Nilsen: GB Captain Prepares For Life Without Deng & Gordon
Great Britain captain Andrew Sullivan has admitted the Eurobasket newcomers will have to rely on their fighting qualities as they start their preparations for the tournament without NBA star duo Luol Deng and Ben Gordon.
Speaking to gbbasketball.net the Londoner was in an upbeat mood despite the potential loss of the talismanic Deng who may have to miss the tournament due to injury.
He explained "It's a massive blow for us that Luol probably won't be in Poland to help us because naturally a lot of the things that we run on the court go through him."
"The other factor in that is the number of open looks he gets the rest of us and the space he creates for his team-mates on the floor."
"It's not just about him being an NBA player, it is about the influence he has on the team and everything else that goes with it. Also as it is now looking like Ben (Gordon) won't be going either, it will be a real dogfight for us."
While everyone associated with British basketball are desperately hoping that Deng can still make a miraculous recovery and take his place, Sullivan is preferring to face up to having to do things the hard way - without Deng and Gordon.
"I think that suits us fine and we are a team that has experience of doing things the hard way as we have climbed the ladder - that is how we have been playing ever since Coach Finch took over this team."
Sullivan has been with the Great Britain team ever since their rapid and hugely impressive rise from Division B and clearly feels that despite the probable hammer blow of losing such NBA quality, they won't be lying down or feeling sorry for themselves.
"This is a huge opportunity for us and we are not a team that is interested in glitz or glamour. We aren't worried about elaborate plays, dunks or alley-oops. We are a team that is concerned with hard work, defence and getting in your face."
"We have proven we can be effective by topping our group and we have a lot of determination. I know that we never back down from a challenge and we won't be backing down from this one."
"Win or lose, every team in our Group will know they have been in a tough game because we won't wait around, we will get in people's faces first and show our team ethic."
Rather than dwelling on who won't be around in Poland, Sullivan, who has played in the Spanish ACB and Russian Superleague, was adamant that there is enough talent for the newest team on the EuroBasket block to do themselves justice - reminding everyone that they will get one ex-NBA player back
"It is natural people will focus on Luol and Ben but I think that it is more important we remember that we will be getting a player like Robert Archibald back. Someone who has a great skills set and with the likes of Andy Betts, Joel Freeland and Pops (Mensah-Bonsu) gives us a lot of strength."
"These guys will all go into the tournament with the mind-set of leaving that court in Warsaw knowing they have ensured every game has been a fight. When you have players like Pops and those type of guys on your team you can guarantee we won't be wondering if we could have done any more."
While Sullivan seems to be preparing for the worse, British fans and indeed Eurobasket fans generally will be hoping and praying that both Deng and Gordon can still pull on a National team jersey in Warsaw.
