FIBA Basketball
ENG - Brits lay foundation
MELBOURNE (Commonwealth Games) - England’s twin medal-winning performance at the Commonwealth Games has put the country back on the basketball map but the challenge now is to keep it there. With the
MELBOURNE (Commonwealth Games) - England’s twin medal-winning performance at the Commonwealth Games has put the country back on the basketball map but the challenge now is to keep it there.
With the Olympic Games to be staged in London in 2012, the pressure is on for Britain to show they can field competitive teams. Otherwise, FIBA will not allow them to take up their places in the men’s and women’s tournaments.
John Amaechi, 35, came out of retirement specifically for the Commonwealth Games and he believes the country’s performances could provide the sport with the impetus it needs back home.
“This is huge for our sport,” he said. “We know that this is an expanding sport but it is time for the people to understand that these team sports represent most of our population.”
England has long been the poor relation of European basketball but the potential has always been there. Poor funding, weak organisation, failure to coach fundamentals and a substandard domestic competition have all been cited as reasons why the sport has never taken off.
Talented British players nearly always leave for places where the game is more professional like Spain, Russia, Greece, Italy, Israel, France and Belgium. Not surprisingly, all of those countries with possibly the exception of Belgium are ahead of England at international level.
With the Olympics coming to London, there has never been a better - and perhaps more vital - time for English hoops to try and build a solid foundation.
Amaechi, one of the finest players to hail from England who spent several seasons in the NBA, said: “We have the same genetics as the Americans but we don’t have their funding.
“We need to get organised and it is time someone put money in the sport.”
Another of England's veteran contingent at the Games, Newcastle Eagles player/coach Fab Flournoy, said: “You have to be here to understand this. It is a huge accomplishment.
“We were disappointed after losing to New Zealand and Australia but we proved to ourselves and the people that basketball exists in England.”
Learning from mistakes
People in the know understand very clearly that basketball missed a golden opportunity in Britain at the end of the nineties and in the new Millennium.
Poor organisation and lack off funding meant the men's senior team, coached by Laszlo Nemeth, was never able to perform at its highest level in European Championship qualifying games.
Nemeth, against all the odds, somehow kept the English in Division A.
Roger Huggins, Steve Bucknall, Amaechi and DKV Joventut’s 7ft center Andy Betts were among England's top players. They never had good summer programmes, and it was telling when England went up against the more established sides like Spain, Russia and Italy.
At the Commonwealth Games, England packed their men’s squad with experience and that helped them finish behind only Australia and New Zealand, two sides that will both be playing at the FIBA World Championship in Japan later this year.
Even though the Boomers and Tall Blacks will send stronger teams to Japan, the England team was nowhere near as strong as a Great Britain team could be, too.
In the EuroBasket Division B games later this year, a Britain team could include Betts and his DKV Joventut team-mate Roberto Archibald of Scotland, along with Chicago Bulls duo Luol Deng and Ben Gordon.
Pops Mensah-Bonsu of George Washington and Richard Midgley of the California Golden Bears could end up helping a British side at the London Olympics.
England coach Pete Scantlebury is encouraged by Melbourne.
“The team has come together over the last two years,” he said. “Before that, we didn’t have a national team.”
That was because England's governing body killed it by pulling out of EuroBasket qualifying several years ago due to financial problems. The short-sighted move set the sport back several years and undid the good work of Nemeth.
Scantlebury, who played under and later served as his assistant, said: “We’ve basically come together for this and winning bronze will raise the profile of the sport back home."
Women show their potential
The British women have more work to do than the men but they have to be encouraged by what has happened in Melbourne. New Zealand’s top team struggled to put the English away in the semi-final. New Zealand had reached the quarter-finals of the last Olympics.
“To get a bronze medal is just phenomenal for us, but this was just a platform for us," England captain Claire Maytham said.
"The core of this squad is very young and they need further challenges.”
If anyone is listening in Britain, Maytham is asking for the movers and shakers in the game to back the sport and to help with the organisation.
"Hopefully that (challenge) will be at the next Commonwealth Games and hopefully they can go one step better,” she said.
“This has raised the profile in England to no end. We had to put on a good show for basketball in England to get the funding for 2012.”
What really needs to happen for Britain’s women to improve is for the country to have a competitive league, and for the players to take part in qualifying games for the EuroBasket Women.
As it is, they rarely face tough competiton.
If there is no increase in competition, they really won’t have a chance against the sides at the London Olympics and FIBA will know it.
If FIBA do not believe the women will be competitive, they will give that place in the tournament to another team. The bronze medal in Melbourne must be the launchpad for greater things.
“The kids coming through will think this is great,” Maytham said. “Hopefully we will have a strong team at the Olympic Games.”
