Basketball: Home talent exodus endangers England

THE BUDWEISER LEAGUE restarts tonight after the break for the European Championships, but the England coach, Laszlo Nemeth, issued a warning to the best domestic talent aspiring to international basketball.

"As long as the League remains isolated from Europe, they will have to find jobs abroad if they want to play for England." The League allows five Americans per team, and even though some qualify for British passports, none are eligible for the national team. The rest of Europe permits only two Americans.

Last weekend England lost 79-76 in Tel Aviv against Israel, with a team comprising nine players from Continental clubs and only Manchester Giants veteran Ronnie Baker representing the Budweiser League.

Israel are one of the 16 teams in this summer's finals in France. Nemeth said: "Twelve or 13 of those squads have built their backbone on players from their own league. We had one - Baker. I never see my players to prepare for games."