2021 Rivers Hoopers season

Rivers Hoopers
2021 season
Head coachOgoh Odaudu
BALGroup stage
2024 (BAL) →

The 2021 BAL season was the 1st season for the Rivers Hoopers of the Basketball Africa League. The team began the season on May 16, 2021, in the season opener against Rwanda's Patriots BBC.

Coming off a third Nigerian Premier League, the team of Ogoh Odaudu qualified for the inaugural BAL season. Ahead of the season, the Hoopers signed Ben Uzoh,[1] along with the American duo Chris Daniels and Taren Sullivan.[2] They also signed ex-NBA champion Festus Ezeli.[3] However, Ezeli got injured and had to miss the season. He was later replaced by Robinson Opong.

The Hoopers were allocated in Group A, but were unable to advance to the playoffs with their 1–2 record.

Roster

Team

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Rivers Hoopers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age
G 00 Nigeria Balogun, Emmanuel 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 22 – (1998-12-17)17 December 1998
SG 2 Nigeria Alalibo, Ronald 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 26 – (1994-05-08)8 May 1994
F 10 Nigeria Nwaiwu, Onyebuchi 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 22 – (1998-08-20)20 August 1998
C 11 Nigeria Koko, Victor 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 23 – (1997-06-04)4 June 1997
PF 12 Nigeria Ajegbeyi, Solomon 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 25 – (1995-11-02)2 November 1995
PG 14 Nigeria Uzoh, Ben 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 32 – (1988-03-18)18 March 1988
SG 15 Uganda Opong, Robinson (I) 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 31 – (1989-05-10)10 May 1989
SF 21 Nigeria Osigbodi, Precious 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 25 – (1995-07-07)7 July 1995
SG 22 Nigeria Ikechukwu, Benjamin (C) 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 23 – (1997-06-04)4 June 1997
C 23 Nigeria Ugo, Victor James 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 28 – (1992-12-14)14 December 1992
SF 24 United States Sullivan, Taren (I) 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 25 – (1995-07-30)30 July 1995
SG 33 Nigeria Owoicho, Simon 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 25 – (1995-11-23)23 November 1995
C 55 United States Daniels, Chris (I) 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 36 – (1984-04-19)19 April 1984
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (I) Import player
  • Injured Injured
Updated: May 16, 2020

Additions

No. Pos. Nat. Name Moving from Date Source
14 PG Nigeria Ben Uzoh Paris France April 15, 2021 [1]
24 SF United States Taren Sullivan Erie BayHawks United States April 16, 2021 [2]
55 C United States Chris Daniels Alaska Aces Philippines April 16, 2021 [2]
15 SG Uganda Robinson Opong Saskatchewan Rattlers Canada April 22, 2021 [4]

Games

BAL

See also: 2021 BAL season

Group phase

Pos Team
 Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1 Tunisia US Monastir 3 3 0 303 211 +92 6 Advance to playoffs
2 Rwanda Patriots (H) 3 2 1 236 223 +13 5
3 Nigeria Rivers Hoopers 3 1 2 210 251 −41 4
4 Madagascar GNBC 3 0 3 207 271 −64 3
Source: BAL
(H) Hosts
16 May 2021
1
 Patriots Rwanda 83–60 Nigeria Rivers Hoopers Kigali
14:00 GMT Scoring by quarter: 17–18, 26–16, 22–10, 18–16
Pts: Costner 20
Rebs: Ibeh 11
Asts: Gasana 4 		Boxscore Pts: Sullivan 15
Rebs: Koko 8
Asts: Uzoh 5 		Arena: Kigali Arena
Attendance: 2,000
20 May 2021
2
 Rivers Hoopers Nigeria 70–99 Tunisia US Monastir Kigali
15:30 GMT Scoring by quarter: 12–24, 10–25, 25–21, 23–29
Pts: Daniels 25
Rebs: Daniels 11
Asts: Uzoh 8 		Boxscore Pts: Slimane 23
Rebs: Ghayaza, Lahyani, Majok 6
Asts: Abada 6 		Arena: Kigali Arena
23 May 2021
3
 GNBC Madagascar 69–80 Nigeria Rivers Hoopers Kigali
12:00 GMT Scoring by quarter: 18-18, 22-23, 19-18, 10-21
Pts: Mandimbison 19
Rebs: Mandimbison 6
Asts: Razanamahenina 5 		Pts: Sullivan 19
Rebs: Koko 12
Asts: Uzoh, Daniels, Balogun 3 		Arena: Kigali Arena

Statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Source:[5]

Rivers Hoopers statistics
Player GP MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Ben Uzoh 3 3 29.1 55.9 0 66.7 4.7 5.3 1.0 0.7 14.7
Taren Sullivan 3 3 26.4 41.0 26.7 77.8 3.3 1.3 1.3 0.0 14.3
Chris Daniels 3 3 23.6 60.0 44.4 80.0 8.3 1.7 1.7 1.7 14.0
Benjamin Ikechukwu 3 3 23.4 25.0 23.1 – 4.0 1.3 1.0 0.3 7.3
Solomon Ajegbeyi 3 0 19.0 36.8 0 75.0 5.3 0.0 0.7 0.3 6.7
Victor Koko 3 3 20.8 27.8 0 33.3 8.3 1.3 0.0 2.3 4.0
Robinson Opong 3 0 17.4 15.8 8.3 – 3.3 2.0 1.0 0.0 2.3
Precious Saliu 3 0 9.3 16.7 22.2 33.3 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 2.3
Simon Ameh 3 0 8.9 25.0 33.3 100 0.7 1.3 0.3 0.0 2.3
Onyebuchi Nwaiwu 3 0 9.4 33.3 – – 2.0 0.3 0.3 0.0 1.3
Emmanuel Balogun 3 0 8.8 20.0 0 – 0.3 1.3 0.3 0.0 0.7
Victor James Ugo 1 0 6.6 0 – – 1.0 1.0 0 0 0
Ronald Alalibo 2 0 2.3 – – – 0.0 0.0 0 0 0

References

  1. ^ a b "Rivers Hoopers sign D'Tigers star ahead of Basketball Africa League – AllBallerZone". Allballerzone.com. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "B/Ball: Rivers Hoopers Sign American Duo Chris Daniels, Taren Sullivan". The Busy Buddies. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Festus Ezeli signs with Rivers Hoopers in NBA/FIBA's Basketball Africa League". Sportando.basketball. April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  4. ^ "Ugandan International Robinson Opong Joins Rivers Hoopers". Channels Television. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Rivers Hoopers Stats - RealGM". basketball.realgm.com. Retrieved 27 December 2021.