Ben Gordon Presence Providing GB Boost Ahead of Qualifiers - Hoopsfix.com

Ben Gordon Presence Providing GB Boost Ahead of Qualifiers

The long-awaited presence of former NBA star Ben Gordon has provided a welcome boost to the Great Britain Senior Men’s squad ahead of their Eurobasket 2017 qualifiers next week, Dan Clark has said.

“It’s always great to have players of Ben’s calibre around,” Clark told the Manchester Evening News on Thursday.

“Just having his experience and his knowledge of the game is always useful. We’re delighted to have him here.

“Obviously, everyone would have liked to have had him here before but everyone’s got their situation and there’s no bad feeling over it.”

The 33-year-old Gordon – who did not play for a team last season after being released from Golden State in October – has been included in preliminary GB squads since as early as 2008 but the closest he has ever got to suiting up was an appearance on the sideline at the team’s Eurobasket qualifiers in 2010.

Gordon had 17 points in his debut against Germany, but was limited to 7 points on 2 of 8 shooting against Slovenia, though did add 4 assists.

“In Europe it’s a different game to what it is in the NBA so it’s a bit of a learning curve for him as well,” Clark added.

“Different basketball, different concepts – so it’s important for him to pick them up as soon as he can and we’ll develop as a team and he’ll be a very key part to that team.”

GB have been in Manchester training camp this week at the NBPC, and will face the Netherlands tonight (Friday 26th – closed door) and tomorrow, Saturday 27th August (7pm tip) at the NBPC in Manchester, to round out their preparation before opening the qualifiers in Hungary on 31st August.

Read the full feature, including quotes from Head Coach Joe Prunty over at The Manchester Evening News.

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