Great Britain picked up their first win at the Olympic games on Monday afternoon, as they beat China 90-58 at the Olympic Basketball Arena.
Putting on one of their best performances of the tournament, GB played unselfish basketball which resulted in five players reaching double figures, led by Kieron Achara’s 16 points.
Achara was the surprise offensive threat of the game, having not scored in the tournament so far. Talking after the game, he was relieved and proud to get GB’s first win:
“We’ve been plugging away from the start, and after the Australia game we had to bounce back. Thankfully we got the win today, we’ve had some great support throughout the tournament, I’m proud to be British and proud to be here.”
The win means GB finish the tournament in 9th place (out of 12 teams), with a 1-4 record.
Robert Archibald, who left the game to huge hugs from his teammates after announcing he will retire after the games earlier this year, was particularly proud of the team effort. He tweeted after the game:
Chris Finch confirmed rumours it was his last outing at the helm of GB, and was extremely pleased with the team’s performance:
“I was extremely proud with the way they played today. They came out with a lot of fire in their belly, they wanted to play well. It was important for our entire programme to get a win, to make a little bit of history.
Our guys were up to that challenge. I think, certainly, it was what we needed, it was what the basketball community in general needed and I’m very proud.”
It leaves everyone asking the question, “what’s next?” for GB basketball, with assistant coach Nick Nurse having also said it’ll likely be his last game with the team, and Robert Archibald and Nate Reinking confirming their retirements. GB will no doubt have a huge transitional period over the next few years, where only time will tell what the true ‘legacy’ of the Olympic games is.
For now however, let’s celebrate a monumental victory and hope it is the beginning of something more long term.
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Game 1
Australia beat Russia 82-80
Australia’s Patty Mills drilled a three pointer at the buzzer to give Australia a 2 point victory over previously undefeated Russia. Joe Ingles led Australia with 20 points, whilst Patty Mills added 13. Sasha Kaun led Russia with 18 points.
Box score.
Game 2
Lithuania beat Tunisia 76-63
Lithuania survived a scare before escaping with a win over Tunisia. Darius Songaila and Sarunas Jasikevicius led Lithuania with 13 points each, whilst Amine Rzig gad 17 on 7/9 shooting for Tunisia.
Box score.
Game 3
France beat Nigeria 79-73.
Nicolas Batum leads France with 23, Chamberlain Oguchi has 35 for Nigeria.
Box score.
Game 5
Brazil beat Spain 88-82
Leandro Barbosa had 23 points to lead Brazil, whilst Pau Gasol led Spain with 25 points.
Box score.
Game 6
USA beat Argentina 127-97
Box score.
Group A Final Standings
1. USA
2.France
3. Argentina
4. Lithuania
5. Nigeria
6. Tunisia
Group B Final Standings
1. Russia
2. Brazil
3. Spain
4. Australia
5. Great Britain
6. China
Quarter Final Match-Ups
France vs Spain
Russia vs Lithuania
Brazil vs Argentina
USA vs Australia
Notes
- Amazing how much busier the Olympic park and Stratford have been since the athletics started at the weekend!
- The Patty Mills game winner was awesome, and one of the plays of the tournament so far, just a pity it wasn’t in a more meaningful game!
- Despite Tunisia being one of the worst teams here, they seem to come out of the gates firing against all the favourites, giving them all a little wake-up call, before their opponents get their act together and pull away in the second half.
- Bottom four final standings: 9. Great Britain; 10. Nigeria; 11. Tunisia; 12. China
- Mike Lenzly (calf) and Pops Mensah-Bonsu (unsure why at this point) sat out for GB.
- Luol Deng wouldn’t give a direct yes or no answer to the question if he’ll suit up for GB again, saying it depends on his situation but did say he loves playing for GB.
- Scariest thing about the USA, for me, is how quickly they can score. One minute they’ll be on 60, you blink, and they’ll have 85 – it’s ridiculous.
- With GB’s Olympic campaign over, it’ll be extremely interesting to see what happens with basketball across the UK from here on out.
Who have you got in the quarters? Let us know what you think about the day’s games in the comments!
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{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
If Spain and Russia tie on points, who tops the group?
