Poland men's national basketball team

The 1936 Summer Olympics was the first tournament Poland took part in. They eventually placed an impressive fourth at the event, in the then 23 team tournament.

The EuroBasket 1937 in Riga, marked the first ever appearance for the national team at the European Basketball Championship. In the preliminary round the Poles dropped their first match to France, but rebounded with victories against Latvia and Czechoslovakia. They finished with an 2–1 record, and moved on to the semi-finals where they played Lithuanaia. There they were defeated by the eventual champion Lithuanian squad 31–25, relegating them to the bronze medal match. For the bronze, the team was defeated again by France to end their maiden run at the Eurobasket.

Two years later at EuroBasket 1939 in Kaunas, the competition format was a single round-robin without playoffs. Latvia and Lithuania both defeated Poland whereas the other five teams in the competition fell to the Poles. With Lithuania undefeated and Poland and Latvia tied with a record of 5–2, the loss to Latvia was decisive in pushing Poland to third place and the bronze.

Due to World War II, the next European basketball championship was at EuroBasket 1946 in Geneva. The Poles started well, with a victory over Luxembourg. They then lost their next two preliminary round matches to Italy, and Hungary to finish in third place of the four-team group. That result put them in the 7th–10th place classification semi-final, where they lost again, this time to Belgium. In the 9th/10th place playoff, Poland defeated England.

The EuroBasket returned to the odd-year schedule with EuroBasket 1947 in Prague. Poland placed second in their preliminary group, losing only to eventual silver medallist Czechoslovakia en route to a 2–1 record. They then went 1–2 in their semi-final group, falling to the gold medal Soviet Union team and bronze medal Egypt. This put Poland in a 5th/6th place playoff against France, who had been 1–2 in the opposite semi-final group. France went on to win, 62–29.

After an 8-year hiatus, Poland returned at EuroBasket 1955 in Budapest. They quickly showed that they could still play with the European field, winning all four of their preliminary round games to advance to the final round. Despite their mediocre 3–4 record in that round, the Poles had demonstrated that they could be effective against the best of the European pool with a 72–68 win over eventual runners-up Czechoslovakia. They eventually finished 5th overall of the 18 teams in the tournament.

Two years later in Sofia, Poland competed at EuroBasket 1957. Despite being seeded into the same preliminary pool as the Soviet Union, the Poles went 2–1 in the round-robin and advanced to the final round. There they lost their first six of seven games in that round, getting their first win in the last game of the round, against France to finish the tournament in 7th place.

Five years later the national team hosted EuroBasket 1963 in Wroclaw. They got off to a fast start winning their first match against Spain 79–76. They fell to the Soviet Union in their next match. But, eventually ran the table the rest of the way in their preliminary round group to finish with an 6–1 record to advance. In the semi-finals the Poles defeated Yugoslavia, to get within a win of the gold medal. There they met up against the Soviet Union again, and were dominated 61–45 to instead take silver.

The 1967 World Cup was the first appearance for the national team to compete at the global tournament. The team finished 2–1 in their preliminary group, with victories against Paraguay and Puerto Rico to advance to the final round. There they finished their first ever trip to the World Cup with an subpar 2–4 record, placing 5th in the event.

From 1987 to 1997, the national team only managed to qualify for the European Basketball Championship three times out of a possible six. They finished in seventh place in each tournament in 1987, 1991, and 1997. Although after 1997 Poland would fail to qualify for the top European basketball event for the next decade.

After years of failed qualifications, Poland finally made their way back to the EuroBasket at the 2007 tournament. It was quite an unexpected achievement for the Poles. But, overall they did not make much noise. Because of injury, many key players including Michał Ignerski and Maciej Lampe did not compete at the event. The Poles lost all 3 games, but even in defeat they remained competitive losing by only 8 to a well-regarded French team and by 9 to the Italian squad.

