BETTER ACCOUNT DESIRED – STEUTEL

Marc Steutel insists Great Britain’s duel with France (4pm UK) won’t be a meaningless dead rubber.

With both teams already guaranteeing their respective trips to the EuroBasket finals in September 2022, there is only pride and the largely ceremonial prize of top spot in the group on offer in Podgorica as the qualifying phase comes to an end.

It would take a massive British triumph, by 24 points or more, to wrestle away first place. And yet there is the small matter of valuable ranking points and, perhaps, an opportunity to test out a few options within the squad – like young guard Jacob Round – with a qualification campaign for the 2023 FIBA World Cup next over the horizon.

Most of all, Steutel spotlights, there is an opportunity to regain any pride lost during last November’s humbling 79-56 reverse to Les Bleus in Pau.

“We’re going to prepare to play a good French team,” the interim coach said. “The guys are all wanting to give a better account of ourselves than last time. We had a quarter we weren’t proud of. “

With GB fielding an unchanged 12, guard Teddy Okereafor is set to equal the record of late Scottish legend Bill McInnes by making his 49th consecutive appearance for the national team.

A chance, perhaps, to profit, from facing the 2019 World Cup semi-finalists when they have nothing at stake following their own pivotal victory over Montenegro on Saturday.

And with a line-up that will surely be very different from the A-Listers France will summon for the finals, head coach Vincent Collet hinted he will give all his squad an opportunity to shine.

“The qualification is done. Great Britain will go with us to the Euros. So it’s a game for nothing. But it’s game to be won. So we will try to win it.

“The only difference will be probably how we use our rotation and share the playing time. Because everybody has made an effort and been practicing all week.

“It’s a special situation to stay in a hotel and focus and the guys have been doing it well. We want to consider this game as a reward. But I would like to win it. For us it’s important.

“Nothing is unimportant. It’s a European game, country against country.”

Top spot in the group is on the line when Great Britain face France at 4pm.

And French coach Vincent Collet would quite like une victoire pic.twitter.com/o7Cil93Av9

— Mark Woods (@markbritball) February 22, 2021

The game will be screened on livebasketball.tv.

22 down, 2 to go 

The final two places at EuroBasket will be determined on Monday.

North Macedonia need to beat Estonia by ten to progress in a head-to-head decider in Group B for one berth.

While, improbably, Lithuania must do no worse than avoid defeat to Denmark by less than four points to be sure of the last berth out of Group C, ahead of the Danes.

During the weekend, Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Poland, Netherlands, Russia, Serbia and Turkey joined the seven teams – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Israel, Slovenia, Spain and Ukraine – that qualified in November alongside the four co-hosts of Czech Republic, Germany, Georgia and Italy.

SCHEDULE
EuroBasket qualifiers (Podgorica). Great Britain v France (4pm), Montenegro v Germany (7.45).