Nigeria’s U-16 basketball team Head Coach, Fubara Onyanabo, is not carried away by the massive victory against host- Cape Verde after securing a 64-39 points win at the FIBA U-16 African Championship.
Fubara said all attention has now been shifted to their third game on Tuesday against Angola who had earlier lost to 3 time Champions, Egypt by 61-86 points.
The coach praised his boys for playing to instruction which gave them the massive victory which he said has boosted their confidence ahead of the game against Angola.
After the loss to Egypt, the boys bounced back to pull off a win in front of the intimidating home fans as Reuben Abuchi Chinyelu posted a double-double performance, coming off the bench to score 20 points and 21 rebounds.
James Othuke Okemerie was the second best scorer of the night with 12 points while Bormini Victor Dennis contributed 8 points and 2 assists.
The Port Harcourt based coach said the tactics to be adopted will be uniquely tailored to the opposition while assuring Nigeria of an improved performance by the lads when they file out for their third game at the ongoing FIBA u-16 African Championship campaign.
“Everything depends on the strength and quality of the opposition. The Cape Verdeans are not too tall and strong, while against Egypt, we were out rebounded both offensively and defensively but against Cape Verde, it was different.
“We are going to adopt a different strategy against Angola. We are coming to the court and we are not going to respect anybody because we are all here to ball”, Fubara said.
Having admitted that the journey to the final seems far, Fubara said the only way to appreciate the Nigeria Basketball Federation is to qualify for the 2019 FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Bulgaria.
“As you are aware, the last time we took part in this competition was in 2015. For the NBBF to bring us here means we are here for serious business. We are here to qualify for the World Cup”.
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