RealGM

Apparently Ben Gordon has confirmed participation, however, why were Archibald and Betts missing throught the qualification tournament?

What is the best-case scenario given that all eligible players are healthy for team GB at Eurobasket in terms of depth chart? The bench will seemingly no matter what be a non factor.

This lineup could be competitive:

Gordon
Azubuike
Deng
Mensah-Bonsu
Archibald/Betts

Azubuike is obviously rolling the dice from this point of view. Still a solid 4-5 to go with.

Archibald was injured, Betts took the summer off to spend time with his family.

I doubt Azubuike will ever get his passport, but one can dream.

You forgot Joel Freeland, who was also injured and would have been one of our best players if healthy. So the full-strength squad will look more like this:

G - Adegboye / Boyd
G - Gordon / Reinking
F - Deng / Sullivan
F - Freeland / Clark
C - Pops / Archibald / Betts

I'm not sure the bench will quite be a non-factor. Nate Reinking and Dan Clark are not big Euroleague stars, but they both started this summer and were among the best players in our qualification group. No doubt the team has some serious weaknesses, but I think we could surprise a few people next summer.

Much obliged for the reply. I cannot grasp how i managed to completely forget about Joel Freeland. Quality player, too bad the Blazers have no room for him atm. Would've been great to see him in a Blazers jersey eventually.

It was a pity that Deng was injured last summer as GB's firepower arguably would have been magnified with him and Gordon on the squad. By way of example, that eurobasket 09 group was the strongest in the tournament (3 semifinalists), yet GB did more than well without these two. hell, im prepared to go as far as to claim GB would have advanced had a/m players participated.

Other than contributing with vet presence next year, Betts will probably not have much playing time considering his age. However with Freeland in the picture, that frontcourt seems very able to cause severe damage to any opponent. Still Pops is not a true center if yet posessing good athleticism. As for the backcourt, deng and gordon should be able to maintain an average of 32-35mpg on high level. These guys are studs. Reinking will be 37 next summer. Im not up to date with the Azubuike situation, but why wouldnt he get a passport? He was born there iirc. Im sure British authorities can arrange this in consultations with the GB NT officials. If this goes through, you won't even need a bench for the back-court.

Sid23 wrote:No doubt the team has some serious weaknesses, but I think we could surprise a few people next summer.

Im pulling for you. Surprise is no longer a feature. You already did that 1 year ago by not only qualifying but also doing very well.

No Ryan Richards? And what about that kid that played pg for Cal; he was pretty good.

Nate Reinking and Dan Clark are not big Euroleague stars, but they both started this summer and were among the best players in our qualification group.

Clark is still young and Reinking is our best guard by quite a bit, in fact our only scoring threat from the guard spots to be honest.

Sonrise wrote:And what about that kid that played pg for Cal; he was pretty good.

Retired.

suckfish wrote:

Nate Reinking and Dan Clark are not big Euroleague stars, but they both started this summer and were among the best players in our qualification group.

Clark is still young and Reinking is our best guard by quite a bit, in fact our only scoring threat from the guard spots to be honest.

Sonrise wrote:And what about that kid that played pg for Cal; he was pretty good.

Retired.

Pretty much, at least until Gordon joins the team.

shaolin wrote:Much obliged for the reply. I cannot grasp how i managed to completely forget about Joel Freeland. Quality player, too bad the Blazers have no room for him atm. Would've been great to see him in a Blazers jersey eventually.

It was a pity that Deng was injured last summer as GB's firepower arguably would have been magnified with him and Gordon on the squad. By way of example, that eurobasket 09 group was the strongest in the tournament (3 semifinalists), yet GB did more than well without these two. hell, im prepared to go as far as to claim GB would have advanced had a/m players participated.

Other than contributing with vet presence next year, Betts will probably not have much playing time considering his age. However with Freeland in the picture, that frontcourt seems very able to cause severe damage to any opponent. Still Pops is not a true center if yet posessing good athleticism. As for the backcourt, deng and gordon should be able to maintain an average of 32-35mpg on high level. These guys are studs. Reinking will be 37 next summer. Im not up to date with the Azubuike situation, but why wouldnt he get a passport? He was born there iirc. Im sure British authorities can arrange this in consultations with the GB NT officials. If this goes through, you won't even need a bench for the back-court.

Sid23 wrote:No doubt the team has some serious weaknesses, but I think we could surprise a few people next summer.

Im pulling for you. Surprise is no longer a feature. You already did that 1 year ago by not only qualifying but also doing very well.

Thanks - it's nice to see someone with a balanced view of GB as I think a lot of fans still don't respect our team (though maybe that will have changed since this summer).

