Netherlands men's national basketball team

Last updated

Netherlands
Basketball Nederland logo.png
FIBA ranking 53 Decrease2.svg 2 (26 November 2024) [1]
Joined FIBA 1946
FIBA zone FIBA Europe
National federation Basketball Nederland
Coach Arik Shivek
Nickname(s)Oranje (Orange)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances 1 (1986)
MedalsNone
EuroBasket
Appearances16
MedalsNone
Kit body black nzfc shoulders.png
Kit body basketball.svg
Kit shorts.png
Kit shorts.svg
Home
Kit body black nzfc shoulders.png
Kit body basketball.svg
Kit shorts.png
Kit shorts.svg
Away
First international
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 48–27 England  Flag of England.svg
(Geneva, Switzerland; 30 April 1946)
Biggest win
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 134–54 Morocco  Flag of Morocco.svg
(Hagen, West Germany; 15 May 1975)
Biggest defeat
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia 93–19 Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svg
(Prague, Czechoslovakia; 27 April 1947)

The Netherlands men's national basketball team (Dutch : Het Nederlands nationaal basketbalteam) represents the Netherlands in international basketball matches. The national team is governed by Basketball Nederland.

Contents

The Dutch have reached the European Basketball Championship on 16 occasions. Their best results at the event came in 1983, where they finished in fourth place. They have also qualified for the FIBA World Cup once, in 1986. However, in recent years the national team has struggled to maintain consistency to reach major international tournaments.

The team represents itself as the Orange Lions.

History

1946–1991: Early years

The Netherlands playing a match against Luxembourg in 1959 Basketbal Nederland tegen Luxemburg in Apollohal Amsterdam, Bestanddeelnr 910-8505.jpg
The Netherlands playing a match against Luxembourg in 1959

The Netherlands were one of the teams that played in the 1946, 1947, 1949 and 1951 EuroBasket tournaments. During this period, the 5th place finish in 1949 was the best performance by the national team.

1961–1991: EuroBasket success & World Cup debut

The Oranje qualified for three European Basketball Championships in the 1960s (1961, 1963, 1967). After three consecutive missed tournaments, the Netherlands had another three EuroBasket appearance stretch from 1975, 1977, and 1979. During the 1977 EuroBasket, the Netherlands' star player Kees Akerboom shined during the tournament. He finished the competition as the top scorer, and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

At EuroBasket 1983, the Dutch had its biggest success in history under head coach Vladimir Heger. The national team achieved fourth place at the tournament. The Dutch wound up reaching the semi-finals, but eventually fell to Italy. In the third-place game they would lose again, this time to the Soviet Union.

Three years after achieving success at the continental level, the Netherlands qualified to the World Cup for the first time in 1986. The national team ultimately did not make it out of the group stage though, finishing the tournament with an (2–3) record to place 14th overall.

1991–2012: Long mediocre period

Francisco Elson was the face of the team for a long time Francisco Elson.jpg
Francisco Elson was the face of the team for a long time

From 1991 until 2012, the Netherlands did not qualify for a EuroBasket tournament. Star player Francisco Elson, former NBA-champion, represented the team on several occasions but the team never came close to qualifying. During this period, notable Dutch players like Dan Gadzuric were not willing to play for the national team. Home games were usually played at the Topsportcentrum in Almere and usually had little to no media attention or fan support in the Netherlands.

Rising from the ashes (2012–2015)

Toon van Helfteren coached the national team to its first EuroBasket tournament in 26 years Toon van Helfteren.jpg
Toon van Helfteren coached the national team to its first EuroBasket tournament in 26 years

In December 2012, it was announced that the Netherlands national team would be dissolved for 2 years, because the national federation NBB {Netherlands Basketball Bond} was not willing to invest money in to it. After a campaign by Dutch players who played in the Dutch Basketball League, the national team was eventually saved. Sports broadcaster Sport1 became the main sponsor and DBL-teams invested in the team, which started playing again. [2]

