Romania national basketball team
Encyclopedia
The Romanian national basketball team is the basketball
side that represents Romania
in international competitions. Romania has 17 appearances for the EuroBasket
competition and reached two time the 5th place, but never managed to qualify for the Basketball World Championship. Romania played once for the Basketball Olympic Tournament, in 1952.
held by the International Basketball Federation
's FIBA Europe
continental federation. They lost all three of their games; 42-9 to Switzerland
, 66-23 to France
, and 24-17 to Hungary
.
. They had a record of 1-2 in their preliminary round, eliminating them from championship contention but giving them their first Eurobasket win. The Romanians added two more in the classification semifinal, defeating Austria
and Albania
. This put them in a classification match against Italy
for 9th and 10th places, which Romania lost 55-39. Romania thus placed tenth again, but this time they had outranked four teams to do so.
in Paris, but withdrew before any games were played, so official records gave them three preliminary round losses, each with a score of 2-0.
from Helsinki
, finishing 23rd. It was the first and the last qualification for a Basketball Olympic Tournament.
in Moscow was the next European tournament in which the Romanians actually played. They took 3rd of 4 teams in their preliminary group with a 1-2 record, moving on to the classification rounds. They won 3 of their 4 games there, finishing in a three-way tie for the top spot of the group. They lost out on the tiebreaker, though, and were relegated to the 13-16 semifinals. Winning that game and their next, the Romanians finished in 13th place of the 17 teams in the tournament.
in Budapest
. A preliminary round loss to the Soviet Union
mattered little, as Romania won their other three preliminary games to take second place in the group behind the Soviets and advance to the final round along with them. There, they won games against Poland
and Yugoslavia
to finish 2-5 in 7th place in the 18-team tournament.
in Sofia
, losing to Hungary
in the narrow match. They beat their other two opponents, putting them in second place in the pool and advancing them to the final round. Their match in that round against Hungary was not as close, and the Romanians also lost to the other three pool winners to finish at 3-4 in 5th place.
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Head coach
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Legend:
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Samy Grunstein, Nae Alexandrescu, Nicu Grozavescu, M.Bercus, O.Belitoreanu, C.Riegler, E.Dumitrescu, Balteanu (Coach: C. O. Lecca)
1947 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 14 teams
Vasile Popescu, Alexandru Popescu, Constantin Herold, C.Babaliescu, N.Badulescu, P.Marossi, S.Ferencz, H.Dlugos, A.Neagu, Gh.Teodorescu, H.Kevorkian, S.Sadeanu, I.Vulescu (Coach: C.Virgolici)
1952 Olympic Games: finished 23rd among 23 teams
Dan Niculescu, Mihai Nedef, Vasile Popescu, Adrian Petrosanu, Constantin Herold, Andrei Folbert
, Liviu Nagy, Emanoil Raducanu, Cezar Niculescu, Corneliu Calugareanu, Grigore Costescu, Gheorghe Constantinide, Ladislau Mokos
1953 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 17 teams
Mihai Nedef, Andrei Folbert
, Dan Niculescu, Adrian Petrosanu, Alexandru Fodor, Liviu Nagy, Vasile Kadar, Emanoil Raducanu, Cezar Niculescu, Trajan Lita, Mihai Erdogh, Corneliu Calugareanu (Coach: Alexandru Popescu)
1955 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 18 teams
Mihai Nedef, Andrei Folbert
, Dan Niculescu, Emil Niculescu, Alexandru Fodor, Emanoil Raducanu, Vasile Kadar, Liviu Nagy, Mihai Erdogh, Marian Spiridon, R.Popovici, E.Ganea, C.Cojocaru (Coach: Vasile Popescu)
1957 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 16 teams
Mihai Nedef, Emil Niculescu, Alexandru Fodor, Emanoil Raducanu, Mihai Erdogh, Liviu Nagy, Andrei Folbert
, Grigore Costescu, Armand Novacek, A.Beretchi, A.Borbelly (Coach: Alexandru Popescu)
1959 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 17 teams
Alexandru Fodor, Mihai Nedef, Emil Niculescu, Andrei Folbert
, Grigore Costescu, Cristian Popescu, Mihai Popa, Emeric Vizi, Armand Novacek, Feodor Nedelea, Dragos Nosievici, L.Toth (Coach: Constantin Herold)
