Ukraine men's national basketball team

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This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Ukraine women's national basketball team.

Ukraine
Ukrainian Basketball Federation logo.jpg
FIBA ranking32 Steady (7 December 2021)[1]
Joined FIBA1992
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationFBU
CoachAinars Bagatskis
Nickname(s)Головна команда
(The Main Team)
Жовто-Сині
(The Yellow and Blue)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances1
MedalsNone
EuroBasket
Appearances9
MedalsNone
First international
 Ukraine 87–76 England 
(Wrocław, Poland; 30 May 1993)
Biggest win
 Iceland 62–105 Ukraine 
(Reykjavík, Iceland; 22 November 2000)
Biggest defeat
 Italy 99–62 Ukraine 
(Vršac, Serbia and Montenegro; 18 September 2005)

The Ukraine men's national basketball team (Ukrainian: збірна України з баскетболу) represents Ukraine in international basketball matches. They are controlled by the Basketball Federation of Ukraine.

After Ukrainian Independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and joining FIBA in 1992, the national team played their first official match against England on 30 May 1993. Their biggest success so far on the international stage has been qualifying for the EuroBasket eight times, and reaching the FIBA World Cup for the first time in 2014.

History[]

Gaining Independence[]

Before the Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukrainian players took part on the Soviet Union national team during international competition. The Soviets were one of the strongest national teams in the world during this period.

EuroBasket 1997[]

Ukraine made their EuroBasket debut in 1997. Their first match at the tournament was not a warm welcome for the national team, as they were demolished by Spain 54-82.[2] With less than 24 hours to regroup for their next game, Ukraine faced Germany where they lost again, this time by the score of 81-60. In their final match in group play, they defeated Croatia 88-95, to earn their first ever win at the EuroBasket.[3] Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for the team to advance to the knockout stage so they were relegated to the classification rounds for 13th-16th place. There, the team defeated Latvia and Slovenia to finish the tournament 13th overall.

EuroBasket 2013[]

After uninspiring results at the prior four EuroBasket finals tournaments in 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2011 respectively, Ukraine was eager to turn their fortunes around at EuroBasket 2013. Ukraine was placed into Group A to begin their tournament run. The national team was victorious in their first three matches of the tournament, against Belgium, Israel, and Germany. Heading into their fourth match against the heavily favoured France, Ukraine displayed genuine toughness in a losing effort to the eventual tournament champions 71-77. In their final game of the preliminary round, the team turned around and displayed resilience in blowing out Great Britain 68-87 to advance to the second group phase. There, they were blasted in their first match in group play against Latvia, but redeemed themselves with an quality victory over Serbia a few days later.[4] Ukraine went on to lose their final game in the group to Lithuania, but it was enough to clinch a spot into the knockout phase. In the quarter-finals, Ukraine was paired up against Croatia, but the national team came up short 84-72. With the loss, Ukraine went on to play in classification matches to determine 5th-8th place. The team defeated Italy before falling to Slovenia to finish up at sixth place. It was the best result for the Ukraine at the EuroBasket to that point.

2014 FIBA World Cup[]

Ukraine made their first appearance on to the global stage at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, through their surprising performance at EuroBasket 2013.[5] Led by former NBA head coach Mike Fratello, the national team won their first ever match in the World Cup, defeating the Dominican Republic 72-62. With their historic win under their belt, the team went into their second match of the tournament confident. However, Finland pulled out with an narrow 81-76 victory to drop Ukraine to an record of (1-1). Entering their third match, Ukraine went up against Turkey and the national team didn't disappoint. They eventually won a hard fought 64-58 contest, before their pivotal game versus New Zealand.

