Great Britain men's national basketball team

London Olympics 1948

British teams have rarely made an impact on the international scene, only featuring in two Olympic games, both of which were hosted in London (1948 and 2012). The team at the 1948 tournament only won one game (vs. Ireland) and at the 2012 tournament only won one game (vs. China). However, the England national basketball team did qualify for EuroBasket 1981, surprisingly winning the game against the elite team of Greece.

Formation in 2005

After London won the right to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, the organisers wanted competitive teams at every sport, including basketball. The new Great Britain side was formed on 1 December 2005 from the existing teams from the UK. The new team secured the help of NBA's Chicago Bulls' star Luol Deng, and he led the team to promotion from EuroBasket Division B to Division A. FIBA had stated that Great Britain must prove their competitiveness prior to being granted the spot in the Olympic tournament that would normally be reserved for the host nation.

EuroBasket 2009

In Great Britain's first season at the Division A level in 2008, the team finished on top of a group which also included Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic and Israel to qualify for EuroBasket 2009.

EuroBasket 2011

During August 2010 Great Britain began their qualification campaign for EuroBasket 2011. Britain were drawn into a group containing Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Macedonia and Ukraine. They finished top of their group and qualified for back to back EuroBasket tournaments for their first time.

On 13 March 2011, Fiba voted 17–3 in favour of Great Britain receiving their host nation spot at the 2012 Olympic games with one condition, they have until 30 June 2012 to decide on whether to merge the three nations that make up the team or disband after the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.^[2]

On 21 June 2012, Basketball Wales confirmed their intent to reject the proposed merger on the grounds that the arrangement was always intended to be temporary in the build-up to the London Olympics, and that it would not be in the best interests for the sport in Wales for the country to forfeit its national team, when the GB team contained no Welsh players.

At EuroBasket 2011 Great Britain recorded their first EuroBasket win en route to a 2–3 record, good enough for 13th in the first 24 team EuroBasket tournament.

London Olympics 2012

Nate Reinking defended by Kobe Bryant, in a friendly game before the 2012 Games

For the 2012 Olympics in London, Great Britain were awarded automatic qualification. In the group stage, they lost to Russia, Brazil, Spain and Australia.

The British team would be eliminated in the group stage but was somewhat of a surprise only falling to defending and eventual runners up Spain by 1, and Brazil by 5, they also led Australia by 10 at halftime before fading late. In the final group game they faced China, both teams already unable to progress to the knockout stage. They won the game 90–58, making it only the second Olympic victory for Great Britain. Throughout the tournament Luol Deng played 173 minutes, more than any other player, and also came in the top ten for points and assists.^[3]

EuroBasket 2013

In June 2013, Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Joe Prunty was announced as the new coach, following the resignation of Chris Finch.^[4]

Having participated in the previous Olympic tournament, Great Britain qualified automatically for EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia. They went into the tournament short-handed: Luol Deng was recovering from illness, Pops Mensah-Bonsu did not participate due to an injury and Joel Freeland was also absent, citing commitments with his club. Despite this, Great Britain won their first game against Israel in overtime, but subsequently lost to France and Belgium. Winning their fourth group game against favoured Germany put them on the verge of advancing to the second round of the tournament for the first time in their history. The team went into their final group game against Ukraine needing to win, but Ukraine had been performing better than expected and dispatched Britain 87–68. They finished equalling their record from the previous tournament, with Daniel Clark leading the team in scoring and defence.^[5]

Following their tournament exit it was announced that the governing body for British sports, UK Sport, were to cut the funding for the team after failing to reach the agreed-upon minimum final placing in the tournament.^[6] Funding from UK Sport would have been used to aid the team's efforts to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

EuroBasket 2015

A defeat to Iceland on 20 August meant the team had failed to qualify for EuroBasket 2015. This outcome was largely attributed to British Basketball no longer receiving funding from UK Sport; efficiencies were having to be made, including cancelling training camps and being unable to secure the participation of players such as Luol Deng due to insurance costs, which has in turn affected performance, and put the future of the Great Britain team in doubt. Forward Kieron Achara spoke out about how the financial struggles had affected the team.^[7]

EuroBasket 2017

Great Britain lost all 5 matches finishing last in EuroBasket 2017 Group D.

After the tournament Tony Garbelotto took over as Head Coach from Joe Prunty.^[8]

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Austria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification to the EuroBasket qualifiers
2	Cyprus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to the third round
3	Great Britain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Great Britain  v  Austria

29 November 2018	Great Britain	vs.	Austria

Cyprus  v  Great Britain

3 December 2018	Cyprus	vs.	Great Britain

Great Britain  v  Cyprus

21 February 2019	Great Britain	vs.	Cyprus

Austria  v  Great Britain

24 February 2019	Austria	vs.	Great Britain

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2017.^[10]

Great Britain announced its 12-man squad for EuroBasket 2017 on 24 August 2017.^[11]

