Ukraine men's national basketball team

Before the Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukrainian players took part on the Soviet Union national team during international competition. The Soviets were one of the strongest national teams in the world during this period.

Ukraine made their EuroBasket debut in 1997. Their first match at the tournament was not a warm welcome for the national team, as they were demolished by Spain 54–82.[2] With less than 24 hours to regroup for their next game, Ukraine faced Germany where they lost again, this time by the score of 81–60. In their final match of group play, they defeated Croatia 88–95, to earn their first ever win at the EuroBasket.[3] Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for the team to advance to the knockout stage, as they were relegated to the classification rounds for 13th–16th place. There, the team defeated Latvia, and Slovenia to finish the tournament 13th overall.[4]

After failing to qualify for the EuroBasket in 1999, along with uninspiring results at the finals in 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2011 respectively, Ukraine was eager to turn their fortunes around at EuroBasket 2013. Ukraine was placed into Group A to begin their tournament run. The national team was victorious in their first three matches of the tournament, against Belgium, Israel, and Germany. Heading into their fourth match against the heavily favoured France, Ukraine displayed genuine toughness in a losing effort to the eventual tournament champions 71–77. In their final game of the preliminary phase, the team turned around and displayed resilience in blowing out Great Britain 68–87 to advance to the second group phase. There, they were blasted in their first match of group play against Latvia, but redeemed themselves with a quality victory over Serbia a few days later.[5] Ukraine went on to lose their final game in the group to Lithuania, however, it was enough to clinch a spot into the knockout rounds. In the quarter-finals, Ukraine was paired up against Croatia, although the national team would come up short 84–72. With the loss, Ukraine went on to play in classification matches to determine 5th–8th place. The team defeated Italy, before falling to Slovenia to finish up in sixth place. It was the best result for Ukraine at the EuroBasket to that point.[6]

Ukraine made their first appearance on to the global stage at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, through their surprising performance at EuroBasket 2013.[7] Led by former NBA head coach Mike Fratello, the national team won their first ever match in the World Cup, defeating the Dominican Republic 72–62. With their historic win under their belt, the team went into their second match of the tournament confident. However, Finland would pull out a narrow 81–76 victory to drop Ukraine to a record of (1–1). Entering their third match, Ukraine went up against Turkey, and the national team didn't disappoint. They eventually won a hard fought 64–58 contest, before their pivotal game versus New Zealand.

With a berth into the Round of 16 on the line, Ukraine needed one more victory to advance. But they were unsuccessful in the crucial match, as they lost 73–61, to head into their do-or-die game against the tournament favourite United States in a dire position. In the must win game for Ukraine, the national team got off to a strong start, to even possess the lead after the first period. However, the Americans flexed their dominance thereafter, which led to the team being eliminated from the tournament altogether by the score of 71–95.[8]

After failing to make it out of the group stage in 2015, Ukraine looked to make amends on the continental stage at EuroBasket 2017. Ukraine went through qualifiers where the team finished at a record of (4–2), to earn a spot back to the EuroBasket finals.[9] Placed into Group B to begin the tournament, Ukraine was defeated in their first two matches against Germany and Italy. In their third game, the national team would eventually pickup their first victory against Georgia 81–88. Sitting at a record of (1–2), Lithuania handed Ukraine a damaging 62–94 defeat. With one game remaining in group play, and a spot into the knockout stage on the line, the team was up against one of the tournament co-hosts Israel. The national team ultimately displayed supreme urgency to punch their ticket to advance, with a dominant 64–88 win.[10] Entering the Round of 16, however, was where Ukraine would come up short, by getting thoroughly defeated by the eventual champions of the tournament Slovenia 55–79.[11]

For the first round of qualifying to the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Ukraine was drawn into Group B. The national team would open up their qualifying campaign with a solid road victory against Sweden 76–84. They would eventually attain a (3–3) record in the group to advance to the second and final phase of qualifying. In the second group phase of qualifiers, Ukraine started things off with a strong home win against Spain.[12] Although the team dropped their second match of group play to Montenegro 90–84 to fall to (1–1). After that loss for Ukraine, the team would finish the rest of the qualifiers at a record of (5–7) overall, and were eliminated from World Cup contention.[13]

