Albania men's national basketball team

Albania

File:Albanian Basketball Federation.jpg
FIBA ranking	T-94
Joined FIBA	1947
Coach	Mark Dickel
Nickname(s)	Kuq e zinjtё
Olympic Games
Appearances	None
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	None
EuroBasket
Appearances	2
Medals	None
Home Away

The Albanian national basketball team is the basketball side that represents Albania in international competitions.

Roster

Albania national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. PG 4 Eni Llazani 22 – (1989-11-30)30 November 1989 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) BC Kamza Basket SG 5 Redi Vogli 25 – (1987-01-01)1 January 1987 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) PBC Tirana PF 6 Nebojsa Tošić 12 – (2000-07-27)27 July 2000 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) PBC Tirana PG 7 Algert Gjonaj 24 – (1987-10-18)18 October 1987 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) PBC Tirana C 8 Bruno Daliu 27 – (1985-07-02)2 July 1985 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) PBC Tirana PG 10 Erkand Karaj 30 – (1982-05-03)3 May 1982 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) BC Kamza Basket PG 11 Genti Lasku 27 – (1985-03-24)24 March 1985 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) PBC Tirana C 12 Ersid Ljuca 31 – (1981-05-10)10 May 1981 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) KB Peja C 12 Ermal Kuqo 32 – (1980-02-12)12 February 1980 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Turk Telekom B.K. PF 13 Klaudio Ndoja 27 – (1985-05-17)17 May 1985 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Guerino Vanoli Basket C 14 Endrit Hysenagolli 24 – (1988-07-05)5 July 1988 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) KB Peja PF 15 Gerti Shima 25 – (1986-05-09)9 May 1986 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) KB Sigal Prishtina G 31 Afrim Bilali 33 – (1979-09-08)8 September 1979 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) BC Kamza Basket	Head coach Enver Hoxha Legend Club – describes last club as of October 2013 Age – describes age as of September 2012

History

Main article: History of basketball in Albania

Basketball started spreading in Albania in the 20s, after the First World War with the creation of the first multi-sports societies. One of the oldest clubs that has paractised basketball is SK Tirana. No professional championships would start until the end of the Second World War. The first National Basketball Committee was created in September 1945 which would be responsible for the basketball problems in Albania. This opened the way for the Albanian Basketball Association ( originally Federata Shqiptare e Basketbollit ) to be formed a year later in 1946. In 1947 the Albanian Basketball Association became member of FIBA. The first basketball championship started in 1946 while just a year later started the women basketball championship with the participation of eight clubs from all over Albania. In 1951 the Albanian Basketball Federation started a new tournament that would be open to all professional and amateur basketball clubs in the country, the Republic's Cup. In 1952 was started also the Women's Republic Cup and the youths Republic's Cup. Another more massive basketball tournament was included in the National Spartakiada from 1959 to 1989. Basketball has greatly developed in Albania and is now the second favourite sport of every Albanian. In 1999 the Albanian Basketball Association decided to start another tournament, the Basketball Super-Cup.

Eurobasket 1947

Albania first competed in the European championship at Eurobasket 1947. Their debut performance ended without a win, as they lost all three preliminary games, both semifinal round games, and the 13th/14th place classification match to finish 14th out of 14 teams.

Preliminary Round

Albania 15 – 60 Italy

Albania 11 – 114 Belgium

Albania 19 – 104 Egypt

Semi-Final Round

Albania 19 – 73 Romania

Albania 27 – 44 Austria

Final Round

Albania 13 – 90 Yugoslavia

Eurobasket 1957

Ten years later, at Eurobasket 1957 in Sofia, the Albanians fared no better. They lost ten matches out of ten played, going 0–3 in the preliminary round and 0–7 in the classification round to finish 16th of 16.

Preliminary Round

Albania 57 – 89 Yugoslavia

Albania 37 – 71 Czechoslovakia

Albania 42 – 65 Scotland

Classification Round

Albania 56 – 69 Scotland

Albania 43 – 72 Germany

Albania 42 – 91 Finland

Albania 42 – 82 Italy

Albania 64 – 97 Turkey

Albania 45 – 58 Austria

Albania 48 – 90 Belgium

Competitive record

At Eurobasket

FIBA EuroBasket
Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1947	14th Place	6	0	6
1957	16th Place	10	0	10
Total		16	0	16

At Promotion Cup

Promotion Cup
Year	Position	Pld	W	L
2002	6th Place	5	3	2
2004	5th Place	5	3	2
2006	Runners-up	5	4	1
Total		15	10	5

Placements

Men competitions

European Promotion Cup

• 2002: European Promotion Cup – 6th place
• 2004: European Promotion Cup – 5th place
• 2006: European Promotion Cup – 2nd place

European Championship

• 1947: European Championship – 14th place

• 1957: European Championship – 16th place
• 1995: European Championship – Qualifying Round
• 1997: European Championship – Qualifying Round
• 1999: European Championship – Preliminary Round
• 2005: Eurobasket – Division B
• 2007: Eurobasket – Division B
• 2009: Eurobasket – Division B

European Olympic Qualifying Tournament

• 1972: European Olympic Qualifying Tournament – Preliminary Round
• 1992: European Olympic Qualifying Tournament – Preliminary Round

Women competitions

European Promotion Cup

• 1996: European Promotion Cup – 2nd place
• 2002: European Promotion Cup – 1st place

European Championship

• 1997: European Championship – Qualifying Round

Youth competitions

• 1999: European Promotion Cup for Junior Men – 7th place
• 2001: European Promotion Cup for Junior Men – 4th place
• 2003: European Promotion Cup for Junior Men – 1st place
• 2005: U18 European Promotion Cup Women – 3rd place