By Victor Kanayo
Latest ranking by the global Basketball body, FIBA, has now rated Nigeria’s men basketball team D’Tigers ninth in Africa.
On the other hand, fellow west African nation Cote d’Ivoire is now adjudged the best-ranked team in the continent after winning all their African qualifiers to become the first team to qualify for next year’s World Cup even with three games to spare.
D’Tigers downgrading points is not unconnected to the lingering leadership crisis and poor performances rocking the Nigeria basketball in recent times.
The ripple effects are manifesting D’Tigers, as have lost four places and dropped to worst ranking in the past year.
The Ivorians have reached the pinnacle of their basketball over the last decade and they are returning to the World Cup for the second straight time.
Nigeria now ranked low, by this time in the 2019 World Cup African qualifier, boasted a 9-0 mark and was one of the two teams – alongside Tunisia – to have qualified for the China showdown.
However, having three different head coaches – Julius Nwosu, Alan Major, and Mfon Udofia over the last nine games, plus a number of new players and an apparent lack of team chemistry seemed to have influenced Nigeria’s current 3-4 record.
The two losses to Angola and Cote d’Ivoire in Abidjan last week were major blows for Nigeria to deal with.
Joining Cote d’Ivoire on the top echelon of the ranking are South Sudan, Egypt, Angola, and Senegal. They are among the top five teams in Africa.
Others down the pecking order include Cape Verde, Tunisia, DR Congo, Cameroon, Guinea and Uganda.