During August 2013, the Netherlands was on its way to qualification for EuroBasket 2015, but lost two games 20–0 because the team played with two players – Mohamed Kherrazi and Sean Cunningham – who were identified as foreign players by FIBA. [3] The NBB believed that both were eligible players, and was upset that the attention came up after the Netherlands already won 2 games. [4]

"Miracle of 2014"

Logo used from 2012 to 2019 Netherlands basketball team logo.png
Logo used from 2012 to 2019

At the start of the second 2015-qualification round, things looked bad for the Oranje. The DBL-teams didn't have any more money to invest in the team and the NBB wasn't ready to take the team back. Head coach Toon van Helfteren, who worked as a volunteer, still did prepare for the qualifying games. He invited 42 players to play for the national team, [5] but after most (notable) players rejected the offer, he started his first training camp with 7 players. The team eventually shocked the world, by beating heavy favorite Montenegro to get the second place in their group. On 27 August 2014, the Dutch national team qualified for EuroBasket for the first time in 25 years. [6]

Return to EuroBasket (2015–present)

The national team left the NBB and FEB, from 2015 the team was run by the NMT. Coach Van Helfteren then had his contract with the national team extended. In contrast to the summer of 2014, big name players from foreign leagues applied to play for the national team.

In the first game at EuroBasket 2015, the Dutch beat Georgia 73–72 behind Charlon Kloof's 22 and Worthy de Jong's 16 points. [7] The Netherlands remaining four games though were all loses, but only by single digits to power houses such as Croatia and Greece.

On 22 July 2019, Italian coach Maurizio Buscaglia signed on to become head coach of the Netherlands, replacing Toon van Helfteren who stepped down. [8] After a disappointing EuroBasket 2022, in which the Netherlands went winless, Buscaglia was sacked. [9] On 6 October 2022, Radenko Varagić was appointed as interim head coach for the remaining World Cup qualifying campaign. [10]

On 23 May 2023, the Netherlands named Israeli coach Arik Shivek, as head coach of the national team. [11] He previously led at national team level for five years with Israel from 2009 to 2014.

Competitive record

Results and fixtures

  Win  Loss

2024

23 February 2024 Great Britain  Flag of the United Kingdom.svg9894Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Newcastle, England
19:30 (UTC±0)Scoring by quarter:28–23, 27–18, 16–25, 27–28
Pts: Hesson 23
Rebs: Wheatle 6
Asts: Nelson 12
Boxscore Pts: Van der Vuurst de Vries 23
Rebs: Nzekwesi 5
Asts: Van der Vuurst de Vries 9
Arena: Vertu Motors Arena
Attendance: 2,213
Referees: Fernando Calatrava (ESP), Can Mavisu (TUR), Sergio Rodríguez (ESP)
26 February 2024 Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svg7274Flag of Greece.svg  Greece The Hague, Netherlands
19:30 CET (UTC+1)Scoring by quarter: 12–16, 27–16, 19–30, 14–12
Pts: Schaftenaar 13
Rebs: Van der Vuurst de Vries 6
Asts: Van der Vuurst de Vries 6
Boxscore Pts: Toliopoulos 26
Rebs: Kouzeloglou 5
Asts: Toliopoulos 8
Arena: Sportcampus Zuiderpark
Attendance: 3,600
Referees: Manuel Mazzoni (ITA), Péter Praksch (HUN), Igor Mitrovski (MKD)
21 November 2024 Czech Republic  Flag of the Czech Republic.svg9674Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Pardubice, Czech Republic
18:00 CET (UTC+1)Scoring by quarter: 21–21, 25–24, 30–16, 20–13
Pts: Bohačík 18
Rebs: Balvín 9
Asts: Peterka, Sehnal 6
Boxscore Pts: Van der Vuurst de Vries 20
Rebs: Franke 5
Asts:three players 4
Arena: Enteria arena
Attendance: 4,076
Referees: Gatis Saliņš (LAT), Alexandre Deman (FRA), Blaž Zupančič (SVN)
24 November 2024 Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svg7770Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic The Hague, Netherlands
15:00 CET (UTC+1)Scoring by quarter:25–10, 12–17, 17–14, 23–29
Pts: Kraag,
Van der Vuurst de Vries 13
Rebs: Edwards 6
Asts: Van der Vuurst de Vries 7
Boxscore Pts: Kyzlink 19
Rebs: Balvín 13
Asts: Balvín, Sehnal 6
Arena: Sportcampus Zuiderpark
Attendance: 3,479
Referees: Ariadna Chueca (ESP), Gintaras Mačiulis (LTU), Valentin Oliot (FRA)

