“Too many things went wrong,” Rivers Hoopers Coach Odaudu confesses after BAL exit

Rivers Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu has explained the team’s disappointing performance and subsequent elimination from the Basketball League Africa Season 5.

The former D’Tigers guard said, “too many things went wrong,” while assessing his side’s quarter-final performance against Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (APR) on Monday in Pretoria.

They lost their quarter-final match 104-73 to APR, their largest loss margin at the BAL.

Speaking in a postgame news conference at the SunBet Arena on Monday, Odaudu said, “What’s changed (is that) we are no longer playing in the semi-finals. We’ve been knocked out, but on a general note, I think we had a really bad day today.

“We didn’t play as well as we thought we could play, and it happens in basketball. We are not upset. We may be disappointed, but we are holding our heads high. Too many things went wrong. The killer for us (at) the start was the 52 points made in the paint.

The BAL Season Four Coach of the Year was critical of his team following the shots allowed in the paint by APR.

“We didn’t defend the way we should have. So, nothing has changed; we are still Rivers Hoopers. We will still go back there (BAL), and we will still be back.

Rivers Hoopers finished runners-up in Rabat, Morocco, during the Sahara Conference, where they finished with a 4-2 record.

Recalling the team’s performance, Odaudu said the team exceeded expectations in the conference. “Nobody gave us a chance in Morocco,” Odaudu acknowledged. “But we stood our ground against all the teams that were there, and we came up second.”

Odaudu was thankful for the support the Port Harcourt-based side has enjoyed so far, stating that it is important.

“All in all, Rivers State, so far, has been giving us the support that they have been able to give us, and trust me, it is miles better than what other teams get.