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| FIBA ranking | None | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| JoinedFIBA | 1937 | ||
| FIBA zone | FIBA Europe | ||
| National federation | English Basketball Federation | ||
| Coach | Paul James | ||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Appearances | 1 (2012) | ||
| EuroBasket | |||
| Appearances | 4 (1946,1955,1961,1981) | ||
| Commonwealth Games | |||
| Appearances | 2 (2006, 2018) | ||
| Medals |  Bronze:2006 | ||
TheEngland national basketball team is organised byBasketball England, the sport's governing body in England. England's direct membership of FIBA ended in September 2016, when its national teams were merged intoGreat Britain teams, so England no longer play in FIBA competitions.[1] England competed in the2018 Commonwealth Games, finishing in fifth place.
England's biggest success were its four qualifications toEuroBasket, the European championship in basketball. The team won the bronze medal at the2006 Commonwealth Games.
England's first European championship appearance was atEurobasket 1946. They lost all four of the games that they played, and subsequently finished last in the field of ten teams.
A few years later, England qualified for theEurobasket 1955 inBudapest, where the English Team had a couple of strong showings. After losing their preliminary round games they beatSwitzerland, a major player at the global stage until the mid-50s. The victory marked England's first victory at a major international basketball event. Later, England outscoredAustria as well. Eventually, the team placed second in the five teams of the classification group, moving to the 9–12 classification semifinals. There, however, England could not take advantage of the gained self-confidence and lost the next two games. Overall, England finished in 12th place out of the 18 teams, a considerable improvement from its lasteurobasket appearance in 1946.
Despite the improvements in the preceding years, Team England did not do well at theEurobasket 1961 or theEurobasket 1981 and lost most games. Its lone victory, however, came in 1981 when they beat the elite team ofGreece. This victory still stands as one of the major surprises in the history of the tournament.
The men's and women's teams were competing for the first time as England in a major multi-sport event, and it was the firstCommonwealth Games in which basketball was featured.
The men's team includedSteve Bucknall, the second Englishman to play in theNBA.John Amaechi, who played 284 games in the NBA, came out of retirement to participate in Melbourne. Having lost toAustralia in the semi-finals, they facedNigeria in the Bronze medal match. The teams were tied at 15 points to end the first quarter. Robert Reed andAndrew Bridge led the way as England found their stride in the second phase, and they pulled away in the second half of play. Reed played like a snake possessed and was the top scorer for England with 16 points and dominating the Nigerians who had no answer to his all action style. Michael Martin also contributed with 13 points. England won the game 80–57 to claim the first bronze medal in Commonwealth Games basketball[2]
Team
Coaching Staff
Olympic Games[edit]A red box around the year indicates tournaments played within England
Played alongsideScotland andWales asTeam Great Britain. FIBA World Cup[edit]
Played alongsideScotland andWales asTeam Great Britain. | Eurobasket[edit]
Played alongsideScotland andWales asTeam Great Britain. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commonwealth Games record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | L | ||||
| AustraliaMelbourne 2006 | Third Place | 3rd | 5 | 3 | 2 | ||||
| AustraliaGold Coast 2018 | Quarter Finals | 5th | 4 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 0 Titles | 2/2 | 9 | 5 | 4 | ||||
At theFIBA EuroBasket 2003 qualification:[4](last official squad before formation ofTeam Great Britain)
| England men's national basketball team roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1946 EuroBasket: finished10th among 10 teams
Colin Hunt, Douglas Legg, John Hart, Ronald Legg, Frank Cole, Arthur Lee, Derius Hewitt, Stanley Weston, Ken Dight, Charles Watson (Coach: W.Browning)
1948 Olympic Games: finished20th among 23 teams
Colin Hunt, Douglas Legg, Ronald Legg, Frank Cole, Robert Norris, Stanley Weston, Lionel Price, Trevor Davies, Malcolm Finlay, Stanley McMeekan, Sydney McMeekan, Alexander Eke, Harry Weston
1955 EuroBasket: finished12th among 18 teams
Arthur Cladingboel, Reg Fearn, William James, Gordon Cook, Dennis Wilkinson, Colin Wedge, Alan Bruce, Ugo Agnelli, Wilf Byrne, Keith Ledbrook, Michael Roblou, Ronald Rix, N.Smith
1961 EuroBasket: finished19th among 19 teams
Raymond Kirk, Kornel Tober, Alan Wardle, Peter Creasey, Wilfred Byrne, Alan Tillot, Alan Hildyard, Ronald Hextall, Geoffrey Kaiser, Dennis Wakefield, George Whitmore, Terry Keogh (Coach: Thomas Vaughan)
1981 EuroBasket: finished12th among 12 teams
David Lloyd, Neville Hopkins, David Berry, Martin Clark, Paul Richards, Nick Burns, Clive Hartley, Jim McCauley, Ian Day, Paul Stimpson, Dan Lloyd, Karl Tatham (Coach: Victor Ambler)
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