D’Tigers’ Stan Okoye believes the team has a point to prove to head into the FIBA Basketball World Cup, to make their mark as one of the best basketball nations in the world.

D’Tigers are the underdogs even in their world cup group, where they’ve been drawn against Argentina, Russia and South Africa, but Okoye insists the ‘underdog’ tag is a responsibility for the team to excel in China as on of the continent’s best sides in recent years.

The 27-year-old who currently plays for Tecnyconta Zaragoza in the Spanish Liga ACB knocked the ranking system, which he suggests has done little to credit Nigeria despite the D’Tigers’ progress but hopes he and his teammates can “hopefully change that.”