With a berth to the Round of 16 on the line, Ukraine needed one more victory to advance. But they were unsuccessful in the crucial match as they lost 73-61 to head into their do-or-die game against the tournament favourite United States in a dire position. In the must win game for Ukraine, the national team got off to a strong start, to even possess the lead after the first period. However, the Americans flexed their dominance thereafter, which led to the team being eliminated from the tournament all together by the score of 71-95.[6]

EuroBasket 2017[]

After failing to make it out of the group stage in 2015, Ukraine looked to make amends on the continental stage at EuroBasket 2017. Ukraine went through qualifiers where the team finished at a record of (4-2), to earn a spot back to the EuroBasket finals.[7] Placed into Group B to begin the tournament, Ukraine were defeated in their first two matches against Germany and Italy. In their third game the national team would eventually pickup their first victory against Georgia 81-88. Sitting at a record of (1-2), Lithuania handed Ukraine a damaging 62-94 defeat. With one game remaining in group play, and a spot into the knockout stage on the line the team was up against one of the tournament co-hosts Israel. The national team ultimately displayed supreme urgency to punch their ticket to advance, with a dominant 64-88 win.[8] Entering the Round of 16 however, was where the Ukraine would come up short, by getting thoroughly defeated by the eventual champions of the tournament Slovenia 55-79.[9]

2019 FIBA World Cup qualification[]

For the first round of qualifying to the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Ukraine were drawn into Group B. The national team would open up their qualifying campaign with an solid road victory against Sweden 76-84. They would eventually attain a (3–3) record in the group to advance to the second and final phase of qualifying. In the second group phase of qualifiers, Ukraine started things off with a strong home win against Spain.[10] Although the team dropped their second match of group play to Montenegro 90-84 to fall to (1–1). After that loss the national team went on to finish the rest of the qualifiers at a record of (5-7) overall, and were eliminated from World Cup contention.[11]

Competitive record[]

Results and fixtures[]

  Win   Loss

2020[]

28 November 2020
EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers
 Slovenia  84–73  Ukraine Ljubljana, Slovenia* [note 1]
20:10 Scoring by quarter: 33–9, 17–19, 13–19, 21–26
Pts: Blažič 23
Rebs: Morgan 11
Asts: Rupnik 7 		Boxscore Pts: Gerun 15
Rebs: Pavlov, Sanon 5
Asts: Bobrov, Sanon 5 		Arena: Arena Stožice
Referees: Georgios Poursanidis (GRE), Yener Yılmaz (TUR), Zafer Yılmaz (TUR)
30 November 2020
EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers
 Ukraine  70–67  Austria Ljubljana, Slovenia* [note 1]
17:10 Scoring by quarter: 16–14, 13–16, 21–15, 20–22
Pts: Mishula 20
Rebs: Petrov 10
Asts: Lypovyy 5 		Boxscore Pts: 16
Rebs: Mahalbašić 7
Asts: Mahalbašić 9 		Arena: Arena Stožice
Referees: Georgios Poursanidis (GRE), Yener Yılmaz (TUR), Valerio Grigioni (ITA)

2021[]

20 February 2021
EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers
 Ukraine  70–65  Slovenia Kyiv, Ukraine* [note 1]
16:00 Scoring by quarter: 9–11, 15–16, 17–15, 29–23
Pts: Rendl 24
Rebs: Bliznyuk 11
Asts: Bliznyuk, Rendl 5 		Boxscore Pts: Rupnik 18
Rebs: Blažič, Murić 6
Asts: Rupnik 5 		Arena: Palace of Sports
Referees: Eddie Viator (FRA), Paulo Marques (POR), Michał Proc (POL)
22 February 2021
EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers
 Hungary  63–97  Ukraine Kyiv, Ukraine* [note 1]
19:00 Scoring by quarter: 20–24, 14–26, 11–27, 18–20
Pts: 17
Rebs: 6
Asts: , 3 		Boxscore Pts: Bobrov 19
Rebs: three players 6
Asts: Zotov 9 		Arena: Palace of Sports
Referees: Özlem Yalman (TUR), Paulo Marques (POR), Mihkel Männiste (EST)
26 November 2021 (2021-11-26)
2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – 1st round
 Georgia  88–83  Ukraine Tbilisi
19:00 Scoring by quarter: 28–24, 17–22, 19–20, 24–17
Pts: McFadden 27
Rebs: Shengelia 13
Asts: McFadden 9 		Boxscore Pts: Bliznyuk 18
Rebs: Petrov 12
Asts: Randle 6 		Arena: Tbilisi Sports Palace
Attendance: 0
Referees: Martin Vulić (CRO), Dariusz Zapolski (POL), Mihkel Männiste (EST)
Note:
29 November 2021 (2021-11-29)
2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – 1st round
 Ukraine  78–61  North Macedonia Kyiv
19:00 Scoring by quarter: 14–17, 16–17, 19–13, 29–14
Pts: Pustovyi 18
Rebs: Lukashov, Petrov 7
Asts: three players 4 		Boxscore Pts: Krstevski 14
Rebs: Wiley 9
Asts: Nikolov 6 		Arena: Palace of Sports
Attendance: 2,300
Referees: Kerem Baki (TUR), Gintaras Vitkauskas (LTU), Gvidas Gedvilas (LTU)
Note:

