Great Britain National Team

[CKR13]

Ben Gordon

Pistons' Ben Gordon vows to play for Great Britain in 2011
National team, '12 Olympics are goals

LIVERPOOL, England -- Ben Gordon is putting on a new team's jersey next season. But don't panic, the Pistons haven't fallen out of favor with the shooting guard -- at least not yet.

While continuing his rehabilitation from off-season ankle surgery, Gordon made a whistle-stop visit across the Atlantic on Thursday to pledge his allegiance to Great Britain, vowing to play for the national team next summer.

Gordon, 27, was born in London.

"I moved to New York when I was 10 months old," he said. "I would visit every summer when I was younger to visit my dad. But when I started to play competitively, I stopped coming, because summer's the time when you get better."

Gordon reconnected with his extended family two years ago on a journey back to the British capital. His father, Howard, has since moved to Africa, but there was a new set of relatives to meet who had only previously seen him, late at night, on the infrequent TV screenings of the NBA in a country where basketball is not a major sport -- and where he could walk down most streets unrecognized.

"I don't feel very British," he said in Liverpool, where the Great Britain team beat Bosnia on Thursday night to qualify for next summer's European Championships. "But there are a lot of great memories. Of different chocolates and the food. I remember eating fish and chips out of newspaper. I love British chocolate. It's the best chocolate."

Basketball is the only sport where the host nation does not receive an automatic bid at the Olympics. But the influence of Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng -- and a mix of Europe-based veterans and American college prospects -- has strengthened the case for an invite to the London Games in 2012. That is one of the major attractions for Gordon to get on board.

"Just to participate in an Olympics is special enough, but to play it here in 2012, in the country I was born," he said. "It would be amazing to play against the U.S. And to beat them."

That can wait. For now, the Pistons hope that a healthy Gordon can help them in the upcoming season. His ankle, he says, is "about 85% now."

By the time training camp opens, he has pledged to be ready. And with Tracy McGrady on the team, he wants steps forward, not backward.

"Last year, we had such an injury-riddled season that it made it tough to get in the groove," he said. "So I'm looking forward to being healthy this year and making sure the younger guys get involved and seeing what T-Mac has left in the tank. He has a lot to prove, and I'm looking forward to it."

from the Detroit Free Press News

[dxjayrock2008]

Rule Britannia! Keep on improving your game Team GB! In few years time, you'll be one of the basketball powerhouse in Europe.

[pablonis]

It takes more than a couple of good NBA players to "become" a basketball powerhouse in Europe. Years and years of work are still needed - basketball academies, good performance in youth competitions, competitive and decent level local championship, popularity and history of the sport and so on and so forth, are just some of the things United Kingdom is still ages behind the likes of Serbia, Spain, Greece and Lithuania.

Best of luck however.

[JGX]

GB women also qualified for Eurobasket.

[CKR13]

Too bad Great Britain lost to Ukraine 75-66.

[CKR13]

Members of the NT players from the pool have returned to the United States for their respective College Basketball Teams:

Ogo Adegboye (St. Bonaventure NY)
Justin Robinson (Rider University)
Matthew Bryan-Amaning (Washington)

[rikhardur]

GBR – Gordon reaffirms commitment to Britain

LONDON (London 2012 Olympics) - Great Britain's leading players are pledging their commitment to the national team with the most important announcement in the country's basketball history set to be made in two months.

FIBA will on March 12-13 announce at their Central Board meeting in Lyon, France, if Britain's men's and women's teams will be granted automatic qualification for the 2012 London Olympic basketball tournaments. That would avoid the British teams having to go through a grueling qualification process at the upcoming EuroBasket Men and Women in Lithuania and Latvia (31st August – 18 September and 18th June – 3rd July). Only the two best men’s team and the best women’s team will qualify directly from the two EuroBasket events to London.

Ben Gordon of the Detroit Pistons finally looks set to don the British jersey.

The London-born Gordon has been courted by the Brits the past two summers with the aim of having him in the line-up for a major competition.

He expects to be in the squad when Chris Finch's team plays at the EuroBasket for the second consecutive time.

If he plays, Gordon will be reunited with his former Chicago Bulls teammate, Luol Deng.

