Great Britain National Team

[London Towers]

Well,everytime Slovenia has big expectations and always they fail to achive their goal.but almost everytime they dont send their strongest squad.we will have to see the final squad to say.
Spain,of course are hot favorites for this group.but all other places are open.Serbia it seems will send a young squad with no superstars.

the squad that i thing GB sould send is:

PG:Richard Midgley
SG:Ben Gordon
SF:Loul Deng
PF:Pops Mensah-Bonsu
C:Rob Archibald

Joel Freeland
Germayne Forbes
Nick George
Jarrett Hart
Michael Lenzly
Andrew Betts
Nate Reinking
Kieron Achara

[damelo]

Well,everytime Slovenia has big expectations and always they fail to achive their goal.but almost everytime they dont send their strongest squad.

Yes, but counting Slovenia out is a big big error. Even with a second squad they can easily beat GB(or France), even if you send Deng and Gordon(We had Parker and Diaw in 2007). For me, Slovenia is going to the second round, unless they are in the same group as Spain and Lithuania.

Still, beating them is your best chance to go through the first round.

[Mindozas]

Well,everytime Slovenia has big expectations and always they fail to achive their goal.but almost everytime they dont send their strongest squad.we will have to see the final squad to say.
Spain,of course are hot favorites for this group.but all other places are open.Serbia it seems will send a young squad with no superstars.

Well, this time Slovenia seems serious about EC, all the best players accepted to play, except Nesterovic, who retired from NT, so it should be different now. Only problem might be head-coach, but if Zdovc will be able to make a good team from strong individualities, then Slovenia for me is strong candidate for top places or even gold medals

[g.g]

I think if we manage to get to QF so it will be great success.if we can finish 6th so we can go to Mundobasket.
we have very talnted squad,from SG to C .the main problem i think is in point guard position where we have problem

I think GB has a chance to go through the next round by doing one win against Serbia (young team). QF I believe is very optimistic but you never know.

[rikhardur]

I'm not so optimistic about GB. On paper at least they look good, but team chemistry and lack of experience at this level might affect them negatively. Serbia is young but Serbian basketball is Serbian basketball no matter what. We've already seen the quality of those youngsters and what they're capable of.
Portugal did well in 2007 after 50 years, so you never know...

[Picek]

Serbia is young but Serbian basketball is Serbian basketball no matter what. We've already seen the quality of those youngsters and what they're capable of.

yes, after losing to Nigeria, Iran etc., ending last in their last visit to big championship.. losing to a newcomer would be something they never did before in Europe
truth to be told I think there are lot more questionmarks about Serbian team then about GB team..
their last few coaches weren't able to get anything out from the success they had with youngsters..

[frodoborg]

official Pops Mensah-Bonsu will be in the squad for Eurobasket after we thought that maybe he will want to rest after his injury.but he is fit and will join the squad.
BTW reports says Pops is on his way back to europe and will play for Maccabi Tel-Aviv

Great player! Do you have any reports in England about him moving to Maccabi, or just feeding on rumors like the best of us?

[HIGHLANDER]

I'm not so optimistic about GB. On paper at least they look good, but team chemistry and lack of experience at this level might affect them negatively. Serbia is young but Serbian basketball is Serbian basketball no matter what. We've already seen the quality of those youngsters and what they're capable of.
Portugal did well in 2007 after 50 years, so you never know...

Lack of experience i think could be a problem in close games for sure.
Team chemistry i don't think will be a problem because they have a very good coach in Chris Finch.
I think the main problem will be as someone said before the Point Guard position.
To be honest they just need someone who can bring the ball down without any problems and distribute the ball because they have scores and a decent threat from the post.

[inaminute23]

Totally agree! As long as our PG's handle the ball well, we will be ok there. At the minute I think Boyd or Reinking will run the point, but will also depend on if Gordon is there (god willing). I would like to see Forbes get a spot as he played very well in the 2006 Commonwealth games, and can be a good shooter on his day.

[g.g]

Lack of experience i think could be a problem in close games for sure.
Team chemistry i don't think will be a problem because they have a very good coach in Chris Finch.
I think the main problem will be as someone said before the Point Guard position.
To be honest they just need someone who can bring the ball down without any problems and distribute the ball because they have scores and a decent threat from the post.

Chemistry and experience is most important in the Euro. The best teams have a core of players that play together for years and they only make 2-3 changes in the roster each year. They also have play their opponent several times in the past and know how to react. This however may be an advantage for Britain as no one has played the before so the definition of surprise is valid..

[London Towers]

Totally agree! As long as our PG's handle the ball well, we will be ok there. At the minute I think Boyd or Reinking will run the point, but will also depend on if Gordon is there (god willing). I would like to see Forbes get a spot as he played very well in the 2006 Commonwealth games, and can be a good shooter on his day.

I am not Boyd big fan.i prefer Reinking or even Midgley.anyway its not secret that we have a big problem in the PG position.

frodoborg -about Pops,well it seems now that he is more close to stay at the Raptors than moving to Maccabi.last week it was seems that he will sign for the Israelis but not it is very highly that he will sign a new contract at the Raps

[didait]

I am not Boyd big fan.i prefer Reinking or even Midgley.anyway its not secret that we have a big problem in the PG position.

frodoborg -about Pops,well it seems now that he is more close to stay at the Raptors than moving to Maccabi.last week it was seems that he will sign for the Israelis but not it is very highly that he will sign a new contract at the Raps

So there are basketball fans in England, thank God!! I've lived in London for 9 months and didn't find a single person who liked basketball or knew what basketball is and that London had a team!!

[inaminute23]

Breaking news.....It looks like the BBC have secured the rights to show Eurobasket, albeit through the red button. No official announcement yet, but should become official shortly!!

http://basketballgb.blogspot.com/

[Khalid80]

So there are basketball fans in England, thank God!! I've lived in London for 9 months and didn't find a single person who liked basketball or knew what basketball is and that London had a team!!

They're a minority that's for sure.
Unfortunately the main team from London (London Capitals) sux big time and they ended up in last place in the BBL (British Basketball League )

The guys I used to play with in my uni. there were mostly Greeks, Nigerians, Chinese, as well as a few Lebanese)

(I believe the London Towers are in the 3rd division if i'm not mistaken)

[Khalid80]

Breaking news.....It looks like the BBC have secured the rights to show Eurobasket, albeit through the red button. No official announcement yet, but should become official shortly!!

http://basketballgb.blogspot.com/

I Really hope that turns out to be true. I can't imagine how the commentary will be though