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Great Britain National Team
#1
Quote:Great Britain produced their best defensive effort of the summer to beat Belarus 83-51 in Minsk and qualify for the play-offs in Europe's Division B.



Luol Deng had 27 points and Andrew Betts added 12 as GB shut down their hosts in the second half of the game.



Belarus threatened to win at the start of the second half when they reduced the arrears to 40-35.



But Deng inspired an immediate 18-5 run and Belarus were allowed only 16 points in the remaining 18 minutes.



Both teams went into the game needing a win to advance towards the qualifying matches for the 2009 European Championships.



Great Britain will now face a two-leg tie on 11 and 15 September against Finland, Georgia, Switzerland or Romania - depending on results in other groups.



It was Great Britain's stout defence that saw them through in the end.



Deng had nine points in that 18-5 run and his defensive intuition in the fourth quarter saw him snare a pair of steals and start an 8-0 run that made sure of victory.



British coach Chris Finch hailed Deng's contribution, saying: "He makes plays out of nothing - he makes steals, he's always in the right spot.



"He was definitely up for the game, he was very aggressive considering he got two early fouls.



"We told him they would mark him and try to come after him and intimidate him early on."



British Olympic Association chief executive Simon Clegg was proud of Great Britain's achievement.



"My congratulations go to the GB team on their performance," added Clegg.



"Having lost by a solitary point at home to Belarus last September the pressure was really on.



"Only a win was good enough to see us through to the play-off stages which will give us an opportunity to gain promotion.



"The team have clearly handled that pressure exceptionally well and I am sure this will be seen as a pivotal moment on the long road to gaining entry to the London 2012 Olympics."

According to the Eurobasket website, we are against Switzerland in a two-legged playoff. Anybody know how Switzerland rate as a basketball nation?
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#2
Things are looking up for GB.



If we win this play off are we in Division A then, and stand a better chance of reaching Eurobasket 2009?
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#3
[quote name='Luke' post='3023' date='Sep 6 2007, 04:44 PM']Things are looking up for GB.



If we win this play off are we in Division A then, and stand a better chance of reaching Eurobasket 2009?[/quote]

Great Britain seem to be ready for Division A. By playing there you get a chance to play against top teams. Serbia is one of the strongest teams that will play qualifying games since they were knocked out of Eurobasket already. And as you mentioned you will have an opportunity to qualify for Eurobasket 2009. If Portugal and Poland made it, Britain can do it too.
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#4
Could some give me a list of GBR players who have played in the NBA? Besides Luol DENG that is
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#5
[quote name='Eurosport']Chris Finch will remain coach of Great Britain at least through the 2009 European Championships after signing a contract extension with British Basketball.



Boosted by the arrival of NBA star Luol Deng, Finch helped lead the men's team to promotion into the Eurobasket Division A after a successful qualifying campaign this summer, which included a run of six straight victories.



His next task will be to help take Britain to the next level by maintaining the team's position amongst Europe's elite and qualifying for the 2009 European Championships.



"Naturally, I am very excited to be able to continue to build on the success and momentum we have created over the past two years," Finch said.



"As ever, it will take a serious commitment from all parties and most importantly from our players to keep the programme headed in the right direction as we begin to plan for our tough but achievable goal of qualifying for Poland 2009."



Women's head coach Mark Clark was also retained through 2009 after helping guide Britain's ladies into Eurobasket Division A as well.



"I am delighted to be given the opportunity to continue as the GB Women"s Head Coach," said Clark.



"The last two years have laid the foundations for the programme to become world class. I am confident that all the players and staff will continue to make the commitment to the programme and each other that will ensure that we keep moving in the right direction."[/quote]



Original article: [url="http://eurosport.yahoo.com/20122007/58/"]http://eurosport.yahoo.com/20122007/58/[/url]
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#6
Good news.



Seems to be doing a good job. <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='Smile' />
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#7
Ben Gordon MIGHT JOIN the British national team, cause he was born in London but moved to USA, but he has british passport.If he would join British team Deng and Gordon could make nice DUO.also their other players not so bad as they look.
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#8
The British National team isn't going to win it all. But they will go far if Gordon DOES infact join the team. Also Finch is a very good coach. We'll see how it plays out.
[Image: aug282007_kobe.jpg]
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#9
It’s a shame that they missed out on Kelenna Azubuike. But are they planning to pursue on Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Michael Olowokandi?
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#10
Pops and Gorden are on the 30+ GB training squad, but i don't think that means that they have 100% decided to play for GB, would be very good if they did.



I'll find the link which names all the training squad members...



<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.basketballgb.com/index.php?go=news&id=101" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">[url="http://www.basketballgb.com/index.php?go=news&id=101"]http://www.basketballgb.com/index.php?go=news&id=101[/url]</a><!-- m -->



There you go
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#11
[quote name='iMarsh' post='6425' date='Apr 8 2008, 01:20 PM']Pops and Gorden are on the 30+ GB training squad, but i don't think that means that they have 100% decided to play for GB, would be very good if they did.



I'll find the link which names all the training squad members...



[url="http://www.basketballgb.com/index.php?go=news&id=101&quot;"]http://www.basketballgb.com/index.php?go=n...mp;id=101"[/url]]http://www.basketballgb.com/index.php?go=news&id=101



There you go[/quote]



Squad looks pretty good. Deng,as team leader,some uleb cup average players and some teamwork might do good team i think <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='Smile' />
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#12
Eurobasket 2009 qualifiers home games:



September 6 v Czech Republic, The O2 arena, tip-off 4pm

September 10 v Bosnia, The NIA, tip-off 7.30pm

September 13 v Israel, Echo Arena, tip-off 7pm
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#13
I'm pretty sure Switzerland isn't that good, but I probably don't have it straight.
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