Kwara Falcons Basketball Club of Ilorin coach, Baba Jubril has predicted that his side’s biggest rivals, Rivers Hoopers of Port Harcourt can win this year’s Basketball African League (BAL).
The league’s Sahara Conference is scheduled to begin May 4 in Dakar, Senegal, where Ogoh Odaudu’s side will tango US Monastir of Tunisia, APR of Rwanda and the hosts, AD Douanes in doubleheader fixtures.
Read Also: Chikelue Iloenyosi Gives Conditions Super Eagles’ Next Coach Must Follow
The team from Port Harcourt will battle Douanes on May 4 and 9, APR on May 5 and 11, and Monastir on May 7 and 12, as they play all three teams twice, in search of two qualification tickets.
After running through each of their opponents in their first three games, The Hoopers will battle them all again in reverse fixtures, as they set eyes on picking one of two automatic tickets into the continental finals billed for later same month in Kigali, Rwanda.
Two best third-placed teams from the three conferences will also make it into the May 24-June 1 finals in Kigali, but Jubril believes Rivers Hoopers will qualify with an automatic berth.
The experienced basketball ex-international-turned-tactician, who has been in charge of The Kings Men since 2019 and led them to the Nigerian title in 2022, gave reasons for his confidence in The Hoopers’ ability to shine in Dakar.
The former Nigerian Customs BBC star, who handled Kwara Falcons in the previous edition of the BAL contest, reckoned that the experience Odaudu has gained as a player and coach, plus the exposure achieved by his wards over the years, will help them surmount all odds in Dakar.
Jubril declared, “Experience is the best teacher for anyone. It makes you different from people who have not been there before.
“We can say okay, we know you, but these have been there … they know what it takes. They know the mistakes, they know what works.
“So, I can see something from the coach of the Rivers Boys. He’s my friend, we played together on the national team.
“He has experience. He knows what he has to do, what to work on, the kind of players he has to build for the team to go to the next level.
“I’ve witnessed his efforts and the calibre of players he used to beef up the team. They are good to go.”
Jubril stressed that he is staying confident in Odaudu’s ability to lead Hoopers from Dskar to Kigali due to what he has seen from years of close interactions with his fellow ex-international in the slam-dunk game of giants.
