Drew Sullivan: Britain will love Olympics basketball

\'I have just completed a hectic and exciting summer with the British team which saw a lot of firsts for me and all the guys. To get us started, we had the Olympic test event in Stratford which provided us with a unique opportunity to play in a tournament at one of the venues we’re going to be competing in at next year’s Games, along with the North Greenwich Arena. It was amazing to be in the new venue and get a feel for what the court and hoops there are like. Nerves among the team will be running high next year so the chance to familiarise ourselves with the whole experience was very important. The test event saw us compete against some of the best teams in the world, including France, Croatia, Serbia, China, and Australia. Going into the tournament, I have to be honest and say I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as we knew the arena wouldn’t be opened up to its full 12,000-seat capacity. However, I was so impressed by the crowd, with the games drawing in around 3,000 fans, and all of them showing their support. Unfortunately, we only won one game of the five we played but this really didn’t tell the true story of the progress that was made during the week-long event. Three of the four losses were really close, with the Australia game coming down to just one point in overtime – it was a game we still feel we should have won. Our next big challenge was EuroBasket, held in Lithuania. For the second European Championships in a row we found ourselves in what was viewed by many as the toughest group in the whole tournament. Our first three games were against the hosts Lithuania, Spain and Turkey, who all are top-ten teams in the world rankings. It was a difficult start to the tournament but in our first game, we pushed Lithuania all the way and were even leading going into the fourth quarter. But, to our dismay, we lost and unfortunately went on to lose to Spain, the eventual winners of the tournament, and also Turkey. Our final two games were against Portugal and Poland and represented the British men’s team’s first wins in a major tournament. From a personal point of view, having been with the team since 2006, this was a huge achievement and shows how far we’ve come in the last five years. To see how we continually step up to any challenge we face is a credit to all involved and that’s why I believe that basketball will continue to grow in this country. For me, everything from here on in will be in preparation for 2012. Every game is important, but for any player with aspirations to be called up to compete for your country in the Olympics, it’s huge – and I’m no different.\'