Turkey men's national basketball team
File:Tbf yeni 0.jpg | |||
FIBA ranking | 7 ![]() | ||
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Joined FIBA | 1936 | ||
FIBA zone | FIBA Europe | ||
National federation | TBF | ||
Coach | Bogdan Tanjević | ||
Nickname(s) | 12 Dev Adam (12 Giant Men) | ||
Olympic Games | |||
Appearances | 2 | ||
Medals | None | ||
FIBA World Cup | |||
Appearances | 3 | ||
Medals | ![]() | ||
EuroBasket | |||
Appearances | 22 | ||
Medals | ![]() | ||
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The Turkish national basketball team, is the basketball section that represents Turkey in international competitions. The team is nicknamed "12 Dev Adam" (literally: "12 Giant Men").
Turkey is considered as a strong force and is placed among the top basketball powers in Europe; they won two silver medals in international tournaments, one at EuroBasket and one at the FIBA World Championship. Currently, Turkey ranks sixth in the FIBA World Rankings.
History
Ahmet Robenson was known as being the first organizer of basketball in Turkey. In 1936 Turkey played their first ever basketball match against Greece winning 49–12. For many years basketball was the second most popular sport in Turkey but the national basketball team was never successful until the late 90s. Efes Pilsen was the first Turkish team to win a European Cup in any sports by clinching the Korać Cup. Since then basketball in Turkey has grown constantly as the national basketball team began to play a major role in international tournaments.
1930s–1940s EuroBasket debut
Turkey's European championship debut came at EuroBasket 1949. The Turks split their six games in the seven-team round robin tournament, finishing with three wins and three losses for 4th place.
1950s
Turkey competed again at EuroBasket 1951 in Paris. Their only loss in the preliminary round was to the Soviet Union as Turkey earned the second-rank spot with a 3–1 record. Their single loss to Bulgaria in the semi-final round, however, was enough to bump them from championship contention as they came out on the bottom of a three-way tie with a 2–1 record. They won their classification 5–8 game, but lost the 5/6 game to Italy.
Turkey returned after missing 1953's edition to EuroBasket 1955 in Budapest. They went 1–2 in their preliminary round group, taking third in the pool and moving to classification play. There they lost only to France on their way to a 3–1 record in classification round 1. They lost their 9–12 semi-final by 1 point to Finland, but defeated England 77–54 in the next game to take 11th place of the 18 team tournament.
Turkey appeared again at EuroBasket 1957 in Sofia. Losing to the Soviet Union and Poland in the preliminary round, Turkey took third in the group to be sent to the classification pool. They defeated each of the other seven teams in the classification round in order to take 9th place of the 16 teams.
Mediterranean success
The 60s, 70s and 80s would be a barren time for the national basketball team, they were however successful at the Mediterranean Games winning two bronze medals in 1967 and 1983, one silver medal in 1971 and one gold medal in 1987.
1990s
Turkey appeared again at EuroBasket 1993 after 12 years but it finished 11th among 16 teams. Turkey finished 13th among 14 teams at EuroBasket 1995, 8th among 16 teams at EuroBasket 1997, and again 8th among 16 teams at EuroBasket 1999.
2000s
At EuroBasket 2001, the Turkish national basketball team gave Turkish basketball a major boost by reaching the EuroBasket final for the first time in their history defeating Croatia in the quarter-finals and Germany in the semi-finals, in the final game Turkey played against Yugoslavia and lost with a score of 69–78 winning the silver medal. Turkish star İbrahim Kutluay scored 19 points in the final game and was included in the all-tournament team.
Turkey then qualified for the 2002 FIBA World Championship. Turkey had 4 wins and 4 defeats at the championship and finished 9th.
At EuroBasket 2003, Turkey reached the second round where they got eliminated by Serbia and Montenegro.
Turkey qualified for EuroBasket 2005 held in Serbia and Montenegro, but lost to Lithuania (87–75) and Croatia (80–67), defeating only Bulgaria (94–89) in the preliminary round. This win brought Turkey to the knock-out stage, where Germany eliminated the team 66–57. Turkey ended the tournament with a 9–12 rank.
Turkey was awarded one of the four wild cards by FIBA for the qualification to the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan.
