Turkey men's national basketball team

Turkey national basketball team squad in 1946.

Turkey's European Championship debut came at the EuroBasket 1949. The Turks split their six matches in the seven-team round robin tournament, finishing with three wins and three losses for 4th place.[5]

Turkey competed again at the 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 the 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 the 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.

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.

Turkey appeared again at the 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.

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. Team captain Harun Erdenay was another key scorer for Turkey in the tournament. The team's roster included past and future NBA players Mirsad Türkcan, Hidayet Türkoğlu and Mehmet Okur.

Turkey then qualified for the 2002 FIBA World Cup. 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 Cup 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 FIBA World Cup, 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, winning its first match against World Champions Spain, when Ömer Aşık and Ersan İlyasova (both of whom are NBA players) 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, Engin 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.

Turkey hosted the 2010 FIBA World Cup and won the silver medal, falling to the USA in the final.

As the host country, Turkey, led by coach Bogdan Tanjević, automatically qualified for the 2010 FIBA World Cup. 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 national team enjoyed their greatest success to date on the international stage going undefeated in group play and progressing to the final, where they eventually lost to the United States to come away with 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.[6]

Orhun Ene, who was the assistant coach of Turkey next to Tanjević and had a successful career as a player, was appointed the 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. Turkey and Serbia were the only teams that managed to defeat the eventual EuroBasket 2011 champions Spain during the tournament.

Two years later, Turkey won their second gold medal at the 2013 Mediterranean Games by defeating Serbia in the final. A few months later at the EuroBasket 2013, Turkey managed to defeat only Sweden, before finishing the competition with an putrid (1-4) record and 17th place.

On 22 March 2014, the Turkish Basketball Federation announced that Ergin Ataman would lead the national team during the 2014 FIBA 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.

On 19 January 2017, Ufuk Sarıca succeeded Ergin Ataman as Turkey's new head coach. Sarıca was among the star players of Efes Pilsen in the 1990s, winning the 1995–96 FIBA Korać Cup and reaching the final of the 1992–93 FIBA Saporta Cup with the Istanbul based club under head coach Aydın Örs.

Turkey was one of the co-hosts for the EuroBasket 2017, but the national team put up an near identical performance as they did at the 2015 edition.[7] They were eliminated in both tournaments in the Round of 16, although winning one fewer game in 2017.

Roster for the EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers matches played on 27 and 29 November 2020 against Croatia and Netherlands.[9]

Turkey men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. PG 0 Shane Larkin 28 – (1992-10-02)2 October 1992 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) Anadolu Efes SF 1 Metecan Birsen 25 – (1995-04-06)6 April 1995 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Karşıyaka SG 7 Yiğit Arslan 24 – (1996-05-12)12 May 1996 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Galatasaray SG 10 Melih Mahmutoğlu 30 – (1990-05-12)12 May 1990 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Fenerbahçe C 11 Ege Arar 24 – (1996-09-02)2 September 1996 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Petkim Spor PF 13 Berkan Durmaz 23 – (1997-02-20)20 February 1997 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Tofaş PG 17 Berk Uğurlu 24 – (1996-04-27)27 April 1996 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Tofaş PG 18 Doğuş Özdemiroğlu 24 – (1996-04-17)17 April 1996 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Darüşşafaka SG 19 Buğrahan Tuncer 27 – (1993-03-23)23 March 1993 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Anadolu Efes C 21 Sertaç Şanlı 29 – (1991-08-05)5 August 1991 2.14 m (7 ft 0 in) Anadolu Efes F/C 28 Alperen Şengün 18 – (2002-07-25)25 July 2002 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Beşiktaş G/F 61 Göksenin Köksal 29 – (1991-01-08)8 January 1991 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Galatasaray	Head coach Orhun Ene Assistant coach(es) Ahmet Arif Çakı Sedat Özyer Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 27 November 2020

1936 Olympic Games: finished 21st among 21 teams

1 Dionis Sakalak, 2 Jack Habib, 3 Hayri Arsebük, 4 Naili Moran, 5 Nihat Ertuğ, 6 Hazdayi Penso, 7 Sadri Usluoğlu, 8 Şeref Alemdar (Coach: Rupen Semerciyan)

1949 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 7 teams

3 Avram Barokas, 4 Sacit Seldüz, 5 Tevfik Tankut, 6 Haşim Tankut, 7 Hüseyin Öztürk, 8 Vitali Benazus, 9 Candaş Tekeli, 10 Ali Uras, 11 Erdoğan Partener, 12 Ayduk Koray, 13 Mehmet Ali Yalım, 14 Samim Göreç (Coach: ?)