2025

21 February 2025 Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svg6973Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain The Hague, Netherlands
19:30 CET (UTC+1)Scoring by quarter: 14–20, 15–11, 21–18, 19–24
Pts: Franke 22
Rebs: Kraag 9
Asts: Van der Vuurst 7
Boxscore Pts: Olaseni 18
Rebs: Olaseni 14
Asts: Ellis 4
Arena: Sportcampus Zuiderpark
Attendance: 3,748
Referees: Lorenzo Baldini (ITA), Petar Pešić (SRB), Viola Györgyi (NOR)
24 February 2025 Greece  Flag of Greece.svg6353Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Patras, Greece
21:30 EET (UTC+2)Scoring by quarter: 18–18, 15–11, 14–16, 15–14
Pts: Larentzakis 14
Rebs: Zougris 9
Asts: Kalaitzakis 4
Boxscore Pts: Kraag 14
Rebs: Kraag 8
Asts: Van der Vuurst 7
Arena: Dimitris Tofalos Arena
Attendance: 4,050
Referees: Luis Castillo (ESP), Michał Proc (POL), Siniša Prpa (SRB)

Team

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers matches on 21 and 24 February 2025 against Great Britain and Greece. [12]

Netherlands men's national basketball team roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameAge – Date of birthHeightClubCtr.
SG 0 Yannick Franke 28 – (1996-05-21)21 May 19961.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Büyükçekmece Flag of Turkey.svg
PG 1 Keye van der Vuurst 23 – (2001-12-29)29 December 20011.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Joventut Flag of Spain.svg
C 2 Shaquille Doorson 30 – (1994-06-26)26 June 19942.13 m (7 ft 0 in) LWD Flag of the Netherlands.svg
SG 6 Sander Hollanders 23 – (2001-09-13)13 September 20011.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Spirou Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
SF 7 Dylan van Eyck 26 – (1998-05-19)19 May 19982.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Cartagena Flag of Spain.svg
G/F 12 Yannick Kraag 22 – (2002-10-16)16 October 20022.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Joventut Flag of Spain.svg
PF 15 Emmanuel Nzekwesi 27 – (1997-09-05)5 September 19972.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Hapoel Gilboa Galil Flag of Israel.svg
G 17 Marijn Ververs 26 – (1998-09-17)17 September 19981.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Göttingen Flag of Germany.svg
F 20 Luuk van Bree 28 – (1996-02-24)24 February 19962.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Den Bosch Flag of the Netherlands.svg
C 21 Menno Dijkstra 28 – (1997-01-11)11 January 19972.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Den Bosch Flag of the Netherlands.svg
F/C 25 Kai Edwards 27 – (1997-08-10)10 August 19972.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Hammers Flag of the Netherlands.svg
SF 26 Jacobus Stolk 27 – (1997-06-26)26 June 19971.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Hammers Flag of the Netherlands.svg
PG 90 Charlon Kloof 34 – (1990-03-20)20 March 19901.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Den Bosch Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Flag of Uruguay.svg / Flag of Israel.svg Daniel Gutt
  • Flag of the Netherlands.svg Koen van Gerwen
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 21 February 2025

Depth chart

Pos.Starting 5Bench 1Bench 2
C Shaquille DoorsonMenno Dijkstra
PF Emmanuel NzekwesiKai EdwardsDylan van Eyck
SF Yannick KraagLuuk van BreeJacobus Stolk
SG Charlon KloofYannick FrankeSander Hollanders
PG Keye van der VuurstMarijn Ververs

