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Just when Basketball in this country started to get some media exposure, with theactive involvement of Deng(Youth Camps) and Amaechi(His autobiography), it seems that the latest results in Poland and the eurobasket may be a worrying sign for the Sport on the island.
The Americans did not show up and the team got very little coverage in the national press.

What does the sport need to keep progressing.

My view is a summarised via a few key points

+England to accept its olympic fate and forget the Great Britain concept.
+FIBA to invest in outdoor neigborhood courts and outdoor summer events
+FIBA to invest in the BUSA university league. The vast presence of international students in cities like London, Manchester, Liverpool and B'ham must be exploited for the good of the sport!
+England basketall authorities must invest at root level especially int he Greater London area
+AND FINALLY ENGLAND MUST HOST A MAJOR TOURNAMENT AFTER 2012

Please Share your thoughts

A country so dominated by football and with so little basketball tradition will always rely heavily on ex-pats. Sure, some good players will come out of the programs, but it will take a lot for basketball to catch on.

I wouldn't say they got very little press, considering Basketball's standing anyway. Every game was televised on BBC red button, and ESPN. Every game was covered by at least one paper, and the Telegraph had articles about their progress pre and now post tournament. Considering Basketball's complete lack of standing that's nothing to casually dismiss.

I don't see the need to ditch the Great Britain concept, as it's already one of the most successful basketball teams from the islands ever. Their performance at Eurobasket was admirable, and came against the 1st, 2nd and 4th place teams in the entire tournament, there's even talk about them being a darkhorse candidate for a wild card for the 2010 world championships.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/others ... ships.html

As for the 'Americans' who didn't show.
Luol was hurt so no need for explanations there.

Gordon has fully committed to next year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/others ... tball.html

and Azubuike didn't get his passport, bu he should have his passport sometime next year.

Really there's little to complain about considering there was no team GB even three years ago.

All that said the rest of the points were spot on.

If Britain gets one of the four wildcards, I think it will help big time.

Guys i aint saying press coverage was Zero nor am i saying the perfomance was not above expectation. In no way am i saying that Deng or Gordon were avoiding the summer trip.

Having said that, though yes there was tv coverage (I did watch on ESPN) and the BBC had a dedicated section, i've seen alot more publicity on sports like triathlon, Fencing, Cross country athletics.

The media facilitated a specific audience, it did not reach out to a new one. Lets not forget that there was an extensive story on BBall in the UK, on a popular weekly BBC sports program only a few months ago.

Yes i guess i was being overdramatic in my opener, but ive put so much time into the game in this country and just cant see it taking off nor getting the attention it deserves.

If you pop over to Fallowfield in South Manchester on a Sunday, you'll see 100 guys trying to get a game. I think thats worth something. I no longer see that in Greece in the summers and yet look where Greece is on the Bball map. Every school has a Bball!

TV coverage is basically zero. The BBC covered the three GB games, but even that wasn't on the main channel but instead on the interactive menu. Apart from that, we haven't had any other coverage for years. The only thing we get is the NBA once a week, but now even that has come to an end.

I could go into great depth about the basketball in this country. The problems are pretty simple though.

1) We need better development programs in the UK, so that we can keep our kids playing in this country other than in the USA or elsewhere in Europe.

2) We need a good professional basketball league in this country. The quality needs to improve, the amount of good British players in the league needs to increase, funding, coverage in the media, venues, training facilities and the frequency that the pro players can get access to facilities needs to all improve.

Right now, the youth development is improving, but it isn't even close to what in should be. Our pro domestic league is a complete and utter shambles right now.

It's not just about developing good kids, it's also about keeping them playing professional basketball in this country.

Stick some hoops in the ground and kids will play.

NetsForce wrote:Stick some hoops in the ground and kids will play.

This. But we desperately need indoor facilities too. Getting access to a gym in the UK is near impossible unless it's an organised team training session. You can't just pop to the local gym with a pal and put up some shots and individual stuff because it will cost you and arm and a leg.

We have one centre in the entire country that is fully dedicated to basketball, and that works a treat as it is home to the most successful junior program in the country. Perhaps a few college academies will have access to more facilities, but there are only a hand full of those scattered around the country.

When it's dark and cold, kids have team training once a week, perhaps twice, but other than that there isn't anywhere else to play or workout on a regular basis that is reasonable.

I know guys who play professional basketball in this country, and even their access to indoor facilities is really limited. They might get a crappy school gym for an hour outside of team training if they are lucky.