"Luol and I have spoken very positively about playing for GB," Gordon was quoted in a BBC story on Monday.

"It is something I am very excited about."

The commitment by Gordon hasn't gone unnoticed at FIBA.

“We are happy to see that the best GB players want to represent GB," said FIBA Secretary General and IOC member Patrick Baumann.

"Their presence on the GB team would definitely give them a boost and would make them very competitive if they were to be granted a place at the 2012 Olympics.�

The Sudan-born Deng moved to London as a boy and lived there until he crossed the Atlantic as a teenager to further his education and play basketball.

He ended up at Duke University and played for Mike Krzyzewski, the current boss of Team USA, and turned professional after his freshman year.

Deng has been with the Chicago Bulls ever since.

As important as he is to Chicago, Deng is even more vital for Great Britain.

He helped them win promotion to Division A and then spearheaded their successful qualifying campaign for EuroBasket 2009 in Poland.

While injury prevented him from playing in Poland, Deng returned to the national team line-up again last summer and helped Britain top their qualifying group for EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who has also been in the NBA the past two seasons, and Deng were the key players in last year's team.

If Gordon, Deng and Mensah-Bonsu play, along with a host of other stars like Unicaja Malaga's Joel Freeland and Robert Archibald, Britain will be serious threats to go deep into this year's tournament in Lithuania. That could be the birth of ‘British basketball’ and set a historic result with going as far as the medal round. The success at EuroBasket and eventually the London Olympics could create an ever lasting legacy for basketball in Great Britain.

"I can bring another offensive option to GB and can take the load off the team with my offensive ability," Gordon said.

"It is absolutely crucial to have players from the NBA in the GB set-up for London 2012.

"The more players we have with that level of experience, the greater our chances of success."

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/p/newsid/45529/arti.html

[inaminute23]

If GB can finally get their best squad together, I think we will be dark horses.......can't wait!!!!

[rikhardur]

Andy Betts retires from international basketball

Leicestershire's Andy Betts has retired from international basketball at 33.

Having made his debut for England in 1996, Betts was a vital part of the GB team that achieved promotion in 2007 to EuroBasket Division A.

He said: "I leave the team in the best situation it has ever been in with the best talent and the most professional organisation the country has seen."

Betts, who will continue to play at club level, racked up 23 GB appearances in all, alongside 39 for England.

The former Leicester Riders star, who was made an ambassador for the club last year, now plays for Ukrainian outfit Budivelnyk Kyiv.

He added: "My decision to retire is based on my wish to spend time with my family. I think it's time to let the younger guys have their turn with GB."

His best scoring performance was in 2003 where he scored 31 points as England beat the Czech Republic in a EuroBasket semi-final round game.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/basketball/9360449.stm

[CKR13]

FIBA to decide Great Britain's Automatic Olympic Qualification

FIBA has announced that the decision regarding granting the Great Britain National Basketball Teams (Men and Women's teams) automatic qualifications for the Olympic Basketball Tournament for the 2012 London Olympics, will be convened and decided on FIBA's Central Board meeting in Lyon, France on 12th or 13th of March, 2011.

[auris1]

FIBA has announced that the decision regarding granting the Great Britain National Basketball Teams (Men and Women's teams) automatic qualifications for the Olympic Basketball Tournament for the 2012 London Olympics, will be convened and decided on FIBA's Central Board meeting in Lyon, France on 12th or 13th of March, 2011.

why cant they wait till after euro 2011?

[CKR13]

That I do not know. As of the moment, FIBA has yet to release a press statement on why the decision for the Great Britain National Teams should be fast tracked, even before the FIBA Euro 2011 Tournament.

[Mindozas]

why cant they wait till after euro 2011?

Because IMO such thing should be clear before tournament starts. GB and others teams must know exactly how many places qualifies to Olympics, how many to AQR.

[rikhardur]

GBR – Rising British star Clark tells FIBA to bring on the pressure

VALENCIA (2012 London Olympics) - Dan Clark has to earn every single one of his minutes at Asefa Estudiantes in Spain.

He believes Great Britain needs to earn its keep, too.

With the time quickly approaching when FIBA will announce if Britain’s men’s and women’s teams will be able to take up spots in the basketball tournaments at the London 2012 Olympics, Clark said to FIBA.com: "I think it's good they have put pressure on us because if they let us in for free, we wouldn't change anything in the country.

