SULLIVAN RELISHING OPENING TEST FOR GB
Great Britain captain Drew Sullivan wants his side to get off to a winning start when they face the Netherlands on Sunday in their first friendly of the summer.
The three-day tournament in Cobham – which will also see Chris Finch’s men meet Nigeria on Tuesday evening – will provide the first tune-up ahead of the EuroBasket finals in Lithuania later this month.
The hosts will be without the NBA experienced trio of Luol Deng, Ben Gordon and Rob Archibald, who have yet to link up with the squad at their training base.
However Sullivan is satisfied with progress over the first week of two-a-day practices with Finch and his staff.
“It’s been tough in practice, it’s been very intense and I’m just getting used to it again,†said the Mersey forward. “But I think I’m in a lot better condition than last year, so I’m happy about that.
“I’m really looking forward to the summer. Getting to play at the new Olympic venue makes it doubly exciting, and of course we have EuroBasket to look forward to.
“This weekend is a great opportunity to put in practice what we’ve worked on during the last week. It’ll also help our fitness and give us the chance to gel.”
Sullivan has faced both countries before, finishing with a double-double against Netherlands as GB won their first competitive game in EuroBasket Division B in 2006, and taking bronze with England at Commonwealth Games with victory over the Nigerians.
“I don’t remember much about that first game against them [Netherlands], other than we won, but they always put a competitive team on the floor and I’m in no doubt that’s what they’ll do on Sunday.
“We played Nigeria with England in the 2006 Commonwealth Games bronze medal game but I imagine it’s a very different Nigeria team now. But it’s a very different side for us as well, we’re a lot stronger, so hopefully we’ll do well.”
The Dutch, who have not qualified for Lithuania, are set to be without their NBA duo Dan Gadzuric and Francisco Elson who have yet to receive insurance clearance to play for their national side this summer.
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