The year-old 31-7ft 1in player from Leicestershire bases his opitimism on the inclusion in Britain's team of NBA stars like Chicago Bulls players Luol Deng and Ben Gordon and Toronto Raptors Pops Mensah-Bonsu, while Rob Archibald has reached the final eight in Spain with his club Unicaja.

 

Betts is currently in the quarter finals of the Greek play-offs, where his club Aris have a 1-0 lead over Panionios thanks to their narrow 75-74 win, a game in which Betts hit six-out-of-six from the field to help net 15 points.

He said: "If everyone like me, Rob, Luol, Ben and Pops are fit and turn up for GB this summer it will be without a doubt the best group of individuals this country has ever assembled.

"Many people are telling me they believe we could be the surprise team this summer. At the moment they are saying that because of how strong we look on paper, but like last summer, and the one before, it's now up to us to deliver."

 

It is the first time that Britain have qualified for this stage of the competition since 1981 and Betts is desperate to be involved after having to watch from the stands at The O2 last summer, due to injury.

He was hampered by a back injury and consequently was forced to wait until Britain's trip to Pardubice, where they secured their EuroBasket finals place with a 67-63 win over the Czech Republic, to get time on court.

 

That meant that Ashby-born Betts also missed out on Britain's debut at The O2 arena, where they were previously victorious against the same opposition.

With that in mind Betts cannot wait for the chance to step out and play at the London 2012 venue this summer, when British Basketball hosts the four nation tournament, Game On At The O2, from August 14-16.

He said: "Obviously Turkey, Israel and Poland are three very strong teams, but they will be great preparation for us leading up to EuroBasket.

"I'm really looking forward to playing at The O2.

 

"It's such a great arena, and it killed me to miss that game last summer.

"The atmosphere was terrific at the Czech game last summer and I hope we get as many fans, or more, for Game On At The O2."