Turkey national basketball team

Turkey
FIBA ranking	8
Joined FIBA	1936
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	TBF
Coach	Ergin Ataman
Nickname(s)	12 Dev Adam (12 Giant Men)
Olympic Games
Appearances	2
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	4
Medals	Silver: 2010
EuroBasket
Appearances	24
Medals	Silver: 2001
Uniforms
Light Dark

The Turkey national basketball team represents Turkey in international basketball competitions organized by FIBA. The team is nicknamed "12 Dev Adam", meaning 12 Giant Men.

Turkey has won two silver medals at major international tournaments, namely the FIBA World Cup (2010) and FIBA EuroBasket (2001). Turkey has also won two gold (1987, 2013); one silver (1971); and three bronze (1967, 1983, 2009) medals at the Mediterranean Games.

Currently, Turkey stands 8th in the FIBA World Rankings.

History

Ahmet Robenson was known as being the first organizer of basketball in Turkey.^[1] 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 team could not win any international tournaments until the 1980s, when Turkey won the gold medal at the 1981 Balkan Championship and the 1987 Mediterranean Games. Efes Pilsen was the first Turkish club to win a European Cup in any sport, the 1995–96 FIBA Korać Cup. Since then, basketball in Turkey has grown constantly, as the national basketball team began to play a major role in international tournaments. The Turkish national team won the silver medal in EuroBasket 2001, and the silver medal in the 2010 FIBA World Championship.^[2]

1930s–1940s

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.^[3]

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.

1960s–1980s

The 1960s, 1970s and 1980s were in general a barren period for the Turkish 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. Turkey also won the gold medal at the Balkan Championship in 1981. The team was led by notable coaches like Yalçın Granit and Mehmet Baturalp in the 1960s and 1970s, and by Aydan Siyavuş during the Balkan and Mediterranean triumphs of the 1980s, which marked the dawn of a successful new era in Turkish basketball (especially in European club competitions) starting from the late 1980s and early 1990s. Efe Aydan and Erman Kunter were among the notable players of this period in Turkish basketball. Erman Kunter, who still holds a number of all-time records in the Turkish Basketball League as a player, later became a successful coach in the Turkish and French basketball leagues, and led the Turkish national team at the EuroBasket 1999.

1990s

Turkey appeared again at EuroBasket 1993 after 12 years of absence, but finished 11th among 16 teams. Turkey finished 13th among 14 teams at the EuroBasket 1995, 8th among 16 teams at the EuroBasket 1997, and again 8th among 16 teams at the EuroBasket 1999.

2000s

Turkey hosted Eurobasket 2001.

As the host country of the EuroBasket 2001, the Turkish national basketball team, led by coach Aydın Örs, reached the EuroBasket final for the first time in their history (a few years earlier, Aydın Örs had reached the final of the 1992–93 FIBA Saporta Cup and won the 1995–96 FIBA Korać Cup as the coach of Turkish club Efes Pilsen, which was the first European title won by a Turkish basketball team.) Turkey defeated Croatia in the quarter-finals and Germany in the semi-finals, before playing with Yugoslavia in the final. Turkey lost the game 69–78 and finished the tournament with 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 the EuroBasket 2003, Turkey reached the second round where they got eliminated by Serbia and Montenegro.

Turkey qualified for the 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.

The 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) out of 5 games in total, losing only to Greece (69–76) in the last match. The young team also achieved the first official win over Lithuania and the first ever 4 consecutive wins in a championship. On August 26, 2006, the 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.

At the EuroBasket 2007, Turkey played in Group C with Lithuania, Germany and the 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 was eliminated from the EuroBasket 2007 with a 1–5 record and an 11th-place finish.

At the EuroBasket 2009, Turkey played in Group D with hosts Poland, Lithuania and Bulgaria. The Group D 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. Yet, in the same year, Turkey won the bronze medal at the 2009 Mediterranean Games.

2010s

Turkey won the silver medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, losing to the USA in the Final.

As the host country, Turkey, led by coach Bogdan Tanjević, 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 was awarded a prize of 1,500,000 TL (approximately $1,000,000 in September 2010) from the Turkish government for being the runner-up in the competition.^[4]

Orhun Ene was appointed head coach to lead Turkey during the EuroBasket 2011. 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 in the roster for the first time. Turkey and Serbia were the only teams that managed to defeat EuroBasket 2011 winners Spain during the tournament. In that same year, Turkey won their second gold medal in the 2013 Mediterranean Games by defeating Serbia in the final.

At the EuroBasket 2013, Turkey managed to defeat only Sweden, and finished 17th.

On March 22, 2014, the Turkish Basketball Federation announced that Ergin Ataman will lead the team during the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, EuroBasket 2015 and the 2016 Summer Olympics. Ergin Ataman is one of the most successful Turkish coaches in European club competitions, having won the 2001–02 FIBA Saporta Cup with the Italian club Montepaschi Siena, the 2011–12 FIBA EuroChallenge with the Turkish club Beşiktaş, and the 2015–16 EuroCup with the Turkish club Galatasaray.

