By Leftetis Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Men’s basketball Olympic tournament at London starts on Sunday with the participation of five European teams (G.Britain, Spain, France, Lithuania, Russia) that could have been six, if Greece or FYROM had better luck at the recent Olympic qualifying tournament.
Just before the tip off of one more big tournament, we decided that it was time for a European roll call in order to count which countries are always present in the international competitions every summer and which are not…
The starting point to our count is Eurobasket 1993, meaning two decades before, when Europe’s borders had taken their current form. It’s not a surprise that Spain is the country with only one absence all those years and it appears to be the more steady team, followed by Serbia, Lithuania, Greece and Russia.
Spain
Absent: OG 1996
The most successful team of the last decade is Spain by far, having won eight medals from 1999 and onwards. With the exception of Eurobasket 2005 (when they finished in the fourth place), “Furias Rojas” have always succeed and of course they are always present. In the nineties they didn’t have the same success, however there only big failure was the sixth place at Eurobasket 1995. Due to this result, they missed the ticket to Atlanta’s Olympics.
Serbia
Absent: OG 2008, OG 2012
Serbia wasn’t aloud to play at Eurobasket 1993 after the division of Yugoslavia, so they also missed the Mundobasket 1994 at Canada, but those two absences were not decided on the court. So, actually Serbia has missed only the last two Olympics due to their bad performances at Eurobasket 2007 (13th place) and at Eurobasket 2011 (8th place).
Lithuania
Absent: EC 1993, WC 1994, WC 2002
Lithuania won the bronze medal at Barcelona’s Olympics, back in 1992, just after being again an independent country, but just after that they couldn’t qualify to Eurobasket 1993 and that also meant automatic exclusion from Mundobasket 1994. Lithuanians played without Sabonis at the Eurobasket qualification round and that explains a lot. Since then their only absence was at Mundobasket 2002, because of their poor 12th place at the Eurobasket one year before. No other European country has played in every Olympic Games since 1992 without a break.
Greece
Absent: OG 2000, WC 2002, OG 2012
Two “disastrous” Eurobaskets in 1999 and 2001 kept Greece away from 2000 Olympics and 2002 Mundobasket for the first time since 1993. The third failure of the team was written this summer in the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament when Greece got beat by Nigeria and missed the trip to London.
Russia
Absent: OG 1996, OG 2004, WC 2006
Russia appeared in its current form for the first time back at Eurobasket 1993 and won the silver medal. The team finished just seventh after two years at Eurobasket 1995, however Russia was always present in any big competitions until Eurobasket 2003, having won a bronze medal at Eurobasket 1997 and a silver one at Mundobasket 1998. However, at Eurobasket 2003 and 2005 the Russians settled for the eighth place and they were left out from 2004 Olympics and 2006 Mundobasket.
Germany
Absent: OG 1996, WC 1998, OG 2000, OG 2004, OG 2012
The “rebirth” of Germany’s basketball came in 1993 after they got the gold medal, while hosting the Eurobasket, but everything really changed when Dirk Nowitzki appeared. With him as a leader Germany missed just three big tournaments the last 12 years, having won two medals (bronze at 2002 Mundobasket, silver at 2005 Eurobasket).
France
Absent: WC 1994, OG 1996, WC 1998, WC 2002, OG 2004, OG 2008
In the last decade of the 20th century France never had great Eurobasket results, with the exception of 1999, when the country was hosting the event and the team finished fourth. That was their ticket to Sidney’s Olympics, where one year later they won the silver medal. The situation changed drastically after 2005 due to the emergence of Tony Parker’s generation with only one big failure, their absence from the Beijing Olympics after their eighth place finish at Madrid’s Eurobasket in 2007.
Croatia
Absent: WC 1998, OG 2000, WC 2002, OG 2004, WC 2006, OG 2012
Just after the division of Yugoslavia, Croatia was a powerhouse, but everything chanced after 1997, when Kukoc, Radja, Komazec and Vrankovic retired from the national team and the fall started. However their sixth place at Eurobasket 2007 and 2009 gave Croatia the opportunity to participate in 2008 Olympics and in Mundobasket 2010.
Turkey
Absent: WC 1994, OG 1996, WC 1998, OG 2000, OG 2004, OG 2008, OG 2012
Turkey played at the 1993 Eurobasket after 12 years of absence and couldn’t qualify to any global competition until 2002, after hosting Eurobasket 2001 and winning the silver medal. Since then, the Turks never missed their Mundobasket appointment, but they have not yet qualified to the Olympics, where they have played for the last time back in 1952.
Slovenia
Absent: WC 1994, OG 1996, WC 1998, OG 2000, WC 2002, OG 2004, OG 2008, OG 2012
Slovenia first appeared at Eurobasket 1993 and finished in the 16th place. The former Yugoslavian country missed every global tournament until 2004. Their luck changed with two Mundobasket appearances in Japan (2006) and in Turkey (2010).
Italy
Absent: WC 1994, OG 1996, WC 2002, OG 2008, EC 2009, WC 2010, EC 2011, WC 2012
Until the first years of the last decade, Italy was a team to be reckoned with, having won four medals in seven years (1997-2004), one of them being Olympic silver at Athens 2004. But that was their swan song. Italy is still searching for a new identity and its former glory. Since 2008 they haven’t any major appearance, failing to qualify even to the Eurobasket.
OG: Olympic Games
WC: Mundobasket (World Championship)
EC : Eurobasket (European Championship)