Afghanistan men's national basketball team

The Afghanistan national basketball team is the basketball side that represents Afghanistan in international competitions.[2][3][4][5]

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Afghanistan women's national basketball team.

Afghanistan
FIBA ranking169 (9 December 2020)[1]
Joined FIBA1968
FIBA zoneFIBA Asia
National federationNational Basketball Association of Afghanistan (NBAA)
CoachMamo Rafiq
Olympic Games
AppearancesNone
FIBA World Cup
AppearancesNone
Asian Championship
AppearancesNone
South Asian Games
Appearances1
Medals Gold: 2010

The gold medal at the 2010 South Asian Games was the first ever gold medal of any Afghan sports team in the history of the country.[6]

History

Basketball was first played in Afghanistan in 1936. In 1966, the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee (ANOC) founded the first national basketball team after receiving challenges from India and Pakistan. Tom Gouttierre, an American Peace Corps volunteer and coach of the team at Habibia High School, became the first coach. Using detailed, confidential instructions from John Wooden, the Afghan team became the only other to run the famous UCLA zone press.[7]

Although the international games were canceled, in 1969 Gouttierre returned on a Fulbright Fellowship and again became the Habibia coach, and in 1970 Bill Bradley of the New York Knicks tutored the team while visiting the country. That year China challenged the ANOC. Because of the lack of preparation time, Gouttierre decided that current and former Habibia players were the best choice for a second Afghan national team. Using the zone press, it defeated a much larger Chinese team in Parwan Province in the Afghan team's first international victory.[7]

Competitive record

World championships

yet to qualify

FIBA Asia Championship

yet to qualify

Asian Games
See also: Basketball at the Asian Games
  • 1970-2002 : Did not qualify
  • 2006 : 13th
  • 2010 : 13th
  • 2014 : Did not qualify
  • 2018 : To be determined

South Asian Games
See also: Basketball at the South Asian Games
  • 1995-2004 : Did not participate
  • 2010 : 1st
  • 2018 : To be determined

Honours

Head coach position
  • Mamo Rafiq – 2007-now

See also

Videos

References
  1. "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  2. "FIBA National Federations – Afghanistan". Fiba.com. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  3. "Keeping Afghan Men's basketball Alive is a Scramble". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  4. "Afghan national team making basketball inroads". Usatoday.Com. 12 November 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  5. "Afghan Men's Basketball Team Denied Chance at Olympics". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  6. "Afghan Sports Federation – 2010 South Asian Games in Dhaka, Bangladesh; BREAKING NEWS: Afghanistan National Basketball Team Wins Gold". AfghanSportsFederation.org. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  7. Ballard, Chris (22 July 2013). "The Wizard of Kabul". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
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