Rivers Hoopers still work in progress – Odaudu

Rivers Hoopers coach Ogoh Odaudu has refused to be carried away by their momentum in the Basketball Africa League Season 5 ahead of their next Kalahari Conference game against Al Ittihad of Egypt at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat, Morocco, on Tuesday (today), PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The KingsMen have recorded emphatic back-to-back wins in their first two games, beating Stade Malien 80-61 in their opening game last Saturday before following it up with an 88-82 win over FUS Rabat on Sunday.

Their next game poses a different level of challenge as they come up against the Egyptians, who also have also won their opening two games. They also beat FUS Rabat 71-60 and Stade Malien 72-69.

The Nigerian champions currently top the group with a superior points difference and look like favourites to qualify automatically for the playoffs along with Ittihad, but Odaudu is focused on the bigger picture ahead of the next round of matches in the playoffs.

“We are still a work in progress. We are not where we think we are supposed to be yet. We are still working on it,” he said in the post-match press conference.

“I think the team last year was more similar to this, and we had a couple of changes that made us more lethal. I’d say we’re ready to compete this year. That was the plan from the get-go; we want to play one game at a time.”

The 2025 BAL teams have been divided into three conferences of four teams each. Each conference will play a 12-game group phase, during which each team will face the other three teams in its conference twice.

The top two teams in each conference, as well as two best third-placed teams across three conferences, will advance to the playoffs, which will be held from June 6 to 14 at the Sunbet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa.

Rivers Hoopers are making their third appearance at the 2025 Basketball Africa League.

They featured in the inaugural season held in 2021 and last season’s edition, where they finished third to set a Nigerian record.