Rivers Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu has reacted to his team’s exit from the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL) in Pretoria, following a heavy defeat to Rwanda’s APR on Monday.
The Nigerian champions were unable to advance to the semifinals for the second year in a row, suffering a 104-73 loss to APR. The Rwandan side dominated the contest from start to finish, clinching a historic place in the semifinals for the first time.
In his post-match press conference, Ogoh Odaudu acknowledged that it was a bad day for his side but emphasised that the team remain proud of their efforts.
“We had a really bad day, we didn’t play as well as we thought we could play and it happens in Basketball. We may be disappointed but we’re holding our heads up high.”
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Ogoh Odaudu pointed out their defensive lapses as a key factor in the loss, especially their inability to stop APR’s inside scoring: “Too many things went wrong. The killer for us on the stats was that 52 points were made in the paint, which means we didn’t defend the way we should have defended.”
Despite the setback, the coach reaffirmed the identity and resilience of the Rivers Hoopers team: “Nothing has changed, we’re still Rivers Hoopers, we’ll still go back there and we’ll still be back.”
He also highlighted the need for greater financial support to enable the team to recruit higher-caliber players and improve overall preparations.
“I think our budget should be increased. That way we can get more quality players. Not taking anything away from the players we have, they are the best I’ve coached in a while. Nobody gave us a chance in Morocco but we stood our ground against all the teams that were there and we came out second.”
Ogoh Odaudu stressed that while the support from the Rivers State government has been appreciated, additional investment could make a significant difference in future campaigns.
“One of those things here is that maybe we could get an increased budget, that way we would be able to really really prepare well for this tournament. But all in all, Rivers state have been giving us the support that they have been able to give to us.”
Looking ahead, the coach underlined the importance of strengthening the team’s roster if they hope to compete more effectively in future BAL seasons.
“It’s something that we have to look at going forward because we need a better roster and that’s something we are going to work towards.”
He also pointed to a lack of competitive games leading up to the tournament as a disadvantage compared to their opponents.
“We played against US Monastir who just came off their championship game. They lost but they’ve been playing for a long time. We played against APR who are still in the thick of their league while Rivers Hoopers have not played competitively since Morocco, so it’s one of the problems that we have too.”
Ogoh Odaudu appealed to the Nigerian Basketball Federation to consider structural changes that will ensure teams arrive at major tournaments in optimal shape.
“We hope the Nigerian Federation can change all these so we can arrive at the BAL while playing and not just trying to get to game shape while at the tournament.”
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