At university level access to a sports hall is very easy throughout the week with no cost as long as you're a member of the basketball society/club.
As for random sports halls, i dont know anywhere in the world where it free and easilly accessible, in the US they still have the YMCA!
What we need is neighborood leagues, courttime for games should be funded by local communities (kids off the streets) and the national representative body.
These would be similar to Sunday leagues in footbal, it would not require much dedication in terms of training and it could be split into age groups

At university level access to a sports hall is very easy throughout the week with no cost as long as you're a member of the basketball society/club.
As for random sports halls, i dont know anywhere in the world where it free and easilly accessible, in the US they still have the YMCA!

I never said nothing about it being free. In most areas in England, you'd find it difficult to get a single hoop for an hour, for under £10, or even close to being affordable. You'll also find a lot of junior clubs actually struggle to secure a court for a reasonable price on a regular basis. I know of clubs on a local level, and even on a national league level who have had to call quits due to the court hire being too expensive, or too difficult to get week in week out.

In the US, most players have access to their school/college gyms daily. There are places dedicated to basketball where players can become a member and get access to a court either to run 5 on 5 or to shoot alone. They have YMCA's and local centres where they can get access to a hoop for a small fraction of the price that you'd pay in the UK.

Like I said, the majority of junior clubs in the UK will train there kids once or twice a week. And that will be team training, so there is little time for individual 1 to 1 skill development.

What we need is neighborood leagues, courttime for games should be funded by local communities (kids off the streets) and the national representative body.
These would be similar to Sunday leagues in footbal, it would not require much dedication in terms of training and it could be split into age groups

Most regions have a local league of some kind. For those who want to play at a higher standard, there are national league teams in most areas of the country.

NetsForce wrote:Stick some hoops in the ground and kids will play.

It's not just a matter of "sticking hoops into the ground" and basketball will all of sudden be popular. That's like someone saying "Just make more soccer fields in the U.S. and kids will play." No way in hell.

Like the U.S.; Great Britain already has its sport that it loves more than anything and that is football (soccer). It's going to take a huge effort for basketball to even become popular in that country with so many people glued to football.

Sadly, I don't see anything progressive happening until at least 10-15 years from now.

PopularByDemand wrote:If Britain gets one of the four wildcards, I think it will help big time.

from sport point of view GB dosn't desereve willd card. It would be unfair if they get WC in front of Lithuania, Russia, Germany and some other teams with much biger BB tradition.

Sombady said FIBA should invest in basketball. Truth is FIBA, NBA and ULEB organisation actually are trying to push basketball in GB because it is very big market that could bring them lot of money. Otherwise NBA teams, wouldn't be playing in London almost evrey year, big turnaments woldn't be heald there etc. And in first place I doubt that without of strong push from this 3 graedy organisations that this team that played for last 3 yers would ever be formed.

Bit cinicly but honest from me.

This is generalized very slow prces that could take a lot of time (since GB have strong push it will be faster but stilll long period proces) but the only right way:

-GB bb fedaration must find young man ready to work and learn. Then need to send them to traditional basketball countries USA, ex Yugoslavian countries, Lithuania and new powerhouse Spain to learn game of basketball in evrey sence
-GB nead to invest in youth programs develop scouting and traing proces from early stages to senior level
-GB need to find people to invest in basketball clubs while also developing one good league where young kids would have proper competition for their development. In first years they would need to bring lot of foregion players but after a whille some players would turn up good a nuf to play in such league.
-GB needs to popularize BB to turn kids to basketball courts. (they are actuly trying to do that and they have strnog push)
-GB neads to invest and make tons of street courts. (My friend was in London for 6 mounths and she told me that she didn't see to much street basketball courts wich id catastrophic for such a big city. Whille we in Croatia and in rest countries of ex Yugoslavia have tons of street courts where people and kids playing basket. Towns or small vilages and places have courts for basket )

When GB do this they will have good and strong fundumentals for development of basketball

hey can somebody tell me how much money player did get in england league 1 and 2 division?sorry for my eng.

kerfuc wrote:hey can somebody tell me how much money player did get in england league 1 and 2 division?sorry for my eng.

BBL (1st division) will pay their Americans/star player(s) a respectable wage. Depending on the club they may also provide accommodation, a car, and cover some bill expenses. They are normally expected to coach kids in schools during the week though.

Outside of the Americans/top players, it can vary. Some top clubs will pay all their players something, while ther clubs will pay their players nothing. If they do get paid it is normally pretty small (unless they are a top player). Most players have full/part time jobs alongside basketball though. This can be coaching kids, or it can be something completely unrelated to basketball.