1961 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 19 teams
Mihai Albu, Armand Novacek, Mihai Nedef, Emil Niculescu, Cristian Popescu, Nicolae Viciu, Horia Demian, Aurel Popovici, Pavel Visner, Gheorghe Valeriu, Horatiu Giurgiu, Dragos Nosievici (Coach: Constantin Herold)
1963 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 16 teams
Mihai Albu, Emil Niculescu, Mihai Nedef, Horatiu Giurgiu, Cristian Popescu, Gheorghe Valeriu, Mihai Kiss, Dragos Nosievici, Pavel Visner, Horia Demian, Mircea Cimpeanu, Marian Spiridon (Coach: Vasile Popescu)
1965 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 16 teams
Mihai Albu, Alin Savu, Mihai Nedef, Cristian Popescu, Horia Demian, Marian Spiridon, Dragos Nosievici, Gheorghe Novac, Ekehardt Iecheli, Aurel Popovici, N.Ionescu (Coach: Vasile Popescu)
1967 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 16 teams
Mihai Albu, Alin Savu, Horia Demian, Cristian Popescu, Titus Tarau, Gheorghe Novac, Dragos Nosievici, Nicolae Birsan, Radu Diaconescu, Gheorghe Barau, Adolf Cernea, Ekehardt Iecheli (Coach: Alexandru Popescu)
1969 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 12 teams
Mihai Albu, Gheorghe Novac, Dragos Nosievici, Titus Tarau, Radu Diaconescu, Petru Czmor, Matei Ruhting, Vasile Popa, Radu Dragomirescu, Ekehardt Iecheli, Adolf Cernea, Mihai Dimancea (Coach: Alexandru Popescu)
1971 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 12 teams
Mihai Albu, Alin Savu, Dan Niculescu, Titus Tarau, Radu Diaconescu, Gheorghe Cimpeanu, Vasile Popa, Mircea Chivulescu, Nicolae Parsu, Gheorghe Oczelak, Dan Georgescu, Constantin Dragomirescu (Coach: Alexandru Popescu)
1973 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 12 teams
Dan Niculescu, Gheorghe Novac, Titus Tarau, Gheorghe Oczelak, Vasile Popa, Radu Diaconescu, Mircea Chivulescu, Nicolae Parsu, Gheorghe Cimpeanu, Nicolae Manaila, Dan Georgescu, Costel Cernat (Coach: Alexandru Popescu)
1975 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 12 teams
Gheorghe Novac, Titus Tarau, Dan Niculescu, Vasile Popa, Radu Diaconescu, Dan Moisescu, Nicolae Parsu, Dan Georgescu, Costel Cernat, Gheorghe Oczelak, Georghe Mihuta, Vasile Zdrenghea (Coach: Mihai Nedef)
1985 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 12 teams
Dan Niculescu, Alexandru Vinereanu, Costel Cernat, Attila Szabo, Viorel Constantin, Ioan Ionescu, Victor Jacob, Marian Marinache, Roman Opsitaru, Anton Netolitzchi, Florentin Ermurache, Doru Radulescu (Coach: Gheorghe Novac)
1987 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 12 teams
Constantin Popa
, Dan Niculescu, Alexandru Vinereanu, Gabriel David, Costel Cernat, Ioan Ionescu, Petre Branisteanu, Anton Netolitzchi, Florentin Ermurache, Sorin Ardeleanu (Coach: Gheorghe Novac)
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
side that represents Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
in international competitions. Romania has 17 appearances for the EuroBasket
Eurobasket
The EuroBasket, also referred to as the FIBA European Basketball Championship, is the main basketball competition contested biennially by the men's national teams governed by FIBA Europe, the European zone within the International Basketball Federation. The championship was first held in 1935 and...
competition and reached two time the 5th place, but never managed to qualify for the Basketball World Championship. Romania played once for the Basketball Olympic Tournament, in 1952.
Eurobasket 1935
The Romanian side came in tenth and last place at the first European basketball championship, the Eurobasket 1935Eurobasket 1935
The 1935 European Basketball Championship, commonly called Eurobasket 1935, was the first Eurobasket regional championship held by FIBA Europe as well as a test event preceding the first Olympic basketball tournament at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Ten national teams affiliated with the International...
held by the International Basketball Federation
International Basketball Federation
The International Basketball Federation, more commonly known as FIBA , from its French name Fédération Internationale de Basketball, is an association of national organizations which governs international competition in basketball...