2022[]

24 February 2022 (2022-02-24)
2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – 1st round
 Spain  vs.  Ukraine Córdoba
20:45
Boxscore Arena:
Note:
27 February 2022 (2022-02-27)
2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – 1st round
 Ukraine  vs.  Spain Kyiv
16:00
Boxscore Arena: Palace of Sports
Note:
1 July 2022 (2022-07-01)
2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – 1st round
 Ukraine  vs.  Georgia
Boxscore
Note:
4 July 2022 (2022-07-04)
2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – 1st round
 North Macedonia  vs.  Ukraine
Boxscore
Note:

Team[]

Current roster[]

Roster for the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers matches on 26 and 29 November 2021 against Georgia and North Macedonia.[13]

Ukraine men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
PG 2 Jerome Randle 34 – (1987-05-21)21 May 1987 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Budivelnyk Ukraine
PG 7 Denys Lukashov 32 – (1989-04-30)30 April 1989 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Prometey Ukraine
G/F 11 Oleksandr Lypovyy 30 – (1991-10-09)9 October 1991 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) Prometey Ukraine
PF 14 Serhii Pavlov 24 – (1997-07-18)18 July 1997 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Dnipro Ukraine
PF 17 21 – (1999-12-11)11 December 1999 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Kyiv-Basket Ukraine
PF 22 Viacheslav Petrov 27 – (1994-08-13)13 August 1994 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Prometey Ukraine
C 23 Artem Pustovyi 29 – (1992-06-25)25 June 1992 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) Gran Canaria Spain
SG 30 Issuf Sanon 22 – (1999-10-30)30 October 1999 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Dnipro Ukraine
G/F 32 Bogdan Bliznyuk 26 – (1995-03-31)31 March 1995 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Budivelnyk Ukraine
G 45 Vitaliy Zotov 24 – (1997-03-03)3 March 1997 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Dnipro Ukraine
C 52 Volodymyr Gerun 27 – (1994-03-25)25 March 1994 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Büyükçekmece Turkey
PG 55 24 – (1996-12-04)4 December 1996 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) Prometey Ukraine
Head coach
  • Latvia Ainars Bagatskis
Assistant coach(es)
  • Ukraine Vitali Stepanovski
  • Ukraine Maksym Mikhelson
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 26 November 2021

Depth chart[]

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Alex Len Viacheslav Kravtsov Artem Pustovyi
PF Ihor Zaytsev Maksym Korniyenko Vyacheslav Bobrov
SF Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk Maksym Pustozvonov Vladimir Konev
SG Oleksandr Lypovyy Ruslan Otverchenko Oleksandr Kolchenko
PG Denys Lukashov Olexandr Mishula

Notable players[]

Current notable players who have played for the national team:

