Basketball's Olympic dream hanging by a thread

IF EVER there was the perfect example of a basketball team failing to last the distance, Great Britain would be it.

WORK TO DO: Chris Finch's side are still waiting for the Olympic nod from world governing body FIBA

Basketball in Great Britain is a strange phenomenon - the national team was only formed in 2005 after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics.

And, in truth, the development of a competitive side is very much a working process.

The draw for this week's EuroBasket was not kind to Chris Finch's side and three defeats promptly followed against world champions Spain, traditional powerhouse Serbia and Slovenia.

Serbia delivered the hammer blow - a heavy 77-59 defeat in Warsaw - but GB came close in their first two fixtures before running out of steam in the final quarter.

There was blood, sweat and tears and Great Britain came within a whisker of one of the most remarkable upsets in international basketball history against Spain - but the results failed to materialise.

It's a harsh assessment of a side who were without NBA stars Luol Deng and Ben Gordon - the two names who have the power to lift basketball out of tatty playgrounds and ageing sports halls and into the mainstream.

But prying eyes were watching in Poland - and not just those from British Basketball.

In order to receive the go-ahead for the 2012 Games, Team GB must reach the appropriate standard, set by basketball's world governing body, FIBA.

The waters which constitute that standard are murky to stay the least - but Great Britain would have expected to receive their invite by now.

While the women's team were relegated from Europe's top division, their male counterparts swiftly won promotion out of Division B to confirm a EuroBasket spot.

But all is quiet from FIBA and it won't be long before questions are asked by some of Great Britain's less cash-heavy sports.

This is undoubtedly the first and last chance saloon for basketball on these shores - the Olympic Games is the one chance to transform a nation's sporting ideals.

And British Basketball have been backed to the hilt by UK Sport, receiving an 137 per cent increase - to £8.75m - in their budget for the London cycle.

Handball and table tennis were among eight sports who were left to fight it out for the scraps - £11.2m to be precise.

Shooting took the heaviest hit, seeing funding slashed by 75 per cent, but critcism over basketball's hike came across the board from sports with stronger medal credentials.

And Great Britain's failure to progress past the group stages this week has left their chances of qualification to next summer's World Championships in Turkey in tatters.

The top six finishers in Poland will qualify automatically, leaving GB relying on getting the nod for one of four global wild cards.

If an invite does not arrive, Great Britain may well have squandered their one opportunity at an major tournament before 2012.

Great Britain threw the kitchen sink at their EuroBasket opponents and I'm not one to kick a team while they're down - but the clock is ticking.