1951 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 17 teams

3 Yılmaz Gündüz, 4 Yalçın Granit, 5 Sacit Seldüz, 6 Ayhan Demir, 7 Ali Uras, 8 Cemil Sevin, 9 Sadi Gülçelik, 10 Avram Barokas, 11 Erdoğan Partener, 12 Ertem Göreç, 13 Mehmet Ali Yalım, 14 Nejat Diyarbakırlı (Coach: ?)

1952 Olympic Games: finished 22nd among 23 teams

3 Yılmaz Gündüz, 4 Yalçın Granit, 5 Sacit Seldüz, 6 Ali Uras, 7 Güney Ülmen, 8 Altan Dinçer, 9 Sadi Gülçelik, 10 Mehmet Ali Yalım, 11 Erdoğan Partener, 12 Nejat Diyarbakırlı, 13 Turhan Tezol, 14 Yüksel Alkan (Coach: ?)

1955 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 18 teams

3 Yüksel Böke, 4 Yalçın Granit, 5 Cahit Tanık, 6 Turhan Tezol, 7 Tunç Erim, 8 Yalçın Okaya, 9 Sadi Gülçelik, 10 Mehmet Ali Yalım, 11 Erdoğan Karabelen, 12 Altan Dinçer, 13 Üner Erimer, 14 Şinasi Ertan, 15 Yavuz Türkoğlu, 16 Yüksel Alkan (Coach: ?)

1957 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 16 teams

3 Yılmaz Gündüz, 4 Yalçın Granit, 5 Orhan Girgin, 6 Turhan Tezol, 7 Tunç Erim, 9 Mehmet Baturalp, 11 Erdoğan Karabelen, 12 Altan Dinçer, 13 Üner Erimer, 14 Erkan Gündüz, 15 Yavuz Türkoğlu (Coach: ?)

1959 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 17 teams

4 Nedret Uyguç, 6 Turhan Tezol, 7 Tunç Erim, 8 Ömer Urkon, 9 Mehmet Baturalp, 10 Özer Salnur, 11 Erdoğan Karabelen, 12 Ünal Büyükaycan, 13 Güner Yalçıner, 14 Tuğrul Demir, 15 Ali Kazaz, 16 Şengün Kaplanoğlu (Coach: Samim Göreç)

1961 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 19 teams

4 Nedret Uyguç, 5 Haşim Ülkü, 6 Şengün Kaplanoğlu, 7 Tuncer Kobaner, 8 Ömer Urkon, 9 Mehmet Baturalp, 10 Ersan Salihoğlu, 11 Erdal Poyrazoğlu, 12 Altan Dinçer, 13 Dursun Açıkbaş, 14 Yavuz Demir, 15 Ali Kazaz (Coach: Yalçın Granit)

1963 EuroBasket: finished 15th among 16 teams

4 Nedret Uyguç, 5 Nedim Hoşgör, 6 Şengün Kaplanoğlu, 7 Tuncer Kobaner, 8 Haşim Ülkü, 9 Mehmet Baturalp, 10 Halil Dağlı, 11 Özer Salnur, 12 Ünal Büyükaycan, 13 İlker Esel, 14 Yavuz Demir, 15 Hüseyin Kozluca (Coach: Yalçın Granit)

1971 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 12 teams

4 Nuri Tan, 5 Barış Küce, 6 Nadir Vekiloğlu, 7 Battal Durusel, 8 Cihat İlkbaşaran, 9 Kemal Erdenay, 10 Serdar Ersözlü, 11 Zeki Tosun, 12 Abdullah İnce, 13 Nur Germen, 14 Reşat Güney, 15 Hüseyin Alp (Coach: Mehmet Baturalp)

1973 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 12 teams

4 Nuri Tan, 5 Serdar Ersözlü, 6 Necmi Ton, 7 Doğan Hakyemez, 8 Aydın Örs, 9 Kemal Erdenay, 10 Battal Durusel, 11 Zeki Tosun, 12 Erdal Poyrazoğlu, 13 Abdullah İnce, 14 Halil Dağlı, 15 Reşat Güney (Coach: Mehmet Baturalp)

