Al-Farouq Aminu and Nigeria played their 17-32 classification game like it matters. Because it does if they want to make the Olympics next year.
Nigeria knew its FIBA World Cup hopes were dashed a while ago. They lost their first two games to Russia and Argentina, assuring they would not make it to the second round.
Nigeria was in a tough group, but they surely had hopes of making it out of the first round and having a chance to advance to the knockout round. At the very least they had the hopes of being the top team from Africa in the tournament. And getting out of the first round would assure that.
But there are still two more games to play before the World Cup ends for Nigeria. Theoretically, the team has nothing to play for. No trophy to play for or medal to win. Just games to play out the string and give a seemingly cogent ranking of every team in the tournament.
It is the Classification 17-32 round, after all.
You would not be able to tell that this did not matter by watching how Al-Farouq Aminu and Nigeria were playing. They came out in their game against Cote d’Ivoire like it mattered.
And it did matter. There is an Olympic berth on the line for Nigeria. These are not merely consolation bracket games for the teams.
For Nigeria, these last two games against Cote d’Ivoire and China could be the difference between making and missing the Olympics.
With the World Cup moving to the year before the Olympics, it pre-empted a lot of the continental tournaments used for Olympic qualifying the summer before. That has created an interesting tournament within the tournament at the FIBA World Cup.
There are seven automatic berths up for grabs at the World Cup for next year’s 12-team tournament in Japan (there are 32 teams at the World Cup). And so for classification purposes, the top team in Africa gets an automatic berth into the Olympics.
And that is why there was an urgency to this game for Nigeria.
Al-Farouq Aminu got a man on his back and posted up, pump faking to get him off balance before finishing around him. On the next possession, he pulled up for a 3-pointer and drained it. He had seven of Nigeria’s first 14 points and they took the early lead.
The coaches did not quite get the memo, doing a hockey line change substitution late in the first quarter. Cote d’Ivoire came back and took the lead before Nigeria retook the lead to finish the first half.
Nigeria made sure to put the game away in the second half. It was again the veteran Aminu leading the way. He had a scoring burst again in the third quarter, capitalized with a steal and drive for a finish and a foul that capitalized Nigeria’s 83-66 win over their continental rival.
Aminu led the way with 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in 20 minutes. Nigeria played a scaled back lineup throughout the game, but they took care of their business.
And now they have one more game to accomplish their goal.
Losing the first two games put that secondary goal in jeopardy, even in two close losses. A 40-point win over Korea put Nigeria in the driver’s seat for that honor. Nigeria and Tunisia are tied at 2-2 for the tournament with Nigeria holding the point differential advantage (+41 to -11).
Nigeria will play China (2-2) in Sunday’s finale while Tunisia will play Angola (1-3). Tunisia is in the significantly weaker group, having defeated the Philippines 86-67 in Friday’s game.
If Nigeria wins, they clinch Africa’s automatic Olympic berth. If Nigeria loses, they need a Tunisia loss to clinch a spot in the Olympics. Tunisia’s current -11 point differential means they would need a pretty significant win or a significant Nigeria loss to pass them.
There will also be four Olympic Qualifying Tournaments next July before the Olympics to determine the final four spots. The 16 best teams at the World Cup that do not qualify for the Olympics will compete in these tournaments — along with two teams from each region to enter the qualifying tournament.
Nigeria can only secure their Olympic berth then by finishing as the best team from Africa in this tournament. It seems likely they would get one of those tournament invitations from Africa as Nigeria is one of the best teams from the continent. But it is not clear what that qualification process is like.
Things are a lot easier if Nigeria defeats China and punches its ticket to Japan now.
Nikola Vucevic and Montenegro currently rank last among the European teams in the tournament. They are not likely getting an invite to the qualifying tournaments. Canada is also last among the FIBA Americas teams. It is likely their Olympic dreams are over.
France is still competing for its automatic berth. They should be among the teams to get an invite to a qualifying tournament next year.
And that is the tournament within the tournament. It is what every team is playing for at this point before the knockout round begins.