What a fortnight it has been for the basketball fraternity of the nation; with Sri Lanka beating India in basketball for the first time ever at the SABA 3×3 qualifiers for the FIBA 3×3 world tour last Sunday at the group stages. However the team still has a long way to go in terms of rankings if it is to really compete at the highest level.
As we bring the Top NBA Drafts to a close, this week we will dig into the best eight teams of the world basketball arena.
8. Turkey – “The 12 Dev Adam”
Basketball is the second most dominant sport in Turkey.
Turkey is ranked number 8 by FIBA with a total of 284 points. Having joined FIBA (International Basketball Federation) in the year 1936, they have won a silver medal at both the FIBA World cup and FIBA EuroBasket and two gold medals at the Mediterranean games. The team is nicknamed ‘The 12 Dev Adam’ which means ’The 12 Giant Men’.
Turkey’s domestic basketball league is the Turkish Basketball league where young players are groomed and the best performing clubs at this league qualify to compete in the Euro League.
The Turkish outfit is rich in talent as they have the luxury services of NBA players like big man Omer Asik (New Orleans Hornets), Ersan Ilaysova (Detroit Pistons) and Enes Kanter (Oklahoma Thunder). The team also comprises the 20 year old NBA draft prospect Cedi Osman currently playing for Anadolu Efes Istanbul and Emir Preldzic a consistent offensive weapon who plays for Fenerbahce Ulker of the Turkish Basketball league. The team has a good balance of experienced campaigners as well as young blood giving the team the opportunity to mold the future of Turkish Basketball. Turkey finished 8th at the FIBA World cup 2014 with 4 wins and 3 losses losing out to Lithuania in the Quarter finals.
7. Serbia
Serbia is ranked number 7 with a total of 344 points. Formerly known as FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro national basketball team until 2006, they were a dominant force in the international arena for many years especially in the 1990s and early 2000s. Serbia won two FIBA World cups (1998, 2002), three Euro Basket championships (1995, 1997, and 2001) and a Silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
But after the country became known as Serbia they went through a period of turmoil in the mid-2000s. However this highly talented team seems to be back on track now as they concluded 2014 FIBA World Cup run reaching the runner up slot; finishing behind the mighty Team USA.
The team consists of the likes of Milos Teodocis who plays a very vital role for the club CSKA Moscow, veteran Nenad Kristic who dominated the NBA playing in three clubs (Nets, Thunder, Celtics) currently playing for CSKA Moscow and Miroslav Radulijica who plays for the Greek giants Panathinaikos of the Greek Basketball league. Team Serbia has a very talented team with great size and a die-hard following at home and they are looking to make great strides to reach the very top of the FIBA Men’s Basketball rankings.
6. Russia
Formerly known as the USSR national basketball team, Team Russia officially joined FIBA in the year 1992 and is currently ranked at 6th position with a total of 353 points. The team has won the Euro Basket championship in 2007 and has also won a Silver and a Bronze medal in separate years. It has won 2 Silver medals at the FIBA World cup (1994,1998) However the best performance for the team has come at the Summer Olympics, where they won a Bronze medal in London 2012.
The team consists of a very skilled roster which consists of NBA players Timofey Mosgov (Cleveland Cavaliers), Anrei Kirilenko (Brooklyn Nets) and Alexey Shved (New York Knicks). Kirilenko has announced his retirement in the month of June, although I feel it is possible that he could make a comeback by re-signing with his former team CSKA Moscow since he is only 34 years of age and is a vital part of the Russian national team. Team Russia has a glorious history of International dominance back when they were USSR and they certainly seem to be determined to fight their way back to the very top.
5. France
Team France is ranked at number 5 by FIBA with a total of360 points. They are nicknamed the ‘Les Bleus’ which mean the ‘The Blues’ referring to the colour of the jersey that they are usually clad in. The French national team has won a Bronze medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup unexpectedly beating the hosts Spain at the Quarter finals. The team has also won 2 Silver medals at the Summer Olympics in the years 1948 and 2000.
The team has been most impressive at the FIBA Euro Basket championship having won 5 Bronze medals (1937, 1951, 1953, 1959, and 2003), 2 Sliver medals in 1948 and 2011 and a Gold medal in the year 2013 which makes them the reigning European champions.
The team consists of some top class Basketball players competing at the NBA such as Tony Parker, a 5 time NBA World champion with the San Antonio Spurs playing at Point Guard. Other key players are Small Forward Nicolas Batum (Charlotte Hornets), Tony Parker’s San Antonio team mate Boris Diaw playing at Power forward and Evan Fournier (Orlando Magic) playing at Shooting guard.
There has been a surge of Basketball fever spreading across France over the recent years spurred by the team’s recent successes at international events and the Blues are eyeing the top spot just like their counterparts.
Join us next week at thepapare.com as we will be looking at the top 4 teams dominating the international scene in Basketball.
