While the rest of us were enjoying the New Year the GB women's team were sweating it out in the Division A relegation playoffs. Despite a great opening win in Finland the Brits very narrowly finished third in the round robin. And the agony of a narrow defeat to Finland, at the University of Worcester, was there for all to see after Channel 4 followed the team for a documentary.
There was good news for the GB men's coaching staff as Tony Garbelotto guided the Everton Tigers to BBL Cup victory and then Nick Nurse was selected to coach the NBA D-league All Star game.
February
Mark Clark resigned as head coach of the GB women's team at the start of the month. Towards the end of February Pops Mensah-Bonsu signed for Spurs; no not his beloved Tottenham Hotspurs but the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA, after impressing in the NBA D-League. Meanwhile Luol Deng and Ben Gordon both met President Barak Obama at the White House and then played in front of the American Prime Minister when the Chicago Bulls took on Washington.
March
From the Spurs to the Raptors, Pops Mensah-Bonsu joined Toronto. Elsewhere in North America Johannah Leedham guided Franklin University to the NCAA semi finals. Back in Britain Damian Jennings' UWIC Archers won the British University Championships title.
The Daily Mirror were also announced as the new media partner to British Basketball.
Finally this month it was announced that GB would take on Poland, Israel and Turkey at Game On At The O2, the first international basketball tournament to be held in the country.
May
Tom Maher was announced as the new head coach of the GB women's basketball team and further to that FIBA announced that the team would be reinstated to Division A.
In Spain Joel Freeland came fourth in the Jugador Revelacion while Johannah Leedham was named in the NCAA Division II State Farm/WBCA All-American team in the States.
June
The women's senior and under-20 squads gathered for training in Manchester.
July
Tom Maher got his first taste of the GB programme when he took coached the GB World University Games squad in Belgrade where, by all accounts, they exceeded expectation. The Brits beat hosts Serbia and eventually finished sixth overall.
The U20 women finished ninth in Division B at the European Championships in Estonia, while the under 20 men finished 13th in their respective tournament.
August
This month started with a bang as Standard Life announced a five-year deal as title sponsor to British Basketball. August 14-16 then saw Game On At The O2 come to London, which was won by Turkey. Britain were without Luol Deng, who had withdrawn his name from the team roster due to injury, however he spent two hours on Radio 1 with Vernon Kay.
The GB men's team were struck down with injury and illness but they managed to secure a crucial test win against Slovenia in Spain.
September
GB arrived in Poland for their first European Championships. Still recovering from injuries and illness, and with Pops Mensah-Bonsu only able to join them days before they flew to Warsaw, it made the task all the more daunting. Britain went down 3-0 to Slovenia, Spain and Serbia which eliminated them from the first round. However the standout moment of the tournament came in their game against Spain when they led by four-points and very nearly caused a massive shock, as a win would have eliminated the reigning World Champions. As it was Spain went on to win EuroBasket, beating Serbia in the final, and Slovenia finished fourth.
October
Tim Lewis and Damian Jennings were appointed the head coaches of the men's and women's under 20 teams respectively while Chris Finch was named head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the NBA D-league. Meanwhile Luol Deng made his Bulls debut in London as he captained his Chicago side at The O2.
November
Toronto Raptors resigned Pops Mensah-Bonsu, from the Houston Rockets, while Kelenna Azubuike was counted out for the rest of the season due to knee surgery. Johannah Leedham broke two more NE-10 records with the Ravens while Joel Freeland enjoyed yet more impressive stands with his new Spanish side, Unicaja. Kieron Achara and Mike Lenzly also faced each other in the Euro Cup.
December
The GB men discovered that they would have to wait to play global opposition after FIBA announced it would award the four wildcards for the World Championships to Russia, Germany, Lithuania and Lebanon. That meant Britain will play EuroBasket qualifying next summer.
Happy New Year to all British Basketball supporters. Here's hoping 2010 will be even bigger and better.
