London 2012: Luol Deng Leader Team GB basketball squad.

But the omission of fellow NBA stars Ben Gordon and Byron Mullens was confirmed when the 12-man line-up was announced. Deng is included after recovering from a hand ligament injury sustained in January.
“The next few weeks will fly by and I can’t wait to step on the court with my team-mates at the Games,” said Deng.
“We have all worked very hard for this opportunity and to have the final 12 named is exciting. We plan to make Britain very proud,” added the 27-year-old.

Deng is the only member of the squad currently playing in the NBA. Forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu had five spells with six different clubs in the US before returning to Europe, where he now plays for Besiktas in Turkey.
Gordon was not considered for selection after he failed to report to the recent training camp in Houston by the deadline of 30 June and last week he was traded from the Detroit Pistons to the Charlotte Bobcats.
His absence is a blow to the squad which is relatively weak at guard.
Fellow Bobcat Byron Mullens recently dropped out of the provisional squad due to an injured toe.

Deng’s hand injury meant that Great Britain basketball was forced into insuring the NBA All-Star for a sum in the region of £300,000.
GB returned to England on Sunday after losing all five matches at their training camp in the US, against Nigeria and twice each against Lithuania and Russia.
They play France and Spain away this weekend, before facing Portugal twice and the USA on home soil later in July.
Team GB need to finish in the top of four of their group to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Olympic competition. As well as Spain, ranked second in the world, Group B also contains Australia and China who are both in the top 10.
London 2012 will be the first time that Britain has been represented in men’s basketball at the Olympic Games since 1948.

2012 London Olympics Team GB Basketball Squad:

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

2012 London Olympics News

* David Cameron is due to speak about the Olympics and how much money they will bring in for Britain at midday.

One of the prime minister’s previous Olympics speeches caused a bit of a stir, as my colleague Marina Hyde has pointed out: there was much deranged internet chatter when the prime minister was photographed switching on the Olympic Stadium’s triangular-shaped floodlights in December 2010.

* Chinese swimmer Sun Yang’s modest speech to his team-mates:

“I feel like a tough warrior, with shield in hand. I am about to go all out. I am ready, London. We are coming. Chinese men are coming!”

This kind of bashfulness seems to be catching. His countryman, boxer Zou Shiming, today murmured quietly:

“I am a highly ambitious man … All of these Asian, world or Olympic gold medals, whatever China hasn’t got, I want!”

China won 100 medals in 2008 to the US’s 110, but came away with the most golds – 51 to America’s 36.

• Clar Ni Chonghaile meets Amal Mohamed Bashiir, an 18-year-old Somali hoping for a place at the London Olympics.

• Daniel Keatings’ battle with injury and form came to a crushing conclusion when he was left out of Britain’s artistic gymnastics team for the Olympics, writes Emma John.

• And here’s Owen Gibson’s full story on Oscar Pistorius’s naming as part of the South African Olympic team, making him the first person to compete in both the Olympics and Paralympics.

• And here’s his story on the Team GB target of at least 48 medals announced yesterday.

• And here’s his story (they work him very hard) on British marathon runner Paula Radcliffe’s foot injury – she claims her participation in the Games is not under threat.

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