| Belgium | |
| FIBA Ranking | T-75th |
|---|---|
| Joined FIBA | 1932 |
| FIBA Zone | FIBA Europe |
| National Federation | RFBB |
| Coach | Eddy Casteels |
| Olympic Games | |
| Appearances | 3 |
| Medals | None |
| World Championships | |
| Appearances | None |
| Medals | None |
| EuroBasket | |
| Appearances | 14 |
| Medals | None |
The Belgian national basketball team is the basketball side that represents Belgium in international competitions. The country side has qualified 13 times for EuroBasket, having their best result as the 4th place in EuroBasket 1947, but haven't qualified since 1993 to the major European international basketball competition. They entered three times the Basketball Olympic Tournament, in 1936, 1948 and 1952. Their best result was the 11th place at the 1948 Olympic Games, in London. The team is nicknamed the Belgian Lions.
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The Belgian side came in sixth place at the first European basketball championship, the Eurobasket 1935 held by the International Basketball Federation's FIBA Europe continental federation. They lost to Romania in the preliminary round. In the 5th to 8th place classification match, the Belgians defeated Bulgaria to advance to the 5th/6th playoff. There they were defeated by the French, 49–30.
The next European championship that Belgium contested was Eurobasket 1946. In the most competitive of the preliminary groups, Belgium lost close contests to Switzerland and eventual champions Czechoslovakia. Their third-place finish in the group relegated them to the 7th–10th place semifinals, where they defeated Poland handily. In the 7th/8th place final, the Belgians were victorious over the Luxembourg team, finishing in 7th place.
Belgium's third Eurobasket was Eurobasket 1947. The team went 2–1 in the preliminary round, losing only to Egypt. Czechoslovakia gave Belgium their only loss in the semifinal round, as they went 2–1 again. This put Belgium in a rematch with Egypt, this time with the bronze medal on the line. Egypt won again, relegating Belgium to 4th place.
Eurobasket 1951 was the next competition that Belgium contested. They defeated medal favorite (and in fact eventual silver medallists Czechoslovakia in the preliminary round on their way to winning the group with a 3–0 record. That record was reversed in the semifinal round, though, as Belgium lost all three of their games, by 10 points or fewer in each contest. Their losses continued as they dropped their classification 5–8 game to Italy, but Belgium did finish with a win, over Greece in the classification 7/8 game, to finish in 7th place overall.
Belgium competed again at Eurobasket 1953 in Moscow. Their preliminary round group included both the eventual gold medallist Soviet Union and silver medallist Hungary teams, and Belgium lost to both but defeated Denmark to finish third place in the group with a 1–2 record. In a less competitive classification round pool, Belgium finished on top with a 3–1 record, losing only to Romania. They then won their 9–12 classification match but lost to Bulgaria in their final game to finish 10th place of 17.
Four years later, Belgium competed at Eurobasket 1957 in Sofia. They lost all three of their preliminary games, taking fourth position in the group and being sent to the classification round. There, they again lost three games but this time it was out of seven games in the round instead of three. Their 4–3 record in the classification pool put them in 12th place overall.
National coach: Eddy Casteels
| No. | Player | Height | Pos. | Current Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Roel Moors | 1.90 | G | Antwerp Giants |
| 5 | Sam Van Rossom | 1.88 | G | CAI Zaragoza |
| 6 | Christophe Beghin | 2.05 | C | Spirou Charleroi |
| 7 | Randy Oveneke | 2.00 | F | Spirou Charleroi |
| 8 | Jorn Steinbach | 1.80 | G | Okapi Aalstar |
| 9 | Jonathan Tabu | 1.90 | G | Vanoli Cremona |
| 10 | Dimitri Lauwers | 1.87 | G | Air Avellino |
| 11 | Guy Muya | 1.94 | G | Belgacom Liège Basket |
| 12 | Marcus Faison | 1.96 | F | Telenet Oostende |
| 13 | Maxime De Zeeuw | 2.04 | F | Verviers Pepinster |
| 14 | Tomas van den Spiegel | 2.14 | C | Telenet Oostende |
| 15 | D.J. Mbenga | 2.15 | C | New Orleans Hornets |
| Axel Hervelle | 2.04 | F | Bilbao Basket |
1935 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 10 teams
