Estonia men's national basketball team

The Estonia men's national basketball team represents Estonia in international basketball and is controlled by the Estonian Basketball Association (Estonian: Eesti Korvpalliliit).

Estonia first competed internationally at the 1936 Summer Olympics. The team has made five appearances at the European Basketball Championship, the EuroBasket, with best results coming from 1937 and 1939, when the team finished in fifth place.

Estonia
FIBA ranking	48 (4 December 2018)[1]
Joined FIBA	1934 1991
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	Estonian Basketball Association
Coach	Tiit Sokk
Olympic Games
Appearances	1
Medals	0
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	0
Medals	0
FIBA EuroBasket
Appearances	5
Medals	0
Uniforms
Light Dark

History

Early years (1930s)

Estonia joined FIBA on 23 November 1934. Coached by Herbert Niiler, Estonia first competed internationally at the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in Berlin, Germany, 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 team lost the subsequent second round match against the United States 28–52, but passed the consolation round and faced the Philippines in the third round, losing 22–39.

Estonia participated in the EuroBasket 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. 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.

National team restored (1990s)

After the restoration of independence, the Estonian Basketball Association rejoined FIBA in 1991. The team competed in the 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 hosts and eventual champions Germany, Slovenia and Belgium. 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]

2000s–2010s

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. 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 basketball tournament for 14 years. The team competed in the FIBA EuroBasket 2011 Division B tournament, winning their group.

Coached by Tiit Sokk, Estonia qualified for the EuroBasket 2015, with preliminary round matches held in Riga, Latvia. Estonia's first two performances were poor as the team suffered heavy defeats in games against Czech Republic (57–80) and Belgium (55–84). However, the team bounced back with a 78–71 victory against 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.

Competitive record

Olympic Games Olympic Games Pre-Olympic Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1936 9th 3 1 2 1948–1988 Did not enter 1992 Did not qualify 5 2 3 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Total 1/19 3 1 2 FIBA World Cup FIBA World Cup Qualifying Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1950–1990 Did not enter 1994–2019 Did not qualify 2023 To be determined

FIBA EuroBasket FIBA EuroBasket Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1935 Did not enter 1937 5th 5 3 2 1939 5th 7 4 3 1946–1991 Did not enter 1993 6th 9 4 5 7 4 3 1995 Did not qualify 10 3 7 1997 10 4 6 1999 10 3 7 2001 14th 3 0 3 10 7 3 2003 Did not qualify 10 5 5 2005 10 2 8 2007 10 5 5 2009 12 2 10 2011 Division B 6 4 2 2013 Did not qualify 10 6 4 2015 20th 5 1 4 8 5 3 2017 Did not qualify 6 3 3 Total 5/40 29 12 17

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification.^[9]

Estonia national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. F 3 Treier, Kaspar 19 – 19 September 1999 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) XL Extralight Montegranaro SG 4 Veideman, Rain 27 – 1 October 1991 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Pompea Mantova PG 7 Sokk, Sten 29 – 14 February 1989 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Iraklis C 8 Talts, Janar 35 – 7 April 1983 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ F 11 Vene, Siim-Sander 28 – 12 November 1990 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Montakit Fuenlabrada PF 13 Hermet, Kregor 21 – 9 June 1997 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) University of Tartu F 14 Kangur, Kristjan (C) 36 – 23 October 1982 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Kalev/Cramo SF 21 Jõesaar, Janari 24 – 8 December 1993 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Kalev/Cramo SF 23 Kajupank, Indrek 30 – 15 May 1988 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Avis Utilitas Rapla PF 33 Kitsing, Kristjan 27 – 11 December 1990 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Kalev/Cramo G 40 Paasoja, Martin 25 – 4 January 1993 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Psychiko PG 77 Kullamäe, Kristian 19 – 25 May 1999 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Baunach Young Pikes	Head coach Tiit Sokk Assistant coach(es) Indrek Visnapuu Alar Varrak Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 30 November 2018

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Bench 3
C	Janar Talts
PF	Siim-Sander Vene	Kristjan Kitsing	Kristjan Kangur	Kregor Hermet
SF	Janari Jõesaar	Indrek Kajupank	Kaspar Treier
SG	Rain Veideman	Martin Paasoja
PG	Sten Sokk	Kristian Kullamäe

