Sheffield Hatters duo Georgia Gayle and Vanessa Ellis aiming to get GB basketball to Paris Olympics

GB women take on Greece in the first round of the 2023 EuroBasket Qualifiers at the National Basketball Performance Centre, Manchester (7.30pm).

Assistant head coach Ellis is focused on the team making Olympic qualification after narrowly missing out on Tokyo 2020 this summer.

“We’ve got banners in the hotel that say, ‘the road to Paris’ and if we don’t get to EuroBasket then we don’t get to the Olympics so it’s a big motivation,” said Ellis, who is also head coach for the Women’s BBL team Sheffield Hatters.

The 2021 EuroBasket squad is spearheaded by the WNBA’s Karlie Samuelson and includes a mix of experienced and young talent, including Hatters captain Georgia Gayle.

Gayle is looking to showcase her defensive talent after impressing GB head coach Chema Buceta at both U18 and U20 level.

“Chema has always asked me to play defence. He trusts me, so I’ve got to believe in myself too and just go with it,” said Gayle, who last played point guard five years ago on the U20s national team.

In the 2019 EuroBasket qualifiers, GB narrowly beat Greece 79-77 and later went on to secure fourth place in the competition, which was not enough to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

“We know we have a lot of talent on the team, and you will see a few new faces but that doesn’t mean that the standard has dropped,” added Gayle, who played in Spain last season.

Tonight’s game will be shown live on BBC iPlayer and on the Red Button. Ellis added: “Greece are a big basketball nation with a lot of experience, we’re expecting a hard game but to get to where we want, you have to be a good team.”