Chris Finch demands more from Achara ahead of Macedonian test

Kieron Achara could be dropped from Great Britain’s line-up if he can’t bounce back to top form, according to head coach Chris Finch. GB host Macedonia in Newcastle on Sunday in their second European Championship qualifier with both sides looking to maintain their 100% start to the campaign.

However, the Stirling-born forward finds himself in the doghouse after exchanging words with Finch when he was yanked from last Monday’s 91-82 win in Hungary after just three minutes on the court. And he’s been put on notice that his place is no longer automatic.

“Kieron’s been an absolute warrior for us over the past two years," said Finch. "He’s one of our X-Factors. He’s been able to go in and make an impact on games with his hustle. He makes a shot here and there. He plays great defence. But at the moment, he’s just not doing that.

“He’s down on himself. But we need him. We need his experience. We need what he can do for us. It’s a long month of basketball but right now, he’s a little off the pace.”

The Macedonians come into the tie at Northumbrian University buoyant after humiliating the Hungarians 78-44 in mid-week and Finch is aware of their challenge.

"We scout all our opponents live as well as on DVD," he said. "We feel we have a very good handle on them and what they are trying to do. The challenge, as ever, is stopping them. We must take away the strengths of their key players both inside and out."

The GB coach was pleased with his side's display against Hungary, but knows there is still room for improvement: "We executed our stuff well, we guard very well at times and we rebounded consistently. We didn't start the game or the 3rd quarter very well and we didn't take the best shots. We need to improve on all aspects of our game and keep growing as a team to be successful on Sunday as well as in the group.

"We are fully fit and we do not expect any significant changes to our core line-up. We will however need a bit more bench production from a few more guys than we had in Hungary".

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GB coach Chris Finch looks to Futures as senior shake-up begins

Great Britain Chris Finch will set his young guns the target of winning a spot in his senior squad when he takes charge of his new Futures squad for the first time on Friday in a friendly against France in Lille.

With injury concerns hanging over several first-choice players for this summer’s Eurobasket qualifiers, the American admits that there are some places up for grabs.

And he will look to the Under-23 ranks for fill any gaps that arise when he puts the group through its paces over three games this weekend.

“There are three things I’m looking for,” he said. “This is a chance to work with some guys I haven’t worked with before so I want to see if I can improve them. I also want to see if there are people we can bring into the senior camp.

“And I’d like us to start getting some success at an age-group level which we haven’t really had with either Scotland, England or GB.”
Finch will hand the reigns to point guard Justin Robinson, the only Futures squad member with a full cap to his name. “We want to keep pushing him to grow into a point guard with the confidence and assurance we need at the highest level,” he added.

The reigning NBA D-League Coach of the Year has already begun the process of trimming his senior squad to 16 with BJA British Player of the Year, Tafari Toney of Sheffield Sharks, suffering the axe.

“We have a lot of depth and experience at his position,” he confirmed. “Tafari just isn’t projected to get into the final 12.”

Finch also confirmed that he will have a shorter bench staff this summer with Nick Nurse and Paul Mokesky as his only two assistants. Everton’s Tony Garbelotto and Essex’s Tim Lewis, who were previously assistants, have been assigned scouting roles to spy on GB’s qualifying opponents.

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England name 17-man squad for summer friendlies

England coach Paul James has named a 17-man squad for this summer's friendlies with several Great Britain caps included in his line-up for games against Scotland and Lithuania later this month, as well as tournaments in France and Northern Ireland later this summer.

James said: "This is a fantastic opportunity to work with some of the most talented English players who have either excelled at Under 20 level or are on the fringes of making the GB squad. There is no substitute for playing in international competition and exposing these players to competition of this type can only be good for English and British basketball."

Ogo Adegboye, Saint Bonaventure University (USA)
Taner Adu, Essex Pirates
Chris Ayer, Springfield Armor (USA)
Devan Bailey, Central Connecticut State (USA)
Eric Boateng, Arizona State University (USA)
Matthew Bryan-Amaning, University of Washington (USA)
Dan Clark, Estudiantes (ESP)
Sam Cricelli, Worthing Thunder
Ben Eaves, Rhode Island University (USA)
Matt Guymon, Unattached
Ashley Hamilton, Loyola Marymount University (USA)
Joe Ikhinmwin, Seminole State College (USA)
James Jones, Everton Tigers
Tayo Ogedengbe, Guildford Heat
Justin Robinson, Rider University (USA)
Colin Sing, Essex Pirates
Morakinyo Williams, Duquesne University (USA)

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Two Brits preparing for March Madness

Two British players are involved in this year's NCAA men's college tournament which tips off on Thursday night.

Matthew Bryan-Amaning will start for the University of Washington, who will be underdogs in their first round meeting with Marquette. The Londoner is averaging 8.9 points and 5.9 rebounds in a much-improved junior season. MBA enters March Madness in the best form of his career, averaging 12.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg, shooting 61.5% and 1.4 bpg over his last 11 contests for the Pac-10 champions.

Fellow Londoner Hugh Barnett will likely warm the bench as Arkansas-Pine Bluff, who took a a 61-44 victory over Winthrop in the play-in game for the 64th and final spot on Tuesday, take on the mighty Duke University.

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