Spain-based Nigerian basketball star, Stanley Okoye has set high marks for himself and other players in the country’s national team, D’Tigers, as he believes they are good enough to pick a medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, megasportsarena.com reports.
With the Games now billed to hold next June in the same venue, after coronavirus caused a postponement from this year’s initial schedule, Okoye believes D’Tigers now have enough time to plan and prepare for the competition, where he says their target would be to get a podium spot, which would mean a medal of any colour.
The member of Nigeria’s all-conquering team of 2015 that won the country’s first ever top-spot at the Afrobasket Championship, when they finished first in Tunisia, opined that recent strides achieved by D’Tigers, including an outing at the FIBA World Cup, makes them highly formidable.
He reckoned that D’Tigers will be able to ride on the high quality of their players, good technical input from their coaches and their recent strong pedigree, which sees them ranked as one of the best teams in Africa, hence the next target being to also rate among the world’s finest sides.
The Herbalife Gran Canaria of Spain small forward, who missed the 2019 Afrobasket co-hosted by Tunisia and Senegal due to personal issues, added during Mega Sports on Star 101.5 FM, Lagos that D’Tigers’ current set of players are determined to take Nigerian basketball further than where it is at present, which the 29-year-old star believes will come next year in Tokyo.
He concluded with a view that seeing D’Tigers currently ranked 23rd in the world and first in Africa did not come like a flash in the pan but, having also excelled at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China, where he believes they deserved to advance from their group, even as he now sets sight of helping Nigeria win a second Afrobasket title and then seek glory at the Olympics.
Okoye declared: “I believe we deserve a medal at the Olympics. We will be aiming for a podium spot, any medal will do. We’ve done well at the Afribasket. We’ll still be looking for more after the World Cup. For us, we have always talked about it. We want a medal. We have to look forward to the Olympics. We want to stay on the podium. They know we are the best in Africa.
“So, we have to get gold every time. If we don’t, then we have fallen short. At the 2019 World Cup, I felt like we had the opportunity if we had gotten out of the group stage, we would have had a decent run to get a medal. It means we are good for an Olympic Games medal, and that’s what we will chase in Tokyo. Just to get to the podium will be awesome.”
