PARIS (France) – The upcoming Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament Paris 2024 will see Nigeria representing African basketball on the big stage and looking to land a surprise blow in the Group phase against Australia, Canada or France.
It's going to be an enormous challenge, since Nigeria are clearly the underdogs. At Tokyo 2020 they didn't manage to claim a victory but they did impress with their performances and a strong fight in some very tough situations.
This kind of spirt and determination will need to be the baseline for this latest Olympic campaign and head coach Rene Wakama will have her team ready to try and cause a shock - or two.
The Roster
There is no doubt that Nigeria will be looking to the terrific Amy Okonkwo for inspiration after the forward claimed MVP honors at the FIBA Women's AfroBasket 2023. She then also impressed in a big way at the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 in Antwerp.
If Okonkwo can turn up the dial in the frontcourt, then that will be massive and especially since D'Tigress have received a huge boost in the backcourt with the return of Ezinne Kalu. Another class act who has already delivered at the biggest events, including Tokyo 2020 and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2018, the playmaker will re-assume her position as a leader.
Alongside her will be Elizabeth Balogun and Promise Amukamara who are both capable of putting up numbers in terms of scoring and in the case of the latter, dishing out dimes.
There will be further strength under the basket in the shape of Murjanatu Musa whose size and power will be vital - as will that of Pallas Kunaiyi Akpanah.
The Question
Can Nigeria stay in games long enough for a shot at victory by keeping games slow, rugged and quite frankly, ugly?
D'Tigress don't have the offensive power to 'run and gun' with their opponents, so they will surely be chasing a slow half-court game every time, so they can stay in contention.
That means having to control the defensive glass and getting the ball in the hands of Kalu so she can try to dictate the tempo.
The Hope
Ultimately, the hope has to be that Nigeria play far above and beyond their natural flow and ability. That means their leading players balling out and shooting high percentages.
It's not beyond possibility and perhaps the biggest hope of all is that the return of Kalu as court general after three years away from national team duties, can give them a new base to build their campaign on.
The Fear
This is very much based around the notion that Nigeria don't have the quality or depth to even get close to team. That could see them left trailing in a tough group that has three other hard-nosed and stacked basketball teams.
While not getting a win (again) at the Games would be disappointing, it would be understandable. But at the very least, Nigeria will want to impress with some very competitive displays - as they did in Tokyo. The fear would be that they don't even manage to do this.
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