大象传媒

Beijing

Whoever said sport was one big soap opera was so right, and if there is one thing I will remember about these , apart from the sport and the splendour of the venues, it will be the drama.

They haven't yet reached the knock-out stages in the men's basketball competition and already have taken us on an emotional rollercoaster ride.

It started with a lack-lustre performance against Australia, which left me clutching my dreads in despair and feeling there was more chance of having a secret love child with than GB winning a medal in the event.

Then to compound this feeling of doom, I found out hours before the big game against the on-fire USA team that experienced trio Simon Munn, Terry Bywater and Matt Byrne had been struck down with gastroenteritis and would not play in the game.

At that point I thought the team were jinxed and destined to be unlucky here in Beijing.

How wrong I was. Thanks to an inspired performance, led by their talented captain from Wigan , and six rookies, including the impressive Jon Hall and Joe Bestwick, GB produced a seemingly unlikely four-point victory over the form team in the competition. Incredible!

So that was that. We were back on track and after a slightly anti-climactic but professional win over Brazil I had no reason to see any further problems with GB's route to a medal.

What an idiot. Have I not learned the rules of creating a great soap?

Just before you finish an episode you must end with a classic cliff-hanger moment to entice the viewers to return to their armchairs the next day craving for more. And oh how they did!

After finishing commentating on the GB v Israel game, I was handed a press release from Dave Gordon, 大象传媒 Sport's head of major events, which said GB head coach was returning to Australia immediately for treatment after complications to a long-standing injury.

I couldn't believe it. After all they had gone through, and then for this to happen.

First of all, I would like to wish coach Treseder a speedy recovery, but it means the GB boys will be entering the knock-out phase of the Paralympics with former assistant coach as their new off-court leader.

Now, more than any other time in their history, the GB team will need the experience and leadership of their more senior players.

Pollock, who was a precocious young talent and also known as the team joker, will have the added pressure of needing to show a maturity he has been accused at times of lacking.

, another early bloomer that could have easily been lost to the sport of wheelchair basketball to the track (having seen him on his legs running away from Simon Munn, I'm sure he could give Oscar Pistorius a run for his money), will need to finally produce that magic we have all been waiting to see for the last eight years.

However, the biggest burden now falls upon the coaching staff and, in particular, the replacement head coach Thomas.

Known as Saint, Sinclair (Thomas) has been a close friend of mine and a club and country team-mate for many years and I know he will be relishing this moment with his cool head and a vast amount of knowledge of the game.

It has been a busy time for him after his wife had a new baby boy the week before he arrived in Beijing.

Many of his close friends will know Sinclair overcame many challenges early in his career to achieve late success at international basketball.

He made his GB debut as a teenager before falling out of favour and it took another 10 years for him to return to the international game in time for Sydney in 2000.

But I think his biggest challenge may still be ahead of him , starting with a quarter-final match against Germany on Saturday.