Russia – the first tiebreaker is the head-to-head result.
Interesting to see that volleyball is shown on BBC1/2, but not basketball.
Basketball has been shown on the main channels some of the time. I haven’t seen any volleyball on there myself so I don’t think it’s got significantly more coverage than basketball.
lol if sasha kahn was their top scorer you know russia wasnt taking that one seriously…he is the main weakness on that team…if hes in foul trouble or mozgov gets injured, russia are in trouble…apart from that i see them as the most likely to threaten usa…that is if they get past a touggh ex-soviet unin derby with lithuania in the quarters…lithuania are being written off in their own country as the worst team for years and yet they are building up rhythm and have an attitude that makes them always dangerous
* if mozgov is in foul trouble
who would win a game batween the chinese and a wheelchair team…..definetly not china they are horrible team should be banned from olympics for being so awful
Have you not realised it make take the Chinese a bit of time to re-build their program after losing a mercurial national hero like Yao Ming?
Even though it managed its first ever Olympic win, against China, the publicity that was sought for basketball in England, due to Team GB participating in the Olympics has not, it would seem, been achieved.
No games were shown on BBC1, 2, or 3 and, as far as I am aware, there was no mention of basketball on any BBC news programs (although I believe every other sport has had a mention).
Nevertheless, all those involved in the game, whether players, coaches or administrators will have witnessed how Team GB performed in the Olympics and will have made their own independent assessment of its performance.
Equally, they will have made their own assessment of the developmental progress of British / English basketball and what, if anything, now needs to be done to ensure qualification for future Olympics.
My own assessment is that huge strides have to be made, but, for this to happen, it is necessary that many changes have to occur in both our league structures (particularly at the junior level) and, in the personnel who have the overall control of administration, policies and objectives.
Whether or not the GB Administration can be apportioned any blame is debatable; they were not responsible for the playing standard of the individual players in the GB team. This responsibility lies within English basketball. (In the case of two players, Scottish basketball)
As has been said before, there are a number of professional officers within the EB who are simply holding down a job and are not in any way achieving what they are paid for.
However, although they do have the remit for overall development of the sport in England, the professional officers who comprise the EB do not have the overall responsibility for success or lack of it
This responsibility lies with personnel who are not even employed professionally, but are, in the strict sense of the word, “amateurs”.
These personnel are the members of the Executive Committee and it is their job to decide, and to ensure the implementation of, the overall policies and strategies that will ensure the development and future of the sport.
It is also the job of this Committee, to employ the Administration’s Chief Executive Officer (who in turn is then responsible for the performance of the various professional officers).
The Executive Officers are elected by members of the basketball community; those members entitled to vote at any AGM, so, in reality, one cannot complain too much if these officers then fail to carry out their responsibilities satisfactorily.
Whether this is the best system for ensuring the administration and development of the sport, has always been open to argument.
Is an Executive Committee indeed necessary or might there be a far better way of administering and organizing the sport?
With the system as it is at present however, there is only one option and one option only if, as a basketball community, the majority think a change is necessary.
If the present, somewhat laissez-faire attitude that seems to exist within the majority of basketball continues, then there is almost no chance of any substantial development taking place.
There are a significant number of people who are very “disappointed” at how things are progressing but, for there to be any change in direction, then these and others must make their views known more forcibly than at present, and at the right time.
Everybody can talk, and/or write comments until the cows come home, but until sufficient numbers take sufficient action to achieve any positive change in direction, then our sport will continue as it has always done for the last 20 or 30 years.
Roy,
I totally agree. I am a local league coach and love the game and give up my spare time to coach, promote and play this game, however I like may others want to know where the future of the game is going.
We have come close in a couple of games and should have won others that we lost, but I cannot see where the future of GB Basketball is going. Why are people like Joe Forber and those that run the successful junior and senior clubs and have many years of basketball in the UK not being asked to develop the game in the UK.
Does anyone in charge of GB Basketball have any background in the game of Basketball in this country? Therefore I refer to my comment above. Members of the executive will have to be made accountable for the performance, because don’t get me wrong it is great that we have won a game in the Olympics (but lets be honest China were actually worse than us) but where was the promotion in the UK or even at the Olympics venue?
