Following two major additions to the Rivers Hoopers roster, Rivers Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu has said the team has addressed their defensive issues ahead of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) playoffs in Pretoria, South Africa.
According to Odaudu, the team's defensive problems were a major concern after finishing the Kalahari Conference with two losses to Al Ittihad Alexandria.
To address this issue, the team has brought in Ahmed Doumbia, a defensive-minded players from the French League and Chingka Garba a Nigerian who plays in Rwanda.
“We wanted to address that [defensive problems], so we wanted to bring someone who will address that issue,” Odaudu said.
When asked about the addition of Ahmed Doumbia and Garba Chingka, Odaudu replied: "We needed to address the deficiency in defence.
“Of course, Ahmed plays in the French League. [He is] very defensive minded and, of course, he is a beast on the offense. We needed someone to assist Kelvin [Amayo] in defensive duties in the back court, so we brought him [Doumbia] here.”
Preparation has been all plain sailing for Odaudu, with Nigeria forward Chingka joining the fold to stack up the quality of the team.
“Also, we brought in another player, Odaudu said. “We were almost playing Peter [[Olisemeka] to the ground. We needed someone who could do that, too that was why we brought in Garba Chingka.
The KingsMen will face US Monastir in the seeding game on Saturday, June 7, a side they had played four times previously and won as much as they had lost (twice).
