Paris 2024: D’Tigress Tipped To Survive Their Group In The Olympics

Basketball Fans Support D'Tigress To Survive “Group of Death” in the olympics

The Senior National Women's team of Nigeria, D'Tigress, has generated optimism among basketball fans in Lagos that they will make it out of their Group of Death at the upcoming Olympics in France.

Additionally, in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), they stated that D'Tigress would have to put in a lot of effort to succeed in their Group B, which consisted of France, Canada, and Australia.

The correct lineup put together by Coach Rena Wakama would be crucial to Nigeria's elimination from their group, according to basketball enthusiast Micheal Ezechie.

He also told NAN that the team's performance as a whole would benefit greatly from the caliber of players the head coach would put together.

“The Group B encounter with teams like Australia, Canada and France is definitely a tough one because the three teams are in the top 10 in International Basketball Federation's (FIBA's) rankings.

“For D'Tigress to qualify from the group, their level of hard work and preparations must be well-defined to make any impact.

"They must invite top quality international players who know what they can achieve and begin early preparations for the team to gel properly," Ezechie said.

Anthony Adekoya, a different basketball enthusiast, added that the D'Tigress have demonstrated their abilities throughout time and are accustomed to facing tough obstacles.

“It's a tough group, but I have good confidence in the team's capacity and capabilities to achieve a good outing at the coming Olympics Games in France.

“D'Tigress are no strangers to major competition. As they carry the African hope, they must rise to the occasion and do the nation proud,” Adekoya said.

The team would surprise a lot of people at the Olympics, according to D'Tigress enthusiast Chinedu Okoro.

With its elite players playing in major and international leagues across Europe and the United States, he claimed the team is capable of winning one or two games. 

“It's a matter of training well for the competition. It is not an impossible feat for them to beat highly rated teams in world of basketball.

“With good determination and good team work D'Tigress should be able to pull some strings at the coming Olympics,” Okoro said.

Nigeria, now rated 12th in the world, is the only African team competing in the women's basketball competition, with South Sudan leading the men's team.

Coach Wakama D'Tigress's leadership allowed the team to qualify for the Games despite lacking a strong camping program.

D'Tigress won the play-off in February in Antwerp, Belgium; they lost to the USA and Belgium. They also defeated Senegal.

D'Tigress came in eleventh in their two previous Olympic Games appearances. 

Nigeria will play Australia on July 29 to kick off their Olympic journey, and then they will play France on August 1.

They will play Canada in their last group stage encounter.

Group A consists of Serbia, Spain, China, and Paraguay, while Group C comprises the World Champions, USA, Germany, Belgium, and Japan.

The two best third-place teams together with the top two teams from each group will move on to the quarterfinals. The excitement around this year's Olympic Games basketball tournaments, which will take place in France from July 27 to August 11, has increased as a result of the drawings.