Luol Deng was one of four ex-Brixton Topcats players in action for Team GB at brand new Basketball Arena in the heart of Olympic Park, Stratford, last week.

The Chicago Bulls NBA player, along with Eric Boating, Ogo Adegboye, Matt Bryan-Amaning all had their first taste of the Olympic venue during the London 2012 test event.

But unfortunately they ended up the six-team round robin tournament with only one win against China while France, who had six NBA players including San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker in their star-studded line up, topped the final standings after winning all five of their matches.

Deng, who spent his teenage years living in South Norwood and whose family are still there, scored 15 points against China and said: “It's been a while since I played for GB but I loved being back with the guys.

"It's been very tough to jump straight into the side.

"However, we've got a lot of improvements to make and we need to look at a few things, although the main thing was to win the game and we did that well."

This weekend, Deng and the rest of his British team-mates travel to Lithuania to take on the hosts, defending champions Spain, 2010 World championship runners-up Turkey, Poland and Portugal in 2011 EuroBasket Championships.