Ahead of the Sahara Conference phase of the 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL), Rivers Hoopers guard Kelvin Amayo says the Nigerian Champions can match any team at Africa’s elite club basketball showpiece.
Amayo, who joined Rivers Hoopers ahead of the 2024 BAL, has been in training camp with the rest of the Hoopers squad since 9th April, hailed the quality of his teammates and coaching crew.
“[We have a] good team. Everyone is playing hard, playing defence, and we’re learning every day. [My teammates] play very hard and catch up to things very quickly. Coach is doing a really good job with conditioning, teaching the concept of defence, and helping us understand who is who early so that everyone knows what they need to do from the beginning,” he said.
In a chat with Hoopers media, Amayo, who was an integral member of the Stadé Malien team that won the Sahara Conference and placed third overall at last season’s BAL, also stated that he hopes his experience will help Rivers Hoopers perform better at this year’s BAL than in their debut appearance three years ago.
“[I’m bringing] experience, defence, energy. Just being able to come in as a person that played in the BAL last year and did pretty well, to show them that we can do better than we did in other years for Nigeria,” he stated.
At the 2024 BAL, Rivers Hoopers will play in a tough Sahara Conference which features former champions US Monastir, 2023 runners-up AS Douanes, and Rwandan champions APR.
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However, having experienced the BAL in its third season, the Canadian-born Nigerian thinks the KingsMen have what it takes to go toe-to-toe against a strong group of teams in the Sahara Conference.
When asked if he was confident in the team’s ability to compete against some of Africa’s best basketball teams, he said, “Yes! Why not? We have a group that’s ready to play hard; we have foreign players that understand what it takes to play in the BAL and what Nigeria basketball culture is. I feel like we could play against anybody and play hard.”
The 32-year-old also stated that the Rivers Hoopers are focused and ready for the BAL 2024, and promised basketball lovers a better glimpse of the team’s quality when they play at the BAL.
“The group here is ready, and we’ve been playing hard, we’ve been practicing hard, everybody is focused, and we’re just ready for the team to get better. This club is in really good shape, and we’re focused. I feel like a lot of people do not understand how strong we really are, but when we get there [to BAL 2024], I feel like people will get a better glimpse,” he insisted.
Meanwhile, the KingsMen arrived in Lagos on Wednesday evening for their final phase of training before heading out to Dakar, Senegal, where they will take on home team AS Douanes in their first game at the Sahara Conference on Saturday, 4th May, 2024.
