Significant matters for British basketball are on the slate in Edinburgh this weekend.

Great Britain's women meet Canada this afternoon in the first of two friendlies in consecutive days as part of their build-up towards the Olympic Games – a good outcome could resonate in London – and, off the court, discourse of greater consequence will also be taking place.

The powers that be within Basketball Scotland and its counterparts in England and Wales have gathered to determine their future co-existence. Within three weeks, they must opt either to retain a united front post-2012 or go solo once more. The decision will impact hugely on those whose effort is measured in sweat.

None more, perhaps, than Rose Anderson. The games against Canada represent a homecoming for the 24-year-old who, in her youth, would sneak into Meadowbank, either to watch the since-departed Edinburgh Rocks or to put in extra training for her club, Kool Kats.

Anderson was one of Scotland's youngest ever internationalists and went to the United States to combine basketball with university, out of necessity rather than choice. "When you come from a place like Scotland, you can't stay there if you want to be the best you can be," she said. "You'd be playing twice a week with a game on Saturday. You can't be as dedicated. So you'd love to have a more personal set-up where people can stay."

Anderson received exactly that when she returned last summer to play with UWIC Cardiff. Since making her GB debut in 2010, she has faced giants such as Russia and played in a EuroBasket finals. Within weeks, she will face the USA before, should she be selected, the Olympics begin.

Scotland, who run a parallel programme, will line up instead in July against the likes of San Marino and Andorra in Europe's Small Nations competition. That would represent Anderson's future fate if separatism holds sway.

"I'd much rather have the Great Britain set-up," she said. "We'd be much stronger. It would maybe be a different story if we had five lassies in the Great Britain team. I might say something different to you. But we just don't have the base to have a strong team the way the clubs are."

Britain, like their male counterparts, will arrive without any real pedigree at the Olympics. Since the GB set-up was established in 2006, they have earned respect but expectations remain modest. Last weekend, the women won a tournament in Belgium in a boon to the aspirations of Tom Maher, the head coach.

The Australian is a wise judge of his own team's potential. Having taken his native land to silver in Sydney 12 years ago, he subsequently led both New Zealand and China to their best international spells. Canada, bound for this month's Olympic qualifying tournament in Turkey, will prove a good barometer.

"They're ranked in the top 20," he said. "We're about 70 or something. But we want to see if we can hang with teams of that calibre."

n The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics will square off tonight for a place in the NBA Finals. LeBron James scored 45 points to help Miami to a 98-79 win on Thursday to force a decisive Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder await the winners.

mark woods