This year they are missing their two biggest names in National Basketball Association (NBA) stars Luol Deng and Joel Freeland, but they ultimately won regardless as a plucky Puerto Rican outfit were put to the sword in the final quarter in a 61-55 victory.

Britain next head to Slovenia for EuroBasket 2013 next month but have ambitions to make far greater international reverberations further down the line. This was something that British Basketball Performance Chairman Roger Moreland was keen to elaborate upon as he boldly proclaimed his aim to be "in the medal zone at international tournaments in the future."

He said: "In six or seven year we've come from nowhere to number 23 in the world and our aim now is to reach much higher than that. We have good young players coming through so we have to harness that talent and create a conveyor belt development process."

He also claimed that both Deng and Freeland are "only absent for personal reasons and are both on board for the long-term".

Even to a novice basketball reporter it seemed that Britain were just lacking that galvanising presence that an NBA star brings on court so ensuring the return of Deng and Freeland too does indeed seem a priority.

Puerto Rica look to pounce on a loose ball mid-way through their defeat 


Elite success is only one side of the legacy coin however and just as important are improvements at a recreational level. After being initially deprived of any UK Sport funding in December, basketball was belatedly allocated £7 million ($11 million/€8 million) for the next four years after a campaign which included an open letter written by Deng to Prime Minister David Cameron.

Moreland was unsurprisingly delighted with this change-of-mind and was keen to explain why a sport which has soaring participation levels - according to a recent Sport England survey - is deserving of its funding, and of how he plans to put that support into action:

"We're the number three team sport behind football and cricket and ahead of rugby union according to recent statistics," he claimed. "We hit demographic areas in the inner cities that no one else can and we are targeting everyone: men, women, boys and girls. We want to bring them all through and give them aspirations to succeed.

"This is an ongoing journey, where we are working with the British Basketball League (BBL) and the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish association's so we are all one picture delivering one message."

When a glimpse around the Copper Box reveals a crowd made up of all ages, backgrounds and ethnicities it is indeed hard to dispute these claims concerning basketball's universal appeal.

It is important to get schoolchildren such as these to take up basketball, claims Britain's governing body as it attempts to build on the success of London 2012


Yet, as with the athletics and cycling anniversary events, the legacy encompasses Paralympic as well as Olympic sport and the afternoon also included a top-quality wheelchair contest showcasing mixed Great Britain and Help for Heroes teams.

Able-bodied basketball has all the explosion and pace of a 100 metre sprint with no chance to pause for breath or carefully build an attack. Wheelchair basketball, on the other hand, is more akin to a 400m contest where the action remains frantic but requires slightly more patience as the players wheel their chairs around the court with levels of agility and aggression which never ceases to impress. For the record there was another Great Britain victory, by 32 points to 14.

The biggest disappointment was that the stadium was less than half full at this point as most spectators were yet to arrive, and this seemed one of several organisational elements which the Copper Box does need to address. The helpful nature of the staff did virtually account for these logistical shortcomings however and once the game got underway the venue was packed-to-the-rafters throughout

The customary crowd-stirring announcer was accompanied by a mischievous and only slightly irritating lion clad mascot along with a variety of acrobats and urban dancers which enabled the frequent timeouts and intervals to pass in a blaze of somersaults and slam dunks. Best of all was the absence of the dreaded "Kiss-cam", surely one of America's worst cultural offerings and something which has long been a source of dread for those who, like me, live in permanent terror of public embarrassment.

As you would perhaps expect the whole event was a fusion of British and American identity. During the exhibition match against the United States "Dream Team" in Manchester last summer every kind of "kiss-cam" and "bongo-cam" as well as cheerleaders was evident throughout.

On this occasion however a more British identity was apparent: from the singing - if rather cautiously at first – of the national anthem to the clear British, or in this case Scottish, persona of "Most Valuable Player" Kieran Achara.

Barack and Michelle Obama being subjected to the dreaded "kiss-cam", a welcome absence at the Copper Box in Britain's match against Puerto Rico


Indeed, in a sport which I rather naively consider as the American equivalent of football, the demeanour of players led by Achara in their interaction with the media and the scores of young, autograph-seeking fans was a joy to behold. Many of the supporters were undoubtedly basketball enthusiasts but those that were present only for a general chance to jump on the "Team GB" bandwagon can only have been impressed.

Roger Moreland was another to applaud the afternoon's work and described a match in front of 6,000 fans in the Copper Box as "big time and exciting and something that will be difficult to beat."

Yet with the news that the Copper Box will host the London Lions team next season Moreland sees this as the beginning of an ongoing process. "We've been working for quite some time trying to position ourselves to make the most of this venue," he said. "It is now the London Lions home venue and should become a hub for the local basketball community."

With funding and a central venue secured, participation levels soaring, a national team on the rise and even a personal identity gradually emerging, there is indeed plenty for British basketball to be excited about.

Once again the Olympic bandwagon rolls on and - for anyone who fell in love with the venue at London 2012 - the best news is that the Copper Box is rocking again.