GB U20 Final Squad Announced

By Sam Neter on July 11, 2012

British Basketball has today announced the final 12-man Great Britain Under-20 roster that will be heading to Bulgaria to compete in the Division B European Championships that start on Thursday.

The roster has been strengthened by the addition of Devon van Oostrum, who joined the squad last week after being a surprise cut from Chris Finch’s senior squad. He’ll be looking to get the ball to the likes of Maine’s Ali Fraser, who has led the team in their warm-ups so far where they have won four of five, as well as Jesse Chuku and Joe Hart who have all been standouts.

The final 12 players selected by head coach Dave Smart as are follows:

GB U20 Final Squad

Jesse Chuku
Grant Fiorentinos
Alasdair Fraser
Joe Hart
Rema Lascelles
Josh Owen-Thomas
Lee Reilly
Louis Sayers
John Stewart
Connor Washington
Zak Wells
Devon van Oostrum

Assistant coach John Campbell has been filling in for Smart, who is currently unwell but has assured GB staff that he will travel to Bulgaria in time for Thursday’s opening encounter with Portugal.

Campbell says they will be looking to set the tone defensively on Thursday:

“It’s still early stages really, trying to establish the team and get known as a hard-nosed and defensive side. We have the ability to do that but have to work hard at it and focus on our goals as a team.

“It’s a strong group that we are in they’re all tough teams and will provide a stern test for us. But we’re a tough team too and will make life hard for our opponents. If we play a defensive, hard-nosed brand of basketball, the results will follow.”

Great Britain will open their European Championship, Division B campaign against Portugal on Thursday afternoon, followed by an evening game against Croatia on Friday.

They will conclude their group games over the weekend with games against Denmark on Saturday and Belarus on Sunday.

Thoughts?

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