THE Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the just concluded 2016
DStv Premier Basketball League Final 8 playoffs, Abubakar Usman of Kano Pillars
is hoping his award will silence his critics once and for all.
Usman scored 24 points as Kano Pillars defeated Nigeria
Customs won 71-53 in the final game at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National
Stadium, Lagos on Saturday to emerge champions again for the 5th time after the
disappointment of losing the title to Mark Mentors in 2015.
In a chat with sportsbiz247.blogspot.com, an elated Usman
said he needed to show that he still has all it takes at the highest level
after being criticized for his team’s loss last year.
“I feel happy and
good because when people said I'm old, I need to prove them wrong. I have to come
out and show them I still have all it takes at the highest level.
“The magic is training. I train hard and I thank God for
rewarding my effort. It's not easy to win MVP so many times. I've now won it
like seven times in the history of Nigeria basketball league, nobody has done
that. So I should be very happy. If today I retire, I have that record", said
the Kano Pillars guard.
Apart from clinching the MVP, Usman was named among the
top five players of the tournament alongside two of his teammates, Abdul Yahaya
and Dele Ademola, as well as Quenum Romaric of Nigeria Customs and Kwara
Falcons small guard Enan Wilfried.
Wilfried was also named best rebounder, while Ibrahim
Yusuf clinched best assist and Kwara Falcons got the fair play award.
Rivers Hoopers finished in a respectable third position
in their first season back in the elite division after a 59-57 victory over
Atlantic Conference leaders Kwara Falcons.
Kano Pillars and Nigeria Customs will represent Nigeria
at the FIBA Zone 3 Africa Club Championship qualifiers later this year and
Usman believes the Northern club needs to fortify the team to make impact at
the championship.
“Up till now we are still coming up when it comes to
Africa Club basketball championship because we don't have the players. The
problem we are having when we get to the Championship, most of the players we
rely on chicken out. So we need to go out and get the players that can help us.
“All the same we are looking forward to perform better
this time around. We have better players than last year, even though we still
need to recruit more good players. So with the addition of new good players to
the ones we have, we can do something,” Umar told sportsbiz247.blogspot.com.
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