Estonia men's national basketball team

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

Estonia

FIBA ranking	44 (15 August 2024) [1]
Joined FIBA	1934 1991
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	Estonian Basketball Association
Coach	Heiko Rannula
Olympic Games
Appearances	1
Medals	None
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	None
EuroBasket
Appearances	6
Medals	None
Home Away
First international
Latvia 20–16 Estonia   (Riga, Latvia; 29 April 1924)
Biggest win
Estonia 91–1 Finland   (Kaunas, Lithuania; 25 May 1939)
Biggest defeat
Yugoslavia 113–58 Estonia   (Antalya, Turkey; 1 September 2001)

The Estonia men's national basketball team (Estonian : Eesti korvpallikoondis) represents Estonia in international basketball matches. They are controlled by the Estonian Basketball Association. The team competed in their first international tournament at the 1936 Olympic Games. Estonia has also qualified for the EuroBasket six times overall, with their best results coming in 1937 and 1939. However, after 1939, Estonia halted national team activities due to the occupation of the Baltic states during World War II. Estonia would later rejoin FIBA in 1991, after regaining independence from the Soviet Union.

History

Early years (1920s–1930s)

Estonia played their first ever international match against their Baltic neighbors Latvia, on 29 April 1924, a 20–16 defeat in Riga. Ten years later, on 30 November 1934, Estonia would become a member of FIBA. Two years after that, the national team played in their first international tournament at the 1936 Olympic Games, held in Berlin. It was the first Olympic tournament to hold basketball as an official medal event. Led by head coach Herbert Niiler, Estonia played their opening match of the tournament against France, where the team came away with a 34–29 win. ^[2] The national team lost their subsequent second round game to the United States 28–52, but passed the consolation round and faced the Philippines in the third round, losing 22–39.

Game between Estonia and Lithuania at EuroBasket 1937.

Estonia participated at the European Basketball Championship for the first time in 1937. The team won its first game against Egypt 44–15, but failed to advance past the group stage after suffering a 15–20 defeat against Lithuania, and a 20–30 defeat against Italy. Estonia would finish out the rest of the tournament to place fifth in the final rankings, after defeating Czechoslovakia 30–20 and Latvia 41–19. ^[3]

Two years later at the EuroBasket 1939, the tournament used a different format from the previous championship, with eight teams facing off in a round-robin competition. Estonia would finish the tournament with a (4–3) record and once again finished in fifth place at the event. Heino Veskila was the tournament's scoring leader averaging 16.7 points per game. ^{[2] [4]}

In 1940, Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union and the team was disbanded.

National team restored (1990s)

After the restoration of independence, the Estonian Basketball Association rejoined FIBA in 1991. Estonia qualified for EuroBasket 1993, held in Germany. Despite missing star players Martin Müürsepp and Tiit Sokk, the team, coached by Jaak Salumets won their group in the preliminary round, finishing ahead of Slovenia, Belgium, and hosts and eventual champions Germany. In the second round, Estonia finished third in their group and advanced to the quarter-finals, where the team lost to Russia 61–82 to be eliminated. In the classification rounds, Estonia defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 99–91 and lost to Spain 80–119, finishing the championship in sixth place with a (6–5) record. ^[2] Aivar Kuusmaa was the team's scoring leader with 19.9 points per game. ^[5]

2000s–2010s

Gregor Arbet, Kristjan Kangur and Janar Talts led the national team during the 2010s.

Estonia once again qualified for the EuroBasket, after failing to qualify for the tournament on three occasions after 1993. The team went (7–3) during the qualification period to reach EuroBasket 2001, held in Turkey. Coached by Üllar Kerde, Estonia lost all three of their preliminary round matches against Germany, FR Yugoslavia and Croatia, failing to advance past the group stage and finishing the championship with a disappointing (0–3) record and a 14th place finish. Martin Müürsepp led the team in scoring with 18.3 points per game, while Margus Metstak collected 6.0 rebounds per game, and Rauno Pehka and Tanel Tein averaged 2.7 assists per game. ^[6] After 2001, Estonia failed to qualify for another major international basketball tournament for 14 years. Although the team competed at the second tier Division B competition in 2011, winning their group.

Tiit Sokk coached Estonia from 2004 to 2007 and from 2009 to 2019.