“We need to make the domestic league better and make everything better, in general, not just the national team, not just putting everything into that one team.

“They need to put money into everything to make everything better.�

On the weekend of March 12-13, FIBA will announce at their Central Board meeting in Lyon, France, if the British teams will be granted automatic qualification for London 2012.

At issue for FIBA, and those hardcore basketball supporters in Britain, is what will happen to the sport in the country once the Olympics have been played.

Will there be a strong federation in place, or as Clark pointed out, a good domestic league?

FIBA announced at the time London had won the Games that it wanted to be convinced the country would put competitive teams on the floor.

Playing as Great Britain, the country has proved on the court that it is good enough to compete with the best.

Chris Finch led the men’s team from Division B to promotion and then at the very first attempt, the Brits qualified for EuroBasket 2009 in Poland.

Britain qualified again for this year’s EuroBasket in Lithuania.

Clark, who is only 22, had a big hand in last summer’s success, averaging 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

In one vital game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Clark had 23 points.

"It's a huge step for us,� Clark said.

“Our goal is to make it to the next round this year.

“We're going to have to have a great preparation, have a great time, enjoy the time, because no other person in the history of British basketball has been to two EuroBaskets the way that we have.

“If we enjoy it, I think we'll be fine.�

Leaving Britain is the only option now

There is, perhaps, no better symbol of what British basketball is than the 2.10m Clark.

He’s got the natural talent, the size and the drive to be a very good player in Europe and possibly, in the future, could make it to the NBA.

Instead of staying at home to develop his game, though, he’s taken it to Spain and grinded away for several years in a place where there is elite coaching, top facilities and a professional league that may be second only to the NBA.

The power forward hopes that one day Britain will have a basketball league that routinely puts teams into European competition and offers local talent to develop.

"I'm one of those people that doesn't understand why basketball hasn't made it in England,� Clark said.

“Maybe there's not enough coaching, not enough whatever you need to be a good basketball country but, I think we have the people who want to be good coaches, the people who want to help out.�

Clark isn’t the only Briton in Spain’s ACB because big men Robert Archibald and Joel Freeland play for Unicaja Malaga.

He truly does understand the meaning of hard work, of setting goals and being properly organized.

Before this season, he heard that his role would be a prominent one at Estu but very early on, his minutes were cut and it’s only been the past few weeks that coach Luis Casimiro has started leaning heavily on Clark again.

Best known for his silky-smooth stroke from long range, Clark has been getting most of his minutes because of his willingness to play defense.

In Valencia, Spain, he played 17 minutes and had 10 points, four rebounds, a block and a steal and helped Estu beat the hottest team in Europe.

Power Electronics Valencia had been aiming for a 10th consecutive win.

"I'm getting to practice early, doing things I need to do to get better,� he said to FIBA after the game.

“All I can do is concentrate on the things I can control and not worry about what anyone else thinks.

“I just have to focus on these things.

"The last four or five games, the coach has given me a lot of confidence by putting me in games, even late, so I'm really happy about that.

“Having my minutes dropped at the beginning of the season, that knocked me back a bit but, I'm getting back to where I was at the beginning of the season.�

In Estu’s 87-80 Eurocup triumph over CEZ Nymburk on Tuesday, Clark was even more influential.

He played 23 minutes and scored 15 points, grabbed six rebounds, handed out three assists and came up with two steals against a Nymburk side that has his Great Britain teammate, Mike Lenzly.

Lenzly scored 14 points, handed out five assists, corralled six boards and came up with one steal.

Estudiantes is one of the true great sporting institutions in Spain.

Estu has a passionate fan base and there is a standard of excellence that keeps the team in the top flight year after year.

One can only dream that in Great Britain one day will be this same kind of club that has a passion for basketball.

And maybe that will be a club that will attract players like Clark, and make them want to stay at home and play instead of competing overseas.

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/inte/p/newsid/45591/arti.html

[thespywhozaggedme]

M.B.A had 30/9 in UDub's win over Arizona State the other night. He's now averaging 16 and 8 and some draft sites are now listing him as a late first round draft pick. How is he not a lock to make the team?

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/pr ... erId=36049