D’Tigers ambush Lithuania

Nigeria’s newest brides, D’Tigers will step unto the court for the 2nd time in Olympic history this afternoon to battle Lithuania in the basketball event of the London 2012 Olympics.

The squad that beat Tunisia 60-56 in their 1^st game on Sunday will definitely win more basketball faithful to their side should they outwit one of the world’s power houses in the slam dunk game.

Both sides will be locking horns for the 2^nd time in one month after Nigeria beat them in one of the qualifying matches for the Olympic Games in Venezuela.

Derrick Obasohan, who completed his collegiate career at Texas-Arlington in 2004, led Nigeria in that game with 20 points, while New Orleans Hornets forward Al-Farouq Aminu added 16 points and nine rebounds. Lithuania trimmed an eight-point, fourth-quarter deficit down to one, but was unable to get any closer

The game dunks off 2.30pm.

NIGERIA

Roster: G Tony Skinn, F Ekene Ibekwe, F Ike Diogu, F Al-Farouq Aminu, G Ade Dagunduro, G Chamberlain Oguchi, F Koko Archibong, G Richard Oruche, F Ejike Ugboaja, F Derrick Obasohan, C Alade Aminu, C Olumide Oyedeji

Coach: Ayo Bakare. He coaches the Ebun Comets in Nigeria's pro league. He also coached Nigeria's national team in the mid-1990s and early-2000s before Nigeria used to American coaches (Sam Vincent and Robert McCullum).

Qualification: Finished third by beating the Dominican Republic at Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Venezuela in July.

Best Olympic finish: First Olympics

Players you know: F Al-Farouq Aminu, who played college ball at Wake Forest, averaged six points and 4.7 rebounds for the New Orleans Hornets last season. … PG Tony Skinn played on the George Mason team that reached the Final Four in 2006. Skinn, who has spent his professional career in France, Italy and Germany, averaged 10 points and 2.8 assists in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. … F Ike Diogu, who played at Arizona State and averaged six points for six teams in six NBA seasons, averaged 16.8 points and 10.8 rebounds in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. … F Alade Aminu, Al-Farqouq's brother, played at Georgia Tech and has spent last season playing in France. F Ekene Ibekwe played at Maryland.

Expert Analysis: The key with Nigeria and the reason they had success in the Qualifying Tournament is that they play very, very hard and with passion and energy on defense. Diogu is an NBA-level player. Al-Farouq Aminu is certainly an NBA player. They're not going to medal, but they played their win in on the basis of toughness and team chemistry. The Nigerian players I've been around have a fierceness about them. They just play very confidently. They're very quick to the ball. They get all those 50-50 balls. They play very loose. Diogu has done a nice job down low. Their guard play has been good. They're a fun team to watch because of the way they attack and they play very free.

LITHUANIA

Roster: G Rimantas Kaukenas, G Mantas Kalnietis, F Jonas Maciulis, G Martynas Pocius, F Darius Songaila, F Linas Kleiza, F Paulius Jankunas, G Sarunas Jasikevicius, F Simas Jasaitis, C Jonas Valanciunas, C Antanas Kavaliauskas, G Renaldas Seibutis

Coach: Kestutis Kemzura. He played professionally in Lithuania, and after his playing career, he coached in Turkey, Lithuania, Russia and Italy. He was Latvia's national coach before taking Lithuania national team job in 2009.

Qualification: Advanced to finals of Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Venezuela in July.

Best Olympic finish: Bronze in 1992, 1996, 2000

Players you know:Toronto Raptors forward Linas Kleiza (Missouri) averaged 19 points and seven rebounds in the 2010 world championship but a knee injury kept him out of the 2011 European championship in Lithuania. … Guard Sarunas Jasikevicius (Maryland) averaged 9.5 points and 4.6 assists in 2011 European championship and forward Darius Songaila (Wake Forest) averaged 8.4 points and three rebounds in the 2011 European championship.

Expert Analysis: They're coming off a downer. They hosted the European Championship a year ago and ended up finishing a disappointing fifth. There's redemption involved for them. Their team right now has a bunch of solid European level players but for them to have a chance to medal, it has to be about Linas Kleiza. He's healthy. He's capable of being a scoring threat for them. Kleiza is Lithuania's Andrei Kirilenko (of Russia). A little different style obviously, but Kleiza was one of the top players in the world championships. They had a great run to semifinals and they won the bronze. Kleiza was hurt last year, now he's back. He's healthy. He's a proven NBA talent . … It will be a great sneak peek at Valanciunas who was taken fifth in the 2011 NBA Draft and likely would have been the second player taken in this year's draft behind Anthony Davis. He is a pure low-post center with the requisite nastiness to make a quick adjustment to the NBA despite his age."