Coached by Tiit Sokk, Estonia qualified for EuroBasket 2015, with preliminary round matches held in Riga, Latvia. Estonia's first two performances were poor as the team suffered heavy defeats in matches against Czech Republic 57–80 and Belgium 55–84. However, the team bounced back with a 78–71 victory over Ukraine, their first EuroBasket victory since 1993. ^[7] The next game saw Estonia defeated in a close game by Lithuania 62–64. In their final group phase match, Estonia were up against Latvia, which resulted in a 64–75 loss and failing to advance to the knockout stage. ^[8] Estonia finished the championship in 20th place with a (1–4) record. Gregor Arbet was the team's scoring leader at 11.6 points per game, while Siim-Sander Vene averaged 6.4 rebounds and Sten Sokk contributed 4.2 assists per game.

In qualification for EuroBasket 2017, Estonia won their first two games against, Belarus, and Portugal to put the team at a record of (2–0). However, Estonia would drop three of their final four matches to eliminate the team from qualifying. ^[9]

After missing their opportunity to reach EuroBasket 2017, Estonia turned their focus toward qualifying for the 2019 FIBA World Cup. The team first went through European Pre-Qualifiers, where they accumulated a (3–1) record during the process, to advance. ^[10] Entering the first round of European Qualifiers, Estonia would split their first four matches for a record of (2–2), before losing their final two games to Great Britain and Greece respectively. Although by defeating Great Britain in their first match of the qualifiers between the two, it proved enough for Estonia to move on to the second and final phase of European qualifiers. There, the team lost their first four games of the round, before managing to salvage their final two matches before being eliminated. ^[11] In October 2019, the Estonian Basketball Association named Jukka Toijala as the new head coach of the national team.

2020s

Estonia competed in the EuroBasket 2022 with group phase games played in Milan, Italy. The team started the tournament with a 62–83 loss to the hosts, followed by two narrow defeats against Ukraine (73–74) and Croatia (70–73). Estonia then won 94–62 against Great Britain before losing to Greece 69–90. The team failed to advance to the round of 16 and finished the tournament in 19th place. Maik-Kalev Kotsar averaged the team-best 12.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, while Kerr Kriisa led the team with 5.8 assists per game.

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup World Cup Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1950 Part of Soviet Union Part of Soviet Union 1954 1959 1963 1967 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 Did not qualify EuroBasket served as qualifiers 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2019 16 7 9 2023 12 4 8 2027 To be determined To be determined Total 0/8 28 11 17 Olympic Games Olympic Games Qualifying Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1936 15th 3 1 2 1948 Part of Soviet Union 1952 1956 1960 Part of Soviet Union 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 Did not qualify 5 2 3 1996 Did not qualify 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 4 2 2 Total 1/10 3 1 2 9 4 5

EuroBasket EuroBasket Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1935 Did not enter 1937 5th 5 3 2 1939 5th 7 4 3 1946 Part of Soviet Union 1947 1949 1951 1953 1955 1957 1959 1961 1963 Part of Soviet Union 1965 1967 1969 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 6th 9 4 5 7 4 3 1995 Did not qualify 10 3 7 1997 10 4 6 1999 10 3 7 2001 14th 3 0 3 10 7 3 2003 Did not qualify 10 5 5 2005 10 2 8 2007 10 5 5 2009 12 2 10 2011 Division B 6 4 2 2013 Did not qualify 10 6 4 2015 20th 5 1 4 8 5 3 2017 Did not qualify 6 3 3 2022 19th 5 1 4 6 2 4 2025 To be determined To be determined Total 6/17 34 13 21 125 55 70

Results and fixtures

See also: Estonia men's national basketball team results (2020–present)

  Win  Loss

2023

Estonia   v   Slovenia

24 February 2023 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – 2nd round	Estonia	79–78	Slovenia	Tallinn, Estonia
17:00 (UTC+2)	Scoring by quarter:24–16, 13–24, 18–19, 24–19
	Pts: Toom 15 Rebs: Riismaa, Treier 6 Asts: Rosenthal, Treier 4	Boxscore	Pts: Glas 18 Rebs: Mahkovic 7 Asts: Samar 9	Arena: Unibet Arena Attendance: 3,832 Referees: Yohan Rosso (FRA), Dariusz Zapolski (POL), Geert Jacobs (BEL)

