Basketball in Africa

National male basketball team D'Tigers are continuing the London Olympic Games qualification build up in the United States in a four- nation tournament in Houston with nail-biting games against national teams of Greece, Brazil, and New Zealand from June 25-30.
The Olympic qualifiers come up July 2-8 in Caracas, against Venezuela, and Lithuania for the Group-B sole ticket to the Olympics. The team, in search of a first ever Olympic Games games appearance, had earlier successfully concluded a tour of China where they took on several top clubs like Fujian Quanzhou Bank basketball club, Shanxi Zhongyu basketball club and Shanxi Zhongyu basketball club. Done with playing club-sides, D'Tigers took on the national team of Great Britain in the U.S, although details of results were not readily available.
The team will head to Caracas,Venezuela for the qualifiers after concluding the four-nation tourney, according to the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, which has also described the trips as successful and revealing.
Few stakeholders give Nigeria a chance to make it to the Games giving the rich and rewarding background of both Venezuela and Lithuania in South America and the world. NBBF sources however say they are not ruling out surprises from the Nigerian team, given that the team is composed of players with experience who have vowed to bring smiles to the faces of their fellow countrymen and women.