Wednesday 21 August 2019 13:27, UK
After Great Britain's men booked their place at the 2021 EuroBasket Qualifiers, Huw Hopkins explains how, after several frustrating years, a renewed sense of optimism surrounds the national team.
A dominant 101-79 win in Manchester against Kosovo last weekend would make you think that Great Britain's men occupy a higher rung of the international basketball ladder than is actually the case.
The 22-point victory secured the top spot in their pre-qualification EuroBasket group with a game still in hand against Luxembourg. A convincing show in front of the home crowd saw spectacular dunks, last-second buzzer beaters, and a stingy defense that crushed the Kosovan spirit.
After the game, a mother of two basketball-playing children was thrilled with how friendly the atmosphere was, and her sons were chuffed to get basketballs signed by the players.
All of this excitement, and yet, the win only secured this GB squad an invite to the next stage of qualifying. The team has not yet booked a spot at the 2021 tournament.
After the win, the focus was on the team - a relief after 6ft 7in Ovie Soko attracted a lot of attention at half-time thanks to the GB forward's time on Love Island.
His team-mate Luke Nelson, who unlike Soko actually played in the Kosovo game, said: "When we're inside the rectangle, we focus on what we can do on the court. In training camp this week, we had some cameras in for Ovie, but the next day we came back to practice.
"We've got to be able to turn it off and on. We've got to learn to focus on the right stuff."
Soko's team-mates are all happy for him, but they were more pleased with the win, and new head coach Nate Reinking put it down to them becoming a unit.
"These guys play well together and you could see it tonight. It was just a total team effort, and the way they played proved it," he said. "The way they moved the ball, got the wide-open shot, and we found the extra guy, that's what made the difference."
Great Britain are undefeated with Reinking at the helm. He was only brought on board to get the team through this window, but now that the team has reached the final qualifying round, the Canton Charge head coach might have to return in February 2020.
At first glance, it doesn't look like Great Britain will advance to the main EuroBasket competition.
Awaiting Britain at the next stage of qualifying are France, a traditional basketball powerhouse with hopes to medal at this year's FIBA World Cup. Their group will also includes Montenegro, whose roster boasts NBA star Nikola Vucevic and other top EuroLeague talents, as well as one of the host nations, Germany, who are guaranteed a spot in the next round, regardless of performance.
The final number of countries appearing at EuroBasket will be 24, which means three teams from each group will advance. But with the host nations gaining automatic entry into the final stages, there are only two spots up for grabs from Group G.
If Great Britain face the top talent from each country in their bid to reach EuroBasket, it will be difficult to contend for a spot. However, the three stages of the qualification windows take place at key times in the next two years.
FIBA has allocated February and November in 2020, and February 2021 as the qualifying periods when each group will compete for a place at EuroBasket.
Most of the international windows fall at awkward times for the teams with multiple NBA players on their national roster. For example, in qualifying for the World Cup, one of the favourites for a gold medal, Serbia, went 7-5 in the build-up and only just earned a place at the tournament in China.
In terms of EuroBasket, France are one of the world's best teams and stand a good chance of winning the competition, but their roster relies on NBA-level talent. If Nicolas Batum, Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier, Frank Ntilikina and others aren't available, then it falls to lesser talent to carry them through.
Meanwhile, Great Britain will probably be able to send the majority of their better players. Most EuroLeague teams allow breaks for international tournaments, and BBL players often forego their professional duties to play for Queen and country.
If GB Basketball has their choice of top talent to go against the second-tier from France, Germany and Montenegro, there are points to be won against any of those sides, especially if the atmosphere is much like it was in Manchester last weekend.
While it is easy to start dreaming about success in their own European competition, Reinking is keeping the team focused on each task as it comes.
"This window is one game at a time, and that's how we're going to take the next one," he said. "It's going to be little steps and just try to build this and keep building game by game. If we look down the road that far, we kind of lose focus on really establishing a rock of a foundation, which is what we're trying to do in this moment."
Skipping steps is what got the national programme in trouble in recent years. After the men's attempt to reach the World Cup in 2018 failed, the players stood united with a statement issued by Dan Clark that criticised each of the home nations for fighting over funding.
Since then, amounts have been drip-fed from a pot of money set aside by the government's Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
Even NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon has weighed in on the situation. "Basketball sells itself, so it's surprising to me that it's not really the way it should be in the UK," he said. "But for the players that play, there is passion, and it is forcing the government to see the potential of basketball."
While there is a lot still to be resolved about providing consistent support - financially and publicly - for the Great Britain national team, there is still optimism, especially given how well they've done in the short time their new coach has been leading them.
"I knew quite a few of these guys from the past [as a player and an assistant coach]," Reinking said. "I leaned on Alberto Lorenzo and Joe Prunty, the previous coaches, and asked their advice, and then I threw my own spin on it.
"I threw a lot at these guys from day one and they picked it up quickly. With the offensive philosophy and defensive philosophy, these guys are pros, so, they were able to pick it up quickly, and we just kept getting better with it and just ran with it. These guys are hungry to get to that next level and this was just a stepping stone."
Many players on the men's national team have spoken about being inspired by the women's side after Great Britain finished fourth at EuroBasket in July.
And while nobody is thinking about conquering Europe any time soon, if things go well and the focus remains on those hungry players, maybe they can reach that next rung up on the international ladder.