Sweden   v   Estonia

27 February 2023 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – 2nd round	Sweden	71–72	Estonia	Malmö, Sweden
19:05 (UTC+1)	Scoring by quarter: 16–17, 14–11, 14–15, 27–29
	Pts: Pantzar 23 Rebs: Andersson, Pantzar 8 Asts: Pantzar 5	Boxscore	Pts: Kitsing 14 Rebs: Toom 6 Asts: Kullamäe 4	Arena: Baltiska Hallen Attendance: 3,650 Referees: Özlem Yalman (TUR), Marek Kúkelčík (SVK), Josip Jurčević (CRO)

Czech Republic   v   Estonia

12 August 2023 2024 Olympic Pre-Qualifying – Group stage	Czech Republic	77–74	Estonia	Tallinn, Estonia
16:00 (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 23–23, 19–16, 14–17, 21–18
	Pts: Krejčí 20 Rebs: Peterka 8 Asts: Krejčí 6	Boxscore	Pts: Konontšuk 16 Rebs: Raieste 6 Asts: Kullamäe 5	Arena: Tondiraba Ice Hall Attendance: 3,654 Referees: Aleksandar Glišić (SRB), Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Gintaras Mačiulis (LTU)

Estonia   v   North Macedonia

13 August 2023 2024 Olympic Pre-Qualifying – Group stage	Estonia	83–59	North Macedonia	Tallinn, Estonia
19:00 (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter:25–7, 19–15, 21–22, 18–15
	Pts: Treier 14 Rebs: Raieste 11 Asts: Kullamäe 9	Boxscore	Pts: Stojanovski 12 Rebs: Magdevski 6 Asts: Magdevski 4	Arena: Tondiraba Ice Hall Attendance: 3,450 Referees: Aleksandar Glišić (SRB), Andris Aunkrogers (LAT), Viola Györgyi (ROU)

Israel   v   Estonia

15 August 2023 2024 Olympic Pre-Qualifying – Group stage	Israel	65–67	Estonia	Tallinn, Estonia
19:00 (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 12–20, 22–16, 16–16, 15–15
	Pts: Sorkin 18 Rebs: Sorkin 9 Asts: Madar 7	Boxscore	Pts: Treier 16 Rebs: Drell, Treier 7 Asts: Kullamäe, Raieste 5	Arena: Tondiraba Ice Hall Attendance: 4,834 Referees: Andris Aunkrogers (LAT), Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Zafer Yılmaz (TUR)

Poland   v   Estonia

18 August 2023 2024 Olympic Pre-Qualifying – Semi-finals	Poland	93–83	Estonia	Gliwice, Poland
17:30 (UTC+2)	Scoring by quarter:22–18, 19–17, 22–21, 30–27
	Pts: Sokołowski 19 Rebs: Balcerowski, Ponitka 8 Asts: Pluta 7	Boxscore	Pts: Treier 18 Rebs: Treier 6 Asts: Kullamäe 6	Arena: Gliwice Arena Attendance: 2,945 Referees: Nicolás Maestre (FRA), Radomir Vojinović (MNE), Franko Gracin (CRO)

2024

North Macedonia   v   Estonia

23 February 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	North Macedonia	69–74	Estonia	Skopje, North Macedonia
19:00 (UTC+1)	Scoring by quarter:21–19, 23–17, 10–21, 16–17
	Pts: Dimitrijević 25 Rebs: Happ 10 Asts: Dimitrijević, Happ 3	Boxscore	Pts: Kotsar, Vene 16 Rebs: Rosenthal 6 Asts: Jõesaar 5	Arena: SRC Kale Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Kerem Baki (TUR), Ventsislav Velikov (BUL), Orhan Çağrı Hekimoğlu (TUR)

Estonia   v   Lithuania

26 February 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Estonia	65–59	Lithuania	Tallinn, Estonia
19:00 (UTC+2)	Scoring by quarter: 17–18, 24–19, 9–13, 15–9
	Pts: Jõesaar 18 Rebs: Kotsar 13 Asts: Kullamäe 9	Boxscore	Pts: Ulanovas 16 Rebs: Tubelis 7 Asts: Dimša, Tubelis 3	Arena: Unibet Arena Attendance: 6,471 Referees: Sergii Zashchuk (UKR), Franko Gracin (CRO), Ivor Matějek (CZE)

