The Russia men's national basketball team () represents Russia in international basketball competition. They are organized and run by the Russian Basketball Federation (RBF). The team came into existence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and its national team.
In the post-Soviet era, the Russia national team consisting of Soviet players under the guidance of Sergei Belov won the silver medal at EuroBasket 1993. It also won silver at the World Cup in consecutive appearances in 1994 and 1998.
However, Belov's departure saw Russia face multiple disappointments, until David Blatt took over as head coach. Under Blatt's guidance, the national team became champions at EuroBasket 2007, and also won bronze medals at EuroBasket 2011 and the 2012 Summer Olympics.
After Blatt left the staff in late 2012, Russian national basketball experienced a deep crisis due to corruption in the RBF, and the federation's conflict with FIBA. Following a failed performance at EuroBasket 2015, Russia did not qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The situation stabilized after members of the RBF, including president Yulia Anikeeva, were dismissed. The current head coach is Zoran Lukić.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIBA banned Russian teams and officials from participating in FIBA basketball and FIBA 3x3 Basketball competitions.
History
Early history (1992–2000) The history of post-Soviet basketball in Russia dates back to 1992. The head coach back then was Yuri Selikhov. The first major tournament Russia participated in was the EuroBasket 1993 in Germany. The roster included players from the USSR era, among them were Sergey Bazarevich, and Dmitry Sukharev. Russia became runners-up, losing in the final to Germany, 70–71.
Sergey Belov was appointed new head coach of the national team after the EuroBasket. Russia debuted at the 1994 World Cup, reaching the final, losing only to the United States, 91–137. At the EuroBasket 1995, Russia displayed a very mediocre performance at the tournament, where the national team eventually finished up in 7th place, with an (5-4) record overall. Two years later Russia beat France 108–89, to claim the bronze medal. At the 1998 World Cup, Russia took home the silver medal.
The final tournament under the guidance of Belov was the EuroBasket 1999 in France. In the quarterfinals, the national team lost to Italy, and in the classification matches defeated Germany, but lost to Lithuania in the fifth-place match.
Decline (2000–2006) Belov was replaced by Stanislav Eremin as the new head coach in the new century. Russia debuted at their first Summer Olympic Games, in Sydney, Australia, in 2000. Russia lost two matches in the preliminary round and got to the quarterfinals from the bottom of the group, losing there to USA, 85–70. In the classification rounds, Russia lost to Canada, 86–83, in double overtime, finishing the Games in 8th place. At the EuroBasket 2001, the Russians took the overall 5th place. In the preliminary round, Russia won two out of three matches, defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece but falling to Italy. Russia qualified to the quarterfinals as one of the top teams from their group, but lost to Spain, 62–55. Russia won both matches in the classification phase, defeating Latvia and France. At the 2002 World Cup in Indianapolis, Russia exhibited a lackluster outing during the competition and failed to medal, ending in 10th place.
In 2002, Sergey Elevich was named the new head coach until 2003, when he was replaced by Sergei Babkov, who also coached for two years. However, Russia played poorly during this time, producing no outstanding results.
Blatt era (2006–2012) On 9 March 2006, the new head coach of the national team became American-Israeli David Blatt. The period under Blatt's guidance was marked by some great moments.
Russia won EuroBasket 2007, defeating the host nation Spain. In the first quarter of the final, the Russians were 10 points down, losing offensive and defensive rebounds and failing to counter Pau Gasol. The team also started the game cold from the three-point line. However, in the 4th quarter Russia came back. With a minute and a half remaining in regulation Spain led by five points, but then David Blatt took a timeout, and Russia decreased the gap. In the final three seconds J. R. Holden converted on a difficult shot and Russia took the lead by one point. Spain quickly called timeout one second later. Out of the timeout Spain immediately got the ball in to Gasol, for a potential game winner, but the shot was off the mark, and Russia prevailed 60–59. Andrey Kirilenko was named MVP of the tournament.
At the 2008 Olympics, in the first match they defeated Iran, but then lost to Croatia, Lithuania, Australia, and Argentina. In the group phase Russia took fifth and finished their performance. At EuroBasket 2009, Russia was without its leader Kirilenko and Holden for personal reasons, and Victor Khryapa due to injury. They were replaced by young players Fedor Dmitriev, Egor Vyaltsev, and Kelly McCarty. The Russians still managed to reach the quarterfinals, but were eventually eliminated by Serbia, to finish 7th in the tournament.
On 12 December 2009, Russia received a wild card for the 2010 World Cup. In the preliminary phase, Russia finished second in their group after victories over Puerto Rico, the Ivory Coast, and Greece, but failed to win against Turkey. In the round of 16, they defeated New Zealand, but finished their performance in the quarterfinals, losing to the Americans, 79–89. Russia as in the last EuroBasket finished 7th, after losing to Argentina and defeating Slovenia.
Russia participated at the EuroBasket 2011, winning 10 of 11 matches. They failed to reach the final after losing to France. In the bronze medal game, Russia in a tight game subdued Macedonia. Kirilenko was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Notwithstanding their third place, Russia did not directly qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, but qualified instead through the qualifying tournament in Venezuela in early July 2012, where they did not lose a single match.
At the 2012 Olympics, Russia took the top position in their preliminary phase group, losing only to Australia before advancing. In the quarterfinals Russia defeated Lithuania, but then lost to Spain, 59–67. In the third-place match, Russia defeated Argentina, the Olympic champions of 2004, 81–77. Kirilenko became member of the All-Olympics Team according to ESPN. He was ranked third in blocks and steals, sixth in scoring and eighth in rebounding.
