Great Britain Olympic Men's Basketball Team 2012: Updated News & Roster

Great Britain has had its final roster for men's basketball in the 2012 Summer Olympics set since early July.

Although the British aren't considered gold medal contenders, they are in arguably the easier of the two groups. Therefore, an outside shot at getting through group play and into the quarterfinals is quite realistic.

Led by Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls, Britain has one NBA star to rely on and some respectable role players as well. To that end, let's check out Great Britain's men's team at the London Games.

Full view of FIBA world rankings.

Great Britain results/stats courtesy of London2012FIBA.com.

Final Roster

Great Britain Men's Final Roster courtesy of London2012.com (club in parentheses):

Guards

Andrew Lawrence (College of Charleston)

Mike Lenzly (Nymburk)

Nate Reinking (Sheffield Sharks)

Kyle Johnson (Apoel)

Forwards

Kieron Achara (Manresa)

Pops Mensah-Bonsu (Besiktas)

Drew Sullivan (Leicester Riders)

Luol Deng (Chicago Bulls)

Robert Archibald (Zaragosa)

Joel Freeland (Unicaja)

Dan Clark (Club Estudiantes)

Centers

Eric Boateng (Persteri)

Head Coach

Chris Finch (Houston Rockets assistant)

Assistant Coaches

Paul Mokeski (Reno Bighorns head coach, NBA D-League)

Nick Nurse (Rio Grand Valley Vipers head coach, NBA D-League)

Key Players

Luol Deng, Forward

Easily the best and most notable player for the British, Luol Deng will have to carry the team through the Olympic tournament.

As an eight-year NBA veteran Deng has averaged 16 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 46.5 percent from the field for his career. More of an offensive-oriented player, Deng possesses the athleticism to drive to the lane, connect from anywhere in the field and rebound for second-chance opportunities.

Defensively, he has made improvements with perimeter guarding and grabbing more boards without fouling. In the London Games he will have to remain the biggest scoring threat while also using that presence to dish the rock elsewhere and get Britain's offense to be more explosive.

Provided that Deng emerges as a true leader, he'll simply become that much better of an all-around player.

Joel Freeland, Forward

Certainly one of Britain's more effective frontcourt players, Joel Freeland collected 37 rebounds, 80 points and seven steals during the London Invitational.

Possessing great size and a knack for finding the ball, Freeland's interior aggressiveness has the potential to matchup with any opponent in the paint. The downside is he can find himself in foul trouble, so becoming a more disciplined player must improve for the British in London.

In one-on-one situations Freeland's overall size provides an advantage, so it's imperative that he expose an opponent's frontcourt. Even with minimal production, Freeland can become Britain's main inside threat to take pressure off Deng offensively.

The defensive side is where Freeland can really make an impact. Already a terrific rebounder, upgrading his ability to block shots and prevent any second-chance scoring opportunities would increase Britain's odds.

Because the British aren't the most dominant team defensively, it all starts with Freeland controlling the paint and locking down one-on-one.

Dan Clark, Forward

A similar player to Deng, Dan Clark is rather talented across the board and is better than given credit for.

The difference, however, is that Clark is more defensive-oriented to counter balance Deng's offense. At the London Invitational he collected 35 rebounds (second-most behind Freeland), had five steals and blocked six shots.

At the EuroBasket tournament Clark was once again a force inside with 35 boards, five steals and three blocked shots. On the offensive side he is a reliable scorer when needed and possesses solid court awareness to set up teammates with assists.

In the Olympics, Clark does need to contribute more consistently on offense and reduce his turnovers. With his defensive skill set, Great Britain can have him lock down most scorers. So, just getting him to be more of an offensive threat will allow the British to become a stronger team overall and be a sleeper in group play.

Main Challengers

Spain

Spain is the best team in Group B as they present great NBA talent in Pau and Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka and Rudy Fernandez.

Currently No. 2 in the FIBA world rankings, Spain presents an explosive offense and knows how to lock it down defensively when needed. That right there is the vulnerability the British must exploit.

As a stronger offensive team like Spain, Britain has the overall talent to match pace from the beginning. As long as the British can simply make minimal defensive adjustments to negate Spain's additional scoring chances, just competing will enhance confidence.

Regardless of the outcome against Spain, Britain must make it a nail-biter to emerge as a legit challenger in Group B.

Russia

Led by two star players in Andrei Kirilenko and Timofey Mozgov, the Russians have a great opportunity to make it past group play.

Ranked No. 11 in the world, Russia rolled through the Olympic qualifying tournament and made a clean sweep during the 2011 EuroBasket. One of the more complete teams at each end of the floor, Russia can score effectively and fend off anyone trying to drive inside.

Point man Alexey Shved is the total package and the threat of Kirilenko and Mozgov will easily enhance his game. Russia being arguably the strongest threat to Spain in Group B, Britain must get the most out of every possession against Russia.

Whether it's trying to outscore from the opening tip or control the game tempo to avoid multiple runs, this is the one game where Luol Deng must take over. A strong performance from Deng and Great Britain could pull off the upset as they do have a more potent offense.

Brazil

Much like Spain, Brazil presents impressive NBA talent like Anderson Varejao, Nene Hilario, Tiago Splitter and Leandro Barbosa.

Not to mention the Brazilians were leading Team USA 27-17 after one quarter during their exhibition game. And although that was just a pre-Olympic match, Brazil proved the ability to compete with the most elite of teams.

That being said, Brazil focuses primarily on offense and tries to outscore everyone. They are more explosive than Spain but aren't as strong defensively. So, if Britain can really focus on limiting Brazil's possessions and prove to be the better rebounding team, a win can result.

Brazil moves the ball well and is athletic enough on defense to gain additional possessions. Britain must slow the game down, capitalize on every fast-break and play extremely physical inside.

Prediction

Great Britain is in a fortunate position because the Olympics will take the top four from each group into the quarterfinal round.

So, even if the British lose all three games to Spain, Russia and Brazil, winning games over China and Australia could keep the home team alive. Great Britain defeated China at the London Invitational last year and lost to the Australians by only one point.

The Chinese don't present much of an offense by comparison, but can play impressive defense to keep contests low-scoring. Here, the British have to keep the pace moving throughout and move well off the ball to open passing lanes.

Great Britain has the defensive potential to shutdown China, so winning over them again is expected. The Australians, on the other hand, pose a replicated threat.

They are explosive offensively and can play impenetrable defense when needed. Great Britain has to create open shots against one-on-one defense and restrict the paint on defense. If the British get one more player to consistently score with Luol Deng, a win over Australia will happen.

Prediction: 2-3 in group play, eliminated in quarterfinals

 Follow John Rozum on Twitter.