Coaches

Coach	Career	Competition	Result
Herbert Niiler	1929–1940	1936 Olympic Games	9th
		1937 EuroBasket	5th
		1939 EuroBasket	5th
Jaak Salumets	1993–1997	1993 EuroBasket	6th
Maarten van Gent	1997–1999
Üllar Kerde	1999–2001	2001 EuroBasket	14th
Heino Enden	2001–2004
Tiit Sokk	2004–2007
Üllar Kerde	2007–2009
Tiit Sokk	2009–	2015 EuroBasket	20th

See also

• Estonia women's national basketball team

References

1. ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Eesti korvpall 95" [Estonian basketball 95] (in Estonian). Estonian Basketball Association. 3 June 2010.
3. ^ "Season 1937". FIBA Europe. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
4. ^ "Season 1939". FIBA Europe. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
5. ^ "Season 1993". FIBA Europe. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
6. ^ "Season 2001". FIBA Europe. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
7. ^ "Estonia revel in historic success". eurobasket2015.org. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
8. ^ "Latvia battle back to punch Last 16 ticket". eurobasket2015.org. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
9. ^ "Estonia". FIBA.com.

External links

• Official website (in Estonian)
• Estonian Basketball Association website (in Estonian)
• FIBA Profile

Estonian Sports Team of the Year

Estonian Sports Team of the Year is chosen annually each December, since 1969.

The winner is voted by a group of sports journalists, public, and sports associations.

EuroBasket 1993 squads

The following is the list of squads for each of the 16 teams competing in the EuroBasket 1993, held in Germany between 22 June and 4 July 1993. Each team selected a squad of 12 players for the tournament.

EuroBasket 2001 squads

The following is the list of squads for each of the 16 teams competing in the EuroBasket 2001, held in Turkey between 31 August and 9 September 2001. Each team selected a squad of 12 players for the tournament.

EuroBasket 2015 squads

This article displays the squads of the teams that competed in EuroBasket 2015. Each team consists of 12 players.

Age and club as of the start of the tournament, 5 September 2015.

EuroBasket 2017 qualification squads

This article displays the squads of the teams that competed in EuroBasket 2017 qualification. Each team consists of 12 players.

Age and club as of the start of the tournament, 31 August 2016.

Heino Veskila

Heino Veskila (14 December 1918 – 22 July 1941) was an Estonian basketball player who played for Tartu Kalev, Tartu EASK and Tartu Dünamo. He also represented the Estonia men's national basketball team internationally.

Veskila competed for Estonia in the 1936 Summer Olympics in basketball. A record he set was being the youngest participant among all basketball players, at the age of 17. Despite his very young age, he averaged 13 points per game, including 20 against the USA, out of Estonia's total of 28.

Veskila made the All-Tournament Team at the EuroBasket 1937 and was the leading scorer at the EuroBasket 1939, with 116 points in seven games. He earned 17 caps in basketball for the Estonian national team.

Veskila died on 22 July 1941 as a prisoner-of-war.

Herbert Niiler

Herbert Niiler (27 April 1905 – 13 April 1982) was an Estonian American basketball player and coach.

Niiler coached the Estonia men's national basketball team in the 1936 Summer Olympics, where the team placed 9th. He also led Estonia to EuroBasket 1937 and EuroBasket 1939, finishing both in 5th place.In 1944, he fled from the Soviet occupation with his family to the United States, where they resided in Pittsburgh since 1948.

Jaan Puidet

Jaan Puidet (born 4 January 1992) is an Estonian professional basketball player for TTÜ of the Korvpalli Meistriliiga. He is a 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) tall shooting guard. He also represents the Estonia men's national basketball team internationally.

Janar Soo

Janar Soo (born 17 January 1991) is a former Estonian professional basketball player who played at the shooting guard position. He retired in January 2017 due to knee injuries.

Rait Käbin

Rait Käbin (born 2 September 1981) is an Estonian professional basketball coach, and a former professional basketball player. He is the current head coach of the TTÜ and the assistant coach of the Estonia men's national basketball team.

Sven Kaldre

Sven Kaldre (born 31 October 1991) is a professional basketball player who plays as a shooting guard. He currently plays for Rapla.