NBA superstars leave the GB men chasing shadows in Manchester

Great Britain basketball men went down to a much heavier defeat than their female counterparts when they lost 118-78 to the USA in an exhibition game before 17,000 fans in the MEN Centre Manchester last night. GB women had lost 88-63 the previous night but were never as badly outgunned.

The NBA superstars including Lebron James and MVP Deron Williams and at times ran riot against coach Chris Finch’s team, mixing dunks and three-pointers almost at will, with only Chicago Bull Luol Deng with 25 points able to match them effectively.

But it was the number of USA steals which was the most impressive aspect and GB will have to tighten up considerably if they are to make any progress at all when they open their Olympic group games in London a week on Sunday. “I enjoyed it but I wish the scores had been closer,” said Dunfermline-reared Robert Archibald, who fouled out of the game.

GB under-20 men lost 
90-75 to Czech Republic in their Eurobasket B tournament in Sofia and have lost their chance to advance to the last four and a place in EURO A next time. Scotland’s under-16 cadette girls however beat hosts Gibraltar 51-46 in their Euro C Tournament yesterday to win their group and will play Cyprus in the semi-finals tomorrow.