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Great Britain National Team

  • Thread starter Thread starter FilWelsh2
  • Start date Start date
stuart said:
Tough blow for Great Britain, especially with Deng, he is the consumate team player and can do so many things on the floor. How is GB's backcourt looking? With Archibald, Pops, and Freeland, their frontcourt is looking good... it's all about chemistry though.

Stuart
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The back court will probably be

LENZLEY – SG/PG
REINKING – SG/PG
BOYD - PG
LEVEN - SG
HART – PG

The guards are steady, can shoot well on any given day, but lack someone who can dominate the floor. Saying that our guards are probably better than they were last year.
 
I will settle for

a) Being there and deservedly so
b) Keeping games to 6-16 points and respectable, maybe 20 points v Spain

Much as it pains me, mayube you are not too far away with that assessment.

With Deng and Gordon I think GB could have taken Serbia, an outside shot at Slovenia and no chance with Spain

Without them, no chance with Spain, no chance with Slovenia and an outside shot at Serbia

Hope i am wrong and sometimes the underdog has its day.

Also while we seem to have a monopoly in big guys (which we do at the five spot), the one pitfall of all three of our guys who are good players is that they dont have any range to step outside and consistently make any kind of shot. Archibald, Freeland and Betts

A lot of onus will be placed on Reinking in my opinion because he has to shoot the lights out to keep us in games

The guys will fight and it is not a downer on the guys we have got - take Nowitzki and Kaman out of Germany and it has the same effect

Just glad we are representing and luck with Deng deserted us
 
Paul Nilsen said:
With Deng and Gordon I think GB could have taken Serbia, an outside shot at Slovenia and no chance with Spain

Without them, no chance with Spain, no chance with Slovenia and an outside shot at Serbia

Hope i am wrong and sometimes the underdog has its day.
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I don't want to be disrespectful, but do you really think that with that two players you could do so much as you speak of. I think you should be realistic a little bit. If someone plays in NBA, that doesn't automatically means that he's better than other euro-based players and that he's overbalance to his side.
You should take into consideration that this is your EC debut, and that majority of GB's players are inexperienced to such level of competition.
Lot of Serbian NT players are very young, but the majority of them played or playing in Euroleague for years and already played in EC.
Sometimes big names means success, but they ain't guaranty for it.
 
SunOverHStreet said:
Sometimes big names means success, but they ain't guaranty for it.
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The only player to do so is, scratch "is", was Dirk. Deng and Gordon are decent players, commanding x amount of monies in nba but with no pedigree playing in Europe.
Paul, I agree with a) and I agree with b) as well.
I would even have a slight ray of optimism of getting through to quarterfinals, but don’t ask me how–still, there is always a chance. But I wouldn’t bet my money on this. What I would bet is GB loosing by certain amount of points
Anyway, are you coming to O2 to watch GB?
I am still hoping to make at least one day
 
auris1 said:
The only player to do so is, scratch "is", was Dirk. Deng and Gordon are decent players, commanding x amount of monies in nba but with no pedigree playing in Europe.
Paul, I agree with a) and I agree with b) as well.
I would even have a slight ray of optimism of getting through to quarterfinals, but don’t ask me how–still, there is always a chance. But I wouldn’t bet my money on this. What I would bet is GB loosing by certain amount of points
Anyway, are you coming to O2 to watch GB?
I am still hoping to make at least one day
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Be optimistic, anything can happen...somebody in the predictions thread sincerely believes that Turkey would reach the final. Why not if they play well on key games.
 
g.g said:
Be optimistic, anything can happen...
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True. But, you see, I am not British, I just happen to live here. And as a matter of fact I want them to do well. And it is not conflicting as well – you can name any sport and bet it has more funding here than basketball, the game I like. So GB doing well means there should be more moneys available ,more teams to watch.
The very first question new people I meet ask me here – what team do you support, meaning football. I don’t. So it is not very surprising I sit on my own in the pub
 
I am not going to make it to the 02. I am heading for the Seville tournament the week afterwards instead ..... :D South London or Andalucia....what a choice :p

Dont worry about being disrespectful SunOverHStreet, just lay it down as you see it, that is why we are here I guess - would be boring if we all agreed :)

I do think that had Deng and Gordon played, Great Britain would have had a shot at making it through - I say only a chance. They would still be a quality point guard away maybe

But

PG
Gordon
Deng
Mensah-Bonsu
Archibald / Freeland / Betts

Is not such a bad team. I agree with you completely about exprience and even with the NBA guys it would still be tough, that is what I was saying, we only had a chance.

Now I fear that chance is gone. Maybe in a different group the chance would be a little better, for example with a Dirk Nowitzki-less Germany and Kirilenko-less Russia

But, we have already won something and that is respect for reaching Division A so quickly and also qualifying for a major tournament at the very first time of asking
 
Paul Nilsen said:
PG
Gordon
Deng
Mensah-Bonsu
Archibald / Freeland / Betts

Is not such a bad team. I agree with you completely about exprience and even with the NBA guys it would still be tough, that is what I was saying, we only had a chance.

