Rivers Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu has revealed that a sharp mental reset and elevated intensity will drive the KingsMen as they prepare to launch their bid for the 2026 Nigeria Premier Basketball League (NPBL) crown.
The season-ending Final Four begins September 20 at the Basketball Stadium in Old Port Harcourt Township. The three-day, round-robin showcase sees the Hoopers competing alongside defending champions Maktown Flyers, Gboko City Chiefs, and Aso Sky Hawks for the 2026 NPBL title and Nigeria’s sole ticket to the 2027 Basketball Africa League (BAL) season.
For Odaudu, the preparation leading into the final stretch has centered less on physical conditioning and more on psychological readiness following last season’s heartbreak, when the Hoopers surrendered the 2025 crown in a 74–72 final-seconds defeat to Lagos Legends.
“Most of the things we didn’t do well previously were not a matter of basketball ability—it was mental,” Odaudu said after a training session. “I’ve spent a lot more time talking to the players, getting into their heads rather than just making them run up and down the court. Physical work is important, but the main thing is up there in their heads. You have to get them prepared mentally and psychologically ready, and we have done a lot of that.”
The Hoopers navigated the playoff phase with a 6-1 record, taking the top seed on points differential ahead of the Maktown Flyers. With the league finals just days away, Odaudu reflected on and praised his team’s evolution through each phase of the season.
“If you saw phase one and phase two, you could tell that by the playoff stage we were an entirely different team,” Odaudu noted.
“And from what I am seeing in practice, this is not going to be the same team that played in the playoffs either. There is a lot more intensity, a lot more hunger, and a lot more determination.”
The veteran strategist, however, dismissed suggestions of an easy ride for any team in the Final Four, insisting that each team has the ability to win and must be respected.
“It is not going to be a two-horse race or a three-horse race. It is a four-horse race because every team in the Final Four is capable of winning it,” Odaudu said. “It just depends on which team is hungrier for it.”
With the stakes higher than ever and only three match days deciding the championship from September 20–22, Odaudu warned his squad that there will be no margin for error.
“Every game is critical. We have to take it one game at a time and treat every matchup with total seriousness,” Odaudu said. “This is not like the playoff stage where you have seven games to recover. This is the Final Four—we cannot afford to drop a game at any point.”
