FIBA Basketball
NGR - Nwosu has mixed feelings over Nigeria hoops
SAN ANTONIO (FIBA World Championship) - Nigeria are returning to the FIBA World Championship in Japan later this year after clinching bronze at the FIBA Africa Championship in Algeria.One of the main contributors to the country's qualification was veteran Julius Nwosu, who averaged 6.5 points and 3.4 rebounds under Nigeria coach Sam Vincent
SAN ANTONIO (FIBA World Championship) - Nigeria are returning to the FIBA World Championship in Japan later this year after clinching bronze at the FIBA Africa Championship in Algeria.
One of the main contributors to the country's qualification was veteran Julius Nwosu, who averaged 6.5 points and 3.4 rebounds under Nigeria coach Sam Vincent.
Nwosu, who had a brief NBA career and was briefly a member of his country's team at the FIBA World Championship in 1998 before being suspended, could end up playing a crucial role in the Far East.
He averaged 12.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals for Romanian champions CSU Asesoft Ploiesti in the EuroCup this season.
Nwosu, who left Asesoft after the team was eliminated from the EuroCup, spoke to PA Sport's David Hein on behalf of FIBA.
FIBA: Nigeria qualified for the World Championship again after missing the 2002 games. Where do you see Nigeria's standing in the world of basketball?
Nwosu: Honestly, I'm telling you we're the best in Africa even though we don't always come out on top in the tournaments. Nigeria is always not prepared. And that always hurts. When the tournaments start, everybody looks at us first to see where we play. Angola beat everybody because they prepared better than anybody else. But Angola is the one team that can practice together because most of their players play at home.
FIBA: And Nigeria's players are mostly abroad?
Nwosu: Yeah, our guys and most of the others from Africa are all in the States or Europe. And many aren't going to leave just to play in Africa. That's the same problem we have - getting players together in time. Ours is a big problem. We didn't have much time before the qualification with the coach but we still qualified. We were there just before the game still putting in plays. And some guys were playing out of shape.
FIBA: Where do you see the problem then, in getting the team properly prepared for this year`s big tournament?
Nwosu: I don't really know. It's not from the basketball side. It's more from the Nigerian sports minister's office. A big problem is getting the money from the government to start everything on time. If you can't pay for hotels or fly in players, you can't start anything.
FIBA: Probably a lot different than in football?
Nwosu: Soccer is just a lot bigger. People do things for them right away. Our sport has to beg for anything.
FIBA: You expect anything to change any time soon?
Nwosu: It's not because of our basketball president Gyang Buba. He has put his own money down sometimes to get things done until the money comes in. With him we can do some things, but I don't know. He plans to speed things up for Japan. The requests are already in for what we need. But it will take forever to get the money. The Nigerian government is so rich. They have too much money. But they only care about soccer.
FIBA: Can you give me an example?
Nwosu: We went to Algeria for the qualifying tournament, and the money used to go there was total to the amount the soccer team used to fly to one game. They had a chartered plane.
FIBA: You mean more than a week of hotel and flights for you guys and one game for the footballers?
Nwosu: Yeah, we were in Algeria and after the tournament the soccer team came to Algeria for a game and the money to send them there was more than the money we used for the entire time. That will tell you how much soccer means.
FIBA: That must be pretty disappointing to you?
Nwosu: It's more disappointing to the basketball programme and the kids who want to play basketball. Maybe they'll start thinking we should all play soccer because nobody pays attention to basketball players. We were in the capital Abuja to practice for the qualifications. And the sports minister never really came around to see how we were doing. If they could pay a little attention to basketball, maybe we could conquer the world.
FIBA: So it's kind of you guys against the government as well as the rest of the world?
Nwosu: Let's say, when it comes to encouragement, we do that on our own. We're blessed to have the basketball president that we have. He played the game when he was young and he's influential. And he's used that influence to get some things done. Since Buba's taken over, basketball is jumping high. They signed a contract with a telecommunications company and things are heading in the right direction. A few years back, basketball in Nigeria was dead. There was no season for two years. We support him in everything. If he said play for free, we would.
FIBA: With the lack of a strong league in Nigeria, most of the younger talent is forced to leave Africa and many head to the United States to study and play at an American university such as yourself at Liberty. One of the better young Nigerian talents is Ekene Ibekwe, who helped Nigeria qualify for the FIBA World Championship after helping the University of Maryland to the NIT semi-finals. What do you think about him?
Nwosu: He's a very young and talented guy. I looked at him at the qualifications and said, “When you go back to school, just play your game.” I will be really angry if you don't go to the NBA.” He's a good defender. He can guard from the three to five spots. He runs the court well, handles the ball well. Man, that kid's got talent.
