EuroBasket 2013 Preview

by UK American Sports Fans

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EuroBasket 2013 is almost here and most GB fans aren’t confident as usual.

This will be the first time that GB will enter a major tournament with little to no expectations of any glory. The high profile early withdrawals of NBA All Star Luol Deng, NBA Rookie Joel Freeland and basketball journeyman Pops Mensah-Bonsu have left rookie Head Coach Joe Prunty with a young squad with little international experience.

Coupling this with the team’s poor showings in their series of warm up games has left GB fans with little hope of GB reaching the semi-finals necessary for the programme to secure funding for Rio 2016.

Now we have got the ‘we’re all doomed’ out of the way we can bring you five reasons to be excited for EuroBasket 2013:

1 – Better Than Average. GB are in the weakest group at EuroBasket and GB may have odds of 100/1 to win the group but they have more than enough talent to beat Israel, Belgium and Ukraine. This combined with the fact that GB could need as little as only 2 wins out of the 5 games makes an historic progression to the second round achievable.

2 – Nothing Is Certain. You only have to look back to EuroBasket 2011 where most were surprised by Finland’s progression to the second round and astounded by FYROM’s appearance in the semi-finals. It could be GB’s time to shine.

3 – The Long Game. The majority of this squad are going to be around for the next two Olympic cycles and this will provide them with invaluable international experience.

4 – Point To Prove. This squad have been ‘disrespected’ by the majority of the basketball world. This leaves them with a chip on their shoulder and point to prove. This is a powerful combination in basketball and could be enough to get GB wins in close games.

5 – Early Days. If we do go to Slovenia and lose every game by 30 points it is bizarrely still a step forward. GB basketball is only 7 years old and in only their third Eurobasket. If you look at the competition they have been playing at this level for nearly 80 years. This is a learning curve and it is much better that GB have truly British players on the court rather than plastic Brits such as Ben Gordon and Byron Mullens.

Hopefully you now have a creeping sense of optimism and even if it is a false sense of confidence it will, as always with GB basketball, be fun along the way. GB’s first game is on Wednesday 4th September against Israel and is a must win if GB’s dreams are to stay alive. UK American Sports Fans will be bringing exclusive post-game interviews with GB’s players and coaching staff.

  • For the first time UK American Sports Fans will have a dedicated reporter at Eurobasket. Mark Mills will be joining our team going forward to cover all things GB. Mark is a basketball pilgrim and has covered basketball across the globe.