Only perhaps 1 or 2 clubs will have 12 fully pro players. The majority of the league is filled with semi pro players who support themselves through their careers outside of basketball. In reality, it actually isn't a pro basketball league.

EBL1 (division 2), you'll find the majority of players get paid nothing. Perhaps 1 or 2 top players in the league may get paid something.

suckfish wrote:

kerfuc wrote:hey can somebody tell me how much money player did get in england league 1 and 2 division?sorry for my eng.

BBL (1st division) will pay their Americans/star player(s) a respectable wage. Depending on the club they may also provide accommodation, a car, and cover some bill expenses. They are normally expected to coach kids in schools during the week though.

Outside of the Americans/top players, it can vary. Some top clubs will pay all their players something, while ther clubs will pay their players nothing. If they do get paid it is normally pretty small (unless they are a top player). Most players have full/part time jobs alongside basketball though. This can be coaching kids, or it can be something completely unrelated to basketball.

Only perhaps 1 or 2 clubs will have 12 fully pro players. The majority of the league is filled with semi pro players who support themselves through their careers outside of basketball. In reality, it actually isn't a pro basketball league.

EBL1 (division 2), you'll find the majority of players get paid nothing. Perhaps 1 or 2 top players in the league may get paid something.

thanks for answer!

PopularByDemand wrote:

NetsForce wrote:Stick some hoops in the ground and kids will play.

It's not just a matter of "sticking hoops into the ground" and basketball will all of sudden be popular. That's like someone saying "Just make more soccer fields in the U.S. and kids will play." No way in hell.

Like the U.S.; Great Britain already has its sport that it loves more than anything and that is football (soccer). It's going to take a huge effort for basketball to even become popular in that country with so many people glued to football.

Sadly, I don't see anything progressive happening until at least 10-15 years from now.

Amongst other things, the difference is our respective examples is the ease with which a game of basketball can be played.

NetsForce wrote:

PopularByDemand wrote:

NetsForce wrote:Stick some hoops in the ground and kids will play.

It's not just a matter of "sticking hoops into the ground" and basketball will all of sudden be popular. That's like someone saying "Just make more soccer fields in the U.S. and kids will play." No way in hell.

Like the U.S.; Great Britain already has its sport that it loves more than anything and that is football (soccer). It's going to take a huge effort for basketball to even become popular in that country with so many people glued to football.

Sadly, I don't see anything progressive happening until at least 10-15 years from now.

Amongst other things, the difference is our respective examples is the ease with which a game of basketball can be played.

You're right, but probably not in the way you intended. All you need to play soccer, is a ball. You can play it on any surface: indoor, grass, asphalt, paving stones, sand etc. Kids often just take off their jackets and put it on the ground to make a goal. Or they draw a goal on a wall with some chalk. There are hundreds of variations on the official game.

For basketball, the minumum you need is a ball and a hoop.

AydinOrs wrote:
For basketball, the minumum you need is a ball and a hoop.

Also, football can be played on most surfaces, while basketball can't.

Batu7 wrote:

AydinOrs wrote:
For basketball, the minumum you need is a ball and a hoop.

Also, football can be played on most surfaces, while basketball can't.

yes it can. all you need is ball, hoop and most important thing called will. After war in my countrie even sport courts were destroyed in my neibrhod but me and my frieds had ball, improvized hoop made out of bicycle wheel and lot of will and we played in my yard wich is coverd with grass and dirt and is also very small. Some of us played without shoos during summer and with ruber shoes during colder days. If you like somthing you will play it without any special conditions

AydinOrs wrote:

NetsForce wrote:Amongst other things, the difference is our respective examples is the ease with which a game of basketball can be played.

You're right, but probably not in the way you intended. All you need to play soccer, is a ball. You can play it on any surface: indoor, grass, asphalt, paving stones, sand etc. Kids often just take off their jackets and put it on the ground to make a goal. Or they draw a goal on a wall with some chalk. There are hundreds of variations on the official game.

For basketball, the minumum you need is a ball and a hoop.

Where I was coming from was that to get a basketball game going you can bring along one friend go to a basketball court and play a competitive game.

With Soccer it doesn't work that way... You've got to get a handful of people together before you can play any form of soccer that resembles the way the game is supposed to be played...

Hence why I feel like sticking some hoops in the ground will go a long ways to promoting the development of basketball in England.