Oduadu Unhappy With Rivers Hoopers Performance Against Hoops

Rivers Hoopers coach Ogoh Oduadu was disappointed with the team’s performance despite their 67-58 win over Hoops and Read in the first match of the NBBF Phase Two.

The game, which was played at the Indoor Basketball Court, on 59 Niger Street, Port Harcourt Township, began with a burst of energy as both teams went at each other inside the first few minutes.

But the experience of Captain Victor Koko and the industry of Victor Sunday combined for Hoopers’ first thirteen points as the KingsMen closed the first quarter 17-11.

The beaten 2024 NBPL finalists came back firing, and after back-and-forth exchanges in the opening minutes of the second quarter, went on a 9-2 run to cut what was a 9-point deficit to 2 points at 27-25. However, the KingsMen, inspired by a dominant Buchi Nwaiwu who bagged six points in the paint, raced into halftime with the scores at 36-28.

The visitors stunned the home crowd three minutes into the third, as they enjoyed an 11-3 scoring run to tie the game at 39-39, which prompted Coach Ogoh Odaudu to call timeout.

He said: “I just called them to remind them of the things we did in practice and what they were supposed to do. Basketball is a game of runs. They made a run and they tied the game; we strategized and came back with our own run to pull away.

Oduadu was unhappy with the team’s performance despite the victory.

He said: “It was scrappy. We didn’t play the way we were supposed to play, [but] I think we’re going to get better as we go on. We’re happy with the win whether we played well or not, but we have to play better.

“Basketball is not about how many points you score; it’s about how many times you stop your opponent from scoring. We have to really work on our defense and make sure that we get a lot more stops than we did today. Offense will find a way to take care of itself, but we need to find a way to stop our opponents from scoring.”

The 2024 Basketball Africa League Coach of the season then rang changes from the bench, re-introducing Mustapha Oyebanji and Michael Okiki who scored six of his team-leading thirteen points, as the KingsMen powered to a 13-0 run before closing out the third 54-44.

The hosts executed a measured fourth quarter to wrap up a 9-point victory at 67-58 which Coach Odaudu said leaves room for improvement.

Lagos Legends defeated Comets 70-46 in the day’s opening fixture.

The second day of Atlantic Conference action at the ongoing 2024 NBPL Phase Two will see Rivers Hoopers observe a day of rest, while Kwara Falcons battle Lagos Legends and Hoops & Read take on Comets (5pm).