Finch furious at fourth

Денг Гордон · Oct 7, 2008

GB coach Chris Finch has been angered by FIBA's decision to group his team with the fourth seeds for next month's European Championship Finals draw.

Inspired by NBA star Luol Deng, the Brits won their qualifying group for Eurobasket 2009 this summer and the draw takes place in host country Poland on November 8.

But the seedings, announced yesterday, have GB in the bottom bracket even though Latvia, who finished second in their qualifying group, are a number three seed.

Latvia finished with the same 4-2 record as GB and FIBA have given them the higher ranking based on a superior points average to Finch's team.

However, Finch's biggest bone of contention is that FIBA never announced the system that would be used to determine seedings.

And GB, having won their group in the penultimate game, rested Deng for their final qualifying match, a defeat in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as a precaution against a minor toe injury.

Finch said: "It is interesting, and a little disappointing, to note that winning our group carries with it no additional advantage or benefit.

"We held Luol out of the Bosnia game because we were under the impression the game was 'meaningless.'

"Maybe Luol couldn't have played in that game but the fact is had we known something other than pride was on the line in that game then we would have had a different decision to make.

"There should be some transparency to these rules before qualifying games are finished so teams know where they stand."

Latvia finished their campaign with a points average of 1.1031, a fraction better than GB's 1.0456.

Frustratingly, GB allowed large, late leads slip on the way to victories over Bosnia and Israel at home last month, performances which could come back to haunt them.

But Finch added: "Having said all that, we're really excited about next summer, regardless.

"Whatever group we are in, wherever we are seeded, we will prepare all year to go out and win our group."
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http://www.basketball247.co.uk/news/archives/00000211.shtml

TomBoerwinkle#1 · Oct 10, 2008

Contrary to popular belief, Latvia is a real place.

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