Based at Surrey Sports Park, familiar to BBL fans as the home of the Guildford Heat, 18 hopefuls are battling it out for the 12 places on offer at the London Olympics.

After a couple of hours watching training and then interviewing some of the players for future articles, I came away very impressed with what I saw and believe Team GB are looking professional both on and off the floor.

When the Olympics roll around, if you have tickets for the Women’s tournament and you end up watching Team GB, you won’t be disappointed. In fact, there’s a belief that the Women’s team are on the verge of something special.

The intensity of the players was good to see during the open part of the training session. Normally at media days you will see players going through the motions for the cameras, but the intensity during the session was great to watch.

The reason is because the players are desperate to make the final cut. Even those in the squad you would expect to make it, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play a major tournament on home soil is driving everyone on.

One of the things I discovered from talking to coach Tom Maher and some of the players is that their performance at last year’s Eurobasket means other national teams are now taking Great Britain seriously.

After getting into the second round of Eurobasket, the GB team showed their potential by coming close to getting wins over Lithuania and Russia (the eventual champions), while also running Turkey pretty close.

Knowing how close they came to advancing further in last year’s tournament is a major driving force for these players and they hope it will spur them onto greater things at this year’s Olympics.

But that’s over 2 months away and in the meantime the squad are about to embark on an intensive schedule of warm-up games that will take them all over Europe, and beyond — including a trip to China.

However, during this span they will be playing a number of games on home soil and all of them will be against decent opposition.

The weekend of 9-10 June will see a double-header in Edinburgh (Meadowbank) against Canada, who are a side looking to make it into the Olympics via the qualifying tournament.

Then in July, there’s some interesting clashes taking place in Sheffield and Manchester. While the final game against the USA on 18th July at the MEN Arena is probably the most anticipated game on the pre-Olympic schedule, it’s worth mentioning that the games in Sheffield a few days earlier includes a pre-Olympic meeting with the highly-ranked Australian team.

It’s going to be a busy summer for the GB Women and if all goes well, a successful one too.

It all goes down on Saturday June 30 in Brixton – home of the legendary Topcats basketball team, where Luol Deng honed his skills as a kid.

During the day, events takes place in Windrush Square – which will be transformed by the installation of a full size basketball court and bleachers.

Between 9am and 1pm, young ballers will be able to take part in a series of athlete clinics, hosted by leading international basketball players and coaches.

From 12pm onwards there will be 3-on-3 competitions, pick-up games and dunk contests.

The climax of the free festival will be a 5-on-5 game between the infamous Team Nike from New York and a GB all-star team.

Throughout the day there will be high-profile appearances from basketball heroes past and present.

Choice FM will be on site providing the soundtrack with DJ sets and broadcasting their live show from Windrush Square. Nandos, Wah Nails and many more will also be getting involved.

In the evening, the festival continues at the O2 Academy – where there will be a rolling showcase of music and basketball. Nike are keeping quiet about the main act at the moment – simply describing them as “US Hip-Hop Royalty”.
There will also be entertainment from the Miami Heat Street Band, UK dance crews, and world-famous dunkers Guy Dupuy aka ‘Easy Jumper’ and Kendall Boyd-Hill aka ‘Kasper’.

For more information about the World Basketball Festival visit www.worldbasketballfestivalbrixton.com

Details:

• Event Date: Saturday 30th June
• Location: Windrush Square (8am – 6pm) / O2 Academy Brixton (6.30pm – 10pm Ticketed event 14+ year olds only)
• Tickets : General Release from 9am on Saturday 26th May. £5 – all proceeds go to the Luol Deng Basketball Foundation

The camp is designed to give players the chance to show their talent in a professional, organised scenario — in front of scouts, coaches and agents from British and European clubs.

Amongst those who’ll be present are Gary Smith, head coach of EBL1′s Worthing Thunder. Chris Mayes from the Canarias Basketball Academy. Ozell Wells from Eurobasket. Malik Jivens from EBL1 team London Capitals. Daniele Aneillo from Ascoli Basket in Italy and Rob Newson from the FSU Academy in Iceland.

It all takes place at the Doug Ellis Sports Centre in Birmingham on Saturday June 30 and Sunday July 1. The cost is £25 for one day or £40 for both. But MVP Magazine has one free spot to give away. To be in with a chance of winning it, just fill in the application form on the Rising Ballers website (click here) – and make sure you put “MVP Magazine” somewhere in the “Resume” text box.

The minimum age for the camp is 17 — and only players considered to be up to scratch will be given a spot.

For more information, hit up mailto:Bud@RisingBallers.com or call +44 7769 344 771 or +44 2392 160 996.