Hopefully, for women's basketball in Britain and the sport in general, the country will be able to take up its places in both the men's and women's tournaments.
From Mike Perez, PA Sport, Melbourne
With the Olympic Games to be staged in London in 2012, the pressure is on for Britain to show they can field competitive teams. Otherwise, FIBA will not allow them to take up their places in the men’s and women’s tournaments.
John Amaechi, 35, came out of retirement specifically for the Commonwealth Games and he believes the country’s performances could provide the sport with the impetus it needs back home.
“This is huge for our sport,” he said. “We know that this is an expanding sport but it is time for the people to understand that these team sports represent most of our population.”
England has long been the poor relation of European basketball but the potential has always been there. Poor funding, weak organisation, failure to coach fundamentals and a substandard domestic competition have all been cited as reasons why the sport has never taken off.
Talented British players nearly always leave for places where the game is more professional like Spain, Russia, Greece, Italy, Israel, France and Belgium. Not surprisingly, all of those countries with possibly the exception of Belgium are ahead of England at international level.
With the Olympics coming to London, there has never been a better - and perhaps more vital - time for English hoops to try and build a solid foundation.
Amaechi, one of the finest players to hail from England who spent several seasons in the NBA, said: “We have the same genetics as the Americans but we don’t have their funding.
“We need to get organised and it is time someone put money in the sport.”
Another of England's veteran contingent at the Games, Newcastle Eagles player/coach Fab Flournoy, said: “You have to be here to understand this. It is a huge accomplishment.
“We were disappointed after losing to New Zealand and Australia but we proved to ourselves and the people that basketball exists in England.”
Learning from mistakes
People in the know understand very clearly that basketball missed a golden opportunity in Britain at the end of the nineties and in the new Millennium.
Poor organisation and lack off funding meant the men's senior team, coached by Laszlo Nemeth, was never able to perform at its highest level in European Championship qualifying games.
Nemeth, against all the odds, somehow kept the English in Division A.
Roger Huggins, Steve Bucknall, Amaechi and DKV Joventut’s 7ft center Andy Betts were among England's top players. They never had good summer programmes, and it was telling when England went up against the more established sides like Spain, Russia and Italy.
At the Commonwealth Games, England packed their men’s squad with experience and that helped them finish behind only Australia and New Zealand, two sides that will both be playing at the FIBA World Championship in Japan later this year.
Even though the Boomers and Tall Blacks will send stronger teams to Japan, the England team was nowhere near as strong as a Great Britain team could be, too.
In the EuroBasket Division B games later this year, a Britain team could include Betts and his DKV Joventut team-mate Roberto Archibald of Scotland, along with Chicago Bulls duo Luol Deng and Ben Gordon.
Pops Mensah-Bonsu of George Washington and Richard Midgley of the California Golden Bears could end up helping a British side at the London Olympics.
England coach Pete Scantlebury is encouraged by Melbourne.
“The team has come together over the last two years,” he said. “Before that, we didn’t have a national team.”
That was because England's governing body killed it by pulling out of EuroBasket qualifying several years ago due to financial problems. The short-sighted move set the sport back several years and undid the good work of Nemeth.
Scantlebury, who played under and later served as his assistant, said: “We’ve basically come together for this and winning bronze will raise the profile of the sport back home."
Women show their potential
The British women have more work to do than the men but they have to be encouraged by what has happened in Melbourne. New Zealand’s top team struggled to put the English away in the semi-final. New Zealand had reached the quarter-finals of the last Olympics.
“To get a bronze medal is just phenomenal for us, but this was just a platform for us," England captain Claire Maytham said.
"The core of this squad is very young and they need further challenges.”
If anyone is listening in Britain, Maytham is asking for the movers and shakers in the game to back the sport and to help with the organisation.
"Hopefully that (challenge) will be at the next Commonwealth Games and hopefully they can go one step better,” she said.
“This has raised the profile in England to no end. We had to put on a good show for basketball in England to get the funding for 2012.”
What really needs to happen for Britain’s women to improve is for the country to have a competitive league, and for the players to take part in qualifying games for the EuroBasket Women.
As it is, they rarely face tough competiton.
If there is no increase in competition, they really won’t have a chance against the sides at the London Olympics and FIBA will know it.
If FIBA do not believe the women will be competitive, they will give that place in the tournament to another team. The bronze medal in Melbourne must be the launchpad for greater things.
“The kids coming through will think this is great,” Maytham said. “Hopefully we will have a strong team at the Olympic Games.”
Hopefully, for women's basketball in Britain and the sport in general, the country will be able to take up its places in both the men's and women's tournaments.
From Mike Perez, PA Sport, Melbourne