Players previously called up roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
PF 29 – (1992-05-31)31 May 1992 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Prometey Ukraine
SF Vyacheslav Bobrov 29 – (1992-09-19)19 September 1992 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Dnipro Ukraine
PG Igor Boyarkin 26 – (1995-06-13)13 June 1995 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Ternopil Ukraine
PG Eugene Jeter 38 – (1983-12-02)2 December 1983 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) G League Ignite United States
SG Oleksandr Kolchenko 33 – (1988-09-20)20 September 1988 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Cherkaski Ukraine
SF Vladimir Konev 32 – (1989-06-18)18 June 1989 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Cherkaski Ukraine
F/C 28 – (1994-01-08)8 January 1994 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Kryvbas Ukraine
PF Maksym Korniyenko 34 – (1987-06-26)26 June 1987 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Spartak Pleven Bulgaria
PF 24 – (1997-11-28)28 November 1997 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Kyiv-Basket Ukraine
C Viacheslav Kravtsov 34 – (1987-08-25)25 August 1987 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Dnipro Ukraine
SF Pavlo Krutous 29 – (1992-04-09)9 April 1992 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Dnipro Ukraine
C Alex Len 28 – (1993-06-16)16 June 1993 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Sacramento Kings United States
SF 24 – (1997-09-23)23 September 1997 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Odessa Ukraine
PG Olexandr Mishula 29 – (1992-04-18)18 April 1992 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Prometey Ukraine
SF Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk 24 – (1997-06-14)14 June 1997 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Toronto Raptors United States
SG Ruslan Otverchenko 32 – (1990-01-06)6 January 1990 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Cherkaski Ukraine
SF Maksym Pustozvonov 34 – (1987-04-16)16 April 1987 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Budivelnyk Ukraine
SF 28 – (1993-12-05)5 December 1993 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Dnipro Ukraine
C 23 – (1998-05-12)12 May 1998 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Kyiv-Basket Ukraine
PF Stanislav Tymofeyenko 32 – (1989-06-03)3 June 1989 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Dnipro Ukraine
F/C Ihor Zaytsev 32 – (1989-05-11)11 May 1989 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Fubon Braves Taiwan
Legend
  • Club – describes current club
  • Age – describes age
    on 10 January 2022

Head coach position[]

  • Ukraine – (1992–1997)
  • Ukraine – (1997–1998)
  • Ukraine – (1998–2000)
  • Ukraine – (2000–2005)
  • Ukraine – (2006–2007)
  • Ukraine – (2007)
  • Ukraine Valentyn Melnychuk – (2008–2009)
  • Ukraine Vitaliy Cherniy – (2010)
  • United States Mike Fratello – (2011–2014)
  • Ukraine Yevgen Murzin – (2015–2019)
  • Latvia Ainars Bagatskis – (2019–present)

Past rosters[]

1997 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 16 teams

4 Oleksandr Okunsky, 5 Grihoriy Khyzhniak, 6 Leonid Yaylo, 7 Ihor Molchanov, 8 Victor Savchenko, 9 Alexander Lokhmanchuk, 10 Denis Zhuravlov, 11 Roman Rubchenko, 12 Vadym Pudzyrey, 13 Yevheniy Murzin, 14 Dmytro Bazelevsky, 15 Ihor Kharchenko (Coach: Zaurbek Khromaev)

2001 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 16 teams

4 Andriy Lebedev, 5 Vadym Pudzyrey, 6 Viktor Kobzystyy, 7 Stanislav Balashov, 8 Viacheslav Ievstratenko, 9 Serhiy Lishchuk, 10 Nikolay Khryapa, 11 Oleksandr Okunsky, 12 Dmytro Markov, 13 Dmytro Korablov, 14 Oleksandr Rayevskyy, 15 Volodymyr Ryzhov (Coach: Gennadi Zaschuk)

2003 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 16 teams

4 Andrii Lebediev, 5 Oleksandr Rayevskyy, 6 Oleksandr Skutelnyk, 7 Stanislav Balashov, 8 Artur Drozdov, 9 Sergiy Moskalenko, 10 Nikolay Khryapa, 11 Oleksandr Okunsky, 12 Viacheslav Ievstratenko, 13 Alexander Lokhmanchuk, 14 Andriy Botichev, 15 Grigorij Khizhnyak (Coach: Gennadi Zaschuk)