Now I fear that chance is gone. Maybe in a different group the chance would be a little better, for example with a Dirk Nowitzki-less Germany and Kirilenko-less Russia

But, we have already won something and that is respect for reaching Division A so quickly and also qualifying for a major tournament at the very first time of asking
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I somehow aggree

In the group stage, there are always chances for thin teams to beat a better team (even then, of course, England would still be a serious underdog against every single team in their group). But, in the knock-out stage, it becomes more obvious that depth, experience and decision making is what qualifies. And the PG position is clearly the most important one in the international ball
 
If we can sneak through, on paper the 2nd group stage would be slightly easier. Just getting throught to the 2nd round would be a hell of an achievement anyway. We will need chemistry & bit of luck for this to happen though.

Looking forward to the friendlies before hand. Should give us a good indication of wether we can sneak a win or not.
 
auris1 said:
True. But, you see, I am not British, I just happen to live here. And as a matter of fact I want them to do well. And it is not conflicting as well – you can name any sport and bet it has more funding here than basketball, the game I like. So GB doing well means there should be more moneys available ,more teams to watch.
The very first question new people I meet ask me here – what team do you support, meaning football. I don’t. So it is not very surprising I sit on my own in the pub
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Hahahahahaha! You last comment was hilarious. Hahahaha!

On a serious note, I too will support Britain I just think that it is time British take notice to the sport and invest more on it.
I have lived some years in UK when i was getting my bachelors degree and I can tell you there is bucketloads of basketball talent but noone cares for the sport and coaching just awful..
 
wardjdim said:
I somehow aggree

In the group stage, there are always chances for thin teams to beat a better team (even then, of course, England would still be a serious underdog against every single team in their group). But, in the knock-out stage, it becomes more obvious that depth, experience and decision making is what qualifies. And the PG position is clearly the most important one in the international ball
Click to expand...

Wardjdim, it's not England it's GB!
 
Vanderbeken Committed To Great Britain

Jamie Vanderbeken has committed his future to Great Britain after being named in Chris Finch's initial 17-man EuroBasket squad last week.

The Canadian center qualifies for GB through his Scottish mother, and said he happy to pass up the chance to play for Canada in order to launch his international career immediately and try to help GB towards their goal of playing on home soil at the 2012 London Olympics.

"Even if I don't make (the final 12-man squad), the competition I'll be playing against in try-outs alone will be beneficial to bring what I learned back here," said Vanderbeken, who is currently playing at the University of Iowa.

"It'll give me a chance, if I have questions, to ask guys about it. Pops Mensah-Bonsu, (Robert) Archibald, a bunch of other guys who played in the US and Europe. It's a great opportunity.

"Just being able to play on any national team would be a real honour. I will go there and do my best.

I am just trying to make the most of it, to get exposure to make the team."

Vanderbeken will get his chance to impress when GB host Poland, Turkey and Israel at the GameOn tournament in London later this month.

GB will then play in EuroBasket warm-up tournaments in Spain and Turkey before Finch names his final squad.

"Even if I don't make the team this year, I want to leave a good impression so I can come back next year, make the team by [London] 2012," Vanderbeken added.

GB have been drawn against Spain, Slovenia and Serbia in Group C at the EuroBasket.
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http://www.fibaeurope.com/coid_U6wUMF0aGm-VBlr7mk9sc3.articleMode_on.container_frontpage.html
 
Finch: GB Aim To Make It Big At EuroBasket

Great Britain coach Chris Finch is certain his team will make a big impact at the EuroBasket in Poland next month.

'Big' because he has a roster stacked full of big men and a need to accommodate them all as he covers for the absence of Luol Deng.

With the Chicago Bulls star sidelined by a leg fracture, the stand-out players on the GB squad are the likes of Robert Archibald, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, and Joel Freeland - who all share one common attribute - they all play center.

"We're very deep at the big man position," Finch said. "That's going to be our strength this year, going inside with Archibald, Pops and Joel.

"We have some real high-quality guys there."

GB will have to change their style of play without the versatile Deng, who has filled up to four different roles on the court for Finch.

"We're definitely less dynamic without him," Finch added. "I suppose we become a bit more of a traditional basketball team, but even so, with the talent and the depth we have, I believe that our 12-man roster will be more talented than ever before."

All three of the centers will attract attention for different reasons in the build-up to EuroBasket.

With no Deng and no Ben Gordon around, Mensah-Bonsu is the sole NBA player on the GB squad, having established himself with the Toronto Raptors last season after two seperate spells in the league trying to secure something more than a short-term contract.

Archibald is returning after missing last summer's program through injury, and the former NBA man brings a wealth of experience and a mentality to pass that knowledge on to the younger players around him.

One of those who stands to benefit most is Joel Freeland, who enjoyed a breakout campaign with Gran Canaria last year and was rewarded with a move to Unicaja Malaga - where he joins Archibald on the roster going into next season.

"He had a huge, breakout campaign last year," Finch said of the 22-year-old Freeland. "His performances with us I think really opened the eyes of his coach in Spain and when he went back there he started playing a lot more minutes. Now he's signed with one of the premier clubs in Spain.

"There's no better guy he could play with than 'Arch'. This is a guy who has played in the NBA and works extremely hard and demands the same of those around him."

GB were handed a tough draw for at the EuroBasket, where they will face Spain, Serbia and Slovenia in Group C, but Finch is not intimidated.

"People outside the group might think we're crazy, but we're going to win it," he said.

"We have to have that mentality. If we shoot for the stars, we might just get the moon."
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http://www.fibaeurope.com/coid_wLqt2qKkGnw93fxS5y83F3.articleMode_on.container_frontpage.html
 
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