Great Britain men's national basketball team

Great Britain United Kingdom
FIBA ranking 22 Increase 2[1]
Joined FIBA 2005
FIBA zone FIBA Europe
National federation British Basketball Federation
Coach Joe Prunty
Olympic Games
Appearances 2
EuroBasket
Appearances 4
Uniforms
Light
Dark

The Great Britain men's national basketball team, known as Great Britain or GB, is the national team for Great Britain in basketball. The current governing body for the Great Britain team was formed by the national basketball organisations of England (Basketball England), Scotland (Basketballscotland) and Wales (Basketball Wales) on 1 December 2005 to provide a competitive team for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Although Wales subsequently choose to remain independent, Scotland and England decided to continue with the formal merger. This structure also does not include the basketball association of Northern Ireland; Northern Irish players normally represent the Ireland national basketball team, though they are also eligible to compete for Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Summer Olympic Games.

History

Playing against Slovenia at the EuroBasket 2009

British teams have rarely made an impact on the international scene, only featuring in two Olympic games, both of which were hosted in London (1948 and 2012). The team at the 1948 tournament only won one game (vs. Ireland) and at the 2012 tournament only won one game (vs. China). However, the England national basketball team did qualify for EuroBasket 1981, surprisingly winning the game against the elite team of Greece.

After London won the right to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, the organisers wanted competitive teams at every sport, including basketball. The new Great Britain side was formed on 1 December 2005 from the existing teams from the UK. The new team secured the help of NBA's Chicago Bulls' star Luol Deng, and he led the team to promotion from EuroBasket Division B to Division A. FIBA had stated that Great Britain must prove their competitiveness prior to being granted the spot in the Olympic tournament that would normally be reserved for the host nation.

In Great Britain's first season at the Division A level in 2008, the team finished on top of a group which also included Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic and Israel to qualify for EuroBasket 2009.

EuroBasket 2011

During August 2010 Great Britain began their qualification campaign for EuroBasket 2011. Britain were drawn into a group containing Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Macedonia and Ukraine. They finished top of their group and qualified for back to back EuroBasket tournaments for their first time.

On 13 March 2011, Fiba voted 17–3 in favour of Great Britain receiving their host nation spot at the 2012 Olympic games with one condition, they have until 30 June 2012 to decide on whether to merge the three nations that make up the team or disband after the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[2]

On 21 June 2012, Basketball Wales confirmed their intent to reject the proposed merger on the grounds that the arrangement was always intended to be temporary in the build-up to the London Olympics, and that it would not be in the best interests for the sport in Wales for the country to forfeit its national team, when the GB team contained no Welsh players.

At EuroBasket 2011 Great Britain recorded their first EuroBasket win en route to a 2–3 record, good enough for 13th in the first 24 team EuroBasket tournament.

London 2012

Nate Reinking defended by Kobe Bryant, in a friendly game before the 2012 Games

For the 2012 Olympics in London, Great Britain were awarded automatic qualification. In the group stage, they lost to Russia, Brazil, Spain and Australia.

The British team would be eliminated in the group stage but was somewhat of a surprise only falling to defending and eventual runners up Spain by 1, and Brazil by 5, they also led Australia by 10 at halftime before fading late. In the final group game they faced China, both teams already unable to progress to the knockout stage. They won the game 90–58, making it only the second Olympic victory for Great Britain. Throughout the tournament Luol Deng played 173 minutes, more than any other player, and also came in the top ten for points and assists.[3]

EuroBasket 2013

In June 2013, Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Joe Prunty was announced as the new coach, following the resignation of Chris Finch.[4]

Having participated in the previous Olympic tournament, Great Britain qualified automatically for EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia. They went into the tournament short-handed: Luol Deng was recovering from illness, Pops Mensah-Bonsu did not participate due to an injury and Joel Freeland was also absent, citing commitments with his club. Despite this, Great Britain won their first game against Israel in overtime, but subsequently lost to France and Belgium. Winning their fourth group game against favoured Germany put them on the verge of advancing to the second round of the tournament for the first time in their history. The team went into their final group game against Ukraine needing to win, but Ukraine had been performing better than expected and dispatched Britain 87–68. They finished equalling their record from the previous tournament, with Daniel Clark leading the team in scoring and defence.[5]

Following their tournament exit it was announced that the governing body for British sports, UK Sport, were to cut the funding for the team after failing to reach the agreed-upon minimum final placing in the tournament.[6] Funding from UK Sport would have been used to aid the team's efforts to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

EuroBasket 2015

A defeat to Iceland on August 20 meant the team had failed to qualify for EuroBasket 2015. This outcome was largely attributed to British Basketball no longer receiving funding from UK Sport; efficiencies were having to be made, including cancelling training camps and being unable to secure the participation of players such as Luol Deng due to insurance costs, which has in turn affected performance, and put the future of the Great Britain team in doubt. Forward Kieron Achara spoke out about how the financial struggles had affected the team.[7]

Competitive record

Summer Olympic Games

Summer Olympic Games Record
Year Position Pld W L
United Kingdom 194820th Place817
China 2008Did not qualify
United Kingdom 20129th Place514
Brazil 2016Did not qualify
Total13211

FIBA EuroBasket

FIBA EuroBasket Qualification
Year Position Pld W L Pld W L
Spain 2007Division B 1082
Poland 200913th303 642
Lithuania 201113th523 862
Slovenia 201313th523 Directly qualified
France 2015Did not qualify 404
Turkey 2017Qualified 633
Total1349

Team

Current roster

The roster for the EuroBasket 2017 qualifiers.

