Mike Brown, assistant coach of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, has agreed to take over as the head coach of the Nigerian men’s basketball national team, according to ESPN.
ESPN’s Marc J. Spears reported that Musa Kida, president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation, wanted to look for someone with NBA background to coach the team which made the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Nigeria gained their Olympic qualification at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in China last year. The team were first in Group B with Argentina, Russia and South Korea. The 1-2 record was not good enough to send the team to the elimination stage but Nigeria capitalized their opportunity by defeating the host China in their last game. As the best-performing team from Africa, they secured a spot in Tokyo.
With several NBA players including Josh Okogie and Al-Farouq Aminu, Nigerians are very talented especially in athleticism but lack tactics. In most cases, the players are simply playing the game relying on their physical advantage, which explained why they suffered losses in more experienced Russia and Argentina.