List of head coaches

As of 24 February 2025

Past rosters

1946 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 10 teams

3 Chris van Laar, 4 Joop Koper, 5 Henk Mik, 6 Wim van Someren, 7 Freek Brandt, 8 Jan Aldenberg, 9 Henk Koper, 13 Chris Kugelein, 14 Wim Kunnen, 15 Ben Gerritsma (Coach: Dick Schmüll)


1947 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 14 teams

3 Joop Koper, 4 Chris van Laar, 5 Freek Brandt, 6 Jaap van Veen, 7 Wim van Someren, 8 B Winkel, 9 Tan Eng Hau, 10 Henk Koper, 20 Visser (Coach: Dick Schmüll)


1949 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 7 teams

3 Jaap van Veen, 4 Jaap van Veen, 5 Tom Losekoot, 6 Tan Eng Hau, 7 Henk Koper, 8 Joop Koper, 9 Wim van Someren, 10 Henk van de Broek, 11 Jan Hille, 20 Freek Brandt (Coach: Dick Schmüll)


1951 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 17 teams

3 Tim de Jong, 4 Johan de Hoop, 5 Bob van der Valk, 6 Ab Gootjes, 7 Jaap van Veen, 8 Henk van de Broek, 9 Vok Alberda, 10 Kees van der Schuijt, 11 Jan Hille, 12 Piet Ouderland, 13 Ton Koemans, 14 Rinus van Eijkeren (Coach: Dick Schmüll)


1961 EuroBasket: finished 15th among 19 teams

4 Henny Braun, 5 Antonie Boot, 6 Jan Bruin, 7 Jan Driehuis, 8 Dolf Pouw, 9 Wim Franke, 10 Maarten Sleeswijk, 11 Gerrit Kok, 12 Peter de Jong, 13 Gunter van de Berg, 14 Franciscus de Haan, 15 Hans Perrier (Coach: Jan Janbroers)


1963 EuroBasket: finished 16th among 16 teams

4 Jos Pelk, 5 Antonie Boot, 6 Jan Bruin, 7 Jan Driehuis, 8 Simon Schagen, 9 Bob Grosmann, 10 Wim Franke, 11 Gerrit Kok, 12 Roelof Tuinstra, 13 Jan Schappert, 14 Franciscus de Haan, 15 Frederik Witte (Coach: Jan Janbroers)


1967 EuroBasket: finished 16th among 16 teams

4 Petrus Rijsewik, 5 Antonie Boot, 6 Jan Bruin, 7 Frank Kales, 8 Antonius van der Kroon, 9 Karel Pastor, 10 Karel Vrolijk, 11 Erik Jager, 12 Roelof Tuinstra, 13 Erik van Woerkom, 14 Franciscus de Haan, 15 Frederik Witte (Coach: Egon Steuer)


1975 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 12 teams

4 Jan Dekker, 5 Antonie Boot, 6 Jan Sikking, 7 Hugo Harrewijn, 8 Herman Pluim, 9 Walter Ombre, 10 John van Vliet, 11 Kees Akerboom, 12 Dan Cramer, 13 Toon van Helfteren, 14 Pieter van Tuyll, 15 Harry Kip (Coach: Bill Sheridan)


1977 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 12 teams

4 Al Faber, 5 Jan Dekker, 6 Jimmy Woudstra, 7 Cees Limmen, 8 Emill Hagens, 9 Bert Kragtwijk, 10 Cock van de Lagemaat, 11 Dan Cramer, 12 Kees Akerboom, 13 Jan Loorbach, 14 Renso Zwiers, 15 Harry Kip (Coach: Jan Janbroers)


1979 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 12 teams

4 Bert Kragtwijk, 5 Jan Dekker, 6 Dan Cramer, 7 Mitchell Plaat, 8 Emill Hagens, 9 Al Faber, 10 Sid Bruinsma, 11 Jimmy Woudstra, 12 Kees Akerboom, 13 Toon van Helfteren, 14 Pieter van Tuyll, 15 Harry Kip (Coach: Tom Quinn)


