Deng effect but don’t doubt us
GB Basketball captain Andrew Sullivan and guard Kyle Johnson, whilst highlighting the fact that NBA star Luol Deng is a key figure in their plans both against USA in the upcoming friendly and the Olympics, it’s a collective effort from the whole team that will see them reap the rewards of success.
Andrew Sullivan, who has been a part of GB Basketball’s journey from the start made sure that others in the side were not forgotten: “At the end of the day Luol is our main focus point, of what we do on offence, but Joel [Freeland] is a superstar, so is Pops [Mensah-Bonsu], then you throw in people like Andrew Lawrence and Kyle Johnson on the younger side of it, who might not be as experienced but really come in and help the team and they will have long, long futures with the national team. This is a team that everyone puts in their work and helps the machine keep moving.”
Johnson has much praise for the Chicago Bulls forward in the time he has spent in the British set-up: “He just plays hard; he’s a winner, he makes winning plays, he doesn’t just play offence but great defence, he plays defence against the best players, rebounds, does a lot of things and not just score with the ball. People sometimes don’t see that but they’ll see him put points on the board. He’s a great leader, always vocal, for younger guys like me, giving me teaching points and how to get better. He’s a humble guy.”
However, does the aura of Deng help or hinder the efforts of the other men on court, or is it potentially a key to success allowing for opportunities to execute well against nations thinking a face-off with GB is an easy ride?
“It’s just basketball. He’s a part of the team like everybody else. Obviously he has a great deal of talent – we feed off of it though.
We’ll see – he’s the most talented guy on court. They might try and take him out or not, we don’t know what defence they are going to play, but we have to be ready for anything and go with it.” said Johnson.
Much has been said online that a 30 point defeat would be seen as a good result, but don’t try telling that to any of the GB squad, Johnson retorted by saying: “You go in to win every game, play hard and execute and get better at the same time. We’re going in to win, not lose, whatever happens happens. If you play hard and you win great, but if you play hard and you lose then you’ve done all you can; but that’s all we’re trying to do.”
