HEAD coach of the Erie Community College, Buffalo, Alex Nwora, said the D'Tigers has a chance of making it from its tough group in the Olympics if it puts a lot of aggression to its game.The Nigerian team is in Group A and will confront the United States (U.S.), Argentina, France, Tunisia and Lithuania in a pool that Nwora said would be very interesting. The Nigerian team was a complete underdog at the qualifiers in Caracas, Venezuela, but finished third behind Russia and Lithuania to pick a ticket to the London 2012 Olympics.Nwora, who is also the coach of the Cape Verde national teams, said the only country that would give a lot of problem is the U.S., because of the NBA stars that would be on display in London.He told The Guardian over the weekend: 'With what the Nigerian team did in Venezuela, no team would take it for granted and they would be scrambling for our tape to see how we achieved the feat to find an antidote to the rampaging Nigerians.Nwora has left for Cape Verde to prepare his team for the 2013 Nations Cup qualifiers, but noted that he was impressed with the Nigerian players who showed understanding of the game and were aggressive in all their games. .'The Nigerian team has come of age, having defeated the top seeds in Caracas, so we must prepare well for the Olympics, where we will need aggression to pick one of the four group tickets to the next round,' he said.'The only team that might give the Nigerian team hell is the U.S. and that is because they have players who play in the lucrative NBA. Most of the Nigerian players also got their training in America, so they know what they are up against when they face the Americans.'The Global Sports Advantage boss, who was in Nigeria for the Dodan Warriors Prospect Camp, said the Nigerian team has a better chance against all the other teams and that matches against them could go either way. Nwora also commended coach Ayo Bakare for the feat and called on the Nigerian sports authorities to give the team all the support needed to excel in London.The Harlem Globe Trotters former player called on the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) to build on the gains of D'Tigers' qualification for the Olympic.He said: 'As it is now, Nigeria is no longer a minnow in basketball, so the time is ripe for the authorities to invest in the game and make the country a force to reckon with. It will take time but I am sure we are going to get there.'According to him, the NBBF should also ensure that the present achievement rubs off on the domestic league, which he said, has a lot of talents waiting to take on the world: 'I have been here several times and I have seen players with great talents,' he noted. 'My hope is that the NBBF will ensure that the Olympic qualification has an impact on the local league.
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