's FIBA Europe
FIBA Europe
FIBA Europe is a zone within the International Basketball Federation which includes all 49 national European basketball federations.-Division A:-Division B: -Division C:...
continental federation. They lost all three of their games; 42-9 to Switzerland
Switzerland national basketball team
The Swiss national basketball team is the basketball side that represents Switzerland in international competitions. They are usually seen as a minor team. Switzerland entered five times EuroBasket, having their best result as 4 th place at the first edition, in 1935...
, 66-23 to France
France national basketball team
The French national basketball team is the national basketball team representing France. It is administrated by the Fédération Française de Basket-Ball . The team has been competitive, but has yet to win a major international tournament...
, and 24-17 to Hungary
Hungary national basketball team
The Hungarian national basketball team is the basketball team that represents Hungary in international competitions.-Medals:*Eurobasket 1946 - Bronze medal*Eurobasket 1953 - Silver medal*Eurobasket 1955 - Champions-Eurobasket 1935:...
.
Eurobasket 1947
Romania returned to the European championships twelve years later, in Eurobasket 1947Eurobasket 1947
The 1947 European Basketball Championship, commonly called Eurobasket 1947, was the fifth Eurobasket regional championship held by FIBA Europe. Fourteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation took part in the competition...
. They had a record of 1-2 in their preliminary round, eliminating them from championship contention but giving them their first Eurobasket win. The Romanians added two more in the classification semifinal, defeating Austria
Austria national basketball team
The Austrian national basketball team is the basketball side that represents Austria in international competitions. Austria qualified six times for EuroBasket, reaching the 11th place in 1947 and 1951 for their best performance...
and Albania
Albania national basketball team
The Albanian national basketball team is the basketball side that represents Albania in international competitions.-2009 Roster:-History:...
. This put them in a classification match against Italy
Italy national basketball team
The Italian national basketball team is the national basketball team representing Italy. It is administrated by the Federazione Italiana Pallacanestro ....
for 9th and 10th places, which Romania lost 55-39. Romania thus placed tenth again, but this time they had outranked four teams to do so.
Eurobasket 1951
The Romanian team entered Eurobasket 1951Eurobasket 1951
The 1951 European Basketball Championship, commonly called Eurobasket 1951, was the seventh regional championship held by FIBA Europe. Eighteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation entered the competition, a record number and more than twice the number that had...
in Paris, but withdrew before any games were played, so official records gave them three preliminary round losses, each with a score of 2-0.
Summer Olympics 1952
Romania managed to qualify for the 1952 Summer Olympics1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...
from Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, finishing 23rd. It was the first and the last qualification for a Basketball Olympic Tournament.
Eurobasket 1953
Eurobasket 1953Eurobasket 1953
The 1953 European Basketball Championship, commonly called Eurobasket 1953, was the eighth regional championship held by FIBA Europe. Seventeen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation entered the competition. The competition was hosted by the Soviet Union,...
in Moscow was the next European tournament in which the Romanians actually played. They took 3rd of 4 teams in their preliminary group with a 1-2 record, moving on to the classification rounds. They won 3 of their 4 games there, finishing in a three-way tie for the top spot of the group. They lost out on the tiebreaker, though, and were relegated to the 13-16 semifinals. Winning that game and their next, the Romanians finished in 13th place of the 17 teams in the tournament.
Eurobasket 1955
Romania was much more successful two years later, at Eurobasket 1955Eurobasket 1955
The 1955 European Basketball Championship, commonly called Eurobasket 1955, was the ninth regional championship held by FIBA Europe. Eighteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation entered the competition. The competition was hosted by Hungary, silver medal...
in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. A preliminary round loss to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union national basketball team
The Soviet national basketball team was the basketball side that represented the Soviet Union in international competitions. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the successor countries all set up their own national teams...
mattered little, as Romania won their other three preliminary games to take second place in the group behind the Soviets and advance to the final round along with them. There, they won games against Poland
Poland national basketball team
The Polish national basketball team is the national basketball side that represents Poland in international competitions. It is administrated by the Polski Związek Koszykówki...
and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia national basketball team
The Yugoslavian national basketball team represented the Kingdom and socialist Yugoslavia. Its of governing body was the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia, whose seat was in Belgrade....
to finish 2-5 in 7th place in the 18-team tournament.