Turkish squad completed the preliminary rounds in Group C at second place after the Greek team, and was entitled to play in the round of 16, winning 4 matches against Lithuania (76–74), Australia (76–68), Brazil (73–71) and Qatar (76–69) of the total 5, beaten only by Greece (69–76) in the last match. The young team made also achievements such as the first official win over Lithuania and the first ever 4 consecutive wins in a championship. On August 26, 2006 Turkish national team qualified for the Elite Eight defeating Slovenia by 90–84. In the quarter-finals Turkey lost to Argentina, they managed to defeat Lithuania once again before losing to France finishing 6th.
A new nickname, "12 Cesur Yürek" (12 Brave Hearts) was proposed after the young and inexperienced team's surprising performance in the 2006 World Championship, despite not having star players Hidayet Türkoğlu, Mehmet Okur, Mirsad Türkcan, Kerem Tunçeri and Hüseyin Beşok.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Turkey_74-76_Greece%2C_EuroBasket.jpg/250px-Turkey_74-76_Greece%2C_EuroBasket.jpg)
At EuroBasket 2007 Turkey played in Group C with Lithuania, Germany and Czech Republic. Turkey began by losing 86–69 to Lithuania and was then blown out 79–49 by Germany. The team ended group play with an 80–72 win over fellow bottom-of-the-group team Czech Republic. With that win Turkey advanced to the next round, but the team lost all its games (66–51 to Slovenia, 84–75 to Italy, 85–64 to France) in that round. Turkey were eliminated from EuroBasket 2007 with a 1–5 record and an 11th place finish.
At EuroBasket 2009 Turkey played in group D with hosts Poland, Lithuania and Bulgaria. The D group matches took place in Wrocław, Poland. Turkey won all three of its group matches and qualified for the second round. Turkey enjoyed a strong start in the second round as well. The team won its first match, against World Champions Spain, when Aşık and İlyasova rejected a last-second shot by Sergio Llull. Turkey then beat Serbia in overtime. Turkey's winning streak came to an end against Slovenia, when, despite a 19-point comeback, Atsür missed a desperation three pointer in a 69–67 loss. In the quarter-finals, Turkey met Greece and lost a close game in overtime finishing the tournament 8th. Turkey won the bronze medal at the 2009 Mediterranean Games.
2010s
As the host country, Turkey automatically qualified for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Turkey topped their group winning all their games against Côte d'Ivoire, Russia, Greece, Puerto Rico and China. In the knockout stages Turkey managed to defeat France, Slovenia and Serbia in a thrilling semi-final match which Turkey won 83–82. The team enjoyed its greatest FIBA success to date, going undefeated in group play and progressing to the final, where they eventually lost to the United States and won the silver medal. Each player gained 1,500,000 TL (approximately $1,000,000 in September, 2010) prize from the government for being the runner-up in the competition.[1]
Orhun Ene was appointed head coach to lead Turkey during EuroBasket 2011, unfortunately the team had a bad tournament as they got eliminated in the second group phase after losing three straight games. Enes Kanter the big potential of international basketball was included to the roster for the first time. Turkey is the only team that managed to defeat EuroBasket 2011 winners Spain during the tournament.