Robert Brouwer, Gaston de Houwer, Louis Levaux, Rene Demanck, Emile Laermans, Pierre van Basselaere, Gustave Vereecken
1936 Olympic Games: finished 19th among 21 teams
Robert Brouwer, Gustave Crabbe, Rene Demanck, Emile Laermans, Guillaume Merckx, Pierre van Basselaere, Gustave Vereecken, Raymond Gerard
1946 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 10 teams
Pierre van Basselaere, Louis Vandegoor, Armand van Wambeke, Henri Hollanders, Emile Kets, Marcel de Haeck, Auguste Wijns, Georges Baert, Augustin Bernaer, Henri Hermans, Ange Hollanders, Julien Meuris, Fernand Rossius, Henri Servaes (Coach: Raymond Briot)
1947 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 14 teams
Emile Kets, Georges Baert, Henri Hermans, Fernand Rossius, Joseph Pirard, Julien Meuris, Henri Coosemans, Guillaume van Damme, Henri Hollanders, Gustave Poppe, Ange Hollanders, Rene Steurbaut, Francois de Pauw, Armand van Wambeke (Coach: Raymond Briot)
1948 Olympic Games: finished 11th among 23 teams
Emile Kets, Henri Hollanders, Ange Hollanders, Gustave Poppe, Henri Hermans, Francois de Pauw, Julien Meuris, Rene Steurbaut, Armand van Wambeke, Augustin Bernaer, Henri Coosemans, Louis van de Goor, Georges Baert, Leon Lampo (Coach: Raymond Briot)
1951 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 17 teams
Joseph Eygel, Emile Kets, Georges Baert, Henri Coosemans, Guy Gekiere, Desire Ligon, Francois Plas, Alex van Gils, Roger van Harck, Jean Crick, Francois de Pauw, Philippe Dewandelaer (Coach: Raymond Briot)
1952 Olympic Games: finished 18th among 23 teams
Joseph Eygel, Henri Coosemans, Desire Ligon, Alex van Gils, Felix Roosemont, Julien Meuris, Henri Crick, Josef du Jardin, Johannes Ducheyne, Pierre van Huele, Jules Boes, Jan Ceulemans, Yves Delsarte
1953 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 17 teams
Georges Baert, Andre Vermeulen, Emile Kets, Henri Coosemans, Desire Ligon, Joseph Decombe, Felix Roosemont, Maurice Chavagne, Rene Steurbaut, Julien Meuris, Alex van Gils, Edouard Samson, Jean Nolis, Roger van Harck (Coach: Louis van Hof)
1957 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 16 teams
Eddy Terrace, John Loridon, Emile Martin, Charles Storme, Jean de Nayer, Elie Deweerdt, Charles Feyen, Albert van Mechelen, Alex van den Avondt, Lucien van Kersschaever, Georges de Meyer, Robert Jolijt
1959 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 17 teams
Joseph Eygel, Jean Steveniers, John Loridon, Richard Wagner, Maurice Chavagne, Rene Aerts, Pierre van Huele, Francois de Pauw, Elie Deweerdt, Lucien van Kersschaever, Henry Raets, Lievin Vinck (Coach: Eddy Verswijvel)
1961 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 19 teams
Joseph Eygel, John Loridon, Jean Steveniers, Rene Aerts, Henri Degraeve, Andre Desplats, Oscar Wauters, Joseph Serron, Alphonse Maes, Charles Feyen, Pierre van Huele, Guido Scholiers (Coach: Rene Mol)
1963 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 16 teams
Joseph Eygel, John Loridon, Rene Aerts, Lucien Michelet, Willy Ivens, Camille Dierckx, Pierre Dewandeler, Lucien van Kersschaever, Pierre van Huele, Francois d’Hoir, Guido Scholiers, Francois Clement (Coach: Roger Staes)
1967 EuroBasket: finished 15th among 16 teams
Joseph Eygel, Etienne Geerts, Rene Aerts, Lucien Michelet, John Loridon, Lucien van Kersschaever, Alfons Declerck, Willy Ivens, Robert van Herzele, Raoul Schoeters, Camille Dierckx, Willy d’Hondt (Coach: Rene Mol)
1977 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 12 teams
Etienne Geerts, Imre Nytrai, Olin "Corky" Bell, Rene van den Broeck, Christian Becknel, Roger Marien, Hector Vermeersch, Alain Stollenberg, Robert van Herzele, Jos Peeters, Francois Huysmans, Ive van Poppelen (Coach: Rene Mol)
1979 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 12 teams
Etienne Geerts, Imre Nytrai, Rik Samaey, Rene van den Broeck, Jean-Luc Selicky, Jos Peeters, Herman Reynders, Francois Huysmans, Etienne Bodson, Tony Van den Bosch, Alain Stollenberg, Ive van Poppelen (Coach: Rene Mol)
1993 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 16 teams
Eric Struelens, Rik Samaey, Ronny Bayer, Jacques Stas, Erik Cleymans, Marc Deheneffe, Daniel Goethals, Dimitri Lambrecht, Danny Herman, Herman Bruyninckx, Dirk Snyders, Ivan Verberckt (Coach: Tony Van den Bosch)
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