D’Tigers Assistant Coach, Abdulrahman Mohammed, is unfazed about the threat of hosts Mali ahead of this weekend’s 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifier series.
Despite admitting the threat posed by the host, the coach is confident that Nigeria can repeat their 2017 FIBA Afrobasket feat where they defeated Mali by 90-67 points at the group stage.
Abdulrahman said: “Mali is the biggest threat for us.
“I know we are better than Uganda, while I know that Rwanda are going to come up with a few tricks, but we are well prepared and we just see out it goes.”
He explained that home advantage will play a major role when they face Mali on Sunday.
He said: “I think Mali will be our biggest opposition because they are also a big basketball nation and they are playing at home and that is going to go a long way in giving them a little edge over us.”
The coach, who led Gombe Bulls to their first ever continental outing last season, however ruled out any form of pressure on the team irrespective of the results recorded when they start their campaign on Friday against Uganda.
Abdulrahman said: “It’s a long qualification series. It’s not as if when we lose, we are knocked out of the stage but I don’t see us losing to Mali regardless of the fact that they are playing at home. If we get our players in and we play our game, we are going to beat Mali on their home court.”
Head coach of the side, Alex Nwora, will hope to start the World Cup qualification campaign on a winning note when they face Uganda on Friday before meeting Rwanda on Saturday.
With the foreign based players already reporting straight to Bamako, the Nigerian contingent will depart Nigeria few days to the games to team up with their mates.
Going by recent records, D’Tigers is expected to enjoy an easy ride against less fancied side like Rwanda, who only managed just a win in their group at the 2017 Afrobasket where they finished 10th out of the 16 participating teams.
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