Current roster
Template:Turkey National Basketball Team roster
Depth Chart
Pos. | Starter | Bench | Bench | Reserve | Inactive |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Ömer Aşık | Semih Erden | Kerem Gönlüm | ||
PF | Ersan İlyasova | Enes Kanter | İlkan Karaman | Furkan Aldemir | |
SF | Hedo Türkoğlu | Emir Preldžić | Serhat Çetin | İzzet Türkyılmaz | |
SG | Ömer Onan | Sinan Güler | Göksenin Köksal | Cenk Akyol | |
PG | Kerem Tunçeri | Ender Arslan | Doğuş Balbay | Barış Ermiş |
Competitive record
FIBA World Championship
Olympic Games
Mediterranean Games
|
EuroBasket
FIBA Under-19 World Championship
|
European Youth Championship Performances
1 | Under-16 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
2 | Under-18 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
3 | Under-20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Past rosters1936 Olympic Games: finished 21st among 21 teams Kamil Ocak, Şeref Alemdar, Naili Moran, Hazdayi Penso, Nihat Ertuğ, Jak Habib, Feridun Koray, Dionis Sakalak, Sadri Usluoğlu, Hayri Arsebük (Coach: Rupen Semerciyan) 1949 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 7 teams Hüseyin Öztürk, Samim Göreç, Ali Uras, Avram Barokas, Mehmet Ali Yalım, Tevfik Tankut, Sacit Seldüz, Erdoğan Partener, Ayduk Koray, Haşim Tankut, Candaş Tekeli, Vitali Benazus 1951 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 17 teams Yalçın Granit, Ali Uras, Mehmet Ali Yalım, Avram Barokas, Sacit Seldüz, Nejat Diyarbakırlı, Yılmaz Gündüz, Cemil Sevin, Sadi Gülçelik, Ertem Göreç, Ayhan Demir 1952 Olympic Games: finished 22nd among 23 teams Yalçın Granit, Ali Uras, Mehmet Ali Yalım, Altan Dinçer, Sacit Seldüz, Nejat Diyarbakırlı, Yılmaz Gündüz, Sadi Gülçelik, Yüksel Alkan, Turhan Tezol, Erdoğan Partener, Güney Ülmen 1955 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 18 teams Yalçın Granit, Mehmet Ali Yalım, Altan Dinçer, Sadi Gülçelik, Tunç Erim, Yüksel Alkan, Turhan Tezol, Yalçın Okaya, Yavuz Türkoğlu, Üner Erimer, Yüksel Böke, Erdoğan Karabelen, Cahit Tanık, Şinasi Ertan 1957 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 16 teams Yalçın Granit, Mehmet Baturalp, Orhan Girgin, Tunç Erim, Yavuz Türkoğlu, Yılmaz Gündüz, Altan Dinçer, Turhan Tezol, Üner Erimer, Erdoğan Karabelen, Erkan Gündüz 1959 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 17 teams Mehmet Baturalp, Ünal Büyükaycan, Nedret Uyguç, Şengün Kaplanoğlu, Turhan Tezol, Tunç Erim, Ömer Urkon, Özer Salnur, Erdoğan Karabelen, Güner Yalçıner, Tuğrul Demir, Ali Kazaz (Coach: Samim Göreç) 1961 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 19 teams Mehmet Baturalp, Şengün Kaplanoğlu, Nedret Uyguç, Dursun Açıkbaş, Altan Dinçer, Tuncer Kobaner, Haşim Ülkü, Ömer Urkon, Ali Kazaz, Yavuz Demir, Erdal Poyrazoğlu, Ersan Salihoğlu 1963 EuroBasket: finished 15th among 16 teams Mehmet Baturalp, Nedret Uyguç, Nedim Hoşgör, Ünal Büyükaycan, Şengün Kaplanoğlu, Tuncer Kobaner, Haşim Ülkü, Özer Salnur, Halil Dağlı, İlker Esel, Hüseyin Kozluca, Yavuz Demir (Coach: Yalçın Granit) 1971 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 12 teams Nur Germen, Hüseyin Alp, Kemal Erdenay, Nadir Vekiloğlu, Barış Küce, Battal Durusel, Zeki Tosun, Reşat Güney, Cihat İlkbaşaran, Serdar Ersözlü, Abdullah İnce (Coach: Mehmet Baturalp) 1973 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 12 teams Aydın Örs, Doğan Hakyemez, Kemal Erdenay, Battal Durusel, Reşat Güney, Nuri Tan, Serdar Ersözlü, Necmi Ton, Zeki Tosun, Erdal Poyrazoğlu, Abdullah İnce, Halil Dağlı (Coach: Mehmet Baturalp) 1975 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 12 teams Nur Germen, Kemal Erdenay, Doğan Hakyemez, Efe Aydan, Barış Küce, Battal Durusel, Nadir Vekiloğlu, Ömürden Kısagün, Zeki