Finch claims Great Britain have now earned their Olympic place

By Gerard Meagher, Sportsbeat

GREAT Britain basketball coach Chris Finch believes his side have done enough to earn their place at the London 2012 Olympics.

OUR TIME: Great Britain coach Chris Finch believes his side now deserve their chance to compete at the London 2012 Olympics. Britain last competed in 1948 (Getty Images)

Victory over Bosnia & Herzegovina secured a second straight qualification to the EuroBasket finals last night.

Finch now hopes basketball's world governing body, Fiba, will reward his team's progress by rubber-stamping their hosts' invite to the Games.

"I can't change what happens off the court, but we've met every performance mark they've laid down and we believe we're entitled to our rightful spot by the way we've played. I'm really proud of what our guys have done," he said.

"No one outside the GB organisation expected us to be here, but I said to the guys that we had to prove ourselves all over again.

"We've show it wasn't a fluke two years ago, we've had a taste of it and we think that we belong at that level. We learned a lot last year, and hopefully we'll build on that this time."

Great Britain's most recent victory was watched by NBA star Ben Gordon.

Finch is a massive admirer of the Detroit Pistons guard, who expects to make his long-awaited British debut next summer.

And the feeling is mutual with Gordon claiming Finch has what it takes to coach in the NBA.

"We're looking forward to Ben playing for us. It's a fantastic show of support from him," added Finch.

"We've been courting him for years, and Luol Deng has helped us a lot. 

"He's gone from saying the right things to sending an email and saying he wants to come and watch us. I hope he'll be with us next summer, but there's a long time between now and then."

Finch also praised Tom Maher, the British women's coach, after their progress to the EuroBasket finals for the first time ever, following a 77-59 over Germany.

"It's an amazing accomplishment to have turned the programme around. They're like us now, they expect to win every time they step on the floor," he said.