The squad -- which includes San Antonio Spurs draftee Ryan Richards, as well as the Scottish trio of Ali MacKay, Ally Fraser and Lee Reilly -- face Portugal, Finland, Norway, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg in the first-round group.

Tim Lewis, the head coach, admits his team will need to be resilient to make the latter stages.

"We’re aiming to win the group and get through to the second round," he said. "Then it’s down to performances on the night. I’d like to see us get to the semi-finals.

"It’s tough to play five games in a row in any competition but, at that level, there’s a lot of intensity and you’re in unfamiliar surroundings with high temperatures, so it’s tough. We’ve got ourselves in a position to compete, though, and we’ve done a lot of strength and conditioning work to get ready."

• British Basketball officials have come under fire for playing two friendlies next month, against the Netherlands and Nigeria, behind closed doors, denying fans the chance to see Chicago Bulls’ Luol Deng in action on home soil.

The ties will be held at the American School in Surrey despite interest from elsewhere in staging the games. "There simply isn’t the capacity at the venue," explained a spokesperson.