Nigerian basketball legend reveals why D'Tigers are struggling at Tokyo 2020 Olympics

• Nigeria's national basketball team had good pre-Olympics preparations after wins over Team USA and Argentina
• But, they have been unable to replicate their form when the real competition started this month after losses to Australia and Germany
• Olumide Oyedeji has now revealed that competitions are quite different from friendly encounters

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Nigeria's D'Tigers' chances of progressing to the next round of this summer Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are slim after losing their first two games.

Coach Mike Brown's men opened their campaign with an 84-67 defeat to Australia while their second game against Germany ended 99-92.

They have one more group game against Italy this weekend but their fate is not in their hands as far as qualifications are concerned.

These results are however contrary to the feat they achieved during their pre-Olympics qualification after beating Team United States and Argentina in friendly encounters.

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And the former Nigerian basketball legend, Olumide Oyedeji, while reacting to the results insisted that friendlies are definitely different from the real competition.

The 40-year-old who won gold medal with the country's national basketball team at the 2015 FIBA Africa Championship believes the reality of the game quickly settled in after the competition started.

What Olumide Oyedeji said about the defeat

He told Legit.ng in an interview:

"First, we must acknowledge that the Olympics is different from friendly games, so, unfortunately, we have come to the reality that we have to take care of the ball and do what needed to be done."

Oyedeji also won bronze medals at the 2005 and 2011 editions of the champions in Algeria and Madagascar.

How Nigeria lost to Germany at Tokyo 2020 Olympics

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Legit.ng earlier reported that Nigeria men's basketball team has been condemned to their second straight defeat at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Wednesday, July 28 as reported by Vanguard newspaper.

D'Tigers put up a really good fight from the first to the third quarter but let down their guards in the fourth and this defeat leaves their chances of making it to the next round very slim.

Coach Mike Brown's men lost the first lap of the match with just three points - with the Germans beating them 24-21 in the first 10 minutes.