The Turkish team failed to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics after a loss to France.

Honours

The Turkish national team's medal record through the years:

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup Year Position Pld W L 1950 to 1998 Did not participate 2002 9th 8 4 4 2006 6th 9 6 3 2010 02 ! 9 8 1 2014 8th 7 4 3 2019 To be determined Total 33 22 11 Olympic Games Year Position Pld W L 1936 21st 2 0 2 1948 Did not participate 1952 22nd 3 0 3 1956 to 2016 Did not qualify Total 5 0 5 Mediterranean Games Year Position Pld W L 1951 – – – – 1955 – – – – 1959 – – – – 1963 – – – – 1967 03 ! – – – 1971 02 ! – – – 1975 – – – – 1979 4th – – – 1983 03 ! – – – 1987 01 ! – – – 1991 4th – – – 1993 8th – – – 1997 6th – – – 2001 6th – – – 2005 4th 5 2 3 2009 03 ! 6 5 1 2013 01 ! 5 5 0 2017 To be determined Total – – –

EuroBasket Year Position Pld W L 1935 to 1947 Did not participate 1949 4th 6 3 3 1951 6th 9 6 3 1953 Did not participate 1955 11th 9 5 4 1957 9th 10 8 2 1959 12th 7 3 4 1961 10th 8 3 5 1963 15th 9 1 8 1965 to 1969 Did not participate 1971 12th 7 1 6 1973 8th 7 2 5 1975 9th 7 3 4 1977 Did not participate 1979 Did not participate 1981 11th 8 1 7 1983 to 1991 Did not participate 1993 11th 6 2 4 1995 13th 6 1 5 1997 8th 9 3 6 1999 8th 9 4 5 2001 02 ! 6 4 2 2003 12th 4 2 2 2005 9th 4 1 3 2007 11th 6 1 5 2009 8th 9 5 4 2011 11th 8 3 5 2013 17th 5 1 4 2015[N 1] 14th 6 3 3 2017 Qualified Total 165 66 99

Team

Current roster

Roster for the The men's qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympic basketball tournament.

Turkey men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Age – Date of birth Ht. Club Ctr. 1.0 !PG 1 Arslan, Ender 7001330000000000000♠33 – (1983-01-13)13 January 1983 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Darüşşafaka S.K. TUR ! 5.0 !C 3 Ömer Aşık 7001290000000000000♠29 – (1986-07-04)4 July 1986 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) New Orleans Pelicans USA ! 2.0 !SG 5 Güler, Sinan (C) 7001320000000000000♠32 – (1983-11-08)8 November 1983 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Galatasaray TUR ! 3.0 !SF 6 Osman, Cedi 7001210000000000000♠21 – (1995-04-08)8 April 1995 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Anadolu Efes TUR ! 5.0 !C 9 Erden, Semih 7001290000000000000♠29 – (1986-07-28)28 July 1986 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Darüşşafaka S.K. TUR ! 2.0 !SG 10 Mahmutoğlu, Melih 7001260000000000000♠26 – (1990-05-12)12 May 1990 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Fenerbahçe TUR ! 5.0 !C 11 Savaş, Oğuz 7001280000000000000♠28 – (1987-07-13)13 July 1987 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Darüşşafaka S.K. TUR ! 4.0 !PF 12 Geyik, Samet 7001230000000000000♠23 – (1993-01-12)12 January 1993 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Pınar Karşıyaka TUR ! 1.0 !PG 13 Muhammed, Ali 7001330000000000000♠33 – (1983-04-10)10 April 1983 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Fenerbahçe TUR ! 3.0 !SF 15 Batuk, Birkan 7001260000000000000♠26 – (1990-01-30)30 January 1990 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Anadolu Efes TUR ! 2.0 !SG 21 Korkmaz, Furkan 7001180000000000000♠18 – (1997-07-24)24 July 1997 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Philadelphia 76ers USA ! 1.0 !PG 25 Sipahi, Kenan 7001210000000000000♠21 – (1995-05-26)26 May 1995 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Karşıyaka Basket TUR !	Head coach Ergin Ataman Assistant coach Ufuk Sarıca Yakup Sekizkök Serhat Şehit Legend Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 27 June 2016

Depth Chart

Notable players

Other current notable players from Turkey:

Turkey roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Age – Date of birth Ht. Club Ctr. 3.5 !F Ersan İlyasova 7001290000000000000♠29 – (1987-05-15)15 May 1987 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Oklahoma City Thunder USA ! 5.0 !C Enes Kanter 7001240000000000000♠24 – (1992-05-20)20 May 1992 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Oklahoma City Thunder USA ! 1.0 !PG Engin Atsür 7001320000000000000♠32 – (1984-04-02)2 April 1984 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Beşiktaş Turkey ! Legend Club – describes current club Age – describes age on 27 June 2016

Past rosters

Scroll down to see more.

