As well as coaching Britain, the American is also the head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, an American team who play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) Development League who are affiliated with the Houston Rockets.

Finch started his successful coaching career in England with the Sheffield Sharks and, before his recent move home to the United States, was the coach of Belgium outfit Dexia Mons-Hainaut.

But he claims that there is a wealth of unmined talent in Britain and that London 2012 coule be a catalyst for the sport to really take off.

Finch said: “London alone has so much talent just walking around the streets.

"The development structures [in Britain] need to solidify and we need an injection of new coaching philosophies and ideas but having said that, I really believe that the single biggest spark for a huge growth in development for British basketball would be if we can continue to be successful on the highest level.

"If we can make some noise for a medal run in London in 2012, that will generate the same kind of interest that is generated when a British player goes deep into the draw at Wimbledon and gets everyone watching and playing the sport.

"I think if we can grab that kind of attention and then get people like the BBC and the other major outlets and sponsors to take note; that is what we need to sustain success."

The international experience that Britain is gaining in the build-up to London 2012 is also hoping to rapidly improve standards.

He said "At the European Championships last year, we had an extremely tough group with Spain, Serbia and Slovenia as Spain and Serbia contested the final but we were competitive in every game and we learnt a lot.

"We are really looking forward to this summer and to putting into play what we have learnt but it all starts with our players.

"Luol Deng has been outstanding, a true leader and he’s always fully committed to the programme but last year he was hurt so he couldn’t play so that decision was taken out of his hands.

"This year, we’re really hoping that Ben Gordon [who plays for the Detroit Pistons] will play.

"Ben says that if Luol is there, it is more than likely he will be there and when we get him involved, we take another huge step forward.

"We've got some really good, seasoned European guys as well and though we do have a few holes in our line up, we've never really had our best twelve together guys yet.

"So if we can do that and add our collective experience that we’ve been able to pick up over the last couple of summers then I think we really start to make some significant noise.

"We’ve done a great job of achieving every step so far and we’ve got all the resources and all the talent and see ourselves as on course."

Finch's move to the US has not affected his role with Britain's team and he is relishing the opportunity to prove himself at home.

He said: "I was little nervous giving up what I had built in Europe but the opportunity to work with a first class organisation such as Houston and learn and get reacclimatised to the game over here was something I couldn't pass up and I don’t regret the move at all.

"I’m extremely happy both on and off the floor and I really like my team too.

"The game is a lot faster paced over here than in Europe but my teams have always played at a fast pace so it wasn’t hard for me to adapt when I came here."

But despite his move back across the Atlantic, Britain and the London Olympics remain at the forefront of Finch’s thoughts.

He said: "Britain is a fantastic place to have lived and worked in for 10 years and it’s so exciting to be a part of what is now the Olympic Movement.

"Up until now it’s been laying the groundwork but now, we're really talking Olympics.

"We had a planning meeting several months ago where we were deciding if we were going to stay inside the [Olympic] Village or outside the Village and that starts to get the juices flowing because that’s pretty special stuff."

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