The White and Red hosted the EuroBasket 2009, making it the first time the national team qualified for consecutive EuroBasket tournaments since the mid 1980s. They got off to an impressive start putting away Bulgaria in the first game 90–78. The team followed that up with another strong performance versus Lithuania 86–75, before dropping their final game in preliminary play against Turkey. With an 2–1 record the team was able to advance to the second round. There, the team came up short in group play with an 1–4 record and a 9th place finish overall at the event.

After 2009, the national team qualified for every EuroBasket in the 2010s. But they could only manage to finish in the top half of the tournament once, that being in 2015.

On several occasions, Poland qualified for events where they competed at global tournaments. Yet, the country's best performances there all occurred before 1980. Overall, their best results at the Olympic Games came in 1936, 1964, and 1968 respectively.

In 2019 the national team have qualified for the World Cup. It's their first qualification to an global event since 1980.

Roster for the EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers matches played on 20 and 23 February 2020 against Israel and Spain.[2]

Poland national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. SF 1 Jarosław Zyskowski 27 – (1992-07-16)16 July 1992 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Zielona Góra F/C 2 Aleksander Balcerowski 19 – (2000-11-19)19 November 2000 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in) Gran Canaria SF 3 Michał Sokołowski 27 – (1992-12-11)11 December 1992 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Włocławek PF 5 Aaron Cel 32 – (1987-03-04)4 March 1987 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Toruń PG 6 A. J. Slaughter 32 – (1987-08-03)3 August 1987 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Real Betis PG 10 Łukasz Kolenda 20 – (1999-07-28)28 July 1999 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Trefl Sopot PF 21 Tomasz Gielo 27 – (1993-01-04)4 January 1993 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Iberostar Tenerife SG 23 Michał Michalak 26 – (1993-11-02)2 November 1993 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Legia Warszawa SG 33 Karol Gruszecki 30 – (1989-11-04)4 November 1989 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Toruń C 34 Adam Hrycaniuk 35 – (1984-03-15)15 March 1984 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Gdynia PG 55 Łukasz Koszarek 36 – (1984-01-12)12 January 1984 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Zielona Góra C 77 Damian Kulig 32 – (1987-06-23)23 June 1987 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Toruń	Head coach Mike Taylor Assistant coach(es) Artur Gronek Marcin Woźniak Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 20 February 2020

1936 Olympic Games: finished 4th among 21 teams

1 Zdzisław Filipkiewicz, 2 Florian Grzechowiak, 3 Zdzisław Kasprzak, 4 Jakub Kopf, 5 Ewaryst Łój, 6 Janusz Patrzykont, 7 Andrzej Pluciński, 8 Zenon Różycki, 9 Paweł Stok, 10 Edward Szostak (Coach: Walenty Kłyszejko)

1937 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 8 teams

3 Michał Czajczyk, 4 Stefan Gendera, 5 Florian Grzechowiak, 6 Zdzisław Kasprzak, 7 Janusz Patrzykont, 8 Andrzej Pluciński, 9 Zbigniew Resich, 10 Zenon Różycki, 11 Jarosław Śmigielski, 12 Paweł Stok (Coach: Walenty Kłyszejko)

1939 EuroBasket: finished 3rd among 8 teams

4 Jerzy Gregołajtis, 5 Bohdan Bartosiewicz, 6 Jarosław Śmigielski, 7 Zbigniew Resich, 8 Florian Grzechowiak, 9 Stanisław Pawłowski, 10 Paweł Stok, 11 Jerzy Rossudowski, 12 Zdzislaw Kasprzak, 13 Ewaryst Loj, 14 Włodzimierz Pławczyk (Coach: Walenty Kłyszejko)

1946 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 10 teams

3 Zbigniew Resich, 4 Rościsław Iwanow-Ruszkiewicz, 5 Jacek Arlet, 6 Jarosław Śmigielski, 7 Franciszek Szymura, 8 Florian Grzechowiak, 9 Edward Jarczyński, 10 Paweł Stok, 12 Zdzisław Kasprzak, 14 Władysław Maleszewski (Coach: Józef Pachla)