Photo: Thomas Angus

Dutchman Frans Griffioen has been named as Damian Jennings’ replacement in charge of the Great Britain Under-20 women’s team following the Englishman’s recent elevation into the senior staff.

Griffioen, who is expected to be joined by his assistant Ronald van der Oord, has been at the helm of the Netherlands for the last three years and the side finished tenth in the 2011 Division A Under-20 FIBA Europe championship, two places below GB.

Spice: Griffioen best candidate

However with Canadian Dave Smart recently handed the coaching job with the Under-20 men’s team in succession to Tim Lewis, the performance body will face inevitable claims that an opportunity to give a young British coach valuable experience has been lost.

“The Under-20s have always been our training ground for everyone: coaches, physios, everything that goes with the programme,” said performance director Chris Spice.

“But once we got past Damian and Tim who took senior roles this year, it was about finding the best people. Unfortunately we didn’t think they were in this country right now. And we’ve got a lot of work to do to get coaches up to the standard that we want.”

It is understood that Griffioen was one of two candidates interviewed for the part-time role and Spice believes he is the right appointment.

“Philosophically, he understood that the cultures were different. He has his own coaching style obviously but we want someone who s going to embrace the philosophy we have here already, the real plus for us is that the Under 20 women have been pretty much following the process and style of the senior women. And they’ve made progress as a result. We wanted to make sure someone would come in and embrace it.”

Griffioen is expected to arrive in July ahead of the team’s training camp. This year’s Europeans are in Debrecen, Hungary, starting on August 16.

“I am excited by the challenge of coaching GB and continuing the great work the team put in when they finished eighth in Division A of the European Championships 2011,” he said.

The Durham-born forward is being nursed back slowly from a foot injury sustained during a game late on in the Greek League season.

It has left Handy kicking her heels on the sidelines at Surrey Sports Park while her team-mates get down to work on the court.

However she is determined to be ready for the opening friendly in Croatia on June 28.

Handy: waiting (Dan Wooller)

“I’ll be back hopefully in two weeks,” she said.

“I’ve broken my fifth metatarsal, two months ago at the end of the Greek League season. But the recovery is going well. I feel strong. And now I’m dying to get out there with everybody else.”

Handy’s form in last summer’s EuroBasket has meant her place in Tom Maher’s Olympic team looks secure in spite of her enforced absence on the floor at the outset of the build-up.

But she has had to remain a keenly interested observer amid the rehab process.

“I’ve had to take in the teaching,” she said.

“It’s different sitting there and watching things I’m going to have to go in and do when I start playing. I’ve had to sit and watch and observe and learn things off the court.”

March in doubt

Tom Maher’s side may miss out on marching with the rest of Team GB in the opening ceremony if they are handed an early start on the first day of the Games.

With Australia their scheduled opponents, British Basketball chiefs have lobbied for a late tip-off for their first game.

However performance chief Chris Spice admits a daytime slot could scupper the squad’s hopes of joining in the traditional jamboree at the Olympic Stadium.

“The men will march without doubt because they play the following day,” he confirmed.

“The women, if they get an evening time slot, it’s an easy decision: we’ll let them march. If it’s an early game, we’ll have to discuss that. But if the draw is kind and we get one of the two evening slots, we’ll be fine.”

Main pic: BB/Dan Wooller

Robert Archibald has confirmed he will hang up his over-sized boots after this summer’s Olympic Games in London, concluding a career that has taken in some of the sport’s most iconic courts.

The Paisley-born centre remains the only Scot to play in the NBA after lining up for the Memphis Grizzlies, who chose him in the second round of the league’s Draft in 2002, as well as the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns.

His Stateside spell, which also included a successful four years at the University of Illinois, was followed by a prolonged stint at the top level in Europe, where he became one of only three Britons ever to lift a European trophy during his spell with Spanish giants Joventut Badalona, as well as winning the Ukrainian League title with oil-rich Azovmash Mariupol.

However having put his 2.11m frame through the daily grind for so long, and following a tough season with Zaragoza where he fell out of favour with head coach José Luis Abos, 32-year-old Archibald confessed to a lack of desire to carry on regardless.

“I’ve been thinking about it during the year,” he revealed. “At the start of the season, I didn’t really have any kind of set plan. I knew this would be my tenth year as a pro and if things were going well, I’d have probably played onto 35 or beyond. But it was a difficult season all round so I spent some time talking about it with my wife and other people.

“The closer I got to making that decision, the more I felt at peace with going that way. There’s no reason for me to fight it. If it was just down to playing basketball, of course I could go on. But you get to the point in your late thirties where you’re playing on teams where the goals aren’t set as high, where the contracts aren’t as good and the cities where you’re living in aren’t as nice.

