D’TIGERS stand-in head coach Alan Major has identified why the team lost their opening game to Cape Verde yesterday in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda.
The hastily put together Nigeria team succumbed 79-70 to their much lower ranked opponents after a disastrous second quarter in which they had a 14-point deficit.
Major says the team must take care of the ball better when they face Mali in their next game today to keep their hopes alive after the shock loss.
He highlighted the team’s turnover ratio and rebound efforts which he said were responsible for the team’s loss despite crediting the team for their resilience and hardwork.
“They (Cape Verde) had 16 points from our turnovers, 11 second-chance points from 16 offensive rebounds,” Major explained.
“These are some things we can clean up, but I do like the effort. We fought back and had the lead, but we gave up a big put back to Williams Tavares.
“Congratulations to Cape Verde, they played well. They got a cushion on us at half-time. I thought our guys did a great job by fighting back to take the lead towards the end of the match, but you know in a game like this, you do not have much margin for error”, Major explained.
He said the team got scared towards the end of the game and rushed their plays in a quest to restore their lead, giving their opponent the winning edge.
“We just have to go back, watch some films, clean up some things and be ready to play tomorrow”.
After just edging the first quarter 15-14, D’Tigers fell apart in the second quarter as Cape Verde took charge and won it 25-11 to head into half-time with a 39-26 lead.
D’Tigers were not able to fully recover despite a spirited effort in the second half when they won the third quarter 21-17 and tied the fourth 23-23.
Chimezie Metu, who posted a double-double performance with 10 points and 10 rebounds, said the team wanted a win but lost to a more prepared team.
“We wanted to go out there and try to win the game. We did that for stretches of the game but Cape Verde played together. They have been together and practicing more than we have,” he said.
The Nigerians have seven points from four matches and are scheduled to face Mali today, who did not show up for their game against Uganda yesterday.
Comments are closed.