1947 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 14 teams

3 Józef Żyliński, 4 Ludwik Barszczewski, 5 Bohdan Bartosiewicz, 6 Jacek Arlet, 7 Jerzy Dowgird, 8 Edward Jarczyński, 9 Henryk Jaźnicki, 10 Paweł Stok, 11 Romuald Markowski, 12 Zbigniew Resich, 13 Tadeusz Ulatowski, 14 Władysław Maleszewski (Coach: Józef Pachla)

1955 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 18 teams

3 Leszek Kamiński, 4 Witold Zagórski, 5 Wincent Wawro, 6 Jerzy Sterenga, 7 Mieczysław Feglerski, 8 Jerzy Mlynarczyk, 9 Bohdan Przywarski, 10 Sławomir Złotkiewicz, 11 Jędrzej Bednarowicz, 12 Stefan Wojcik, 13 Andrzej Nartowski, 14 Tadeusz Pacuła, 16 Władysław Pawlak, 17 Ryszard Olszewski (Coach: Władysław Maleszewski)

1957 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 16 teams

3 Wincent Wawro, 4 Janusz Wichowski, 5 Andrzej Pstrokoński, 6 Andrzej Nartowski, 7 Mieczysław Feglerski, 8 Ryszard Olszewski, 9 Krzysztof Sitkowski, 10 Władysław Pawlak, 11 Jerzy Młynarczyk, 12 Stefan Wojcik, 13 Zdzisław Skrzeczkowski, 14 Tadeusz Pacuła (Coach: Władysław Maleszewski)

1959 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 17 teams

3 Jerzy Piskun, 4 Janusz Wichowski, 5 Andrzej Pstrokoński, 6 Andrzej Nartowski, 7 Bohdan Przywarski, 8 Ryszard Olszewski, 9 Krzysztof Sitkowski, 10 Władysław Pawlak, 11 Jerzy Młynarczyk, 12 Zbigniew Dregier, 13 Zenon Matysik, 14 Tadeusz Pacuła (Coach: Zygmunt Olesiewicz)

1960 Olympic Games: finished 7th among 16 teams

3 Jerzy Piskun, 4 Janusz Wichowski, 5 Andrzej Pstrokoński, 6 Andrzej Nartowski, 7 Jerzy Młynarczyk, 8 Ryszard Olszewski, 9 Krzysztof Sitkowski, 10 Mieczysław Łopatka, 11 Bohdan Przywarski, 12 Zbigniew Dregier, 13 Dariusz Świerczewski, 14 Tadeusz Pacuła (Coach: Zygmunt Olesiewicz)

1961 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 19 teams

4 Janusz Wichowski, 5 Andrzej Pstrokoński, 6 Jerzy Piskun, 7 Jerzy Młynarczyk, 8 Ryszard Olszewski, 9 Krzysztof Sitkowski, 10 Władysław Pawlak, 11 Zygmunt Wysocki, 12 Ryszard Niewodowski, 13 Leszek Arent, 14 Andrzej Nartowski, 15 Stanisław Olejniczak (Coach: Witold Zagórski)

1963 EuroBasket: finished 2nd among 16 teams

4 Janusz Wichowski, 5 Andrzej Pstrokoński, 6 Leszek Arent, 7 Wiesław Langiewicz, 8 Stanisław Olejniczak, 9 Krzysztof Sitkowski, 10 Jerzy Piskun, 11 Bohdan Likszo, 12 Mieczysław Łopatka, 13 Kazimierz Frelkiewicz, 14 Andrzej Nartowski, 15 Zbigniew Dregier, (Coach: Witold Zagórski)

1964 Olympic Games: finished 6th among 16 teams

4 Janusz Wichowski, 5 Andrzej Pstrokoński, 6 Tadeusz Blauth, 7 Andrzej Perka, 8 Stanisław Olejniczak, 9 Krzysztof Sitkowski, 10 Jerzy Piskun, 11 Bohdan Likszo, 12 Mieczysław Łopatka, 13 Kazimierz Frelkiewicz, 14 Krystian Czernichowski, 15 Zbigniew Dregier (Coach: Witold Zagórski)