2005 EuroBasket: finished 16th among 16 teams

4 Andrii Lebediev, 5 Artem Butskyy, 6 Viktor Kobzystyy, 7 Stanislav Balashov, 8 Igor Kryvych, 9 Volodymyr Koval, 10 Oleksandr Rayevskyy, 11 Rostyslav Kryvych, 12 Serhiy Lishchuk, 13 Oleksiy Pecherov, 14 Volodymyr Gurtovyy, 15 Slava Medvedenko (Coach: Gennadi Zaschuk)

2011 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 24 teams

4 Maksym Pustozvonov, 5 Denys Lukashov, 6 Steve Burtt Jr., 7 Oleksandr Kolchenko, 8 Oleksandr Lypovyy, 9 Dmytro Zabirchenko, 10 Oleg Saltovets, 11 Oleksiy Pecherov, 12 Serhiy Lishchuk, 13 Danylo Kozlov, 14 Kyrylo Fesenko, 15 Viacheslav Kravtsov (Coach: Mike Fratello)

2013 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 24 teams

4 Maksym Pustozvonov, 5 Eugene Jeter, 6 Olexandr Mishula, 7 Dmytro Gliebov, 8 Sergiy Gladyr, 9 Oleksandr Lypovyy, 10 Kyrylo Natyazhko, 11 Dmytro Zabirchenko, 12 Maxym Korniyenko, 13 Ihor Zaytsev, 14 Artem Pustovyi, 15 Viacheslav Kravtsov (Coach: Mike Fratello)

2014 FIBA World Cup: finished 18th among 24 teams

4 Maksym Pustozvonov, 5 Eugene Jeter, 6 Olexandr Mishula, 7 Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, 8 Sergiy Gladyr, 9 Oleksandr Lypovyy, 10 Kyrylo Natyazhko, 11 Dmytro Zabirchenko, 12 Maksym Korniyenko, 13 Ihor Zaytsev, 14 Artem Pustovyi, 15 Viacheslav Kravtsov (Coach: Mike Fratello)

2015 EuroBasket: finished 22nd among 24 teams

4 Maksym Pustozvonov, 5 Jerome Randle, 6 Olexandr Mishula, 7 Denys Lukashov, 8 Kyrylo Fesenko (C), 9 Oleksandr Sizov, 10 Stanislav Tymofeyenko, 11 Oleksandr Lypovyy, 12 Maksym Korniyenko, 13 Ihor Zaytsev, 14 Artem Pustovyi, 15 Pavlo Krutous (Coach: Yevgen Murzin)

2017 EuroBasket: finished 15th among 24 teams

4 Maksym Pustozvonov, 5 Oleksandr Kolchenko, 7 Denys Lukashov, 9 Ruslan Otverchenko, 11 Oleksandr Lypovyy, 12 Maksym Korniyenko, 13 Vyacheslav Bobrov, 14 Ihor Zaytsev, 15 Viacheslav Kravtsov, 23 Artem Pustovyi, 24 Vladimir Konev, 31 Olexandr Mishula (Coach: Yevgen Murzin)

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b c d Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all matches in the November 2020 and February 2021 windows were played behind closed doors in select host cities.[12]

References[]

  1. ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Ukraine v Spain EuroBasket 1997 game results". Archive.fiba.com. 25 June 1997.
  3. ^ "Croatia v Ukraine EuroBasket 1997 game results". Archive.fiba.com. 27 June 1997.
  4. ^ "Ukraine v Serbia EuroBasket 2013 game results". Archive.fiba.com. 13 September 2013.
  5. ^ "Team in focus - Ukraine". Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Ukraine at the 2014 FIBA World Cup". Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  7. ^ "Ukraine during the EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers". Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  8. ^ "Ukraine roll past Israel, last team to book ticket for Istanbul". Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  9. ^ "Ukraine at the EuroBasket 2017". Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  10. ^ "Ukraine beats Spain in FIBA World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers". Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  11. ^ "Ukraine during the 2019 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers". Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  12. ^ "Statement regarding the November 2020 and February 2021 Qualifiers". Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Ukraine during the 2023 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers in Nov. 2021". Retrieved 26 November 2021.

External links[]

Videos[]

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