Poland   v   Estonia

21 November 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Poland	vs.	Estonia	Poland
		Boxscore

Estonia   v   Poland

24 November 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Estonia	vs.	Poland	Estonia
		Boxscore

2025

Estonia   v   North Macedonia

21 February 2025 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Estonia	vs.	North Macedonia	Estonia
		Boxscore

Lithuania   v   Estonia

24 February 2025 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Lithuania	vs.	Estonia	Lithuania
		Boxscore

Team

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers matches on 23 and 26 February 2024 against North Macedonia and Lithuania. ^[12]

Estonia men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. SG 1 Märt Rosenthal 25 – (1999-03-15)15 March 1999 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski SG 2 Sander Raieste 25 – (1999-03-31)31 March 1999 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Baskonia F 3 Kaspar Treier 24 – (1999-09-19)19 September 1999 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Napoli Basket SG 7 Mikk Jurkatamm 23 – (2000-09-18)18 September 2000 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Fel Des Avellino C 9 Matthias Tass 25 – (1999-03-23)23 March 1999 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Filou Oostende F 11 Siim-Sander Vene  (C) 33 – (1990-11-12)12 November 1990 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski PF 13 Kregor Hermet 27 – (1997-06-09)9 June 1997 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) BC Kalev/Cramo C 15 Maik-Kalev Kotsar 27 – (1996-12-22)22 December 1996 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Yokohama B-Corsairs G 18 Kasper Suurorg 22 – (2002-05-27)27 May 2002 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) BC Kalev/Cramo SF 21 Janari Jõesaar 30 – (1993-12-08)8 December 1993 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Dziki Warszawa SF 25 Joonas Riismaa 22 – (2002-03-06)6 March 2002 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) Pallacanestro Cantù F 34 Artur Konontšuk 24 – (2000-05-09)9 May 2000 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) EWE Baskets Oldenburg PG 77 Kristian Kullamäe 25 – (1999-05-25)25 May 1999 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Surne Bilbao Basket	Head coach Heiko Rannula Assistant coach(es) Indrek Reinbok Brett Nõmm Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 23 August 2024

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Bench 3
C	Maik-Kalev Kotsar	Matthias Tass	Henri Veesaar	Rauno Nurger
PF	Siim-Sander Vene	Kaspar Treier	Kregor Hermet	Mihkel Kirves
SF	Henri Drell	Sander Raieste	Artur Konontšuk	Hugo Toom
SG	Janari Jõesaar	Joonas Riismaa	Mikk Jurkatamm	Leemet Böckler
PG	Kristian Kullamäe	Kerr Kriisa	Märt Rosenthal	Kasper Suurorg

Recent call-ups

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. SF 0 Henri Drell 24 – (2000-04-25)25 April 2000 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Rip City Remix F 8 Mihkel Kirves 27 – (1996-12-06)6 December 1996 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) CBet Jonava SF 10 Hugo Toom 21 – (2002-10-25)25 October 2002 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) BC Kalev/Cramo SF 12 Gregor Kuuba 20 – (2003-10-08)8 October 2003 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) BC Kalev/Cramo SG 23 Leemet Böckler 23 – (2001-04-07)7 April 2001 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) BC Kalev/Cramo PF 19 Henri Veesaar 20 – (2004-03-28)28 March 2004 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Arizona Wildcats PG 44 Kerr Kriisa 23 – (2001-01-02)2 January 2001 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Kentucky Wildcats C 20 Rauno Nurger 30 – (1993-11-24)24 November 1993 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Tartu Ülikool Maks & Moorits	Legend Age – describes age on 23 August 2024 Club – describes last club

Coaches

Coach	Period	Competition	Result
Herbert Niiler	1929–1940	1936 Olympic Games	9th
		1937 EuroBasket	5th
		1939 EuroBasket	5th
Jaanus Levkoi	1991–1992
Jaak Salumets	1993–1997	1993 EuroBasket	6th
Maarten van Gent	1997–1999
Üllar Kerde	1999–2001	2001 EuroBasket	14th
Heino Enden	2001–2004
Tiit Sokk	2004–2007
Üllar Kerde	2007–2009
Tiit Sokk	2009–2019	2015 EuroBasket	20th
Jukka Toijala	2019–2024	2022 EuroBasket	19th
Heiko Rannula	2024–