I know that GB Hockey had places where kids could play the game and try it? Did GB Basketball have the same (if they did then I apologise)?
I am very VERY worried about our future in the world game, because we have the potential to be a sleeping giant in world basketball and please remember we will have to QUALIFY for Rio in 2016 and will not get a free ticket as hosts. Plus will Pops, Luol and Joel still be around (or even want to play for GB again).
“In the strict sense of the word amatuers” ?
I disagree, they are all simply and purely, amateurs.
One member does not even live in England. Like so many others in both the GB progam and our own EB staff, he lives abroad. (So who pays all his travel and living expenses?)
I do agree with the last two paragraphs.
i agree with you on that statement.
I was there yesterday and it was an amazing atmosphere! Chamberlain Oguchi had one of the best shooting performances I’ve ever seen live and I loved seeing GB basketball history being made with the win over China.
However, there was no push at the Basketball Arena to get people involved in the game of basketball (post-Olympics) and that was a shame. Legacy of the Games… to be continued…
It was interesting to hear the cycling guru talk abou the strategic development in cycling over the last 6 years culminating in this historic month. For brtitsh basketball to grow there needs to be a rethink into the strategy in how we grow players, maybe the centre of excellences will become excellent, but it requires careful consideration in the coaching of regional and national junior teams to work to look for talent and give them access to experience.
This happenned a bit this year with the england u17 team going to france and i know reading and manchester also look to grow their kids of all abilities. So many kids that have certain genetic advantages for basketball either rely on them to much or never get the opportunity to develop into rounded players as they are coached by coaches that just want to press and fast break.
Spain should be GB’s model not the US. We need to consolodate the mens game and make it about developing GB players that can’t access US colleges.
There also needs to be a big piece of work on officiating in england. No two games are the same and the overall quality is patchy.
I wish i had the solution, hopefully the legacy of the games will result in people more capable than me stepping up to the plate making decisions and a wave of eager volunteers coming along to help grow the sport from grass roots.
Luol hasn’t committed to playing for GB again as he now wants to concentrate on his NBA career and heal any damage he caused by playing in the Olympics against Chicago’s wishes. Basketball in terms of popularity has been on the rise I think in the UK but in terms of funding and developing at junior level I haven’t seen it. If you want a career in basketball go to America or Europe as soon as you can.
I think we should have had DVO, Ogo or Justin as guards out there and MBA, Ryan Richards should have been in the mix somewhere?? 2016 maybe, but if Luol isn’t there…..
The problem we have in terms of development is twofold:
1. British Basketball was set-up purely for 2012 and now the players, coaches, administrators are running for the hills. I suspect all/any money will run out and the programme cease to exist.
2. England Basketball does not give a flying f**k about elite level performance. All they care about is manufacturing participation figures at CVL-type level to justify their existence and secure Sport England funding which, in turn secures people’s jobs.
Essentially the whole concept of working exclusively with an elite group of players, funding their development with performance analysis, nutritionists, psychologists, coaches etc like athletics and cycling et al do just doesn’t exist. The culture isn’t there and as i’ve said, our dreams of Basketball being a major sport with quality national teams will never materialise unless there is a complete and all-encompassing overhaul of the NGBs – which won’t happen.
At last we have had some publicity on the BBC news.
Thought both pops and Luol came over extremely well, although Luol said they were not sure if they would continue to play for GB in the future.
Both commentators could do so much more to publice British basketball, even though GB are no longer in the competition.
amazed how Ryan Richards’ name keeps being thrown around as if he has ever succeeded at any level of professional or elite youth basketball.
must have done something right to be drafted by the spurs?
He definitely has talent, but wake me up when he actually puts it to use.
Money in cycling goes a lot further than it would in basketball and track racing is a perfect platform to capitalise on the Olympics with a short schedule (6 days) and medals given out during each session, just before swimming and athletics heats up. This builds up interests and gains coverage, which was the case even before Britain dominated. Contrast that to team sports like basketball where it’s just days of games from lunch until almost 12am, just to cut the field until we see the interesting stage. Interest in GB would only have picked up if they were in with a medal shout or played the US. Volleyball and Handball suffered the same and I don’t see hockey getting huge coverage despite the British performance and Olympic history.
