The Albanian national basketball team (Template:Lang-sq) is the national basketball team of Albania and it has represented the nation since 1947.[1] Having not played a competitive game since 2012, the national team will return to action in 2016 for EuroBasket 2017 qualification.
History
Basketball was introduced in Albania in the early 20th century, and it became popular in the 1920s following the end of World War I as sports societies and clubs were being formed all over the country, and basketball was soon introduced to the major towns and cities in Albania. Basketball was played informally by teams representing different sports clubs, and it wasn't until September 1945 that a National Basketball Committee was formed that would be responsible for dealing with the issues basketball teams in the country faced. The committee paved the way for the creation of the Albanian Basketball Association (ABA) a year later in 1946, which became a member of FIBA in 1947, and who's main goals were to enable clubs to compete in national competitions, as well a promote the sport. The first National Championship in Albania was held in 1946, and a year later the first Women's National Championship also took place. In 1951 the ABA created the Republic's Cup, which was a competition open to all professional and amateur basketball clubs in Albania, with the women's and youth versions of the competition both starting in 1952. During the Communist regime in Albania, the National Spartakiad was held between 1959 and 1989, where basketball was one of the more popular sports in display in the country's biggest sports events. In 1999 the ABA held the first Albanian Basketball Supercups for men and women, which is played between the winners of the league and cup.
Tournament history
EuroBasket 1947
Albania first competed in a European championship at EuroBasket 1947 held in Prague, Czechoslovakia, shortly after joining FIBA as an affiliate national team. In the preliminary round of the competition Albania was placed in Group D with Italy, Belgium and Egypt, and their first game in a major tournament came against Italy in a 15–60 loss, and they went on to lose 11–114 and 19–104 to Belgium and Egypt, respectively. In the next round, they were placed in the lower bracket Group 3 to determine who finishes between the 7th and 10th places, where they faced Romania and Austria. Albania lost 19–73 to Romania and 27–44 to Austria. They then went on to face Yugoslavia in the final game to determine who finishes in penultimate place, where they lost 13–90 to Yugoslavia and finished in last place out of 14 teams, with a record of 0 wins and 6 losses. Albania averaged just 17.3 points per game, with their highest point tally coming against Austria where they scored 27 points, and lost by their smallest margin of 17 points. They conceded an average of 80.3 points per game, with their highest scoring opponents being Belgium who defeated Albania 114–11.
10 years after their debut tournament performance, Albania competed at EuroBasket 1957 in Sofia, Bulgaria, where they were placed in Group A in the preliminary round with Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Scotland. They lost 57–89 to Yugoslavia in their opening game, and then went on to lose 37–71 and 42–65 to Czechoslovakia and Scotland, respectively, to finish bottom of the group. During the classification round, Albania faced Turkey, Italy, Finland, Belgium, West Germany, Austria and Scotland. Albania lost all 7 games in the classification round which led to them finishing bottom of another EuroBasket tournament, this time out of 16 team. Albania averaged 47.6 points per game, with their highest points tally coming against Turkey in a 64–97 loss, which was also the highest scoring game for their opponents, and conceded an average of 78.4 points per game during the tournament. Despite better performances than those in 1947, they could not manage to escape finish bottom once again.
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
Footnotes
^Albania's senior national team defeated the youth national team 76–48 at the VII Balkan Championship in Tiranë in 1965.
^Albania defeated Algeria at the GANEFO games in 1963, but the score is unknown so recorded as a 2–0 victory for Albania.
^Albania defeated a squad representing Beijing 73–65 during a tour of China in 1972.
^Albania forfeited a game against Bulgaria at the 1960 Balkan Championship in Sofia, so recorded as 2–0 victory for Bulgaria.
^Albania lost 64–49 to Bulgaria's youth national team at the 1960 Balkan Championship in Sofia.
^Albania defeated China's youth national team 77–64 during a tour of China in 1977.
^Albania defeated a squad representing the North Korean Interior Ministry called Security Forces 102–92 during a tour of North Korea in 1977.
^Albania withdrew from playing Israel for political reasons at the XVIII Universiade, the World University Games in Turin, so recorded as a 2–0 victory for Israel.
^Albania defeated a squad representing Jiangsu during a tour of China in 1972, but the score is unknown so recorded as a 2–0 victory for Albania.
^Albania lost to a squad representing Jiangsu 73–63 during a tour of China in 1974.
Italy
Albania
Belgium
Egypt
Romania
Austria
Yugoslavia
Czechoslovakia
Scotland
West Germany
Finland
Turkey
Mark Dickel[4]
Antonis Constantinides[7]
Algeria
Beijing
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Cuba
DPR Korea
East Germany
Egypt
England
France
Free Territory of Trieste
Greece
Guinea
Hungary
Indonesia
Israel
Iceland
Lebanon
Luxembourg
Mali
Mongolia
Netherlands
North Vietnam
Poland
Philippines
Senegal
Soviet Union
Sudan
Sweden
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