Just Showing Some Love

All three would have hoped to make the cut and represent their country Great Britain at their home Olympic Games in London. Unfortunately none of them did and, it would seem, their joy turned to pain. Now there are others in different sports who have also failed to make the cut and they must be going through the same pain. But I do not know those people personally. I do know these three, and I do consider them to be friends.

Going back in time, the only one that I thought would definitely be there was Georgia Jones.

I was there that night in Amsterdam when Great Britain Women qualified for Eurobasket Division A. It was a truly glorious night and you can read my report on that night here on mikeshaft.com.

In that second leg Georgia was simply awesome down the stretch and having watched her grow up in basketball I was sure she would be one of the names on the list for 2012. In her interview with Della Jacobs for mikeshaft.com back in 2008(?) Georgia herself expressed her desire to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Games. Read about it here.

Unfortunately it was not to be.

Devon van Oostrum was a very different case. As with Georgia, I have seen Devon grow up in basketball at very close quarters. Working with the Sheffield Sharks for the last 20(?) years the van Oostrum family have always been at the games. I have commentated on the Junior Sharks for years and I can say without doubt that Devon is one of the finest basketball players I know. Having said that, in the run-up to the Games I can honestly say that I never considered Devon for the GB Men’s team.

To be honest he never crossed my mind.

However in the run-up to the Games, British Basketball held its Test Event at the Olympic Park and that was the first time that I saw the new Devon play. He was now based in Spain and, to put it mildly, his game had moved on by light years. If I’d thought he was a player before moving to Spain then now he was simply awesome. His vision and his passing were the two things that really made him stand out for me and after that event and those games, I was convinced we were looking at the GB star of the future.

But were the 2012 Games too soon for that future? Sadly it would seem so!

Perhaps I might take a few moments right here to clear something up. I know that the haters will be thinking that I am criticizing the Head Coaches who took the decisions to leave those players out.

Well I can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth.

Long-time readers of mikeshaft.com will know that I have the greatest respect for Chris Finch, Head Coach of the GB Men’s team. I have known Chris for as long as I have worked at the Sharks and even before that I knew him as a player. His performances first as a player and then as a Head Coach have been simply magnificent.

After GB Men qualified for Eurobasket A, a very good friend of mine suggested that Chris had done a great job but now we needed a new ‘European’ coach to take us to the Finals. I certainly thought that he was wrong and I told him so.

This piece is in no way an attempt to criticize either Chris Finch or Tom Maher for their decisions in coming to their final 12s for the Olympics. I do not know Tom Maher very well but I respect his decision in this matter as much as I respect Chris Finch’s.

As you can see above this piece is entitled ‘Just Showing Some Love’ and that is all that I am doing.

The final subject of this piece is Lauren Thomas Johnson and her story is different again.

Lauren played last season for the legendary British Woman’s Basketball team, the Sheffield Hatters and did, in my opinion, a great job for her Head Coach Vanessa Ellis, who is also an Assistant Coach with the GB Women’s team. When Lauren was used in the photo shoots for the big GB games against USA Basketball in Manchester, I must admit that I thought she was in but again, sadly, it was not be be.

I know that there isn’t much I can say here that will make any of these three individuals feel any better but I am going to give it a try.

I have a saying that when God does not give me something that I want, it is because He has something better planned for me. I’ll tell you this; He has never let me down yet and I hope he has got something better planned for you Lauren, you Devon and you Georgia.

The other thing I would say is this; you three are all young enough to be a part of the Great Britain teams in the future. Remember Rio 2016 is just 4 years away. Now that Great Britain is on the world stage we must do whatever it takes to keep us there.

But for now, be strong, support your GB teams in anyway you can. Your friends are going out to compete on behalf of all of us. But remember, you helped to bring them to where they are today and you could be called upon to take them further in the future.

I hope God will bless you all! And I hope you feel the love from each and every one of us who knows what you are going through at this moment.

Later

Mike S