“So when you weigh all that up, what you have to sacrifice by being away from friends and family for ten months each year, you get to a point where you have to look at the good against the bad.

Archibald went to two EuroBaskets (Mansoor Ahmed/BB)

Archibald began his career with Dunfermline Reign where he won two Scottish Cups but will now channel his energies towards Great Britain’s bid to impress at the Olympics. 25-times capped, he has already featured in two EuroBasket finals as the team has slowly acquired international credibility. “I really think we can reach the quarter-finals,” he stated.

Of course, he must still earn his place in the 12-man squad for the Games once the squad gathers in Houston next month for training camp. Performing in London, he concedes, would be the ideal final stop on the long and winding road.

“It feels right to come full circle,” he stated.

“To have left Britain in 1997 and been all over the place and to be able to come back and have the final chapter be at home, and in such a high level competition, that feels perfect. It’s a nice way for me to show how much the national team has grown and how the level has improved.”

Beyond that, who knows? Archibald will return to his Chicago home and take time to consider his options. Possibly coaching, possibly utilising his economics degree, perhaps even a mentoring role with Britain’s next generation.

“The plan is to take six months off, re-connect with a lot of people,and then see where I’m at,” he said.

“It’s going to be different.”

Great Britain forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu reveals how a change of diet has worked wonders for his game in Turkey. Meanwhile GB women’s guard Lauren Thomas-Johnson tells us about her impatience for the Games to begin.

We’ve also interviews with Cameron Rundles of Leicester Riders , Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Plus we talk hoops with hip-hop star Labrinth.

MVP issue 7 is on sale now at WHSmiths up and down the country (details here). Or you can order your copy online, via Swish (click here to order).

Here’s a sneak preview of some of the what’s inside.

The former Rocks forward was named as the Most Valuable Player of the BBL play-off final as Newcastle rallied from 13 down in a scrappy game to beat Leicester Riders 71-62 and confirm their complete dominance this season.

“We came together around Christmas time when we went on a trip to Holland and that helped. Everyone gets along. No-one wants to let the other person down. That’s what makes us a great team.”

But Leicester, he adds, deserve plaudits for the way they came so close to derailing the Eagles history bid.

Smith added: “We knew we couldn’t let up even we got 10 ahead because they’re a dangerous team and they can pile up points very quickly. So we had to push all the way to the end.”

Meanwhile Newcastle’s assistant coach Dave Forester has paid tribute to Fabulous Flournoy for the way he has balanced coaching with playing extra minutes as injuries plagued the Eagles during the latter stages of the season.

“When we needed him to score at Cheshire he stepped up, when we needed him to play defence on Cameron Rundles he did that, when we needed a big rebound invariably he grabbed it. At 6’4″ and primarily playing the point guard position he still came up with 13 rebounds in the final, more than anyone else on the court.

“Sometimes I think his effect on the game is overlooked by people who just look at him as a coach who is a hard worker and ultra demanding of his players. But he never asks them to do anything that he can’t or won’t do himself. The example he sets to others as a player is intoxicating.”

The Greeks trailed by 19 points in the third quarter but went on a 14-0 run to reignite their hopes and they completed the incredible comeback when Giorgos Printezis hit the winning score with less than a second left to give head coach Dušan Ivković his fifth continental crown.

As a final, it will go down as a classic. And a huge upset, with the unheralded Olympiakos rated rank outsiders at the outset of this weekend’s Final Four.

“This is a great success and a very big moment for us, for the club and for the fans,” Printezis said.

“We are very happy to make them happy after so many years. The last basket did not win the game, we won it during the game. We were focused, we never gave up. And we won.”

The odds were even longer when they trailed 34-20 at the close of a torrid first half that saw CSKA propel themselves into almost total command with Milos Teodosic hitting three quickfire three-pointers to propel the favourites clear after an early stalemate.

It got even worse for the Greeks when they trailed 53-34 with 12 minutes left as Ramunas Siskauskas, Jamont Gordon and Alexy Shved dug an even deeper trench between the teams.

Ivkovic, architect of the last Euro title to come back to Piraeus, kept believing.  ”I said: ‘Let’s go guys, you can beat them. It’s our game.’” The improbable became possible.

Vassilis Spanoulis was one of the few holdovers from last season as Olympiakos were decimated by the financial troubles stifling their country but he willed his young re-built team to rise above their problems at home to embarrass their richer opponents.

A 6-0 run trimmed the gap to 53-40 headed into the fourth and the fairytale comeback was duly written, step by step, over a six minute spell when the Russians were held scoreless as eight further points were despatched without reply.

