GBR - No Pops in British squad

LONDON (EuroBasket 2011) – Pops Mensah-Bonsu was on hand at the FIBA Central Board meeting in Lyon three months ago when he and his Great Britain teammates discovered they’d be allowed to play at the London Games as the host nation.

Looking at this summer’s EuroBasket as a chance to prepare for those Olympics, Mensah-Bonsu was as eager as anyone to put on the British shirt in Lithuania.

He was not included in the 17-man squad released on Thursday by British Basketball, though, because of a recent shoulder operation.

The 2.06m power forward/center was a statistical giant.

He averaged 19.3 points and a Division A-best 13.5 rebounds per game.

"I am very disappointed to not be participating in this summer’s activities with the GB team,” Mensah-Bonsu said.

“But I am also confident in the coaches and the players representing GB, and I know that they will do the country proud.

“Although it will be difficult to watch, I will be supporting the team along the way, hoping and praying for the best."

Luol Deng and Ben Gordon are two of the prominent names in the Great Britain squad along with emerging Spanish ACB stars Joel Freeland of Unicaja Malaga and Dan Clark of Estudiantes.

Great Britain will play in Group A with Spain, Turkey, hosts Lithuania, Poland and one of the two teams that comes through the Additional Qualifying Round – Portugal, Finland or Hungary.

Not having Mensah-Bonsu is a blow for Britain, but coach Chris Finch is still optimistic.

“Each summer one of our goals is to get our best talent together,” he said.

“In addition, we are constantly looking to work with younger players and continue to evaluate those who we see as real contenders to help us now and for years to come.

“This collection of players accomplishes these objectives. Now it’s incumbent on our guys to continue to make the commitment to our program, and arrive at Cobham (for training camp) in peak shape, determined to take GB to a new level.”

Great Britain squad: Kieron Achara, Ogo Adegboye, Robert Archibald, Eric Boateng, Flinder Boyd, Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Dan Clark, Luol Deng, Laurence Ekperigin, Joel Freeland, Ben Gordon, Ashley Hamilton, James Jones, Mike Lenzly, Nate Reinking, Justin Robinson and Andrew Sullivan.

FIBA