Ireland national basketball team

Ireland
FIBA Ranking	T-75th
FIBA Zone	FIBA Europe
National Federation	Basketball Ireland
Coach	Jay Larranaga
Olympic Games
Appearances	1
Medals	None
World Championships
Appearances	None
Medals	None
EuroBasket
Appearances	None
Medals	None
Uniforms
Light Dark

Ireland is a men's international basketball team representing the island of Ireland. It is organised by Basketball Ireland, with players from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland play their home matches at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght, Dublin. The team has never qualified for the final stages of EuroBasket or the FIBA World Championship.

History

Ireland (white) against Luxembourg (blue) in 2009

Ireland's basketball association affiliated to FIBA in 1947. In 1948 the team was invited to the 1948 Olympic tournament in nearby London, from which many top sides were absent in the aftermath of World War II. The team finished last, losing every match heavily. Ireland were involved in Olympic qualification only once; in 1976 they finished bottom of the European qualification group.

In 1988 Ireland finished runner-up in EuroBasket Division C. In 1993 the National Basketball Arena opened which became the team's new permanent home. Division C was hosted there the following year, and Ireland beat Cyprus 81–78 in the final to gain promotion to EuroBasket Division B. Ireland narrowly failed to win promotion to Division A in EuroBasket 2005, losing to Denmark by 4 points after having won the first game in Dublin by 10 points.

In February 2010, with Ireland in the midst of a serious economic decline, Basketball Ireland announced that it was €1.2m in debt and was deactivating its senior international squads to cut costs.^[1]

EuroBasket 2009 Qualifying campaign

Team PCT. W L PF PA Diff  Georgia .875 7 1 738 549 +189  Sweden .875 7 1 627 491 +136  Slovak Republic .500 4 4 630 631 −1  Ireland .250 2 6 616 663 −47  Luxembourg .000 0 8 512 789 −277

GEO  IRL  LUX  SVK  SWE  Georgia – 98–73 115–73 91–50 82–72 Ireland 77–94 – 100–83 88–95 50–66  Luxembourg 65–98 70–97 – 63–76 51–96  Slovak Republic 78–101 75–68 110–67 – 88–89  Sweden 61–59 82–63 97–40 64–58 -

• 15 Aug: Ireland 50–66 Sweden, National Basketball Arena, (Eurobasket B)
• 19 Aug: Ireland 73–98 Georgia, Vere Basketball Hall, Tbilisi, Georgia (Eurobasket B)
• 22 Aug: Ireland 100–83 Luxembourg, National Basketball Arena, (Eurobasket B)
• 29 Aug: Ireland 68–75 Slovakia, Inter Arena Pasienky, Bratislava, Slovakia (Eurobasket B)

Current roster

Ireland National Basketball Team rosterG		4	Westbrooks, Aaron	&1000000000000002400000024 - January 11, 1986(1986-01-11)	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	Free Agent
5.0 !C	5	Killeen, Jason	&1000000000000002900000029 - January 22, 1981(1981-01-22)	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)	Cheshire Jets	England !
1.5 !G	6	O'Boyle, Ian	&1000000000000002600000026 - March 6, 1984(1984-03-06)	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	Neptune Cork	Ireland !
1.5 !G	7	Westbrooks, Isaac	&1000000000000002500000025 - April 2, 1985(1985-04-02)	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	Dart Killester	Ireland !
3.5 !F	10	O'Reilly, Colin	&1000000000000002100000021 - April 2, 1989(1989-04-02)	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	Cheshire Jets	England !
1.5 !G	12	Mullins, Bryan	&1000000000000002300000023 - January 13, 1987(1987-01-13)	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	Champagne Basket Reims Chalons	France !
5.0 !C	13	Williams, Mike	&1000000000000002800000028 - January 21, 1982(1982-01-21)	2.11 m (6 ft 11 in)	Free Agent
3.5 !F	14	Grace, Conor	&1000000000000002800000028 - January 31, 1982(1982-01-31)	2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)	Norrköping Dolphins	Sweden !
5.0 !C	15	Naughton, Justen	&1000000000000002900000029 - July 31, 1981(1981-07-31)	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)	Free Agent
1.5 !G	21	Westbrooks, Michael	&1000000000000002800000028 - October 26, 1982(1982-10-26)	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	Dart Killester	Ireland !
1.5 !G	22	Kinevane, Scott	&1000000000000002300000023 - March 31, 1987(1987-03-31)	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)	UL Eagles	Ireland !
3.5 !F	24	Kelly, Patrick	&1000000000000002700000027 - April 14, 1983(1983-04-14)	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	Dart Killester	Ireland !

Head coach

Jay Larranaga

Assistant coach(es)

Mark Keenan and Pat Price

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Legend

• (C) Team captain
• (DP) Unsigned draft pick
• (FA) Free agent
• (IN) Inactive
• (S) Suspended

• Injured

Competitions

Performance at Summer Olympics

Year	Position	Tournament	Host
1936	–	Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics	Germany
1948	23	Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics	Great Britain
1952	–	Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics	Finland
1956	–	Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics	Australia
1960	–	Basketball at the 1960 Summer Olympics	Italy
1964	–	Basketball at the 1964 Summer Olympics	Japan
1968	–	Basketball at the 1968 Summer Olympics	Mexico
1972	–	Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics	Germany
1976	–	Basketball at the 1976 Summer Olympics	Canada
1980	–	Basketball at the 1980 Summer Olympics	Soviet Union
1984	–	Basketball at the 1984 Summer Olympics	USA
1988	–	Basketball at the 1988 Summer Olympics	Korea
1992	–	Basketball at the 1992 Summer Olympics	Spain
1996	–	Basketball at the 1996 Summer Olympics	USA
2000	–	Basketball at the 2000 Summer Olympics	Australia
2004	–	Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics	Greece
2008	–	Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics	China

Notable players

• Pat Burke – Only Irish-born to have played in the NBA. Played for Orlando Magic & Phoenix Suns. Also a Euroleague and ULEB Eurocup winner with Panathinaikos BC & Real Madrid Baloncesto
• Marty Conlon – NBA player for Seattle SuperSonics, Sacramento Kings, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Bullets, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, and Los Angeles Clippers, but not born in Ireland
• Cal Bowdler – NBA player for Atlanta Hawks, but not born in Ireland
• Jay Larranaga – former captain of Ireland national team, and European basketball star
• Billy Donlon – current head coach of the Wright State University men's basketball team.

Honours

• EuroBasket Division B Promotion runners-up: 2005
• EuroBasket Division C winners: 1994. runners-up: 1988

See also

• Ireland women's national basketball team
• Basketball Ireland

References

1. ^ Duggan, Keith (24 February 2010). "Basketball Ireland pull plug on international sides". The Irish Times. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/0224/1224265091401.html. Retrieved 24 February 2010. 

External links

• Basketball Ireland Official site