1965 EuroBasket: finished 3rd among 16 teams

4 Janusz Wichowski, 5 Andrzej Pstrokoński, 6 Czesław Malec, 7 Andrzej Perka, 8 Stanisław Olejniczak, 9 Wiesław Langiewicz, 10 Jerzy Piskun, 11 Bohdan Likszo, 12 Mieczysław Łopatka, 13 Kazimierz Frelkiewicz, 14 Edward Grzywna, 15 Zbigniew Dregier (Coach: Witold Zagórski)

1967 FIBA World Cup: finished 5th among 13 teams

4 Janusz Wichowski, 5 Włodzimierz Trams, 6 Czesław Malec, 7 Henryk Cegielski, 8 Igor Oleszkiewicz, 9 Wiesław Langiewicz, 10 Andrzej Chmarzynski, 11 Bohdan Likszo, 12 Mieczysław Łopatka, 13 Kazimierz Frelkiewicz, 14 Bolesław Kwiatkowski, 15 Zbigniew Dregier (Coach: Witold Zagórski)

1967 EuroBasket: finished 3rd among 16 teams

4 Mirosław Kuczyński, 5 Włodzimierz Trams, 6 Czesław Malec, 7 Henryk Cegielski, 8 Maciej Chojnacki, 9 Waldemar Kozak, 10 Grzegorz Korcz, 11 Bohdan Likszo, 12 Mieczysław Łopatka, 13 Kazimierz Frelkiewicz, 14 Bolesław Kwiatkowski, 15 Zbigniew Dregier (Coach: Witold Zagórski)

1968 Olympic Games: finished 6th among 16 teams

4 Grzegorz Korcz, 5 Włodzimierz Trams, 6 Czesław Malec, 7 Henryk Cegielski, 8 Andrzej Kasprzak, 9 Edward Jurkiewicz, 10 Adam Niemiec, 11 Bohdan Likszo, 12 Mieczysław Łopatka, 13 Kazimierz Frelkiewicz, 14 Bolesław Kwiatkowski, 15 Andrzej Pasiorowski (Coach: Witold Zagórski)

1969 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 12 teams

4 Marek Ladniak, 5 Włodzimierz Trams, 6 Jan Dolczewski, 7 Henryk Cegielski, 8 Andrzej Seweryn, 9 Edward Jurkiewicz, 10 Adam Niemiec, 11 Bohdan Likszo, 12 Waldemar Kozak, 13 Bolesław Kwiatkowski, 14 Krzysztof Gula, 15 Grzegorz Korcz (Coach: Witold Zagórski)

1971 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 12 teams

4 Marek Ladniak, 5 Grzegorz Korcz, 6 Jan Dolczewski, 7 Henryk Cegielski, 8 Andrzej Seweryn, 9 Edward Jurkiewicz, 10 Jerzy Frolow, 11 Janusz Cegliński, 12 Waldemar Kozak, 13 Mirosław Kalinowski, 14 Eugeniusz Durejko, 15 Zbigniew Jedlinski (Coach: Witold Zagórski)

1972 Olympic Games: finished 10th among 16 teams

4 Andrzej Pasiorowski, 5 Grzegorz Korcz, 6 Jan Dolczewski, 7 Franciszek Niemiec, 8 Andrzej Seweryn, 9 Waldemar Kozak, 10 Andrzej Kasprzak, 11 Janusz Cegliński, 12 Mieczysław Łopatka, 13 Ryszard Białowąs, 14 Eugeniusz Durejko, 15 Piotr Langosz (Coach: Witold Zagórski)

1973 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 12 teams

4 Andrzej Pasiorowski, 5 Grzegorz Korcz, 6 Jan Dolczewski, 7 Jerzy Plebanek, 8 Andrzej Seweryn, 9 Tomasz Tybinkowski, 10 Tadeusz Grygiel, 11 Janusz Cegliński, 12 Jacek Kalinowski, 13 Zdzisław Myrda, 14 Eugeniusz Durejko, 15 Piotr Langosz (Coach: Witold Zagórski)

