GB ARE GOING TO EUROBASKET

 

 

For a team that had only just been promoted to European basketball's Division A, Great Britain hadn't done that badly. We'd gone up against two veterans of Eurobasket 2007 and come out with a 1-1 record. That added to a favourable points difference put us top of the group and on course for the Eurobasket 2009 finals. However there were still four games to go and though two of them were at home, the other two were on the road and no team in Group D had been able to win a road game in the early stages of the competition. Which meant that there was no reason to celebrate early, particularly not given the sort of history that GB had in it's sights.

First up, we faced Bosnia in Birmingham. The Bosnians may in theory have been the weakest team in the group but still gave us a match in the first quarter, leading late before we managed to turn the game around at the buzzer and continuing to give us trouble in the second quarter, leading 31-29 and ending the half with the game tied at 41. They ran out of fuel in the second half though and GB were happy to run riot, building up a double digit lead with a quarter to go. The Bosnians made a run early in the 4th but there was no way they were going to stop us from that point onwards, particularly as they had no way of stopping Luol Deng. Our main man in the NBA led with 29 points and we won 82-74.

Next up was a rematch against Israel in Liverpool, the first of two make or break games. The Israelis were running the show early in the first quarter and leading 11-7 with GB taking over just before the buzzer. It was the second quarter where GB really took over, and having given the Israelis a match on their own turf earlier, the Israeli TV commentators that I was forced to listen to must have been wondering what had hit their team, our lead hit double figures before the end of the half! It was 20 points by the end of the third and though we ended on a slightly dissapointing note with some sloppy play at the end of the game, it was still Pops Mensah-Bonsu leading the game with 22 points and GB winning 96-86.

So with our home games done it was off to a town called Pardubice where we were looking to beat the Czech Republic with qualification up for grabs. Of course the Czechs were going to have other ideas and despite the dodgy feed I saw enough to know that things weren't going our way early on. The Czechs led 10-6 but we still lead at the end of one though it was a tight affair thoughout the first half. The Czechs retook the lead briefly in the third but we were starting to build up a more secure lead untill the Czechs came back and retook the lead with less than three minutes to go! Every British basketball fan was biting their finger nails, a Richard Midgely free throw went in. Was it enough? Coach Chris Finch yelled "don't foul them". We kept it clean. They didn't. Two more three throws and GB pulled off an historic 67-63 win that took hours to sink in!

Finally GB arrived in the town of Cazin for the return game against Bosnia. GB had the better of a low scoring first quarter to lead 20-13 at the first buzzer despite only playing for pride and not given the main men so many minutes. However the home side turned the game round in the 2nd quarter and from there on in we weren't really in the game. GB tied the game briefly early in the 3rd but the home side still ended the quarter with a double digit lead. GB nibbled into that slightly in the fourth but it was still Nihad Dedovic who was the games leading scorer even if it was only with 14 points while Bosnia won the game 89-80 to give their campaign a happy ending.

Still, we ended with a 4-2 record and that kept us top of the group, and as a result, Great Britain are going to Eurobasket 2009! To put this in perspective, the last time the old England team made the finals of the tournament was in 1981! We are seriously in unchartered territory here and thinking about it makes it hard to believe, again! Elsewhere in the group, Israel finished 2nd and with one of the better second placed records in the tournament, are also heading to Poland. Bosnia finish in third and though they're not going to Poland quite yet, they have booked a spot in the additional qualifying tournament so may yet still make it. The Czech Republic, veterans of Eurobasket 2007 finish bottom, which means that not are they not going to Poland but that face a tournament to avoid relegation to Division B.

Now we have reached the promised land though, GB face a serious reality check. Waiting for us in Poland is Group C, based in Warsaw. Group B is made up of us, Spain, Slovenia and Serbia. Spain reached the Olympic finals in Beijing and are led by Pau Gasol with some seriously good backup. Slovenia may have not been in Beijing but they did take part in the Olympic qualifying tournament and so beating them will also be easier said than done. Then we have Serbia. Like GB they did have to qualify for this tournament. Unlike GB they are veterans of Eurobasket 2007. The good news is that the top three all go through to the second round. Can we do it? Don't know.

Right now, I don't care!

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