Past rosters

1936 Olympic Games: finished 9th among 23 teams

3 Erich Altosaar, 4 Artur Amon, 5 Aleksander Illi, 6 Vladimir Kärk, 8 Robert Keres, 9 Evald Mahl, 10 Aleksander Margiste, 11 Bernhard Nooni, 12 Leonid Saar, 13 Heino Veskila, 14 Georg Vinogradov (Coach: Herbert Niiler)

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1937 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 8 teams

3 Oskar Erikson, 4 Aleksander Illi, 5 Vladimir Kärk, 6 Robert Keres, 7 Evald Mahl, 8 Albert Suurna, 9 Heino Veskila, 10 Ralf Viksten, 11 Alfred Zimmermann (Coach: Herbert Niiler)

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1939 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 8 teams

3 Valdeko Valdmäe, 4 Oskar Erikson, 5 Herbert Tillemann, 6 Ralf Viksten, 7 Georg Vinogradov, 8 Artur Amon, 9 Hans Juurup, 10 Erich Altosaar, 11 Heino Veskila, 13 Evald Mahl (Coach: Herbert Niiler)

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1993 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 16 teams

4 Toomas Kandimaa, 5 Aivar Kuusmaa, 6 Erki Kivinukk, 7 Ivo Saksakulm, 8 Margus Metstak, 9 Andrus Nagel, 10 Indrek Rumma, 11 Sergei Babenko, 12 Marek Noormets, 13 Aleksandr Karavajev, 14 Gert Kullamäe, 15 Rauno Pehka (Coach: Jaak Salumets)

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2001 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 16 teams

4 Tanel Tein, 5 Indrek Varblane, 6 Toomas Kandimaa, 7 Valmo Kriisa, 8 Margus Metstak, 9 Andre Pärn, 10 Indrek Rumma, 11 Tarmo Kikerpill, 12 Marek Noormets, 13 Martin Müürsepp, 14 Toomas Liivak, 15 Rauno Pehka (Coach: Üllar Kerde)

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2015 EuroBasket: finished 20th among 24 teams

4 Rain Veideman, 5 Tanel Sokk, 6 Gert Dorbek, 7 Sten Sokk, 8 Janar Talts, 9 Gregor Arbet, 10 Erik Keedus, 11 Siim-Sander Vene, 13 Joosep Toome, 14 Kristjan Kangur, 15 Reinar Hallik, 20 Tanel Kurbas (Coach: Tiit Sokk)

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2022 EuroBasket: finished 19th among 24 teams

0 Henri Drell, 2 Sander Raieste, 7 Sten Sokk, 9 Matthias Tass, 11 Siim-Sander Vene, 15 Maik-Kalev Kotsar, 20 Rauno Nurger, 21 Janari Jõesaar, 22 Martin Dorbek, 33 Kristjan Kitsing, 44 Kerr Kriisa, 77 Kristian Kullamäe (Coach: Jukka Toijala)

See also

• Sports portal
• Estonia portal

• Sport in Estonia
• Estonia women's national basketball team
• Estonia men's national under-20 basketball team
• Estonia men's national under-18 basketball team
• Estonia men's national under-16 basketball team
• Estonia men's national 3x3 team

References

1. "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
2. "Eesti korvpall 95" [Estonian basketball 95] (in Estonian). Estonian Basketball Association. 3 June 2010.
3. "Estonia - EuroBasket 1937 tournament results". fibaeurope.com. 7 May 1937.
4. "Season 1939". FIBA Europe. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
5. "Season 1993". FIBA Europe. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
6. "Season 2001". FIBA Europe. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
7. "Estonia revel in historic success". eurobasket2015.org. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
8. "Latvia battle back to punch Last 16 ticket". eurobasket2015.org. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
9. "Estonia during the EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers" . Retrieved 17 September 2016.
10. "Estonia during the 2019 FIBA World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers" . Retrieved 19 August 2017.
11. "Estonia during the 2019 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers" . Retrieved 24 February 2019.
12. "Estonia" . Retrieved 25 February 2024.

External links

• Official website (in Estonian)
• Estonian Basketball Association website (in Estonian)
• Estonia FIBA profile
• Estonia National Team – Men at Eurobasket.com
• Estonia Basketball Records at FIBA Archive