Rivers Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu has said, “too many things went wrong,” while assessing his side’s quarter-final performance against Armée Patriotique Rwandaise [APR] on Monday in Pretoria.
The KingsMen fell one step short of repeating last season’s heroic run to the Basketball Africa League semi-finals as they lost their quarter-final 104-73 to APR, their largest loss margin at the BAL.
It looked like it wasn’t going to be Rivers Hoopers’ night, as early in the game as the first quarter, where APR doubled the KingsMen’s points, leading 24-11.
Despite some bright moments from South Sudanese-Australian forward, Madut Akec, who scored 19 points, had four assists and two rebounds, the KingsMen were outplayed in the entirety of the game.
Raphiael Putney attempted to begin a second-quarter comeback with three consecutive threes, but APR were quick to deal with the surge, continuing their show: efficient on both ends of the court.
Speaking in a postgame news conference at the SunBet Arena on Monday, Odaudu said: “What’s changed [is that] we are no longer playing in the semi-finals. We’ve been knocked out, but on a general note, I think we had a really bad day today.”
“We didn’t play as well as we thought we could play, and it happens in basketball. We are not upset. We may be disappointed, but we are holding our heads high. Too many things went wrong. The killer for us [at] the start was the 52 points made in the paint.
The BAL Season Four Coach of the Year was critical of his team following the shots allowed in the paint by APR.
“We didn’t defend the way we should have. So, nothing has changed; we are still Rivers Hoopers. We will still go back there [BAL], and we will still be back.
Rivers Hoopers finished runners-up in Rabat, Morocco, during the Sahara Conference, where they finished with a 4-2 record.
Recalling the team’s performance, Odaudu said the team exceeded expectations in the conference. “Nobody gave us a chance in Morocco,” Odaudu acknowledged. “But we stood our ground against all the teams that were there, and we came up second.”
Odaudu was thankful for the support the Port Harcourt-based side has enjoyed so far, stating that it is important.
“All in all, Rivers State, so far, has been giving us the support that they have been able to give us, and trust me, it is miles better than what other teams get.
The heavy loss was one of the reasons Odaudu reflected on the domestic league, highlighting the importance of regular domestic competitions as the KingsMen look to regroup and return to Africa’s elite competition.
“One major problem that we are facing, too, [is that] we played against US Monastir, who just came off their championship game – they lost – but they have been playing for a long time.
“We played today against APR, who are still in the thick of their league… Rivers Hoopers have not played competitively since Morocco. It’s one of the problems that we have, too. We hope the Nigeria [Basketball] Federation is going to change all this [domestic league format], and then we are going to arrive at the BAL playing, not just coming to try to get into game shape while we are at the tournament.”
