East Germany men's national basketball team

Last updated
East Germany
Coat of arms of East Germany.svg
FIBA ranking Defunct
Joined FIBA 1952
FIBA zone FIBA Europe
National federationDeutscher Basketball Verband der DDR
Olympic Games
AppearancesNone
FIBA World Cup
Appearances None
EuroBasket
Appearances5
MedalsNone
First international
Flag of Germany.svg  East Germany 37–87 Soviet Union  Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
(Istanbul, Turkey; 22 May 1959)
Biggest win
Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 87–42 Sweden  Flag of Sweden.svg
(Halle, East Germany; 5 May 1967)
Biggest defeat
Flag of Germany.svg  East Germany 37–87 Soviet Union  Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
(Istanbul, Turkey; 22 May 1959)

The East Germany men's national basketball team was recognised by FIBA as the German Democratic Republic basketball team from 1952 to 1990.

Contents

East Germany's biggest success during international events came at the EuroBasket 1963 in Wrocław. It was where they earned their highest ranked finish of sixth place.

History

After the Second World War, two German national basketball teams were in existence. The East Germany national team joined FIBA as members in 1952. They wouldn't enter their first international tournament until the EuroBasket 1959, where they finished 14th. [1]

At the EuroBasket 1961 in Belgrade, East Germany finished 12th out of the 19 teams, four spots ahead of West Germany. [2] Overall, the national basketball team of East Germany had its biggest success at the EuroBasket 1963 in Wrocław. After four victories and three losses in the preliminary round, East Germany went as the third seed (behind the tournament winner Soviet Union and silver medalist Poland) in Group B. Since only the first two places advanced to the semi-finals, East Germany played against Belgium and Bulgaria in the classification round. After beating Belgium 81–35, East Germany lost to Bulgaria 62–77. According to many experts, East Germany was one of the biggest surprises of the tournament. [3]

At the EuroBasket 1965 in Moscow/Tbilisi, the East German team could not repeat its impressive performance two years earlier. However, it outperformed its West German competitors by four spots and finished 10th out of the 16 teams. East Germany competed in its last EuroBasket in 1967, hosted in Helsinki/Tampere. They eventually finished out the event in 14th place. [4]

After failing at EuroBasket a year prior, East Germany entered qualification for the 1968 Summer Olympics. It was then they defeated West Germany for the second time, though they missed out on qualifying. Despite the lack of popularity of basketball in East Germany, it took the West German national team until 1973 to earn its first victory over the East Germans, who displayed disciplined playing styles. [5] However, even after East Germany exhibited some solid performances at European basketball competitions, the national team never qualified for the World Cup or Summer Olympics.

Its demise

In 1969, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany decided to shift its focus towards sports that were most likely to win medals, and earn points at international competitions. Since basketball is a team sport, where in contrast to individual sports, the whole team can only win a single Olympic medal; it lost considerable government support. Eventually, the SED and Stasi leader Erich Mielke banned East German basketball players from traveling to non-socialist countries, and immensely limited the sponsorship and promotion of talents. This ultimately led to the end of East Germany's international basketball existence, which ceded completely after 1973, [6] although the federation would continue to be recognised by FIBA as a full member, until reunification in 1990.

Competitive record

EuroBasket

EuroBasket Qualification
YearPositionPldWLPldWL
Flag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg 1953 Did not enter
Flag of Hungary (1949-1956; 1-2 aspect ratio).svg 1955
Flag of Bulgaria (1948-1967).svg 1957
Flag of Turkey.svg 1959 14th615
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg 1961 12th826
Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg 1963 6th954Directly qualified
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg 1965 10th936
Flag of Finland.svg 1967 14th927330
Flag of Italy.svg 1969 Did not enterDid not enter
Flag of Germany.svg 1971
Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg 1973 Did not qualify954
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg 1975 Did not enterDid not enter
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg 1977
Flag of Italy.svg 1979
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg 1981
Flag of France (lighter variant).svg 1983
Flag of Germany.svg 1985
Flag of Greece.svg 1987
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg 1989
Total5/194113281284

See also

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References

  1. "EuroBasket 1959 tournament results". Archive.fiba.com.
  2. "EuroBasket 1961 tournament results". Archive.fiba.com.
  3. "East Germany basketball history". horch-und-guck.info.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. "EuroBasket 1967 tournament results". Archive.fiba.com.
  5. "East Germany basketball history". horch-und-guck.info.[ permanent dead link ]
  6. "East Germany basketball history". horch-und-guck.info.[ permanent dead link ]