Pops joins up with GB camp

Updated: Pops Mensah Bonsu has now officially signed off on his Houston Rockets contract, and has arrived at the Great Britain training camp in London. The Londoner was cleared to play with the team on Wednesday lunchtime, having finalised insurance cover between the NBA and British Basketball at a reported cost of £40,000, depending on GB's progress at Eurobasket.

And he was relieved to have broken through the red tape to re-assume his role as one of Britain’s key performers.

"I'm really pleased that I was finally able to link up with the rest of the team,” he said. “I’m glad I can put sorting out the paperwork behind me and concentrate on doing well in Poland. Now it's time to play."

The move gives the coaching staff an extra headache in belatedly integrating the new arrival - but it is one they welcome.

"We're really excited to finally have Pops with us," said head coach Chris Finch. "Adding him is a boost; it keeps on strengthening the front line. The challenge now is to make sure we get him in as quickly as possible and hope he is in some sort of shape."

In other news, Kieron Achara has undergone a further MRI on his injured groin. He will not practice until Friday at the earliest with  Finch thought to be holding off on naming his final 12-man roster until he has a definitive idea on injuries and availability.

The squad, and coaching staff, have also been hit by a stomach bug with 3 players currently sidelined.

"It's been a kind of a slow process as it's been slowly creeping through the team," said Finch. "The team and the staff have endured some sort of stomach bug which takes 48hours to get through the cycle and that's why a few of them couldn't play in Turkey.

"It will mean that for the first time this summer we will hopefully have our strongest side available to pick from when we arrive in Warsaw."