Nigeria have responded to criticism from Stephen A. Smith of ESPN and Shannon Sharpe of Fox Sport.

[ad_1]

Jazzman hopes he can earn a spot in Nigeria’s 12-man roster en route to Olympics

(David Becker | AP Photo) Utah Jazz forward Miye Oni (back right) and Nigeria defeated the United States and Damian Lillard (6) in an exhibition basketball game on the Saturday July 10, 2021 in Las Vegas.

| July 13, 2021, 5:29 p.m.

Utah Jazz fans know center Rudy Gobert is spending this offseason competing for his native France for the upcoming Summer Olympics, while forward Joe Ingles is once again part of the Australian national team.

It may not be as well-known as a third jazz player, Miye Oni, also has a chance to go and compete in Tokyo.

The Los Angeles-born winger, who just completed his second season in Utah, has now played two exhibition games with the Nigerian national team and hopes to earn a spot on the final 12-man roster.

My mom was born there, both of my parents are Nigerians, but my mom was born there and it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while, Oni told the Salt Lake Tribune.

He said he had had periodic conversations with the Nigerian Basketball Federation about his participation this summer, but it ultimately hinged on the [NBA] the end of the season and the timing of it. As an example, US team players Devin Booker, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday have yet to play for the Americans because the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks are still in the NBA Finals.

So when the Jazz were upset in the Western Conference semifinals by the LA Clippers, Oni was disappointed to see her pro season cut short, but also recognized the international opportunity it opened up.

Just like that, he was part of the DTigers training camp team.

And her mom (Opeyemi) and dad (Oludotun) were on Cloud Nine.

My parents were thrilled when they found out about the opportunity, Oni said. It brought them great pride.

Oni, meanwhile, has brought some turmoil, robust defense and even 3-point shots off the bench in DTigers two impressive wins so far.

In their opener last Saturday night, Nigeria shocked the famous American team and the world, for that matter, with a 90-87 victory in Las Vegas. Oni contributed six points, three rebounds, two assists and one block, while hitting 2 of 4 3-point tries in 11 minutes and 20 seconds of field time. Nigeria went from 20 of 42 beyond the arc as a team and angered the Americans at 41.3% overall thanks to their high pressure defense.

This result made international headlines, in part because of the surprising result, but also because of the controversial commentary that followed.

ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith has earned blame for slaughtering the pronunciation of several Nigerian player names and downright mocking one (the great Miami Heat Precious Achiuwa) while slamming the result.

Meanwhile, former NFL player turned FS1 talker Shannon Sharpe berated Americans for their performance, hyperbolically stating on her show Undisputed that Me, Chris [Broussard], Jump [Bayless], Jenny [Taft], and the cameraman could beat Nigeria.

The only fun thing about it is giving people like this a platform to talk about a sport they don’t know anything about.

https://t.co/6yEJfZQ8iO

– DTigers | Nigeria Basketball (@NigeriaBasket) July 13, 2021

Several Nigerian players applauded the insult that they could be beaten by TV personalities.

[Y]You wore crampons for a reason, Oni wrote to Sharpe on Twitter.

More importantly, the Utah Jazz wing just wants to keep the focus on his team’s historic accomplishment the first time a team from Africa beat the USA team.

It was really fun and really a great experience, but it’s not something we didn’t expect due to how difficult we train and how well prepared we felt, said Oni. . We came there to win the game, we didn’t come just to play Team USA.

Nigeria proved their first victory no fluke on Sunday night as they lost 94-71 to Argentina, the fourth-ranked team in the world. Oni this time posted five points and five rebounds, hitting 1 of 3 deep, but returning the ball four times in 10:58. (Nigeria are expected to finish the exhibition game Tuesday night against Australia.)

The Yale product has acknowledged that it still acclimates to the rules and nuances of the international game, but also strongly believes in Nigeria’s chances of making noise, given that it has eight current NBA players ( Oni, Achiuwa, KZ Okpala, Gabe Vincent, Josh Okogie, Chimezie Metu, Jahlil Okafor and Jordan Nwora) and two former NBA players (Michael Gbinije and former jazz center Ekpe Udoh), who quickly merged into a force defensive.

We got guys who can keep any position [over] the court, throughout the list, said Oni. It doesn’t matter who is driving [Mike Brown] puts, anyone can keep.

Oni said he has no idea if Brown will ultimately select him for Nigeria’s 12-man squad to play in Tokyo, although he is hopeful. In the meantime, he’s just trying to follow the advice of his internationally experienced jazz teammates Gobert, Ingles, Donovan Mitchell who advised him to really dig in and enjoy the experience.

[They told me], Enjoy it, says Oni. Rudy, when I told him that I could have this opportunity, told me that it was really a big deal, and that I shouldn’t take it lightly, and that it was a great honor.

[ad_2]