Great Britain men's national basketball team – EuroBasket 2017 roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. G 0 Dang Akodo, Jules 7003779100000000000♠21 – (1996-05-02)May 2, 1996 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Burgos 2002 G 1 Johnson, Kyle 7004104700000000000♠28 – (1988-12-31)December 31, 1988 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) London Lightning G 3 Mockford, Ben 7004102400000000000♠28 – (1989-08-18)August 18, 1989 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Palma G 4 Lawrence, Andrew 7003995000000000000♠27 – (1990-06-04)June 4, 1990 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Champagne Basket G 5 Okereafor, Teddy 7003905900000000000♠24 – (1992-11-11)November 11, 1992 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Pistoia F 10 Clark, Daniel 7004105760000000000♠28 – (1988-09-16)September 16, 1988 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Murcia F 11 Murray, Gareth 7004120300000000000♠32 – (1984-09-23)September 23, 1984 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Glasgow Rocks C 13 Boateng, Eric 7004116070000000000♠31 – (1985-11-20)November 20, 1985 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Blois Basket PG 19 Nelson, Luke 7003809900000000000♠22 – (1995-06-29)June 29, 1995 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) UC Irvine Anteaters F 20 Achara, Kieron 7004124780000000000♠34 – (1983-07-03)July 3, 1983 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Glasgow Rocks C 26 Olaseni, Gabe 7003937700000000000♠25 – (1991-12-29)December 29, 1991 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Orléans G 44 Josephs, Kofi 7003948400000000000♠25 – (1991-09-13)September 13, 1991 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Hertener Löwen	Head coach Joe Prunty Assistant coach(es) Nate Reinking Alberto Lorenzo Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 31 August 2017

Past rosters

2012 Olympics squad

The 12 players selected for the Olympic tournament. Note that the players' details and clubs are those during the time of the games.^[12]

The following is the Great Britain roster in the men's basketball tournament of the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[13]

Great Britain men's national basketball team – 2012 Summer Olympics roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. PF 4 Achara, Kieron 7004106190000000000♠29 – (1983-07-03)3 July 1983 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Assignia Manresa PG 5 Lawrence, Andrew 7003809100000000000♠22 – (1990-06-04)4 June 1990 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) College of Charleston SG 6 Lenzly, Mike 7004114120000000000♠31 – (1981-05-01)1 May 1981 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) ČEZ Nymburk F/C 7 Mensah-Bonsu, Pops 7004105530000000000♠28 – (1983-09-07)7 September 1983 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Beşiktaş Milangaz SF 8 Sullivan, Andrew 7004115230000000000♠31 – (1980-02-12)12 February 1980 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Leicester Riders SF 9 Deng, Luol 7003996600000000000♠27 – (1985-04-16)16 April 1985 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Chicago Bulls C 10 Archibald, Robert 7004118100000000000♠32 – (1980-03-29)29 March 1980 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) CAI Zaragoza PF 11 Freeland, Joel 7003930400000000000♠25 – (1987-02-07)7 February 1987 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Portland Trail Blazers PG 12 Reinking, Nate 7004141090000000000♠38 – (1973-12-12)12 December 1973 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Sheffield Sharks PF 13 Clark, Daniel 7003871700000000000♠23 – (1988-09-16)16 September 1988 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) CB Estudiantes SG 14 Johnson, Kyle 7003861100000000000♠23 – (1988-12-31)31 December 1988 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) APOEL B.C. C 15 Boateng, Eric 7003974800000000000♠26 – (1985-11-20)20 November 1985 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Peristeri B.C.	Head coach Chris Finch Assistant coach(es) Paul Mokeski Nick Nurse Legend Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 29 July 2012

2014

The roster for the EuroBasket 2015 qualifiers:

Great Britain men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club F 4 Achara, Kieron 7004113540000000000♠31 – (1983-07-03)3 July 1983 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Glasgow Rocks F 5 Hamilton, Ashley 7003944000000000000♠25 – (1988-09-28)28 September 1988 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Loyola Marymount Lions F 6 Bailey, Devan 7003921600000000000♠25 – (1989-05-10)10 May 1989 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Cheshire Phoenix G 7 van Oostrum, Devon 7003786100000000000♠21 – (1993-01-24)24 January 1993 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) CB Peñas Huesca F 8 Sullivan, Andrew 7004125910000000000♠34 – (1980-02-12)12 February 1980 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Leicester Riders F 9 Murray, Gareth 7004109060000000000♠29 – (1984-09-23)23 September 1984 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Plymouth Raiders F 10 Clark, Daniel 7003945200000000000♠25 – (1988-09-16)16 September 1988 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Baloncesto Fuenlabrada F 12 Hesson, Myles 7003882500000000000♠24 – (1990-06-05)5 June 1990 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Eisbären Bremerhaven F 13 Bryan-Amaning, Matthew 7003946300000000000♠25 – (1988-09-05)5 September 1988 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Soles de Mexicali C 14 Boateng, Eric 7004104830000000000♠28 – (1985-11-20)20 November 1985 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez G 15 Johnson, Kyle 7003934600000000000♠25 – (1988-12-31)31 December 1988 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Pallacanestro Biella G 25 Mockford, Benjamin 7003911600000000000♠24 – (1989-08-18)18 August 1989 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Plymouth Raiders	Head coach Joe Prunty Assistant coach(es) Guy Goodes Nate Reinking Legend Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 3 August 2014

Other notable players