Oguchi’s prowess, Uzoh’s pains and other ingredients of D’Tigers’ AfroBasket success

D’Tigers of Nigeria beat Angola 74-65 in the Final of AfroBasket 2015 in Rades, Tunisia on Sunday to claim their first-ever continental championship.

The Nigerians were playing their fourth final having finished second best on three previous occasions – 1997, 1999 and 2003.

In being crowned African champions, the Nigerians also qualified for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

But those are the “hard” wares on the victorious team.

Here are some “soft” wares!

MVP OGUCHI

Chamberlain Oguchi was rewarded for his impressive tournament and a huge individual performance in the final by receiving the Most Valuable Player award.

Oguchi hit a trifecta of three-pointers on his way to a game-high 19 points and also grabbed seven rebounds as Nigeria held off Angola to claim their first title.

Olaseni Abdul-Jelili “Shane” Lawal didn’t win the MVP, but he was Nigeria’s top performer, averaging 19.6 efficiency and 9.0 rebounds in all games.

Alade Aminu was not the tournament’s MVP either. He was not also in the All-Star Five like Lawal. But his brother, Al-Farouq Aminu, who is currently playing for the Portland Trailblazers, made the list.

Oguchi headlined the All-Star Five, which also included Al-Farouq Aminu, Carlos Morais of Angola, Tunisia’s Makram Ben Romdhane and Gorgui Dieng of Senegal.

And Al-Farouq, the younger Aminu, spoke on playing for D’Tigers two years to the victory in Tunisia.

“Everybody’s similar in that we have a Nigerian background, but we’re all coming from different places, you know what I mean? You have some guys in college, some guys in the NBA, some guys playing overseas,” he said.

“It’s real interesting in that aspect. It reminds me a little of college because you’re spending so much time together. You’re always traveling with the team because it’s not like you have home games. Every game is a road game, pretty much.”

PLAYING THROUGH PAIN

Ben Uzoh kept shooting jumpers, passing the ball and dribbling even though his right arm continued to lose feeling.

He tried to play through the condition for four years. Not until Uzoh returned to his hometown of San Antonio determined to get an answer on his injury.

It was discovered in September 2014 that he had thoracic outlet syndrome – “a group of disorders that occur when the blood vessels or nerves in the space between the collarbone and first rib [thoracic outlet] become compressed,” according to the hospital he visited.

For a non-athlete who only knows the movie Jurassic Park and not thoracic outlet, the syndrome can cause pain in a person’s shoulders and neck and numbness in their fingers, which makes the use of a TV remote control impossible. Clearer, now?

While surgery is sometimes recommended, the doctors at Mayo Clinic suggested specific stretching exercises, medicine and acupuncture to treat Uzoh.

And he was at his best in Tunisia!

TALL BUT SHORT

Ike Diogu stands at 6 foot 9 inches (2.06 m) tall, which makes him taller than most Nigerians.

But did you know it was considered slightly undersized for an NBA power forward? Luckily, though, Diogu makes up for his lack of height with his muscle, girth and 7’4″ wingspan.

Like Diogu, Jamal Olasewere has a “but”.

The 6’7 forward is very athletic and is a strong finisher at the rim. He is also an excellent rebounder with active hands and an aggressive player overall. But…

He’s a small forward!

AJALA OKOYE

Like Ajala the famed traveller, Stan Okoye has been all over the world since graduating from Knightdale High School in 2009.

So far, the 23-year old forward has played basketball for teams on five different continents!

After high school, he played at Virginia Military Institute, culminating in a 2013 Big South Conference Player of the Year award. But when the NBA draft began looking like a pipedream, Okoye’s journey began.

First, he signed with Ikaros of Greece, although he never appeared in a game for that squad. From Greece, he landed briefly in Israel, playing only four games with Barak Netanya. He then played with the Perth Redbacks of Australia’s State Basketball League.

Okoye is now with Pallacanestro Varese in Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A.

“I just want to have a career where I can say I got the most out of it,” Okoye once said.

“It doesn’t have to be the NBA. If you get this far, you’ve already reached a certain level of success, but there are other places I want to reach … just to learn a lot, on and off the court.”

Okoye tries not to travel on the court, but his experiences follow him whenever he travels from Italy to Tunisia for the AfroBasket.

“I’ve got a lot of great memories,” he said.

We reckon that’s an understatement!

INDEPENDENCE BOY

Andy Ogide was born on October 1, the country’s Independence Day. But his favourite meal of pizza is not one of the staple meals in Nigeria. Well, before the dot-com days!

WATCHOUT FOR GBINIJE

Michael Gbinije is a nightmare to ice cream-licking fans and journalists with laptops during games because he never tires doing…

Congratulations, D’Tigers!