1975 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 12 teams

4 Tadeusz Grygiel, 5 Tomasz Garlinski, 6 Piotr Langosz, 7 Franciszek Niemiec, 8 Andrzej Seweryn, 9 Edward Jurkiewicz, 10 Adam Gardzina, 11 Wojciech Fiedorczuk, 12 Marek Ladniak, 13 Zdzisław Myrda, 14 Eugeniusz Durejko, 15 Dariusz Kwiatkowski (Coach: Witold Zagórski)

1979 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 12 teams

4 Dariusz Zelig, 5 Zbigniew Kudlacz, 6 Wojciech Rosiński, 7 Eugeniusz Kijewski, 8 Andrzej Seweryn, 9 Tomasz Garlinski, 10 Leszek Chudeusz, 11 Justyn Węglorz, 12 Mieczysław Młynarski, 13 Zdzisław Myrda, 14 Ryszard Prostak, 15 Krzysztof Fikiel (Coach: Jerzy Świątek)

1980 Olympic Games: finished 7th among 12 teams

4 Dariusz Zelig, 5 Leszek Doliński, 6 Wojciech Rosiński, 7 Eugeniusz Kijewski, 8 Jerzy Bińkowski, 9 Marcin Michalski, 10 Ireneusz Mulak, 11 Justyn Węglorz, 12 Mieczysław Młynarski, 13 Zdzisław Myrda, 14 Ryszard Prostak, 15 Krzysztof Fikiel (Coach: Stefan Majer)

1981 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 12 teams

4 Dariusz Zelig, 5 Dariusz Szczubial, 6 Wojciech Rosinski, 7 Eugeniusz Kijewski, 8 Zbigniew Bogucki, 9 Jerzy Binkowski, 10 Miroslaw Boryca, 11 Justyn Weglorz, 12 Mieczyslaw Mlynarski, 13 Jaroslaw Jechorek, 14 Ryszard Prostak, 15 Krzysztof Fikiel (Coach: Jerzy Świątek)

1983 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 12 teams

4 Dariusz Zelig, 5 Stanisław Reschke, 6 Stanisław Kiełbik, 7 Eugeniusz Kijewski, 8 Jarosław Jęchorek, 9 Jerzy Bińkowski, 10 Ireneusz Mulak, 11 Justyn Węglorz, 12 Mieczysław Młynarski, 13 Zbigniew Bogucki, 14 Ryszard Prostak, 15 Krzysztof Fikiel (Coach: Jerzy Świątek)

1985 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 12 teams

4 Dariusz Zelig, 5 Dariusz Szczubiał, 6 Andrzej Żurawski, 7 Marek Sobczyński, 8 Jarosław Jęchorek, 9 Jerzy Bińkowski, 10 Ireneusz Mulak, 11 Justyn Węglorz, 12 Adam Fiedler, 13 Henryk Wardach, 14 Jarosław Zyskowski, 15 Krzysztof Fikiel (Coach: Andrzej Kuchar)

1987 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 12 teams

4 Dariusz Zelig, 5 Ryszard Prostak, 6 Mirosław Boryca, 7 Marek Sobczyński, 8 Jarosław Jęchorek, 9 Jerzy Bińkowski, 10 Dariusz Szczubiał, 11 Dariusz Kobylański, 12 Adam Fiedler, 13 Jerzy Kołodziejczak, 14 Henryk Wardach, 15 Krzysztof Fikiel (Coach: Andrzej Kuchar)

1991 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 8 teams

4 Dariusz Zelig, 5 Maciej Zieliński, 6 Wojciech Królik, 7 Piotr Baran, 8 Jarosław Marcinkowski, 9 Jerzy Bińkowski, 10 Dariusz Szczubiał, 11 Adam Wójcik, 12 Jarosław Jechorek, 13 Jacek Duda, 14 Mariusz Bacik, 15 Tomasz Torgowski (Coach: Arkadiusz Koniecki)