FIBA: Is Ekene just the latest young Nigerian talent the world is waiting to have discovered?
Nwosu: There are a lot of young people that play the game and are very talented kids. I don't know who's bringing them up, though. I'm older and will be leaving the game very soon. I want to coach - maybe in America. But it has to be a programme that can support me to do something in Nigeria. What I do there is not going to require a lot of money. I can go there and have a week-long tournament. Or a shoot-out. Or a clinic. The guys will come and compete hard. If I can raise some money from some sponsors for accommodation, then they'll come. And the kids are really good. There are big guys who are running and jumping so hard.
FIBA: Basketball as a way to get out?
Nwosu: They look at basketball like it can really change their lives. Not just get out. You can look at it that way for some. If they look at me and many others, we're all college graduates and can get a job anywhere. We tell them they should go and combine basketball and school.
FIBA: So, let's move onto the upcoming FIBA World Championship. It is most going to be your last, right?
Nwosu: I don't know if I am going to make the team. There are a lot of people who want to go. When we tried to qualify, there was nobody available. The young guys who helped us get to Japan might not get a chance to go because the professionals might want to go. It would be good for Nigerian basketball if the team that qualified went.
FIBA: Why do you say that?
Nwosu: Guys like Ekene deserve to go. It would be nice to have his college buddies see him in a World Championship. The others didn't respond to what we were doing. Obinna Ekezie (formerly of the NBA`s Grizzlies, Wizards, Clippers, Hawks and now with Italian club Roma) was invited but didn't come. They're thinking of maybe bringing in the "Kandiman" (Minnesota Timberwolves centre Michael Olowokandi) or (recent University of Kentucky star Kelenna) Azubuike. If (Charlotte Bobcats centre Emeka) Okafor was available, they'd ask him too. But he played for the States already in the Olympics. When all these players start piling up, you're not going to take a college player over a professional.
FIBA: But isn't one of the ideas to bring your best players to the World Championship?
Nwosu: Well, we had a good mix. Most of the professionals were in Europe and know how to play European basketball which is more similar to the international game than the NBA game. And then we had the college guys like Ekene who just got after it. Nigeria is not going to win the Championship. Nobody is kidding themselves. Okay, anything can happen. But it can happen with any team. If you bring in new guys to the team, the guys who helped you qualify might not want to do it next time. And I don't know if the guys you bring in will do anything special at the Worlds.
FIBA: And your coach is the former NBA player Sam Vincent, who played many years in Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Orlando and Milwaukee. Your thoughts about Coach?
Nwosu: He's very good. He's a good coach, a player's coach. He understands the game and you're not going to trick him.
PA Sport - Exclusively for FIBA
One of the main contributors to the country's qualification was veteran Julius Nwosu, who averaged 6.5 points and 3.4 rebounds under Nigeria coach Sam Vincent.
Nwosu, who had a brief NBA career and was briefly a member of his country's team at the FIBA World Championship in 1998 before being suspended, could end up playing a crucial role in the Far East.
He averaged 12.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals for Romanian champions CSU Asesoft Ploiesti in the EuroCup this season.
Nwosu, who left Asesoft after the team was eliminated from the EuroCup, spoke to PA Sport's David Hein on behalf of FIBA.
FIBA: Nigeria qualified for the World Championship again after missing the 2002 games. Where do you see Nigeria's standing in the world of basketball?
Nwosu: Honestly, I'm telling you we're the best in Africa even though we don't always come out on top in the tournaments. Nigeria is always not prepared. And that always hurts. When the tournaments start, everybody looks at us first to see where we play. Angola beat everybody because they prepared better than anybody else. But Angola is the one team that can practice together because most of their players play at home.
FIBA: And Nigeria's players are mostly abroad?
Nwosu: Yeah, our guys and most of the others from Africa are all in the States or Europe. And many aren't going to leave just to play in Africa. That's the same problem we have - getting players together in time. Ours is a big problem. We didn't have much time before the qualification with the coach but we still qualified. We were there just before the game still putting in plays. And some guys were playing out of shape.
FIBA: Where do you see the problem then, in getting the team properly prepared for this year`s big tournament?
Nwosu: I don't really know. It's not from the basketball side. It's more from the Nigerian sports minister's office. A big problem is getting the money from the government to start everything on time. If you can't pay for hotels or fly in players, you can't start anything.
FIBA: Probably a lot different than in football?
Nwosu: Soccer is just a lot bigger. People do things for them right away. Our sport has to beg for anything.
FIBA: You expect anything to change any time soon?
Nwosu: It's not because of our basketball president Gyang Buba. He has put his own money down sometimes to get things done until the money comes in. With him we can do some things, but I don't know. He plans to speed things up for Japan. The requests are already in for what we need. But it will take forever to get the money. The Nigerian government is so rich. They have too much money. But they only care about soccer.
