Portland Trail Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu recently opened up about his excitement about the upcoming FIBA World Cup Tournament.

Representing his native of Nigeria, Aminu admitted that given the level of competition his team will be facing in the international competition, he understands that this will by no means be an easy task for his side.

“The first three games of the First Round are going to be our first Finals,” Aminu admitted, via FIBA's official website.

The 28-year-old went on to provide some details on who exactly Nigeria will be facing in the opening game, and what his team will have to do in order to give themselves a chance of defeating a formidable Russian squad.

“I am really excited for the start of the competition and we are going to start against a very good team of Russia,” Aminu said. “They have some very good players, with guys such as [Timofey] Mozgov and all their players that are part of some of the best European teams. We will have to be ready and focused from the beginning of the competition, and we won't have any room for mistakes.”

The Nigerian national team is not exactly the strongest squad in the tournament, but Aminu will look to get some help from other NBA players on the team such as Utah Jazz big man Epke Udoh, as well as Minnesota Timberwolves incoming sophomore shooting guard Josh Okogie.

For his part, Aminu was a force for the Blazers last season, averaging 9.4 points, 1.2 three-pointers, 7.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.4 blocks in 28.3 minutes per contest as a starter. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer, so his performance in the FIBA World Cup will also have an effect on his outlook for the offseason.