On 30 October 2012, Blatt decided to step down as head coach of the national team.
Corruption in the RBF and decline (2012–2016) In late December a new head coach was chosen, Bilbao Basket coach Fotis Katsikaris. 19 July 2013, three days before the training for the upcoming EuroBasket 2013, he decided not to coach the national team. On the next day he published an open letter in which he explained his decision. He felt that his actions were met with opposition from the administration of the Russian Basketball Federation, especially from acting president Yulia Anikeeva (the future president of the RBF who was arrested in 2016 for corruption), and criticized the dismissal of general manager Oleg Ushakov.
Katsikaris was replaced by Vasily Karasev. Losing 4 out of 5 matches in the preliminary round against Italy, Greece, Sweden and Finland (only winning against Turkey). Team Russia finished in 24th place at the EuroBasket 2013, the worst result ever for the national team. Karasev was then replaced by Evgeny Pashutin on 29 November 2013.
A vast majority of its players declined participating in the EuroBasket 2015, including Timofey Mozgov, Sergey Karasev, Pavel Podkolzin, Alexey Shved, Evgeny Voronov, Artem Vikhrov, Evgeny Valiev, and Sergey Tokarev. Anton Ponkrashov and Egor Vyaltsev were initially dismissed from the national team, but then returned. FIBA in the last moment allowed team Russia to participate in spite of the disqualification of the RBF. Russia lost four matches in a row to Israel, Poland, Finland, and France (only winning against Bosnia), and so failed to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro; they finished 17th. Pashutin resigned on 29 October 2015.
An executive committee of the RBF on 20 January 2016 named a new head coach, Sergey Bazarevich. Russia planned to prepare for the EuroBasket 2017, but FIBA suspended the RBF in July 2015. However, later their membership was restored in November 2015. Their disqualification was annulled in late May 2016, and in September 2016 team Russia qualified for the EuroBasket.
Return to European success; Ban (2016–) At the EuroBasket 2017, Russia defeated four of their five opponents Turkey, Serbia, Belgium, and Great Britain in the preliminary round, losing only to Latvia before advancing. In the knockout stage Russia beat Croatia, and in the quarterfinals closely defeated Greece to reach the semifinals. Serbia though proved to be too tough this time around defeating Russia 87–79 to reach the final. The bronze medal match between Russia and Spain was won by Spain, 93–85.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIBA banned Russian teams and officials from participating in FIBA basketball and FIBA 3x3 Basketball competitions.
Honours Medals table (since 1992) GamesGoldSilverBronzeTotalSummer Olympics0011FIBA World Cup0202EuroBasket1124Stanković Cup1113Grand Totals24410
Competitive record
FIBA World Cup World CupQualificationYearPosition1950 to 1990Part of Soviet Union 1994862Directly qualified 1998972 200210th835 2006Did not qualifyDid not qualify 20107th963Wildcard 2014Did not qualifyDid not qualify 201912th5321284 2023BannedBanned 2027 2031To be determinedTo be determinedTotal5/203925141284
Olympic Games Olympic GamesQualifyingYearPosition1948 to 1992Part of Soviet Union 1996Did not qualifyDid not qualify 20008th734Directly qualified 2004Did not qualifyDid not qualify 20089th514Directly qualified 2012862440 2016Did not qualifyDid not qualify 2020202 2024Banned Banned 2028Total3/20201010642
FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' CupYearPosition 20084th303 2009Did not participate 2010 2011 (1)431 2011 (2)431 20124th413 2013Did not participate 2014440Total1 Title19118
EuroBasket EuroBasketQualificationYearPosition1947 to 1991Part of Soviet Union 1993963642 19957th954651 199797210100 19996th9541091 20015th642Directly qualified 20038th7341064 20058th624431 2007981651 20097th954Directly qualified 201111101 201321st514 201517th514422 20174th963440 2022 Banned642 2025Banned 2029To be determinedTo be determinedTotal14/421036340665214
Results and fixtures 2021
2022
Team Current roster Roster for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
Depth chart
Notable players
Sergei Panov: 2006 EuroLeague champion. J. R. Holden: EuroBasket 2007 champion. Andrei Kirilenko: Was the youngest European basketball player to be drafted, EuroBasket 2007 champion, and MVP; FIBA Europe Player of the Year in 2007. Flag bearer at 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony for Russia. Victor Khryapa: Portland Trail Blazers and Chicago Bulls (NBA), EuroBasket 2007 champion.
Head coach position Yuri Selikhov – 1992–1993 Sergei Belov – 1993–2000 Stanislav Eremin – 1999–2002 Sergey Elevich – 2003–2004 Sergei Babkov – 2004–2005 David Blatt – 2006–2012 Fotis Katsikaris – 2012–2013 Vasiliy Karasev – 2013 Evgeny Pashutin – 2014–2015 Sergey Bazarevich – 2016–2021 Zoran Lukić – 2021–present
Past rosters 1993 EuroBasket: finished 2nd among 16 teams
4 Vladimir Gorin, 5 Dmitry Shakulin, 6 Dmitry Sucharev, 7 Maksim Astanin, 8 Vitaly Nosov, 9 Sergei Bazarevich, 10 Sergei Babkov, 11 Mikhail Mikhailov, 12 Vasily Karasev, 13 Andrei Fetisov, 14 Sergei Panov, 15 Vladislav Kondratov (Coach: Yuri Selikhov)
1994 FIBA World Cup: finished 2nd among 16 teams