1975 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 12 teams

4 Nur Germen, 5 Barış Küce, 6 Nadir Vekiloğlu, 7 Doğan Hakyemez, 8 Ömürden Kısagün, 9 Kemal Erdenay, 10 Battal Durusel, 11 Zeki Tosun, 12 Erdal Poyrazoğlu, 13 Abdullah İnce, 14 Efe Aydan, 15 Kemal Akıncı (Coach: Mehmet Baturalp)

1981 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 12 teams

4 Serdar Koçyiğit, 5 Melih Erçin, 6 Necati Güler, 7 Doğan Hakyemez, 8 Aytek Gürkan, 9 Emir Turam, 10 Erman Kunter, 11 Mehmet Döğüşken, 12 Cevat Soydaş, 13 Efe Aydan, 14 Sadi Olcay, 15 Celal Arısan (Coach: Aydan Siyavuş)

1993 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 16 teams

4 Erdal Koşan, 5 Ömer Saybir, 6 Murat Konuk, 7 Orhun Ene, 8 Volkan Aydın, 9 Harun Erdenay, 10 Serdar Apaydın, 11 Levent Topsakal, 12 Ömer Büyükaycan, 13 Tamer Oyguç, 14 Lütfi Arıboğan, 15 Hüsnü Çakırgil (Coach: Nur Germen)

1995 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 14 teams

4 Murat Konuk, 5 Mirsad Türkcan, 6 Murat Evliyaoğlu, 7 Orhun Ene, 8 İbrahim Kutluay, 9 Harun Erdenay, 10 Serdar Apaydın, 11 Levent Topsakal, 12 Ömer Büyükaycan, 13 Tamer Oyguç, 14 Lütfi Arıboğan, 15 Haluk Yıldırım (Coach: Çetin Yılmaz)

1997 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 16 teams

4 Murat Konuk, 5 Kerem Tunçeri, 6 Mirsad Türkcan, 7 Orhun Ene, 8 Volkan Aydın, 9 Harun Erdenay, 10 İbrahim Kutluay, 11 Murat Evliyaoğlu, 12 Hüseyin Beşok, 13 Tamer Oyguç, 14 Tunç Girgin, 15 Ufuk Sarıca (Coach: Ercüment Sunter)

1999 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 16 teams

4 Kerem Tunçeri, 5 Hidayet Türkoğlu, 6 Mirsad Türkcan, 7 Cüneyt Erden, 8 Murat Konuk, 9 Haluk Yıldırım, 10 İbrahim Kutluay, 11 Mehmet Okur, 12 Hüseyin Beşok, 13 Tamer Oyguç, 14 Asım Pars, 15 Ufuk Sarıca (Coach: Erman Kunter)

2001 EuroBasket: finished 2nd among 16 teams

4 Kerem Tunçeri, 5 Hidayet Türkoğlu, 6 Mirsad Türkcan, 7 Orhun Ene, 8 Asım Pars, 9 Harun Erdenay, 10 İbrahim Kutluay, 11 Kaya Peker, 12 Hüseyin Beşok, 13 Mehmet Okur, 14 Haluk Yıldırım, 15 Ömer Onan (Coach: Aydın Örs)

2002 FIBA World Cup: finished 9th among 16 teams

4 Kerem Tunçeri, 5 Hidayet Türkoğlu, 6 Mirsad Türkcan, 7 Hakan Köseoğlu, 8 Asım Pars, 9 Harun Erdenay (C), 10 İbrahim Kutluay, 11 Kaya Peker, 12 Hüseyin Beşok, 13 Mehmet Okur, 14 Haluk Yıldırım, 15 Ömer Onan (Coach: Aydın Örs)

2003 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 16 teams

4 Kerem Tunçeri, 5 Hidayet Türkoğlu, 6 Mirsad Türkcan, 7 Ender Arslan, 8 Kerem Gönlüm, 9 Rasim Başak, 10 İbrahim Kutluay, 11 Kaya Peker, 12 Hüseyin Beşok, 13 Mehmet Okur, 14 Haluk Yıldırım, 15 Ömer Onan (Coach: Aydın Örs)

2005 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 16 teams

4 Kerem Tunçeri, 5 Ermal Kurtoğlu, 6 Mirsad Türkcan, 7 Ender Arslan, 8 Cenk Akyol, 9 Serkan Erdoğan, 10 İbrahim Kutluay, 11 Fatih Solak, 12 Kerem Gönlüm, 13 Mehmet Okur, 14 Kaya Peker, 15 Hidayet Türkoğlu (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević)

