Switzerland national basketball team

Switzerland
FIBA ranking	T-94
Joined FIBA	1932 (co-founders)
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	SBB / FSB
Coach	Petar Aleksic
Nickname(s)	Nati
Olympic Games
Appearances	3
Medals	None
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	None
EuroBasket
Appearances	5
Medals	None
Uniforms
Light Dark

The Swiss national basketball team is the basketball side that represents Switzerland in international competitions. It is governed by the Fédération Suisse de Basketball. (Swiss Basketball Federation)^[1]

Switzerland is one of the founding members of the International Federation of Basketball (FIBA) and has one of the world's longest basketball traditions.

Once a major player at the global stage, the team has declined and is nowadays seen as a minor team. Switzerland entered the EuroBasket five times, having their best result at 4th place in the first edition, in 1935. They also qualified for the Olympic Basketball Tournament twice, in 1936 and 1948, where their best result was 9th, in 1936. Since 1955, Switzerland aims to make the EuroBasket finals once again and has yet to qualify for the Basketball World Championship.

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2017 qualification.

Switzerland men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Age Ht. Club Country G 4 Louissaint, Steeve 28 – 11 November 1987 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Lions de Genève PG 5 Savoy, Brian 24 – 13 January 1992 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Union Neuchâtel PG 6 Kazadi, Jonathan 25 – 9 June 1991 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Entente Orléanaise SF 7 Mlađan, Marko 23 – 26 March 1993 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) BBC Monthey SF 8 Kozić, Juraj 21 – 24 May 1995 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Lions de Genève PF 9 Jurkovitz, Natan 21 – 4 April 1995 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Fribourg Olympic SF 11 Mlađan, Dušan 29 – 16 November 1986 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Lions de Genève SG 14 Kovac, Roberto 25 – 2 September 1990 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Lions de Genève PF 15 Cotture, Arnaud 21 – 9 August 1995 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Fribourg Olympic SF 25 Fongue, Eric 25 – 25 February 1991 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Fribourg Olympic PF 47 Ramseier, David 28 – 1 November 1987 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Lions de Genève C 77 Dos Santos, Nicolas 29 – 10 April 1987 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Benfica	Head coach Petar Aleksić Assistant coach(es) Dušan Gvozdić Legend Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 31 August 2016

Notable players

Other current notable players from Switzerland:

Switzerland men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Age Ht. Club Country F/C Capela, Clint 22 – 18 May 1994 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Houston Rockets G/F Sefolosha, Thabo 32 – 2 May 1984 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Atlanta Hawks Legend Club – describes current club Age – describes age on 13 August 2016

Competitive record

At EuroBasket FIBA EuroBasket Year Position Pld W L 1935 Fourth Place 4 2 2 1937–1939 Did not Qualify 1946 5th Place 3 2 1 1947–1949 Did not Qualify 1951 13th Place 9 4 5 1953 11th Place 8 3 5 1955 14th Place 10 5 5 1957–2015 Did not Qualify (Division B from 2005–2011) 2017 Did not Qualify Total 34 16 18

At Olympic Games Olympic Games Record Year Position Pld W L 1936 9th Place 3 2 1 1948 21st Place 8 2 6 1952 17th Place 2 0 2 2020 To be determined Total 13 4 9 At Basketball World Cup World Cup Year Position Pld W L 2019 To be determined Total 0 0 0

History

EuroBasket 1935

The host Swiss side came in 4th place at the first European basketball championship, the EuroBasket 1935 held by the International Basketball Federation's FIBA Europe continental federation. They defeated Romania and Italy in the preliminary round to advance to the semifinals. There they lost to Latvia, resulting in a playoff for third place with Czechoslovakia which the Swiss lost 25-23.

EuroBasket 1946

Switzerland did not play in the European championship again until the post-war EuroBasket 1946, which they hosted. There, they placed 2nd in the three-team preliminary group after losing to eventual champions Czechoslovakia 20-17 but defeating Belgium 38-33. That preliminary round finish put the Swiss into a 5th/6th place playoff against Netherlands, which Switzerland won 36-25.

EuroBasket 1951

The next Swiss entry into European championships was the EuroBasket 1951 tournament in Paris. Switzerland finished the preliminary round with a 1-3 record, 4th in their group. They fared little better in the first classification, taking 3rd in the group with a 1-2 record. In the second classification round, the Swiss won the classification 13-16 and 13/14 games to finish in 13th place of 18 teams, with a 4-5 record.

EuroBasket 1953

EuroBasket 1953 in Moscow was the fourth appearance of the Swiss. The tournament began poorly for the team, as they finished last in their preliminary pool at 0-3. It got somewhat better for them after that, as they took second in their first classification pool with 2 wins and a loss. They dropped their 9-12 semifinal to Belgium, but defeated Finland in the 11/12 final to take 11th of 17 overall.

EuroBasket 1955

Switzerland competed next at the EuroBasket 1955 tournament in Budapest. Their 2-2 record in preliminary round put them in 3rd of the five-team group and relegated them to the classification rounds. They had similar results there, again taking a 2-2 record and 3rd of 5 teams. They won their classification 13-16 semifinal, but lost to Austria in the 13/14 game to finish 14th of 18 teams.

Later years

The 1952 Summer Olympics and the 1955 EuroBasket are the last major international basketball tournaments that the country qualified for. Since then, it lost its international significance despite occasional strong showings at qualification games. E.g. Switzerland surprisingly beat former European Champion Russia at the qualification for the 2015 EuroBasket.

Head coach position

• Sébastian Roduit – 2009-2012
• Petar Aleksic – 2013-

Kit

Manufacturer

Erima

See also

• Switzerland national under-19 basketball team
• Switzerland national under-17 basketball team
• Switzerland national 3x3 team
• Switzerland women's national basketball team

References

1. FIBA National Federations – Switzerland, fiba.com, accessed 12 December 2014.

External links

• Official Website (French)(German)(Italian)
• FIBA profile
• EuroBasket.com – Switzerland Men Current Squad
• Archived records of Switzerland team participations

Videos

• Thabo Sefolosha on playing for Switzerland and his plans for the summer Youtube.com video