London 2012 Olympics: Ben Gordon named in preliminary Great Britain basketball squad for Games
Great Britain have included their most recent NBA recruit Byron Mullens of the Charlotte Bobcats and the Detroit Pistons' Ben Gordon along with Luol Deng in their initial 21-man training squad for the Olympics.
Head coach Chris Finch has long courted Gordon and after a couple of false starts in recent seasons high performance manager Ron Wuotila and performance director Chris Spice have been working hard to make it happen.
Meanwhile the availability of Mullens, whose mother is English, is timely with the 23 year-old from Canal Winchester in Ohio beginning to make a favourable impression in adversity for the Bobcats.
Gordon, the Pistons guard who was born in London to Jamaican parents, has always been Great Britain qualified and a UK passport holder and many of his extended family still live in London, but despite first expressing an interest three years ago injuries and contractual wrangles while changing clubs in the NBA have thus far prevented him playing for Great Britain.
The nearest he got was travelling to Liverpool to be with the squad for a European qualifier two years ago and to pose for a couple of publicity pictures in GB kit.
A good friend of Deng from their four seasons together, Gordon averages 16 points a game in nearly 600 NBA appearances but his career stalled a little with the emergence of the extraordinary Derrick Rose at the Bulls and his subsequent move to the Detroit Pistons has not yet been as successful as he might have hoped.
There were signs recently, however, of a return to his best form with a 45 point-haul against the Denver Nuggets, which included a perfect nine out of nine three-pointers which equals the NBA all-time record.
It is that long-distance shooting ability, when hot, that really makes Gordon potentially such an important recruit for Great Britain – the ability to steadily accumulate three-pointers has been the big missing factor in their otherwise much improved performances recently.
“I am very excited to pull on the GB jersey this summer and play for my country," said Gordon. "To be invited into camp is the first step in that journey and I am immensely proud to have the opportunity.
“I am totally committed to playing with the Standard Life GB team this year and look forward to being part of the squad hoping to make 2012 a year to remember for British Basketball fans."
Mullens received his British passport two months ago, after deciding last year that he would like to try and qualify for his mother's native land.
The huge 7ft centre has been posting good figures recently for the struggling Bobcats. Only last week he weighed in with an impressive 20 points and 14 rebounds against the Raptors and although Great Britain are well blessed with "big men" they have been lacking a natural centre since Andy Betts retired two years ago. Mullens could be an important 'discovery' in terms of the side's overall balance.
Elsewhere there are few surprises in what is by some margin the strongest squad Great Britain have ever pulled together. Deng was voted an NBA All-Star this season and has again been a rock all season for the Chicago Bulls despite having to manage a tendon injury to his left, non-shooting hand.
The Sudanese-born Deng, first captained GB age group teams when his family moved to London and he has been playing regularly at senior level since 2007 contributing a huge amount to Great Britain's attempts to "justify" their participation in the Olympic tournament by twice qualifying for the Eurobasket finals.
When Gordon was at the Bulls the two worked particularly well together and Great Britain will be hoping they can reproduce that chemistry.
Pops Mensah Bonsu – another with NBA experience – has been back to his spectacular best playing in the strong Turkish League after missing much of last season through shoulder injury while Joel Freeland is bound to be another stalwart of the squad and has been enjoying another solid season for Unicaja Malaga in the ACB League in Spain, the second strongest in the world behind the NBA
Finch has once again shown his belief in the wealth of young players that have been working their way up through GB’s performance pathway. Having been blooded last year the likes of Kyle Johnson, Andrew Lawrence, Alex Marcotullio, Ryan Richards, and Devon van Oostrum will all be given a chance to bid for Olympic inclusion.
A couple of newish names are former GB U20 player Ovie Soko while Sullivan Phillips, who plays with Prievidza in Slovakia, is a new addition to the roster.
“The GB basketball programme has come a long way since 2006 and the blend we have now of experienced talent with the younger guys is fantastic to see. We have the potential for a world class team who will surprise a few people this summer. The commitment from all our players to the programme once again is great and it’s also good to see our strength and depth continuing to increase year on year."
Finch is right to accentuate the positive. On paper Great Britain should be able to put a starting five on court that at least bares comparison with most side bars USA and Spain – the big test at the Olympics though will be if the next tranche can step up.
To be truly competitive it is the strength of the bench that will be crucial and that is where Great Britain have much work do this summer.
The squad will be trimmed to 16 in May and will head to Houston, Texas for an intensive-three week camp in June that will include double headers against Russia and Lithuania before they embark on an extensive tour of Britain and Europe playing warm-up matches that will include a first ever match against the Dream Team.
Preliminary Great Britain men's basketball squad for London 2012 Olympics:
Kieron Archara, (Manresa, Spain),
Ogo Adegboye (Apoel, Cyprus),
Robert Archibald (Zaragoza, Spain),
Eric Boateng (Peristeri, Greece),
Matthew Bryan-Amaning (Hacettepe, Turkey),
Dan Clark (Estudiantes, Spain),
Luol Deng (Chicago Bulls, USA)
Joel Freeland (Unicaja, Spain),
Ben Gordon (Detroit Pistons, USA),
Kyle Johnson (Apoel, Cyprus),
Mike Lenzly (CEZ Nymburk, Czech Republic),
Andrew Lawrence (College of Charleston, USA),
Alex Marcotullio (Northwestern, USA),
Pops Mensah-Bonsu (Besiktas, Turkey),
Byron Mullens (Charlotte Bobcats, USA),
Sullivan Phillips (Prievidza, Slovakia),
Nate Reinking (Sheffield Sharks, UK),
Ryan Richards (Unattached),
Ovie Soko (University of Alabama-Birmingham USA),
Andrew Sullivan (Leicester Riders, UK),
Devon van Oostrum (Tarragona, Spain)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympi ... Games.html 
Não curto muito ele mas ele é monstrão, já comemorei muita coisa por causa dele (com grande ajuda do HoF Fisher rsrs)
Triste aqui.
