GB U20 HEADED FOR DIV B
Great Britain ended up 15th at the European Under-20 Championships with an 86-62 drubbing of Russia in Latisana.
American-based guard Luke Nelson had 26 points and eight assists for GB who were relegated to Division B after winning only three games during a disappointing campaign in Italy.
And with Britain’s senior and U20 women managing only one win between them in their respective European campaigns, and the senior men failing to qualify for next month’s EuroBasket, there have already been calls for a shake-up, with British Basketball’s performance chief Warwick Cann’s position likely to come under close scrutiny ahead of the merger of the home nation programmes in 2016.
Doug Leichner’s men did, at least, end on a high with Nelson sparking a 14-4 start and then factoring in a 10-0 run in the second quarter that helped avenge an earlier loss to the Russians.
“It can be difficult to play in these games where people think there perhaps is nothing at stake, but there is a lot at stake,” said Leichner. “Luke Nelson mentioned that you are representing your country, you are representing your family and we are happy with how we competed.
“Obviously we are disappointed that we didn’t stay in Division A, but we had some very tough games and a couple of overtime games that didn’t go our way.”
Turkey survived a late rally by France to hold on for an 84-74 win to pick up their first ever bronze medal.
Spain face Serbia for gold.
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.
0 comments