Freeland I believe was offered a contract by the Blazers last summer, but elected to stay and develop longer in Spain so that he can be a regular rotation player when he does come to the NBA. So look for him to go to Portland next summer or in 2012.

Deng and Pops led Division A in minutes played this year. Deng will play 37 mpg and Pops 32-35. Gordon should play 35 as well so hopefully depth will not be too much of an issue, as you say.

Reinking is 37 but as suckfish says, he was comfortably our best guard. He played 32.5 mpg this year (sixth in Division A) so is in damn good shape and I'm sure will continue be a key player in 2011 and 2012. Only problem is that he and Gordon are quite similar players, so we'll have to see how they mesh.

Azubuike had his passport application used as his parents were illegal immigrants to the UK. Unfortunately, unlike some countries (*cough* Macedonia) our government prefers to stick to its immigration laws than do a favour for the basketball team. It's a shame, but we will be ok without him.

As for Ryan Richards, who is he going to displace from our frontcourt? The kid only just turned 19 and was drafted based on potential, he needs to put a full season together at a high level before he has a shot at making the team. Hopefully he does well in the D-League this year.

Glad to see GB hoops on the way up, they need some bigs though, Pops at Center isn't going to cut-it.

Thought that either Archibald or Freeland were our centre's? Pops is a PF and really shouldnt be playing centre as he isnt big enough to mix it up with some of the big centres that are out there. especially come the olympics. There aint no way he is gonna out muscle the Gasol brothers, Dwight Howard or Bogut.
What about Eric Boateng? Is there any potential there? apparently he played some NBA summer league, dont know how he got on though?

How about this guy? Putting up pretty decent #'s in a decent conference. Plus I know GB is in dire need of pg's.

http://espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=45564

He doesn't seem to be the most efficient player. He plays 41 minutes a game (it seems mathematically impossible, but overtime exists). He is a solid player, but his assist/turnover ratio is horrid. He would be behind Gordon as the PG, I'm afraid.

Miller4ever wrote:He doesn't seem to be the most efficient player. He plays 41 minutes a game (it seems mathematically impossible, but overtime exists). He is a solid player, but his assist/turnover ratio is horrid. He would be behind Gordon as the PG, I'm afraid.

Well, I wouldn't expect him to start over Gordon. lol But, considering the lack of depth at the pg, he should make the team. And how about the kid at Washington, Matthew Bryan Amaning? He's 6'9, 240 and averaging 15 and 8.

http://espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=36049

How popular is basketball in GB?

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

EddieJonesFan wrote:How popular is basketball in GB?

Its not as popular as say football is here (Soccer to everyone else), but it is definately on the rise, and with the Two Regualar season NBA Games being such a massive hit and the TV coverage on ESPN Uk being made available on the same weekend that Sky was offering free viewing of ESPN, it has only helped the cause.
Dont get me wrong, none of our teams are gonna be busting down the doors of NBA teams in the next few years, well maybe the Cavaliers (hehe) but the standard is definately increasing as the games profile is increasing.

Bowly wrote:

EddieJonesFan wrote:How popular is basketball in GB?

Its not as popular as say football is here (Soccer to everyone else), but it is definately on the rise, and with the Two Regualar season NBA Games being such a massive hit and the TV coverage on ESPN Uk being made available on the same weekend that Sky was offering free viewing of ESPN, it has only helped the cause.
Dont get me wrong, none of our teams are gonna be busting down the doors of NBA teams in the next few years, well maybe the Cavaliers (hehe) but the standard is definately increasing as the games profile is increasing.

i hope to see strong UK roster this year in lithuania.

karolis1221 wrote:

Bowly wrote:

EddieJonesFan wrote:How popular is basketball in GB?

Its not as popular as say football is here (Soccer to everyone else), but it is definately on the rise, and with the Two Regualar season NBA Games being such a massive hit and the TV coverage on ESPN Uk being made available on the same weekend that Sky was offering free viewing of ESPN, it has only helped the cause.
Dont get me wrong, none of our teams are gonna be busting down the doors of NBA teams in the next few years, well maybe the Cavaliers (hehe) but the standard is definately increasing as the games profile is increasing.

i hope to see strong UK roster this year in lithuania.

With Ben Gordon's Commitment to play for Team GB now, its looking good for the future, and with the form that Luol Deng has been showing, I'm VERY excited for our prospects. Hopefully with more development of some of our young players Joel Freeland, and Ryan Richards, and with Pops getting some playing time again, I'd like to see us cause a stir, and get us that 2012 Place that we deserve.

UAB has a good up and coming player from London.

http://espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=46165