Olympics: Basketball’s Scots hopes aiming high

Robert Archibald believes Great Britain’s basketball team has the potential to shock the world in their first Olympic appearance since 1948.

The only Scot to play in the NBA was confirmed in the 12-strong line-up for London yesterday, joining Stirling-born forward Kieron Achara in a squad that contains 11 holdovers from last year’s EuroBasket finals.

So far this summer, Chris Finch’s side have lost all five friendlies in their build-up towards the Games during a training camp in Houston, Texas that was overshadowed by call-offs from NBA duo Ben Gordon and Byron Mullens.

However, Archibald, who plans to retire after the Olympics, says it is now vital the chosen group use their next seven tune-up ties to plot an assault on the sport’s existing superpowers.

“The biggest thing is how we come together,” said the former Dunfermline Reign centre. “When you get to that level, the devil will be in the details. You’re looking at teams who have spent a lot of years together and don’t always have as much turnover. That’s what we need to strive to get before we get to London.”

Squad: Kieron Achara, Robert Archibald, Eric Boateng, Dan Clark, Luol Deng, Joel Freeland, Kyle Johnson, Andrew Lawrence, Mike Lenzly, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Nate Reinking, Drew Sullivan.