Great Britain have announced that star power forward Joel Freeland of Unicaja Malaga and Detroit Pistons guard Ben Gordon will be unavailable for this summer’s EuroBasket 2011 qualifying campaign.
The 23-year-old Freeland, coming off a strong debut season with Unicaja, has been slowed by back problems and needs the summer to recuperate from a hard year in Spain’s ACB and the Euroleague.
Gordon, who was born in London but grew up in the United States, was hoping to make his first appearance with Britain but has not recovered from the surgery he had after the season to remove bone spurs from his left ankle.
Both are potential players in the British squad that is expected to compete at the London 2012 Olympics.
Britain will this summer attempt to earn a trip to EuroBasket 2011, and Gordon said: “I am really looking forward to playing next year and will follow the team’s success this summer. It would have been great to play with Luol this summer – it will just have to wait until next year.”
Great Britain coach Chris Finch will lead the side against Hungary, Ukraine, FYR of Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Looking ahead to the campaign, Finch said: “We have a shorter period in camp than usual, so it is going to be a case of getting the guys up to speed as quickly as possible. We have some tough test games before the EuroBasket fixtures get underway on August 2 away to Hungary.
“Like the last campaign, the home games are going to be very important to the team and getting four wins will stand us in good stead come the final game against Ukraine on August 29.”
As for the absence of Freeland and Gordon, Finch said: “This is undoubtedly a blow to the team as they would have both been key players in what is going to be a challenging summer with four EuroBasket qualifying games home and away.
“However, it will be a great opportunity for some of the younger players to step up to the mark and stake a claim for a regular place. Players like Justin Robinson, Matthew Bryan Amaning and Ashley Hamilton all performed well for the GB Futures, so we should be positive about what the younger players can offer.”
by fiba.com