FIBA: Can you give me an example?
Nwosu: We went to Algeria for the qualifying tournament, and the money used to go there was total to the amount the soccer team used to fly to one game. They had a chartered plane.
FIBA: You mean more than a week of hotel and flights for you guys and one game for the footballers?
Nwosu: Yeah, we were in Algeria and after the tournament the soccer team came to Algeria for a game and the money to send them there was more than the money we used for the entire time. That will tell you how much soccer means.
FIBA: That must be pretty disappointing to you?
Nwosu: It's more disappointing to the basketball programme and the kids who want to play basketball. Maybe they'll start thinking we should all play soccer because nobody pays attention to basketball players. We were in the capital Abuja to practice for the qualifications. And the sports minister never really came around to see how we were doing. If they could pay a little attention to basketball, maybe we could conquer the world.
FIBA: So it's kind of you guys against the government as well as the rest of the world?
Nwosu: Let's say, when it comes to encouragement, we do that on our own. We're blessed to have the basketball president that we have. He played the game when he was young and he's influential. And he's used that influence to get some things done. Since Buba's taken over, basketball is jumping high. They signed a contract with a telecommunications company and things are heading in the right direction. A few years back, basketball in Nigeria was dead. There was no season for two years. We support him in everything. If he said play for free, we would.
FIBA: With the lack of a strong league in Nigeria, most of the younger talent is forced to leave Africa and many head to the United States to study and play at an American university such as yourself at Liberty. One of the better young Nigerian talents is Ekene Ibekwe, who helped Nigeria qualify for the FIBA World Championship after helping the University of Maryland to the NIT semi-finals. What do you think about him?
Nwosu: He's a very young and talented guy. I looked at him at the qualifications and said, “When you go back to school, just play your game.” I will be really angry if you don't go to the NBA.” He's a good defender. He can guard from the three to five spots. He runs the court well, handles the ball well. Man, that kid's got talent.
FIBA: Is Ekene just the latest young Nigerian talent the world is waiting to have discovered?
Nwosu: There are a lot of young people that play the game and are very talented kids. I don't know who's bringing them up, though. I'm older and will be leaving the game very soon. I want to coach - maybe in America. But it has to be a programme that can support me to do something in Nigeria. What I do there is not going to require a lot of money. I can go there and have a week-long tournament. Or a shoot-out. Or a clinic. The guys will come and compete hard. If I can raise some money from some sponsors for accommodation, then they'll come. And the kids are really good. There are big guys who are running and jumping so hard.
FIBA: Basketball as a way to get out?
Nwosu: They look at basketball like it can really change their lives. Not just get out. You can look at it that way for some. If they look at me and many others, we're all college graduates and can get a job anywhere. We tell them they should go and combine basketball and school.
FIBA: So, let's move onto the upcoming FIBA World Championship. It is most going to be your last, right?
Nwosu: I don't know if I am going to make the team. There are a lot of people who want to go. When we tried to qualify, there was nobody available. The young guys who helped us get to Japan might not get a chance to go because the professionals might want to go. It would be good for Nigerian basketball if the team that qualified went.
FIBA: Why do you say that?
Nwosu: Guys like Ekene deserve to go. It would be nice to have his college buddies see him in a World Championship. The others didn't respond to what we were doing. Obinna Ekezie (formerly of the NBA`s Grizzlies, Wizards, Clippers, Hawks and now with Italian club Roma) was invited but didn't come. They're thinking of maybe bringing in the "Kandiman" (Minnesota Timberwolves centre Michael Olowokandi) or (recent University of Kentucky star Kelenna) Azubuike. If (Charlotte Bobcats centre Emeka) Okafor was available, they'd ask him too. But he played for the States already in the Olympics. When all these players start piling up, you're not going to take a college player over a professional.
FIBA: But isn't one of the ideas to bring your best players to the World Championship?
Nwosu: Well, we had a good mix. Most of the professionals were in Europe and know how to play European basketball which is more similar to the international game than the NBA game. And then we had the college guys like Ekene who just got after it. Nigeria is not going to win the Championship. Nobody is kidding themselves. Okay, anything can happen. But it can happen with any team. If you bring in new guys to the team, the guys who helped you qualify might not want to do it next time. And I don't know if the guys you bring in will do anything special at the Worlds.
FIBA: And your coach is the former NBA player Sam Vincent, who played many years in Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Orlando and Milwaukee. Your thoughts about Coach?
Nwosu: He's very good. He's a good coach, a player's coach. He understands the game and you're not going to trick him.
PA Sport - Exclusively for FIBA