Soviet National Basketball Team

The Soviet Union men's national basketball team ( rus, сбо́рная СССР по баскетболу, r=sbórnaya SSSR po basketbolu) was the national basketball team 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.

Based on the number of medals, the basketball program of the former Soviet Union remains one of the most successful in the history of international basketball competitions.

History

EuroBasket 1947

The Soviets first competed in the European championship at EuroBasket 1947. They quickly established their dominance of the European field, winning both preliminary round games, all three semifinal round games, and the championship match against defending gold medallists Czechoslovakia. The Soviets outscored their opponents by an aggregate 126 points over their 6 wins, an average margin of victory of 21 points.

EuroBasket 1951

After refusing to host EuroBasket 1949 as was FIBA Europe's expectation of the Soviet Union and skipping the tournament entirely, the Soviets returned to European championships in EuroBasket 1951. They dominated the early portions of the tournament, outscoring opponents 312–117 in their four preliminary round wins. The three games of the semifinal round also posed little problem for the Soviet team, as the closest any opponent came was the Czechoslovak team losing by only 16. In the first game of the final round, which was essentially a semifinal game, the Soviets defeated Bulgaria 72–54 to advance to the championship game, a rematch against Czechoslovakia.

In that match, the Soviet team faced its first true close test in European play. A 44–44 tie was broken by Soviet Ilmar Kullam from the free throw line with 1 second left on the clock to give the Soviets a 45–44 win. Even that was called into question, however, as one of the referees initially signaled that Kullam had stepped on the free throw line during the shot and therefore the point would be disallowed. After consultation with another referee, however, the free throw was upheld and the Soviets had won their second European championship.

EuroBasket 1953

The Soviets maintained their domination at EuroBasket 1953, which they hosted in Moscow. They had no trouble in a 3–0 preliminary round that included a 104-point slaughter of Denmark. An eight-team final round also posed little difficulty for the squad, with the closest of the 7 wins being a 29–24 slog against Hungary as the Soviets extended their streak to 3 championships with 25 wins and no losses.

EuroBasket 1955

Through four preliminary round games and the first three final round games, the Soviets extended their winning streak to 31 games. With four games left in the final round robin of EuroBasket 1955, the Soviets were facing the pesky Czechoslovakia team, which was so far had been the closest to defeating the Soviet Union, in 1951. Czechoslovakia, however, had already lost twice in the round, and had a record of 1–2 to the Soviets' 3–0 going into the game.

In a shocking result, the 81–74 final score did not favor the Soviet Union. They did so once more before the tournament was over, losing to Hungary in a game that essentially determined the gold medal despite being only the 6th of 7 matches each team played. The Soviets' 5–2 record in the round matched that of Czechoslovakia, and the Soviets finished with only a bronze medal.

EuroBasket 1957

Two years later, at EuroBasket 1957 in Sofia, the Soviets returned to form. They won their three preliminary round games and then their seven final round games, including an exciting final match of the round robin against similarly undefeated hosts Bulgaria. The Soviets trailed 23–19 at halftime, but battled back to a 60–57 victory to take their 4th European championship.http://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/event/p/cid//sid/2246/_/1957_EuroBasket/index.html

Honours

Medals table

Competition results

Olympic Games

FIBA World Championship

FIBA EuroBasket

Rosters

1947 EuroBasket: finished 1st among 14 teams

Stepas Butautas, Connor Zaleski, Zuzu Zaleski, Ilmar Kullam, Evgeny Alekseev, Anatoli Konev, Nodar Dzhordzhikiya, Vasili Kolpakov, Vytautas Kulakauskas, Justinas Lagunavičius, Alexander Moiseev, Yuri Ushakov, Kazys Petkevičius, Sergei Tarasov (Coach: Stepan Spandaryan)

1948 Olympic Games: did not participate

1949 EuroBasket: did not participate

1950 World Championship: did not participate

1951 EuroBasket: finished 1st among 17 teams

Stepas Butautas, Otar Korkia, Joann Lõssov, Anatoli Konev, Ilmar Kullam, Anatoli Belov, Heino Kruus, Alexander Moiseev, Justinas Lagunavičius, Vasili Kolpakov, Yuri Larionov, Oleg Mamontov, Evgeni Nikitin