Estonia men's national basketball team

Game between Estonia and Lithuania at EuroBasket 1937

Estonia joined FIBA on 23 November 1934. Coached by Herbert Niiler, Estonia first competed on the international stage at the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in Berlin, the first Olympic tournament to hold basketball as an official medal event. Estonia played in the opening match of the tournament, defeating France 34–29.[2] The national team lost their subsequent second round match to the United States 28–52, but passed the consolation round and faced the Philippines in the third round, losing 22–39.

Estonia participated in their first ever European Basketball Championship in 1937. The team won their first game against Egypt 44–15, but failed to advance past the group stage after suffering a 15–20 defeat against Lithuania and a 20–30 defeat against Italy. Estonia placed fifth in the final rankings after defeating Czechoslovakia 30–20 and Latvia 41–19.[3]

The EuroBasket 1939 used a different format from the previous championship, with eight teams facing off in a round-robin tournament. Estonia finished the tournament with a 4–3 record and another fifth place finish. Heino Veskila was the tournament's scoring leader with 16.7 points per game.[2][4]

In 1940, Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union and the team was disbanded.

After the restoration of independence, the Estonian Basketball Association rejoined FIBA in 1991. The team competed at EuroBasket 1993, held in Germany. Despite missing star players Martin Müürsepp and Tiit Sokk, the team, coached by Jaak Salumets won their group in the preliminary round, finishing ahead of Slovenia, Belgium, and the host and eventual champions Germany. In the second round, Estonia finished third in their group and advanced to the quarter-finals, where the team lost to Russia 61–82 and was knocked out. In the classification rounds, Estonia defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 99–91 and lost to Spain 80–119, finishing the championship in sixth place with a 6–5 record.[2] Aivar Kuusmaa was the team's scoring leader with 19.9 points per game.[5]

Estonia participated in the EuroBasket 2001, held in Turkey. Coached by Üllar Kerde, Estonia lost all three preliminary round matches against Germany, Yugoslavia and Croatia, failing to advance past the group stage and finishing the championship with a disappointing 0–3 record and a 14th place finish. Martin Müürsepp led the team in scoring with 18.3 points per game, while Margus Metstak made 6.0 rebounds per game, and Rauno Pehka and Tanel Tein averaged 2.7 assists per game.[6] After 2001, Estonia failed to qualify for another major international basketball tournament for 14 years. Though, the team competed at the second tier FIBA EuroBasket 2011 Division B tournament, winning their group.

Coached by Tiit Sokk, Estonia qualified for EuroBasket 2015, with preliminary round matches held in Riga, Latvia. Estonia's first two performances were poor as the team suffered heavy defeats in matches against Czech Republic (57–80) and Belgium (55–84). However, the team bounced back with a 78–71 victory over Ukraine, their first EuroBasket victory since 1993.[7] The next game saw Estonia defeated by Lithuania 62–64 in a close game. In the final group phase game, Estonia played against Latvia, losing 64–75 and failing to advance to the knockout stage.[8] Estonia finished the championship in 20th place with a 1–4 record. Gregor Arbet was the team's scoring leader with 11.6 points per game, while Siim-Sander Vene averaged 6.4 rebounds and Sten Sokk contributed 4.2 assists per game.

Roster for the EuroBasket 2022 qualification matches against Russia and North Macedonia on 28 and 30 November 2020.[9]

Estonia national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. G 1 Post, Siim-Markus 23 – (1997-02-13)13 February 1997 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ F 3 Treier, Kaspar 21 – (1999-09-19)19 September 1999 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Dinamo Sassari SG 4 Veideman, Rain (C) 29 – (1991-10-01)1 October 1991 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Rostock Seawolves SF 8 Kurbas, Tanel 32 – (1988-05-08)8 May 1988 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Kalev/Cramo PF 13 Hermet, Kregor 23 – (1997-06-09)9 June 1997 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Kalev/Cramo C 20 Nurger, Rauno 27 – (1993-11-24)24 November 1993 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Kalev/Cramo SF 21 Jõesaar, Janari 26 – (1993-12-08)8 December 1993 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Bàsquet Manresa PG 22 Dorbek, Martin 29 – (1991-01-21)21 January 1991 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Kalev/Cramo SG 24 Sutt, Saimon 25 – (1995-04-12)12 April 1995 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Rapla PF 33 Kitsing, Kristjan 29 – (1990-12-11)11 December 1990 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Rytas G 40 Paasoja, Martin 27 – (1993-01-04)4 January 1993 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Real Valladolid PG 44 Kriisa, Kerr 19 – (2001-01-02)2 January 2001 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Arizona F Kirves, Mihkel 23 – (1996-12-06)6 December 1996 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) Pärnu Sadam SG Puidet, Jaan 28 – (1992-01-04)4 January 1992 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) TalTech	Head coach Jukka Toijala Assistant coach(es) Heiko Rannula Indrek Reinbok Legend (C) Team captain Age – describes age on 28 November 2020

1936 Olympic Games: finished 9th among 23 teams

Erich Altosaar, Artur Amon, Aleksander Illi, Vladimir Kärk, Robert Keres, Evald Mahl, Aleksander Margiste, Bernhard Nooni, Leonid Saar, Heino Veskila, Georg Vinogradov (Coach: Herbert Niiler)

1937 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 8 teams

Oskar Erikson, Aleksander Illi, Vladimir Kärk, Robert Keres, Evald Mahl, Albert Suurna, Heino Veskila, Ralf Viksten, Alfred Zimmermann (Coach: Herbert Niiler)

1939 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 8 teams

Erich Altosaar, Artur Amon, Oskar Erikson, Hans Juurup, Evald Mahl, Herbert Tillemann, Valdeko Valdmäe, Heino Veskila, Ralf Viksten, Georg Vinogradov (Coach: Herbert Niiler)

1993 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 16 teams

Sergei Babenko, Toomas Kandimaa, Aleksandr Karavajev, Erki Kivinukk, Gert Kullamäe, Aivar Kuusmaa, Margus Metstak, Andrus Nagel, Marek Noormets, Rauno Pehka, Indrek Rumma, Ivo Saksakulm (Coach: Jaak Salumets)

2001 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 16 teams

Toomas Kandimaa, Tarmo Kikerpill, Valmo Kriisa, Toomas Liivak, Margus Metstak, Martin Müürsepp, Marek Noormets, Andre Pärn, Rauno Pehka, Indrek Rumma, Tanel Tein, Indrek Varblane (Coach: Üllar Kerde)

2015 EuroBasket: finished 20th among 24 teams

Gregor Arbet, Gert Dorbek, Reinar Hallik, Kristjan Kangur, Erik Keedus, Tanel Kurbas, Sten Sokk, Tanel Sokk, Janar Talts, Joosep Toome, Rain Veideman, Siim-Sander Vene (Coach: Tiit Sokk)