Garbelotto Names GB Senior Men Coaching Staff for Qualifiers

Alberto Lorenzo, Lloyd Gardner and Drew Sullivan have been named as Tony Garbelotto’s assistants with the Great Britain Senior Men for the upcoming FIBA World Cup 2019 qualifiers against Greece, Israel and Estonia.

Alberto Lorenzo is the hold over from former coach Joe Prunty’s staff and will be Lead Assistant, whilst Barking Abbey’s Lloyd Gardner makes the step up from the Under-20s, where he helped the squad to promotion this summer.

Meanwhile, Drew Sullivan, the first man to be capped 100 times in the modern Great Britain era, returns to the programme as Assistant Coach.

Performance Analyst Jamie Smith becomes British Basketball’s Head of Scouting and Analytics, as his role is broadened to support all Great Britain teams. Head of Medical Services Paul Fisher and Team Manager Ross Norfolk have also been kept on.

Great Britain Head Coach Tony Garbelotto said:

“I will be delighted to work with this coaching staff that will prepare for these opening World Cup qualifiers.

“Alberto will bring huge insight from the last few years and ensure a smooth transition from the last few years, where we have made huge strides as a programme. I am looking forward to working with Lloyd Gardner as well as with Drew, who will bring a breadth of experience with GB to the role.

“I can’t wait to start when we get together in Leicester later this month.”

British Basketball Performance Director Mark Clark added:

“I’m excited about the staff that we’ve assembled to work under Coach Garbelotto. We have continuity and we’ve added both Lloyd and Drew who will add a different perspective as we look to make a positive start to the World Cup qualifying campaign.

“Our group has three tough opponents but the new World Cup qualifying system is a great opportunity for us to play in front of our own fans. We’re all looking forward to starting a new era for Great Britain.”

GB’s opening FIBA World Cup 2019 qualifier sees Greece visit Leicester Arena on Friday November 24th, whilst their later two home games against Israel and Estonia are scheduled to take place at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena in June/July 2018.

Only three from the group will progress to the next stage of qualifying. The Finals will be held in China, with the opening game on August 31st 2019.

Do you like our work?

We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.

We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.

We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.

If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.

We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.

Support Hoopsfix