Eurobasket 1957
Romania came within a single point of winning their preliminary pool at Eurobasket 1957Eurobasket 1957
The 1957 European Basketball Championship, commonly called Eurobasket 1957, was the tenth regional championship held by FIBA Europe. Sixteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation entered the competition. The competition was hosted by Bulgaria...
in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, losing to Hungary
Hungary national basketball team
The Hungarian national basketball team is the basketball team that represents Hungary in international competitions.-Medals:*Eurobasket 1946 - Bronze medal*Eurobasket 1953 - Silver medal*Eurobasket 1955 - Champions-Eurobasket 1935:...
in the narrow match. They beat their other two opponents, putting them in second place in the pool and advancing them to the final round. Their match in that round against Hungary was not as close, and the Romanians also lost to the other three pool winners to finish at 3-4 in 5th place.
Current Roster
Correct as of August 2010|}
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Head coach
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Legend:
- (C) Team captain
- Club field describes current pro club
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Past rosters
1935 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 10 teamsSamy Grunstein, Nae Alexandrescu, Nicu Grozavescu, M.Bercus, O.Belitoreanu, C.Riegler, E.Dumitrescu, Balteanu (Coach: C. O. Lecca)
1947 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 14 teams
Vasile Popescu, Alexandru Popescu, Constantin Herold, C.Babaliescu, N.Badulescu, P.Marossi, S.Ferencz, H.Dlugos, A.Neagu, Gh.Teodorescu, H.Kevorkian, S.Sadeanu, I.Vulescu (Coach: C.Virgolici)
1952 Olympic Games: finished 23rd among 23 teams
Dan Niculescu, Mihai Nedef, Vasile Popescu, Adrian Petrosanu, Constantin Herold, Andrei Folbert
Andrei Folbert
Andrei Folbert , nicknamed "The Hope" by his fans and officially "The Magician under the boards", was a professional basketball player and captain of the Romanian basketball team for 25 years. As a player and coach he served the basketball magic for over 38 years.Folbert was known throughout his...
, Liviu Nagy, Emanoil Raducanu, Cezar Niculescu, Corneliu Calugareanu, Grigore Costescu, Gheorghe Constantinide, Ladislau Mokos
1953 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 17 teams
Mihai Nedef, Andrei Folbert
Andrei Folbert
Andrei Folbert , nicknamed "The Hope" by his fans and officially "The Magician under the boards", was a professional basketball player and captain of the Romanian basketball team for 25 years. As a player and coach he served the basketball magic for over 38 years.Folbert was known throughout his...
, Dan Niculescu, Adrian Petrosanu, Alexandru Fodor, Liviu Nagy, Vasile Kadar, Emanoil Raducanu, Cezar Niculescu, Trajan Lita, Mihai Erdogh, Corneliu Calugareanu (Coach: Alexandru Popescu)
1955 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 18 teams
Mihai Nedef, Andrei Folbert
Andrei Folbert
Andrei Folbert , nicknamed "The Hope" by his fans and officially "The Magician under the boards", was a professional basketball player and captain of the Romanian basketball team for 25 years. As a player and coach he served the basketball magic for over 38 years.Folbert was known throughout his...
, Dan Niculescu, Emil Niculescu, Alexandru Fodor, Emanoil Raducanu, Vasile Kadar, Liviu Nagy, Mihai Erdogh, Marian Spiridon, R.Popovici, E.Ganea, C.Cojocaru (Coach: Vasile Popescu)
1957 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 16 teams
Mihai Nedef, Emil Niculescu, Alexandru Fodor, Emanoil Raducanu, Mihai Erdogh, Liviu Nagy, Andrei Folbert
Andrei Folbert
Andrei Folbert , nicknamed "The Hope" by his fans and officially "The Magician under the boards", was a professional basketball player and captain of the Romanian basketball team for 25 years. As a player and coach he served the basketball magic for over 38 years.Folbert was known throughout his...
, Grigore Costescu, Armand Novacek, A.Beretchi, A.Borbelly (Coach: Alexandru Popescu)
1959 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 17 teams
Alexandru Fodor, Mihai Nedef, Emil Niculescu, Andrei Folbert
Andrei Folbert
Andrei Folbert , nicknamed "The Hope" by his fans and officially "The Magician under the boards", was a professional basketball player and captain of the Romanian basketball team for 25 years. As a player and coach he served the basketball magic for over 38 years.Folbert was known throughout his...
