals.
The other five teams qualify through the Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Africa across the continent from October- December 2024.
This is the final 2025 BAL schedule made public last week by Basketball Africa League:
KEY DATES:
• Kalahari Conference - April 5 -13 in Rabat, Morocco
• Sahara Conference - April 26- May 4 at the Dakar Arena, Senegal
• Nile Conference - May 17 - 25 at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda
PLAYOFFS FINALS:
• Playoffs - June 6 - 14 in Pretoria, South Africa
We understand that Coach Ogoh Oduadu and his back room crew and the Rivers State Government are working round the clock to strengthen the fire power of the team.
An elated Coach told FIRST ZEALMEDIACAST BLOG that the undivided attention given to the team by the Sports Commissioner Barrister Christopher Green and the Governor His Excellency Fubara is one of the driving force behind their success story.
" Funding has never been an issue. We are sponsored by Rivers State Government, and funding has never been a problem. The fact that we are well taken care of is something that motivates, we treat our players, the best way possible and this moves them to want to do better," he emphasized.
Ogoh Oduadu, explained that the club fans have been fantastic and they will not take their support for granted. Their backing is a clarion call to do more and achieve more.
"We asked them to come and support us in Rivers State and they came, so we are happy that we didn't disappoint them, we thank them for all the support and we pray that they continue to support us," he concluded.
Rivers Hoopers had an excellent run in the abridged Nigeria Basketball Federation Men's Premier League of 12 games, winning all. In the final, they defeated one of the most prestigious and respected team in the League Hoops N' Read 71-54 in front of a partisan and passionate fans in the Rivers State capital of Port Harcourt.
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