Head coach position

• Ercüment Sunter – 1995–97
• Erman Kunter – 1998–99
• Aydın Örs – 1996, 2000–03
• Orhun Ene – 2011
• Bogdan Tanjević – 2004–07, 2009–10, 2012–13
• Ergin Ataman – 2014–2016

Memorable victories

EuroBasket 1951: Turkey –  Greece 42–36
EuroBasket 1955: Turkey –  Denmark 82–33
EuroBasket 1955: Turkey –  England 77–54
EuroBasket 1957: Turkey –  Italy 57–50
EuroBasket 1957: Turkey –  Spain 53–50
EuroBasket 1961: Turkey –  Czechoslovakia 77–70
EuroBasket 1973: Turkey –  Poland 65–64
EuroBasket 1975: Turkey –  Greece 74–64
1980 Islamic Games: Turkey –  Libya 142–45
EuroBasket 1997: Turkey –  Israel 81–71
EuroBasket 1997: Turkey –  France 82–71
EuroBasket 1999: Turkey –  Croatia 70–63
EuroBasket 1999: Turkey –  Germany 63–55
EuroBasket 2001: Turkey –  Latvia 85–82
EuroBasket 2001: Turkey –  Spain 84–79
EuroBasket 2001: Turkey –  Croatia 87–85
EuroBasket 2001: Turkey –  Germany 79–78
EuroBasket 2005: Turkey –  Bulgaria 94–89
2002 FIBA World Championship: Turkey –  Russia 91–86
2006 FIBA World Championship: Turkey –  Lithuania 76–74
2006 FIBA World Championship: Turkey –  Brazil 73–71
2006 FIBA World Championship: Turkey –  Slovenia 90–84
2006 FIBA World Championship: Turkey –  Lithuania 95–84
EuroBasket 2009: Turkey –  Lithuania 84–76
EuroBasket 2009: Turkey –  Poland 87–69
EuroBasket 2009: Turkey –  Spain 63–60
EuroBasket 2009: Turkey –  Serbia 69–64
2009 Mediterranean Games: Turkey –  Italy 121–119
2010 FIBA World Championship: Turkey –  Russia 65–56
2010 FIBA World Championship: Turkey –  Greece 76–65
2010 FIBA World Championship: Turkey –  Puerto Rico 79–77
2010 FIBA World Championship: Turkey –  France 95–77
2010 FIBA World Championship: Turkey –  Slovenia 95–68
2010 FIBA World Championship: Turkey –  Serbia 83–82
EuroBasket 2011: Turkey –  Spain 65–57
2013 Mediterranean Games: Turkey –  Serbia 79–62
2014 World Cup: Turkey –  New Zealand 76–73
2014 World Cup: Turkey –  Finland 77–73
2014 World Cup: Turkey –  Australia 65–64
EuroBasket 2015: Turkey –  Italy 89–87
EuroBasket 2015: Turkey –  Germany 80–75

Gallery

• 
  Ibrahim Kutluay is the only Turkish player that has won the Euroleague title.
• 
  Mehmet Okur became the first Turkish player to win an NBA championship.
• 
  Hidayet Türkoğlu is among the most successful foreign NBA players.
• 
  Kerem Tunçeri was a key member of the national team that won the silver medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
• 
  Bogdan Tanjević managed the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
• 
  Ergin Ataman is the current manager of the national team.

Kit

Manufacturer

2015: Adidas ^[5]

Sponsor

2015: Garanti ^[5]

Notes

See also

• Turkey women's national basketball team
• Turkey national under-19 basketball team
• Turkey national under-17 basketball team
• Turkey national 3x3 team

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Turkey national basketball team.

External links

• Official website
• FIBA profile
• EuroBasket.com
• Archived records

National sports teams of Turkey
Men's teams	Amputee football Baseball Basketball U-20 U-18 & U-19 U-16 & U-17 3x3 Beach handball Beach soccer Cricket Curling Football U-21 U-20 U-19 U-17 Futsal Goalball Handball Ice hockey U-20 U-18 Lacrosse Rugby union Tennis Volleyball Water polo Wheelchair basketball
Women's teams	Basketball U-20 U-18 & U-19 U-16 & U-17 3x3 Beach handball Curling Football U-21 U-19 U-17 Goalball Handball Ice hockey Rugby union Tennis Volleyball junior youth Wheelchair basketball
Other teams	Korfball
Olympics Paralympics Universiade Mediterranean Games

Basketball in Turkey
Turkish Basketball Federation Turkish Basketball League System Turkish Basketball League Venues
National teams	Men Women Men Wheelchair Women Wheelchair
Youth Men National teams	Under-20 Under-18 & Under-19 Under-16 & Under-17
Youth Women National teams	Under-20 Under-18 & Under-19 Under-16 & Under-17
League Competitions	Turkish Basketball Super League Turkish Basketball First League Turkish Basketball Second League Turkish Basketball Championship Istanbul Basketball League Women's League Turkish Wheelchair Basketball Super League
Cup Competitions	Turkish Cup Turkish President's Cup Women's Cup