FINCH SEES BRIGHT FUTURE
08/19/2008 GB coach Chris Finch believes the future is bright for the national team programme - whatever happens in this summer's Euro Champs qualifiers.

GB coach Chris Finch believes the future is bright for the national team programme - whatever happens in this summer's Euro Champs qualifiers.

The GB boys flew out to Italy on Tuesday with a 14-man squad ready to go in warm-up games against the hosts, Belgium and Estonia.

Exactly half the 14 players have not played for GB before, leaving the squad very much looking towards the 2012 Olympics.

And while Finch is happy that the team can still make an impact this summer, he believes the plan of looking four years down the road is working.

Finch said: "I think we've got a pretty good mix of experienced players and new players, actually.

"And we certainly had a young selection in training camp. That was the aim after we qualified for Group A last summer, to start working with younger players planning for the future.

"Someone like Joel Freeland has made great strides in the two years since I last worked with him, I've been very impressed with him.

"And having Pops Mensah-Bonsu around has been great. He is a fantastic personality and he just takes over where Roger Huggins left off last year in terms of his locker room personality.

"And on the floor he has done a great job. It's always exciting when you start working with these guys and figuring out what they can do."

Clearly, Mensah-Bonsu and, to a lesser extent, Freeland will have huge roles to play to take up the slack left by Robert Archibald's absence.

And Finch added: "We are certainly going to miss Robert's poise. When he catches the ball, you always know the right decision will be made. With such a young team, we could really use that.

"But there are players here who now have the chance to show what they can do and I'm confident in their ability."

The only frustration for Finch during an excellent training camp at Brunel has been the enforced absence of Luol Deng who has been waiting for insurance clearance.

Finch said: "It's been a bitter sweet pill. We're happy Lu has his contract signed and is eligible to play because a week ago that was by no means certain.

"But the team is ready for him to get involved now. We need to play with him and practise with him in the line-up so we can get a better sense of who we are and where we are."