2006 FIBA World Cup: finished 6th among 24 teams

4 Cenk Akyol, 5 Ermal Kurtoğlu, 6 Engin Atsür, 7 Ender Arslan, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 Serkan Erdoğan, 10 İbrahim Kutluay, 11 Fatih Solak, 12 Kerem Gönlüm, 13 Semih Erden, 14 Kaya Peker, 15 Hakan Demirel (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević)

2007 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 16 teams

4 Ender Arslan, 5 Ermal Kurtoğlu, 6 Engin Atsür, 7 Cenk Akyol, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 Semih Erden, 10 Hakan Demirel, 11 İbrahim Kutluay, 12 Kerem Gönlüm, 13 Mehmet Okur, 14 Kaya Peker, 15 Hidayet Türkoğlu (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević)

2009 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 16 teams

4 Bekir Yarangüme, 5 Sinan Güler, 6 Engin Atsür, 7 Ömer Onan, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 Barış Hersek, 10 Kerem Tunçeri, 11 Oğuz Savaş, 12 Semih Erden, 13 Ender Arslan, 14 Ömer Aşık, 15 Hidayet Türkoğlu (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević)

2010 FIBA World Cup: finished 2nd among 24 teams

4 Cenk Akyol, 5 Sinan Güler, 6 Barış Ermiş, 7 Ömer Onan, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 Semih Erden, 10 Kerem Tunçeri, 11 Oğuz Savaş, 12 Kerem Gönlüm, 13 Ender Arslan, 14 Ömer Aşık, 15 Hidayet Türkoğlu (C) (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević)

2011 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 24 teams

4 Cenk Akyol, 5 Sinan Güler, 6 Emir Preldžič, 7 Ömer Onan, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 İzzet Türkyılmaz, 10 Kerem Tunçeri, 11 Oğuz Savaş, 12 Ömer Aşık, 13 Ender Arslan, 14 Enes Kanter, 15 Hidayet Türkoğlu (C) (Coach: Orhun Ene)

2013 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 24 teams

4 Doğuş Balbay, 5 Sinan Güler, 6 Emir Preldžič, 7 Birkan Batuk, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 Semih Erden, 10 Serhat Çetin, 11 Oğuz Savaş, 12 Kerem Gönlüm, 13 Ender Arslan, 14 Ömer Aşık, 15 Hidayet Türkoğlu (C) (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević)

2014 FIBA World Cup: finished 8th among 24 teams

4 Cedi Osman, 5 Sinan Güler, 6 Barış Ermiş, 7 Cenk Akyol, 8 Barış Hersek, 9 Emir Preldžič, 10 Kerem Tunçeri, 11 Oğuz Savaş, 12 Kerem Gönlüm, 13 Ender Arslan, 14 Ömer Aşık, 15 Furkan Aldemir (Coach: Ergin Ataman)

2015 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 24 teams

4 Kartal Özmızrak, 5 Sinan Güler (C), 6 Cedi Osman, 7 Barış Hersek, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 Semih Erden, 10 Melih Mahmutoğlu, 11 Oğuz Savaş, 12 Furkan Korkmaz, 13 Ali Muhammed, 14 Göksenin Köksal, 15 Furkan Aldemir (Coach: Ergin Ataman)

2017 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 24 teams

2 Erkan Veyseloğlu, 4 Doğuş Balbay, 5 Sinan Güler, 6 Cedi Osman, 7 Barış Hersek, 9 Semih Erden, 10 Melih Mahmutoğlu, 19 Furkan Aldemir, 21 Sertaç Şanlı, 22 Furkan Korkmaz, 25 Kenan Sipahi, 61 Göksenin Köksal (Coach: Ufuk Sarıca)

2019 FIBA World Cup: finished 22nd among 32 teams

1 Scottie Wilbekin, 4 Doğuş Balbay, 5 Metecan Birsen, 6 Cedi Osman, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 Semih Erden, 10 Melih Mahmutoğlu, 11 Ege Arar, 19 Buğrahan Tuncer, 21 Sertaç Şanlı, 22 Furkan Korkmaz, 24 Yiğit Arslan (Coach: Ufuk Sarıca)

2015: Adidas[10]

2015: Garanti[10]