, Grigore Costescu, Cristian Popescu, Mihai Popa, Emeric Vizi, Armand Novacek, Feodor Nedelea, Dragos Nosievici, L.Toth (Coach: Constantin Herold)
1961 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 19 teams
Mihai Albu, Armand Novacek, Mihai Nedef, Emil Niculescu, Cristian Popescu, Nicolae Viciu, Horia Demian, Aurel Popovici, Pavel Visner, Gheorghe Valeriu, Horatiu Giurgiu, Dragos Nosievici (Coach: Constantin Herold)
1963 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 16 teams
Mihai Albu, Emil Niculescu, Mihai Nedef, Horatiu Giurgiu, Cristian Popescu, Gheorghe Valeriu, Mihai Kiss, Dragos Nosievici, Pavel Visner, Horia Demian, Mircea Cimpeanu, Marian Spiridon (Coach: Vasile Popescu)
1965 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 16 teams
Mihai Albu, Alin Savu, Mihai Nedef, Cristian Popescu, Horia Demian, Marian Spiridon, Dragos Nosievici, Gheorghe Novac, Ekehardt Iecheli, Aurel Popovici, N.Ionescu (Coach: Vasile Popescu)
1967 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 16 teams
Mihai Albu, Alin Savu, Horia Demian, Cristian Popescu, Titus Tarau, Gheorghe Novac, Dragos Nosievici, Nicolae Birsan, Radu Diaconescu, Gheorghe Barau, Adolf Cernea, Ekehardt Iecheli (Coach: Alexandru Popescu)
1969 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 12 teams
Mihai Albu, Gheorghe Novac, Dragos Nosievici, Titus Tarau, Radu Diaconescu, Petru Czmor, Matei Ruhting, Vasile Popa, Radu Dragomirescu, Ekehardt Iecheli, Adolf Cernea, Mihai Dimancea (Coach: Alexandru Popescu)
1971 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 12 teams
Mihai Albu, Alin Savu, Dan Niculescu, Titus Tarau, Radu Diaconescu, Gheorghe Cimpeanu, Vasile Popa, Mircea Chivulescu, Nicolae Parsu, Gheorghe Oczelak, Dan Georgescu, Constantin Dragomirescu (Coach: Alexandru Popescu)
1973 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 12 teams
Dan Niculescu, Gheorghe Novac, Titus Tarau, Gheorghe Oczelak, Vasile Popa, Radu Diaconescu, Mircea Chivulescu, Nicolae Parsu, Gheorghe Cimpeanu, Nicolae Manaila, Dan Georgescu, Costel Cernat (Coach: Alexandru Popescu)
1975 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 12 teams
Gheorghe Novac, Titus Tarau, Dan Niculescu, Vasile Popa, Radu Diaconescu, Dan Moisescu, Nicolae Parsu, Dan Georgescu, Costel Cernat, Gheorghe Oczelak, Georghe Mihuta, Vasile Zdrenghea (Coach: Mihai Nedef)
1985 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 12 teams
Dan Niculescu, Alexandru Vinereanu, Costel Cernat, Attila Szabo, Viorel Constantin, Ioan Ionescu, Victor Jacob, Marian Marinache, Roman Opsitaru, Anton Netolitzchi, Florentin Ermurache, Doru Radulescu (Coach: Gheorghe Novac)
1987 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 12 teams
Constantin Popa
Constantin Popa
Constantin Popa is a 2.22 m retired Romanian-Israeli professional basketball player.Popa played for Dinamo Bucureşti in his native Romania before going overseas to play college basketball in the United States for the University of Miami...
, Dan Niculescu, Alexandru Vinereanu, Gabriel David, Costel Cernat, Ioan Ionescu, Petre Branisteanu, Anton Netolitzchi, Florentin Ermurache, Sorin Ardeleanu (Coach: Gheorghe Novac)
Notable players
- Andrei FolbertAndrei FolbertAndrei Folbert , nicknamed "The Hope" by his fans and officially "The Magician under the boards", was a professional basketball player and captain of the Romanian basketball team for 25 years. As a player and coach he served the basketball magic for over 38 years.Folbert was known throughout his...
- First Romanian Basketball "Maestru Emerit Al Sportului" - Gheorghe MureşanGheorghe MuresanGheorghe Dumitru Mureşan, , also known as Ghiţă or George, is a retired Romanian professional basketball player. At 7 ft 7 in , he is one of the tallest players in NBA history, along with Sudanese player Manute Bol, who was also 7 ft 7 in. Both Mureşan's parents are of average size, and,...
- First Romanian to play in the NBA - Constantin PopaConstantin PopaConstantin Popa is a 2.22 m retired Romanian-Israeli professional basketball player.Popa played for Dinamo Bucureşti in his native Romania before going overseas to play college basketball in the United States for the University of Miami...
- Horia DemianHoria DemianHoria Demian was a Romanian basketball player who played for U Cluj from 1960 until 1970...