1997 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 16 teams

4 Robert Kościuk, 5 Andrzej Pluta, 6 Krzysztof Mila, 7 Jarosław Darnikowski, 8 Dominik Tomczyk, 9 Maciej Zieliński, 10 Adam Wójcik, 11 Tomasz Jankowski, 12 Piotr Szybilski, 13 Rafał Bigus, 14 Mariusz Bacik, 15 Krzysztof Dryja (Coach: Eugeniusz Kijewski)

2007 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 16 teams

4 Bartłomiej Wołoszyn, 5 Andrzej Pluta, 6 Robert Skibniewski, 7 Robert Witka, 8 Filip Dylewicz, 9 Radosław Hyży, 10 Adam Wójcik, 11 Kamil Pietras, 12 Szymon Szewczyk, 13 Iwo Kitzinger, 14 Przemysław Frasunkiewicz, 15 Łukasz Koszarek (Coach: Andrej Urlep)

2009 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 16 teams

4 Maciej Lampe, 5 Krzysztof Roszyk, 6 Michał Chyliński, 7 Krzysztof Szubarga, 8 Robert Skibniewski, 9 Szymon Szewczyk, 10 Adam Wójcik, 11 Michał Ignerski, 12 David Logan, 13 Marcin Gortat, 14 Robert Witka, 15 Łukasz Koszarek (Coach: Muli Katzurin)

2011 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 24 teams

4 Dardan Berisha, 5 Adam Łapeta, 6 Robert Skibniewski, 7 Adam Waczyński, 8 Piotr Pamuła, 9 Paweł Leończyk, 10 Szymon Szewczyk, 11 Thomas Kelati, 12 Piotr Szczotka, 13 Łukasz Wiśniewski, 14 Adam Hrycaniuk, 15 Łukasz Koszarek (Coach: Aleš Pipan)

2013 EuroBasket: finished 21st among 24 teams

4 Przemysław Karnowski, 5 Thomas Kelati, 6 Maciej Lampe, 7 Krzysztof Szubarga, 8 Michał Chyliński, 9 Przemysław Zamojski, 10 Mateusz Ponitka, 11 Michał Ignerski, 12 Adam Waczyński, 13 Marcin Gortat, 14 Adam Hrycaniuk, 15 Łukasz Koszarek (Coach: Dirk Bauermann)

2015 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 24 teams

0 Aleksander Czyż, 5 Aaron Cel, 6 A. J. Slaughter, 7 Damian Kulig, 10 Mateusz Ponitka, 12 Adam Waczyński, 13 Marcin Gortat (C), 15 Łukasz Koszarek, 17 Przemysław Zamojski, 24 Przemysław Karnowski, 33 Karol Gruszecki, 66 Robert Skibniewski (Coach: Mike Taylor)

2017 EuroBasket: finished 18th among 24 teams

1 Maciej Lampe, 3 Michał Sokołowski, 5 Aaron Cel, 9 Mateusz Ponitka, 11 Marcel Ponitka, 12 Adam Waczyński, 15 Kamil Łączyński, 21 Tomasz Gielo, 23 Michał Michalak, 33 Karol Gruszecki, 34 Adam Hrycaniuk, 44 Dominik Olejniczak, 55 Łukasz Koszarek (Coach: Mike Taylor)

2019 FIBA World Cup: finished 8th among 32 teams

2 Aleksander Balcerowski, 3 Michał Sokołowski, 5 Aaron Cel, 6 A. J. Slaughter, 9 Mateusz Ponitka, 12 Adam Waczyński, 13 Dominik Olejniczak, 15 Kamil Łączyński, 33 Karol Gruszecki, 34 Adam Hrycaniuk, 55 Łukasz Koszarek, 77 Damian Kulig (Coach: Mike Taylor)

2011: Spalding 2013–15: Zina[3] 2016–present: Adidas

2011: Prokom 2013: Lotto 2015: Tauron[3] 2017: Energa

• Poland v Bosnia and Herzegovina – Group A – Game Highlights – EuroBasket 2015 Youtube.com video