Great Britain men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Age Ht. Club
G 0 Mockford, Benjamin 27 – (1989-08-18)18 August 1989 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Cáceres Spain
F 1 Saunders, William 25 – (1991-04-03)3 April 1991 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Pallacanestro Biella Italy
G 4 Lawrence, Andrew 26 – (1990-06-04)4 June 1990 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) San Sebastián Gipuzkoa Spain
G 5 Okereafor, Teddy 23 – (1992-11-02)2 November 1992 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Rider Broncs United States
G 6 Johnson, Kyle 27 – (1988-12-31)31 December 1988 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Novipiù Casale Monferrato Italy
G 7 Gordon, Ben 33 – (1983-04-04)4 April 1983 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) free agent
F 10 Clark, Daniel 27 – (1988-09-16)16 September 1988 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) MoraBanc Andorra Andorra
F 11 Murray, Gareth 31 – (1984-09-23)23 September 1984 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Glasgow Rocks United Kingdom
C 13 Boateng, Eric 30 – (1985-11-20)20 November 1985 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) ADA Blois France
F 20 Achara, Kieron 33 – (1983-07-03)3 July 1983 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Glasgow Rocks United Kingdom
G 21 Young, Alexander 22 – (1994-03-28)28 March 1994 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) UC Irvine Anteaters United States
C 25 Olaseni, Gabriel 24 – (1991-12-29)29 December 1991 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Dinamo Sassari Italy
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 31 August 2016

Past rosters

2012 Olympics squad

The 12 players selected for the Olympic tournament. Note that the players' details and clubs are those during the time of the games.[8]

The following is the Great Britain roster in the men's basketball tournament of the 2012 Summer Olympics.[9]

Great Britain men's national basketball team – 2012 Summer Olympics roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Age – Date of birth Ht. Club Ctr.
PF 4 Achara, Kieron 29 – (1983-07-03)3 July 1983 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Assignia Manresa Spain
PG 5 Lawrence, Andrew 22 – (1990-06-04)4 June 1990 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) College of Charleston United States
SG 6 Lenzly, Mike 31 – (1981-05-01)1 May 1981 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) ČEZ Nymburk Czech Republic
F/C 7 Mensah-Bonsu, Pops 28 – (1983-09-07)7 September 1983 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Beşiktaş Milangaz Turkey
SF 8 Sullivan, Andrew 31 – (1980-02-12)12 February 1980 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Leicester Riders United Kingdom
SF 9 Deng, Luol 27 – (1985-04-16)16 April 1985 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Chicago Bulls United States
C 10 Archibald, Robert 32 – (1980-03-29)29 March 1980 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) CAI Zaragoza Spain
PF 11 Freeland, Joel 25 – (1987-02-07)7 February 1987 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Portland Trail Blazers United States
PG 12 Reinking, Nate 38 – (1973-12-12)12 December 1973 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Sheffield Sharks United Kingdom
PF 13 Clark, Daniel 23 – (1988-09-16)16 September 1988 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) CB Estudiantes Spain
SG 14 Johnson, Kyle 23 – (1988-12-31)31 December 1988 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) APOEL B.C. Cyprus
C 15 Boateng, Eric 26 – (1985-11-20)20 November 1985 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Peristeri B.C. Greece
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 29 July 2012

2014

The roster for the EuroBasket 2015 qualifiers:

Great Britain men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Age Ht. Club
F 4 Achara, Kieron 31 – (1983-07-03)3 July 1983 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Glasgow Rocks United Kingdom
F 5 Hamilton, Ashley 25 – (1988-09-28)28 September 1988 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Loyola Marymount Lions United States
F 6 Bailey, Devan 25 – (1989-05-10)10 May 1989 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Cheshire Phoenix United Kingdom
G 7 van Oostrum, Devon 21 – (1993-01-24)24 January 1993 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) CB Peñas Huesca Spain
F 8 Sullivan, Andrew 34 – (1980-02-12)12 February 1980 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Leicester Riders United Kingdom
F 9 Murray, Gareth 29 – (1984-09-23)23 September 1984 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Plymouth Raiders United Kingdom
F 10 Clark, Daniel 25 – (1988-09-16)16 September 1988 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Baloncesto Fuenlabrada Spain
F 12 Hesson, Myles 24 – (1990-06-05)5 June 1990 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Eisbären Bremerhaven Germany
F 13 Bryan-Amaning, Matthew 25 – (1988-09-05)5 September 1988 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Soles de Mexicali Mexico
C 14 Boateng, Eric 28 – (1985-11-20)20 November 1985 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez France
G 15 Johnson, Kyle 25 – (1988-12-31)31 December 1988 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Pallacanestro Biella Italy
G 25 Mockford, Benjamin 24 – (1989-08-18)18 August 1989 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Plymouth Raiders United Kingdom
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 3 August 2014

Other notable players

Players who have made an appearance for the team

Records and statistics

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/even/rank/p/rankMen.html
  2. ↑ "Great Britain's men's and women's basketball teams to play in Olympics". The Guardian. London. 13 March 2011.
  3. ↑ "Men's Basketball". [London2012.com].
  4. ↑ "Great Britain Appoint Prunty as Coach". [Eurobasket2013.org]. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Eurobasket2013.org. "Great Britain".
  6. ↑ BBC. "GB face funding cut after defeat".
  7. ↑ "Kieron Achara reveals £15-a-day struggle". BBC. 2014-08-19.
  8. ↑ "Great Britain Roster".
  9. ↑ "GBR - Roster". FIBA. 2012-07-18.
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