That being said basketball could learn plenty from them. Cycling has a base/hub (Manchester) and really do make the most of their resources. Crucially there is a unified structure across the various disciplines (track, bmx, road, etc) and it’s all interconnected, yet it’s not overly centralised. Getting Sky on board with their input and millions was genius, getting something similar with, say, Nike would be a massive help The governing structuring in basketball lacks that and it couldn’t even get the handball arena which is going to a leisure company.
The main issue though is the domestic league is too weak and in team sports that’s how you get good, you build up from the bottom, bar cricket perhaps. Until there is a league that brings in interest and money, if not necessarily a profit, it will be tough as the £25m from the lottery isn’t going to spread evenly. Chicken and egg.
Great points made about cycling and the coordinated way they have built the programme.
This post on a respected cycling site is interesting: http://inrng.com/2012/08/team-sky-budget-accounts/
To save people reading, it reveals Sky spent about £6 million sponsoring the pro cycle team last year, or about 0.5% of its annual marketing budget. Of course British Cycling has public money too but the success of the track team is all wrapped up in the Sky-sponsored road team and vice versa. What could basketball do with another 0.5%, from, as you say, a company like Nike or Adidas? Sky see it as value for money because it has got results.
With apologies to the late Dr. King
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair that our Administration has given us, I say to you today my friends
Even though we face difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is rooted in the game of basketball
I have a dream that one day this game in England will rise up and deliver to us the standard which we all desire. We hold this to be obvious that our players are equal to any of those in Europe.
I have a dream that one day the clubs, our Administration, and all officials will be able to sit down in complete harmony to the benefit of English basketball.
I have a dream that the BBL, a league suffering from financial troubles and a league devoid of any reasonable playing standards, will be transformed into a league that will be the envy of all,
I have a dream that this game that I love will, one day, provide our country with a standard of basketball that will not be judged on its past failures and disappointments but by its future glories and successes in European competition.
I have a DREAM today!
I have a dream that one day in England, with its administration, and its officials, shouting the words “Performance Pathways” and “Futures – T16” – one day right here in our country, young juniors, both boys and girls will be able to play in a league that offers them real challenge, competitiveness and excitement.
I have a DREAM today!
I have a dream that one day every team shall be exalted and every league shall be made great and the administration and organisation will be made well and the glory of basketball will be revealed so that all in our country will see what a great game it really is.
This is my hope, and this is the faith that I have about our game.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of the organisation of our game into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood in sport. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to play together, to struggle together, to lose and win together, to improve and develop together, knowing that we will one day be victorious in Europe
And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of English basketball shall be able to have new meaning:
lol its not going to happen..basketball will never be big because of british establishment…they dont want to fund a largely urban sport in which african americans, eastern europeans and latins dominate..it isnt to their british tastes so basketball will get no money while establishment sports like rugby, that no one else in world cares about apart from british colonies, will…
but then its not all about money…compared to england countries like serbia, lithuania and russia are poor and have little state money for basketball but have ultra-serious coaching tradition, people with know how and mass popularity….so its not all a disaster for britain…i just cant see them ever breaking into those top 10 euro basketball countries from south and east europe
…where people live and breath basketball, where it is life and death…or for that matter in black areas in america where basketball also means very much
Some body needs to explain the rules of basketball to these commentators on the BBC i cannot understand how the people who are commentating do not understand the rules of the sport that they are commentating on Lord help Great Britain and there hoop dreams.
This is as bad as if your watching match of the day and the commentator something like the goal keeper allowed to touch the ball in his area i mean WTF am i listening to.
Thought the some of the referees’ decsions were very very poor.
Any English referees officiating at this Olympic?
Having written these comments the referees for the Spain v France game were a disgrace to the sport.
Even our English refs would have done a better job.
Your right bro i mean local lwague referees could have been better
Perhaps not quite the correct thread for this comment, but I see yet another foreign coach, this time Dutch, has been appointed – to the women Under 20GB team.
Have we NO British / English coaches who qualify?
nope none there have no good leagues in the UK so what English coach would you have.