Ben Gordon for GB at 2012 Olympics?

[Sam]

Ben Gordon playing for GB at the 2012 Olympics seems to be a hot topic of debate at the moment-I'm seeing many people saying he "shouldn't be allowed to play" as he's only in it for the Olympics and he hasn't shown up this year.

First of all, he's never going to be stopped from playing if he wants to play. Second of all, I'm of a different thinking to the majority (or so it seems).

In my opinion-the better team we have at the Olympics next year the better it is for basketball in this country. The media coverage this test event has got is already unprecedented. Having Ben Gordon will only help out performance on the court, and help media coverage off of it. That can only be a good thing?

[Matt]

I'm glad you wrote this Sam, as I thought I was the only one!

I don't like that Gordon seems to be very good at finding excuses not to play, but the bottom line is I want the team to win. If he turns up from Day 1 next year then I say let him play, because he's going to make the team better. Much better in fact! And I suspect everyone else will start to agree once they see the improvement in the team.

[twopointgeezer]

I don't like how disinterested Gordon seems. It's pretty obvious he just wants to play in the Olympics and while that isn't the greatest commitment, I still want him in a GB uniform.

We don't have any guards that are ready to play at this level. Nate Reinking is about the only one capable of doing any damage.

[saintpat]

Sorry, I can't agree. Yes, he would make a massive difference to the quality of the team, however he is not interested in playing for GB, he doesn't care about GB at all. His only interest is playing in the Olympics- that's it. If GB weren't already pre-qualified he wouldn't be remotely interested.
GB should have given him an ultimatum- play in Euro-basket this year or forget about the Olympics, no options.
Of course we would never do that, Ben Gordon is holding all the cards, it's a case of the tail wagging the dog.
I am sure that he'll be allowed to play for Gb next year and a player who has shed blood, sweat and tears for Team GB this year and before will miss out.
It's about loyalty and Ben Gordon has none and Team GB will be showing none to the existing players by cutting one of them for him.

[Samuelsson]

I hope he does play, it's been on my mind for months. I can understand what 'saintpat' says, but I think one sacrifice such as cutting a player could, emphasis on the word could, have a better impact on British basketball. If, as the recent polls suggest, the Olympics WILL make a difference to British basketball, then why not showcase the best players we have that are out there? If Joe public see a British team that can be/show flashes of being world class, especially ones that include players from the best league in the world, then it'll raise the attention, which then has a domino affect, etc etc, but if we see a team that, well, does the opposite to that, people will think 'ah, British basketball is never going to go anywhere' and poof, interest lost.

[Matt]

You hit the nail on the head there Sam. I think we'll need to get to the quarter-finals to make any kind of impact on the public consciousness, and there's no way that can be done without Gordon.

In fact to get to the quarter-finals I think we need Gordon, Deng, Pops and Joel all in the team. We could cope with the loss of any other player, but those are our four world-class guys and are not replaceable. Unfortunately at least one of them has been injured for the past few years, so our chances of seeing them all suit up probably aren't great...

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Matt

You hit the nail on the head there Sam. I think we'll need to get to the quarter-finals to make any kind of impact on the public consciousness, and there's no way that can be done without Gordon.

In fact to get to the quarter-finals I think we need Gordon, Deng, Pops and Joel all in the team. We could cope with the loss of any other player, but those are our four world-class guys and are not replaceable. Unfortunately at least one of them has been injured for the past few years, so our chances of seeing them all suit up probably aren't great...

Or perhaps the last 4 years have all been a build up to this moment, where finally, at London 2012, we will field our best team possible at long last and everyone will be healthy. I think it's gonna happen.

[Della]

I think there were a lot of us that were certain that we'd never want to see BG play for GB. However, after Lithuania it is clear we need him if we want people to take us seriously. Even those of us that were dead against it before have probably had a rethink, I definitely have. Yeah, he'll probably only be around for one summer. But if that one summer gets us noticed worldwide, and inceases the interest in the sport in the UK then it'll be worth it.

It'll be a relatively small handful of us that are aware that Gordon doesn't really care about GB, and is unlikely to be there in the future...but that small handful aren't the ones that need convincing to watch bball. It's not like we'll need to rebuild the whole team after 2012...it's one guy that probably wont show up again - we can go back to hating him after that.

[Matt]

Good points Della. I'm glad you've come around, hopefully others will too! Who knows, maybe BG will actually enjoy the GB experience and come back for more.......or, more likely, we'll never hear from him again.