1983 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 12 teams

4 René Ridderhof, 5 Ronald Schilp, 6 Randy Wiel, 7 Mitchell Plaat, 8 Jelle Esveldt, 9 Al Faber, 10 Jos Kuipers, 11 Dan Cramer, 12 Cock van de Lagemaat, 13 Henk Pieterse, 14 Roland van den Bergh, 15 Rob van Essen (Coach: Vladimír Heger)


1985 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 12 teams

4 Martin Esajas, 5 Ronald Schilp, 6 Martin de Vries, 7 Marco de Waard, 8 Jelle Esveldt, 9 Ron van der Schaaf, 10 John Franken, 11 Cock van de Lagemaat, 12 Jos Kuipers, 13 Peter van Noord, 14 Hans Heijdeman, 15 Rob van Essen (Coach: Vladimír Heger)


1986 FIBA World Cup: finished 14th among 24 teams

4 Rik Smits, 5 Jelle Esveldt, 6 Ronald Schilp, 7 Cock van de Lagemaat, 8 Raymond Bottse, 9 Rene Ebeltjes, 10 Chris van Dinten, 11 Hans Heijdeman, 12 Erik Griekspoor, 13 Emill Hagens, 14 Marco de Waard, 15 Peter van Noord (Coach: Ruud Harrewijn)


1987 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 12 teams

4 John Emanuels, 5 Ronald Schilp, 6 Marco de Waard, 7 Cees van Rootselaar, 8 Jelle Esveldt, 9 Okke te Velde, 10 Rik Smits, 11 Chris van Dinten, 12 Peter van Noord, 13 Toon van Helfteren, 14 Henk Pieterse, 15 Jos Kuipers (Coach: Ruud Harrewijn)


1989 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 8 teams

4 Raymond Bottse, 5 John Emanuels, 6 Marco de Waard, 7 Cees van Rootselaar, 8 Rolf Franke, 9 Okke te Velde, 10 Richard van Poelgeest, 11 Frans Houben, 12 Milko Lieverst, 13 Paul Vrind, 14 Peter Dam, 15 Jos Kuipers (Coach: Ruud Harrewijn)


2015 EuroBasket: finished 21st among 24 teams [13]

0 Yannick Franke, 5 Leon Williams, 6 Worthy de Jong, 7 Charlon Kloof, 9 Mohamed Kherrazi, 10 Ralf de Pagter, 12 Kees Akerboom, Jr., 13 Roeland Schaftenaar, 18 Nicolas de Jong, 21 Robin Smeulders, 23 Henk Norel, 44 Arvin Slagter (C) (Coach: Toon van Helfteren)


2022 EuroBasket: finished 22nd among 24 teams [14]

0 Yannick Franke, 1 Keye van der Vuurst de Vries, 5 Leon Williams, 6 Worthy de Jong (C), 9 Mohamed Kherrazi, 11 Shane Hammink,
13 Roeland Schaftenaar, 14 Jesse Edwards, 30 Olaf Schaftenaar, 32 Matt Haarms, 33 Jito Kok, 90 Charlon Kloof
(Coach: Maurizio Buscaglia)

See also

References

  1. "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  2. "Nederlandse basketballers gered door Sport1". Volkskrant.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  3. "Netherlands Incur Penalty". FIBA Europe. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  4. "NBB niet eens met straf". NOS. 14 August 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  5. "Eredivisie basketbal Nederland". Basketballleague.nl. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  6. "Basketballers na 25 jaar naar EK". Nos.nl. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  7. "Dutch Win On Return". Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  8. "Italiaan Buscaglia nieuwe basketballcoach Nederlands mannenteam". oranjebasketball.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  9. "Buscaglia na teleurstellend EK ontslagen als bondscoach van basketballers". nu.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  10. "Radenko Varagic aangesteld als interim-bondscoach van de Nederlandse basketballers". basketball.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  11. "Orange Lions slaan nieuwe weg in met Arik Shivek als nieuwe bondscoach". basketball.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  12. "Netherlands during the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers in February 2025" . Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  13. "Netherlands at the EuroBasket 2015" . Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  14. "Netherlands at the EuroBasket 2022" . Retrieved 8 September 2022.