Roster for the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers matches on 23 and 26 February 2023 against Italy and Netherlands.[16]

Ukraine men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. PG 7 Denys Lukashov 33 – (1989-04-30)30 April 1989 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Prometey SG 8 Anatolii Shundel 29 – (1993-12-05)5 December 1993 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) TalTech G/F 11 Oleksandr Lypovyy 31 – (1991-10-09)9 October 1991 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) Prometey F 13 Vyacheslav Bobrov 30 – (1992-09-19)19 September 1992 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Budivelnyk PF 17 Andrii Voinalovych 23 – (1999-12-11)11 December 1999 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Tartu Ülikool C 23 Artem Pustovyi 30 – (1992-06-25)25 June 1992 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) Murcia G 30 Issuf Sanon 23 – (1999-10-30)30 October 1999 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Prometey G/F 32 Bogdan Bliznyuk 27 – (1995-03-31)31 March 1995 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Budivelnyk F 33 Volodymyr Koniev 33 – (1989-06-18)18 June 1989 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Budivelnyk G 50 Oleksandr Kovliar 20 – (2002-06-26)26 June 2002 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Kalev/Cramo C 52 Volodymyr Gerun 28 – (1994-03-25)25 March 1994 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Real Betis PG 55 Illya Sydorov 26 – (1996-12-04)4 December 1996 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) Prometey	Head coach Ainars Bagatskis Assistant coach(es) Raimonds Feldmanis Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 23 February 2023

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. G/F Oleksandr Belikov 30 – (1992-05-31)31 May 1992 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Ostrava PG Igor Boyarkin 27 – (1995-06-13)13 June 1995 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Kanazawa Samuraiz PG Eugene Jeter 39 – (1983-12-02)2 December 1983 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) G League Ignite G/F Oleksandr Kolchenko 34 – (1988-09-20)20 September 1988 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Budivelnyk C Vladyslav Koreniuk 29 – (1994-01-08)8 January 1994 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Duba Club F/C Maksym Korniyenko 35 – (1987-06-26)26 June 1987 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Unattached F Artem Kovalov 25 – (1997-11-28)28 November 1997 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Pieno žvaigždės C Viacheslav Kravtsov 35 – (1987-08-25)25 August 1987 2.12 m (6 ft 11 in) Menorca SF Pavlo Krutous 30 – (1992-04-09)9 April 1992 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Budivelnyk C Alex Len 29 – (1993-06-16)16 June 1993 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Sacramento Kings G/F Kyrylo Marchenko 25 – (1997-09-23)23 September 1997 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Bisons PG Olexandr Mishula 30 – (1992-04-18)18 April 1992 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Keravnos SF Svi Mykhailiuk 25 – (1997-06-14)14 June 1997 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Charlotte Hornets SG Ruslan Otverchenko 33 – (1990-01-06)6 January 1990 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Unattached PF Serhii Pavlov 25 – (1997-07-18)18 July 1997 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Pärnu F/C Viacheslav Petrov 28 – (1994-08-13)13 August 1994 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Prometey SF Maksym Pustozvonov 35 – (1987-04-16)16 April 1987 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Unattached PG Jerome Randle 35 – (1987-05-21)21 May 1987 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) US Monastir C Dmytro Skapintsev 24 – (1998-05-12)12 May 1998 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) Westchester Knicks SG Ivan Tkachenko 25 – (1997-04-23)23 April 1997 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Prometey PF Stanislav Tymofeyenko 33 – (1989-06-03)3 June 1989 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Dnipro PG Ilya Tyrtyshnik 24 – (1998-09-07)7 September 1998 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Budivelnyk F/C Ihor Zaytsev 33 – (1989-05-11)11 May 1989 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Fubon Braves PG Vitaliy Zotov 25 – (1997-03-03)3 March 1997 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Budivelnyk	Legend Club – describes current club Age – describes age on 23 February 2023

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