Tosun, Erdal Poyrazoğlu, Abdullah İnce, Kemal Akıncı (Coach: Mehmet Baturalp) 1981 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 12 teams Efe Aydan, Erman Kunter, Doğan Hakyemez, Aytek Gürkan, Emir Turam, Necati Güler, Mehmet Döğüşken, Serdar Koçyiğit, Melih Erçin, Cevat Soydaş, Celal Arısan, Sadi Olcay 1993 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 16 teams Harun Erdenay, Orhun Ene, Lütfi Arıboğan, Levent Topsakal, Ömer Büyükaycan, Hüsnü Çakırgil, Tamer Oyguç, Volkan Aydın, Serdar Apaydın, Murat Konuk, Erdal Koşan, Ömer Saybir (Coach: Nur Germen) 1995 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 14 teams Harun Erdenay, Orhun Ene, İbrahim Kutluay, Haluk Yıldırım, Levent Topsakal, Ömer Büyükaycan, Tamer Oyguç, Lütfi Arıboğan, Mirsad Türkcan, Murat Konuk, Murat Evliyaoğlu, Serdar Apaydın (Coach: Çetin Yılmaz) 1997 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 16 teams İbrahim Kutluay, Harun Erdenay, Orhun Ene, Ufuk Sarıca, Mirsad Türkcan, Tamer Oyguç, Hüseyin Beşok, Volkan Aydın, Murat Evliyaoğlu, Murat Konuk, Tunç Girgin, Kemal Tunçeri (Coach: Ercüment Sunter) 1999 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 16 teams Hidayet Türkoğlu, İbrahim Kutluay, Mehmet Okur, Mirsad Türkcan, Ufuk Sarıca, Hüseyin Beşok, Tamer Oyguç, Haluk Yıldırım, Murat Konuk, Kerem Tunçeri, Cüneyt Erden, Asım Pars (Coach: Erman Kunter) 2001 EuroBasket: finished 2nd among 16 teams İbrahim Kutluay, Hidayet Türkoğlu, Mehmet Okur, Mirsad Türkcan, Hüseyin Beşok, Harun Erdenay, Orhun Ene, Haluk Yıldırım, Kaya Peker, Kerem Tunçeri, Ömer Onan, Asım Pars (Coach: Aydın Örs) 2002 World Championship: finished 9th among 16 teams Hidayet Türkoğlu, Mehmet Okur, İbrahim Kutluay, Harun Erdenay, Mirsad Türkcan, Hüseyin Beşok, Haluk Yıldırım, Kerem Tunçeri, Kaya Peker, Ömer Onan, Hakan Köseoğlu, Asım Pars (Coach: Aydın Örs) 2003 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 16 teams Hidayet Türkoğlu, Mehmet Okur, İbrahim Kutluay, Mirsad Türkcan, Hüseyin Beşok, Kaya Peker, Kerem Gönlüm, Kerem Tunçeri, Ender Arslan, Ömer Onan, Haluk Yıldırım, Rasim Başak (Coach: Aydın Örs) 2005 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 16 teams Hidayet Türkoğlu, Mehmet Okur, İbrahim Kutluay, Serkan Erdoğan, Mirsad Türkcan, Kaya Peker, Ermal Kurtoğlu, Kerem Gönlüm, Kerem Tunçeri, Ender Arslan, Cenk Akyol, Fatih Solak (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević) 2006 World Championship: finished 6th among 24 teams İbrahim Kutluay, Serkan Erdoğan, Ersan İlyasova, Kaya Peker, Kerem Gönlüm, Ermal Kurtoğlu, Ender Arslan, Semih Erden, Engin Atsür, Cenk Akyol, Hakan Demirel, Fatih Solak (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević) 2007 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 16 teams Hidayet Türkoğlu, Mehmet Okur, İbrahim Kutluay, Kaya Peker, Kerem Gönlüm, Ender Arslan, Ermal Kurtoğlu, Engin Atsür, Cenk Akyol, Ersan İlyasova, Semih Erden, Hakan Demirel (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević) 2009 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 16 teams Bekir Yarangüme, Sinan Güler, Engin Atsür, Ömer Onan, Ersan İlyasova, Semih Erden, Kerem Tunçeri, Oğuz Savaş, Ömer Aşık, Ender Arslan, Barış Hersek, Hidayet Türkoğlu (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević) 2010 World Championship: finished 2nd among 24 teams Cenk Akyol, Sinan Güler, Barış Ermiş, Ömer Onan, Ersan İlyasova, Semih Erden, Kerem Tunçeri, Oğuz Savaş, Kerem Gönlüm, Ender Arslan, Ömer Aşık, Hidayet Türkoğlu (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević) Memorable matchesEuroBasket 1955: ![]() External links
ReferencesTemplate:Basketball in Turkey table cells ![]() Wikimedia Commons has media related to Turkey national basketball team. |