FOLLOWING the Rivers Hoopers’ BAL third-place final game win against the Cape Town Tigers, which earned them a podium finish, the post-game press conference started unconventionally.
Guard Devine Eke initiated his own press conference while waiting for coach Ogoh Odaudu to emerge from the locker room with his Coach of the Year trophy. He posed questions to the media for about 2 minutes before jokingly concluding the short proceedings, saying he should stop before he gets into trouble upon Odaudu’s return.
Eke’s energetic presence provided insight into the team dynamic, balanced by a laid-back atmosphere and mutual respect. This has defined the team’s DNA in the Cinderella story for the Rivers Hoopers this season.
In an interview with The Big Tip Off, Eke discussed his initial impressions of the league and the team’s goal for the season.
Eke, who joined the team in February, admitted he was initially sceptical about the readiness of the league. However, after having a superb BAL tournament, he acknowledged his misconceptions about the BAL were incorrect.
“I didn’t think the BAL was ready yet, but man, I was wrong. This league is amazing, and I love it. I’ve met so many great people. My expectations were wrong. Everyone who told me to come was 100% right… I’m happy I listened to those who advised me.”
Hoopers, returning to the BAL since last appearing in 2021, wanted to shift how Nigerian basketball is viewed, especially after the national team’s dismal performance in the first round of AfroBasket qualifiers in February.
“The goal coming here was changing the narrative of our country’s basketball. We want the next time a Nigerian team comes here to believe they can do what Rivers Hoopers did or even better.”
From the first game, it was evident that it was a different team. Over and above the obvious changes made to the roster and additions to the coaching staff, there was a strong sense of unity that is often scarce amongst teams in this competition.
View this post on Instagram
Eke, who made the All-BAL Second team, pointed to chemistry and a selfless desire to win, as the North Star that guided them to their Cinderella run.
“I think our team chemistry is one of a kind. From the local players to import players, everybody had the same goal. So when you have a team that has the same goal, it’s easy to bond, it’s easy to win, it’s easy to just be successful,” said Eke.
“Everyone had the same goal of winning, nobody cared about scoring. Nobody cared about their minutes. Nobody cared about rebounds or assists. We all just came together as a collective and wanted to win. And that made it easy.”
This unity began at the top, from the coaching staff and management led by Odaudu. From the outside looking in, it would have been easy to perceive Odaudu’s impact on the team as purely tactical. But to Eke, his coach had a far-reaching effect. Each player was encouraged to keep taking shots and find the open man, whether they had a lead they were trying to maintain or cut down on one.
“He gave us confidence and faith, and he believed in us. There were a lot of times during the games – obviously, you guys don’t see it… But there’s been a lot of times during the games when guys had their heads down, even myself, but the way he encouraged us was just tremendous,” explained Eke. “Having coaches that encourage you and don’t just bring you down because you’re missing shots or bench you when you turn the ball over, that’s something really big.”
After the Hoopers lost to Al Ahly Benghazi in the semi-finals, they identified the key areas that needed to improve to clinch a podium finish.
“I think we improved our rebounding and limited our turnovers. When we look at the games we lost, it’s because of rebounding and turnovers. And when we focused on that, we could win,” said Eke. “We focused on ourselves, we wanted to keep having fun. You know, from the beginning like, the reason why we were winning was because everyone was having fun. Everyone was touching the ball, everyone was swinging a ball, everyone was scoring, and our bench was going crazy. So we just wanted to keep the same mindset that we had in Dakar.”
Reflecting on his BAL debut, Eke says the tournament has improved his skill level and raised his stock.
“There is a lot of amazing talent in this league, everybody is strong, skilful and physical. This helped me because I had to really think the game through. There are a lot of great players coached by great coaches and this helped my game a lot,” said Eke.
He also hopes the Hoopers will improve on this season’s BAL performance.
“We just want to grow from this season. See what we did wrong, what we did right and just keep striving for greatness,” said Eke. “The main goal is to come back next year. We want to put Hoopers somewhere special. This year we finished third, but we want to be able to win the BAL.”
The Rivers Hoopers’ goal for next season is ambitious but achievable. With no back-to-back champions yet, three new teams in this year’s semi-finals, a team from the Road to The BAL making it to the finals and the crowning of a new champion, the evidence is clear that the championship is anyone’s for the taking.