Printezis took the gap into single figures. The deficit was closing my the minute.

With 19.6 seconds left, Teodosic went to the line. He made one, and missed one to take his team-high tally to 15 points.

Kostas Papanikolaou, who had a game-high 18 for Olympiakos, was next to step up for two critical free throws. Both fell.

CSKA, on the ropes, briefly exhaled when Siskauskas was immediately fouled. Surely the former MVP would hold his nerve. Instead, he twice missed the target. It left the door ajar.

Printezis took a pass from Spanoulis and his desperate one-handed  floater from the baseline went in the air and dropped in with 0.7 seconds on the clock. The miracle of all miracles had occurred in the Sinan Erdem Arena. There was no chance for CSKA to try for a great escape of their own as a full court inbound pass was deflected into safe oblivion as the buzzer sounded.

“This is just something unbelievable. Unbelievable,” said Spanoulis, the Most Valuable Player of the Final Four.

“We are the Euroleague champions! We are very happy to able to live this moment and never gave up during the season. We fought, came back and won the game. Yes, it’s my second Final Four and I got the MVP twice but the most important thing is that we won the title.”

Andrei Kirilenko, confirmed as the 2012 Euroleague MVP for the 2011-12 season less than 24 hours earlier, had 12 points and 10 rebounds for CSKA.

But for the men from Moscow, there was only the knowledge of what they let slip away.

”

“This is a very disappointing loss,” said Kirilenko. “I want to congratulate Olympiacos, they played a great game and coming back from 19 points down takes a lot of heart and a lot of guts. I think they did a very good job in the fourth quarter and punished us. I want to say sorry to our fans, who gave us great support. We are as disappointed as they are. We have a great team and it is hard to get it in the first year when the team has just been built.

“Last season, the team did not make it to the Top 16 and we went to the final this season. Of course, we wanted to get the title, but to be honest, Olympiakos outplayed us. They were the better team in the fourth quarter. They started making three-pointers in the third quarter and we didn’t respond. We couldn’t make our offense go; it was stuck at that point. It is very hard to explain what happened. We stopped playing and did not survive until the final whistle.”

Earlier, FC Barcelona defeated Panathinaikos 74-69 for third place with Marcelino Huertas hitting a game-high 21 points for the Catalans who never relinquished control after pulling ahead in the second period.

Charles Smith, the game’s Most Valuable Player, had 21 points and 9 rebounds as the Tyneside outfit rebounded from trailing by 13 in the first half to storm back to level at 31-31 at the break.

And an 11-0 run saw Newcastle surge clear as Leicester’s challenge faded away.

“This group just had a point to prove all season because of what we’ve gone through,” Eagles coach Fab Flournoy admitted. “It became important for us to establish ourselves again as a dominant team. In the years we did it before, we were young and we were talented.

“We knew we were good and we wanted to show it. This season, we did a lot of preparation and a lot of planning but there’s a lot of old legs. But we did it.”

The early stages were tight with Eagles shading the match 6-5 after two minutes and 10-9 after five before Joe Chapman picked up his second foul. Chapman would go on to score just 10 points.

It seemed to affect the Eagles as Riders went on a 13-2 burst up to the end of the first quarter, with a Drew Sullivan dunk being the exclamation point in the burst.

Leading 21-12 after 10 minutes the Riders made it a 10 point game early in the second quarter as a Newcastle turnover was converted by Ayron Hardy.

But the Eagles hadn’t already collected three trophies through luck as Flournoy led his team on the defensive end.

Darius Defoe brought it back to a one point lead before Cameron Rundles made two from the line to give Riders a 31-28 advantage. However Defoe had the last word of the half as his slam made it 31-31.

The Eagles surge was soon forgotten by Leicester as they scored the first six points of the third quarter.

But Newcastle responded straight away as Paul Gause’s steal and lay up capped a run that gave them a 40-37 lead.

Riders worked hard to stay in the match and Jamell Anderson split two at the line to bring the lead back down to one. 
However, Newcastle pulled away late in the quarter to take a 56-49 margin into the final stanza.

Eagles defence was summed by Rundles making his first field goal of the match with 8.20 left in the game to reduce the gap to five. Rundles worked hard but nothing would fall for him as he went one of 10 from the field for just four points.

Newcastle were firmly in control when Andrew Thomson nailed a three to make it a 10 point lead with 5.10 to play.

Riders never managed to get a run together as poor shooting from the free throw line cost them time and again. Bradd Wierzbicki and Rundles both came up empty from the charity stripe when they could have reduced the Eagles lead to just four points if both had been successful.

And when Rundles fouled out with 73 seconds to play and the score 67-57 the game was truly up.