Musa Kida, the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), has passed a vote of confidence on Mike Brown and Otis Hughley, handlers of the D ’Tigers and D ’Tigress, respectively.
Kida said on Wednesday, in Lagos, that all coaches interested in handling the Nigerian National Basketball teams had been asked to join in the future development of the teams.
Arriving fresh from the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, the president said that NBBF had full confidence in the technical and tactical abilities of the two elite coaches.
“With Brown having signified his intention to lead the D’Tigers to the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket championships, starting on Aug. 24 in Rwanda, I am impressed with the ex-Golden State Warriors coach’s zeal for Nigeria.
“This commitment has shown his immense passion and dedication to the development of Nigerian basketball.
“I have full confidence in Brown because it just goes beyond the technical side of coaching the National team. Brown has shown that he is passionate about the interest of Nigerians, Nigerian basketball and also in making Africa look good.
“For the federation, his stay goes beyond the Olympics which is just a stepping stone to greater targets.
“For me, this is a long term project, it is not something that can ferment in just one day and be ripe. So, I have full confidence in him, in his commitment and passion for Nigerian basketball,” Kida said.
Kida also lauded Brown for his maturity and enviable level of resilience in dealing with some unpalatable experiences, while handling the team during the Olympics in Tokyo.
“What we all went through at the Olympics did not discourage him and that even makes me respect him more than before.
“For him to understand that this is something he has never experienced; maybe only imagined. Those things that actually happened to him were very strange, but he took all that in his strides and we are still striving together.”
On the future of Coach Otis with the D ’Tigress, Kida observed that Otis had shown resilience and the team can only get better.
“He is always looking for ways to make things better. He is still our women’s head coach and we still have the full confidence we had in him.
“He has not let us down in any way and adapted to all the various circumstances, coming all the way from Spain (the FIBA World Cup)”, Kida added. (NAN)
