Mensah-Bonsu joins Great Britain ahead of opening EuroBasket fixture

NBA STAR Pops Mensah-Bonsu has finally joined the Great Britain basketball squad ahead of next week's EuroBasket tournament in Poland.

ON THE UP: GB will boosted by the return of Pops Mensah-Bonsu to the fold ahead of EuroBasket

The forward has been unable to join Chris Finch's side throughout their preparations, instead spending the summer looking for a new club after his short-term contract with the Toronto Raptors ended.

But Mensah-Bonsu was signed by the Houston Rockets and Great Britain have been able to secure the 25-year-old's insurance

Great Britain have slumped to eight defeats from nine matches this summer but Finch revealed his team were struck down by illness during their latest warm-up tournament in Turkey.

And Finch insists the addition of Mensah-Bonsu to the squad is vital ahead of their opening EuroBasket fixture against Slovenia on Monday.

"We're really excited to finally have Pops with us. Adding him is a boost and it keeps on strengthening the front line," said Finch.

"The challenge now is to make sure we get him in as quickly as possible and hope he is in some sort of shape.

"The illness has been a slow process as it's been slowly creeping through the team.

"The team and the staff have endured some sort of stomach bug which takes 48 hours to get through the system and that's why a few of them couldn't play in Turkey.

"It will mean that for the first time this summer we will hopefully have our strongest side available to pick from when we arrive in Warsaw."