July 31, (THEWILL) – After the rather early exit of the men’s basketball team from the ongoing Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, Nigeria’s Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, reached out to the squad and technical crew with a message of encouragement.
Dare sought to lift their spirits with a quick message of thanks and appreciation to D’Tigers’ players and support staff after Saturday’s Group B’s final match against Italy which brought the men’s basketball campaign at the Olympic to a close.
The message from was upbeat as the Minister said: “My thanks and appreciations go to the players and coaching staff of the D’Tigers. They represented Nigeria impressively and we thank them for their resilience, efforts and their patriotic commitment.”
As THEWILL reported, Team Nigeria lost a spirited match 80-71 to Italy to crash out of the men’s basketball event of the Tokyo Olympics without registering a single win in three group matches. However, there was a marked overall improvement in their performances before and during the Olympics.
The Minister also appreciated how far D’Tigers came in his appreciation: “They came and gave a good account of themselves to the world that Nigeria will compete amongst the best basketball nations.
“And to Mike Brown and the coaching staff, thank you for building this team and your faith in the team. You have performed tremendously well and Nigerians thank you sincerely.”
Though without a win, the quality of their performances is the shining light in the dark disappointing outing for D’Tigers at the Olympics as it clearly highlights the potential for better. It means if this team can be kept together under the distinguished direction of United States-born coach Mike Brown, there will be cause for optimism in future games.
With more time to imbibe the tactical input and play philosophy of Brown, who is also the assistant coach of former NBA champions, San Francisco-based Golden State Warriors, D’Tigers basketballers, who all debuted at the Tokyo Olympics, will become better champion-material after all they accomplished this far with so little.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
