The 1939 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1939, was the third

FIBA EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

regional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

championship, held by FIBA. Eight national teams affiliated with the

International Basketball Federation The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the equipment and facilities required, ...

(FIBA) took part in the competition. Defending champions

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

hosted the tournament, held in

Kaunas Sports Hall Kaunas Sports Hall (), also known as the S. Darius and S. Girėnas Hall is the second largest arena of Kaunas, Lithuania. It is the first arena built in the residential Žaliakalnis neighbourhood of Kaunas specially for basketball in Europe a ...

Tickets

The prices for tickets were high at the time: The price for a seat was 2.5–5 LTL, and for a standing spot 1.5–2 LTL.

Venue

One of the toughest question was where the competition games of the Third European Basketball Championship should be played. First European Championship was held in a primitively adapted exhibitions hall, second – in adapted former factory premises. Firstly, there was a thought to organize it in an open-court with a hanging

tarpaulin A tarpaulin ( , ) or tarp is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with polyurethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. Tarpaulins often have reinf ...

roof, protecting from the rain, in the that time State Court (currently Darius and Girėnas Stadium). Although, such building wasn't suitable nor for the Lithuania, nor for the FIBA. It was decided to build completely new sports hall for the basketball games. Anatolijus Rozenbliumas projected the new basketball hall with capacity of 11.000 people (3.500 seats). It cost around 400.000 LTL, however nobody complained about its necessarily and its building progress.

was built in time. Many helpers participated in construction. One of them, Donatas Banionis, remembers: "I remember 1939 European Championship in Kaunas. Then the Kaunas Sports Hall was built. On the eve of the tournament I learned from friends that helpers are required to number the benches. Free observation of the games was promised for that. This, for us – boys, was a staggering thing. The cheapest ticket to all the games cost 10 LTL. So I numbered the sports hall benches with dye honestly".

Opening and closing ceremonies

The opening ceremony of the EuroBasket 1939 took place on 21 May 1939. Independent Lithuania sport historian, Jonas Narbutas, wrote: "The interest in the competition, of course, was huge. But still it was hardly imaginable that even that big event may attract such wide masses. It seemed that the whole Kaunas swam into the National Stadium. Tides of people attended the Vytautas hill: by foot, by driving. Generations of times swam into the hall: near the gray-headed there was his aging son with his children, small and big swam, of all ages and castes. The hall possibly sheltered 10.000 of people. It is doubtful that more could fit there. It was possible to sell 20.000 tickets to the opening and the closing ceremonies". The opening ceremony was started by the Lithuanian president

Antanas Smetona Antanas Smetona (; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual, journalist and politician. He served as the first president of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and later as the authoritarian head of state from 1926 until the Occu ...

speech.

Teams and their compositions

At first, after sending the invitations, 17 countries wished to compete. Even the basketball newcomers

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

planned to participate in it. Because of this, one of the issued postage stamp had flags of 17 countries. Though, when Kaunas was waiting for the guests from all the European countries,

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

phantom was already wandering in Europe. That changed things, with some of the 17 planned countries no longer interested in participating in the tournament. Eight teams arrived. Despite that, all the strongest teams of the

EuroBasket 1937 The 1937 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1937, was the second FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Eight national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) took p ...

participated (

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

). The championship prestige was also raised with the very capable Baltic teams participation (

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

). Most of the teams arrived at Kaunas firmly strengthened: Lithuania,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, Estonia, Latvia, Italy national teams had emigrants, who finished studies in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. Everyone was thrilled with the question: will tall (unlimited) height players participation be allowed? At that time

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

had a rule which distributed players into two groups: lower than 1.90

meter The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

and taller than 1.90 meter. Though, this rule never was used practically. Two teams had players taller than 1.90 meter: Estonia ( Ralf Viksten – 1.98 meter) and Lithuania ( Pranas Lubinas – 2.00 or 2.01 meter). Just one day before the competition, FIBA Technical Committee reached a decision allowing players of all heights to compete.Stanislovas Stonkus "Krepšinio kelias į Lietuvą" (pages: 36-37)

Gallery

File:EuroBasket 1939 opening ceremony.jpg, EuroBasket 1939 opening ceremony File:EuroBasket 1939 opening ceremony 2.JPG, EuroBasket 1939 opening ceremony File:Eurobasket 1939 Lithuania-Hungary.jpg,

–

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

game during EuroBasket 1939

Results

The 1939 competition was in a very simple format. Each team played each of the other teams once. A win was worth 2 standings points, a loss worth 1. The rankings were based on those standing points. Ties were broken by head-to-head results. The winning team was

. In retrospect, the most important match was Lithuania vs Latvia in the first round. Lithuania won by 1 point, and this was the eventual winning margin of the championship. Relations between the two nations soured to such an extent that it led to the cancellation of the subsequent 1939 Baltic Cup football tournament.

Match results

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Final standings

Source
fibaeurope.com

Team rosters

Lithuania's Lubinas previously played for the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

-winning

United States national basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as Team USA and the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. It is the most successful men's team in international competition, ...

at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

. 1. Lithuania: Pranas Lubinas, Mykolas Ruzgys,

Feliksas Kriaučiūnas Feliksas Kriaučiūnas (Americanized his name as Phil Krause; August 18, 1911 – October 28, 1977) was a Lithuanian Americans, Lithuanian American basketball player and coach. He won two gold medals with Lithuania men's national basketball team, ...

, Leonas Baltrūnas,

Zenonas Puzinauskas Zenonas Puzinauskas (March 4, 1920 – July 16, 1995) was a Lithuanians, Lithuanian basketball player. He won two gold medals with the Lithuania men's national basketball team, Lithuania national basketball team during EuroBasket 1937 and EuroBas ...

, Artūras Andrulis, Pranas Mažeika,

Leonas Petrauskas Leonas Eugenijus Petrauskas (1919 – 18 July 1994) was a Lithuanians, Lithuanian basketball player. He won two gold medals with the Lithuania men's national basketball team, Lithuania national basketball team during EuroBasket 1937 and EuroBask ...

Eugenijus Nikolskis Eugenijus Nikolskis (24 November 1917 – 26 October 1992) was a Lithuanian basketball and table tennis player. He won two gold medals with the Lithuania national basketball team during EuroBasket 1937 and EuroBasket 1939. Biography During Wor ...

, Vytautas Norkus, Juozas Jurgėla,

Mindaugas Šliūpas Mindaugas Šliūpas (1919–1979) was a Lithuanian basketball player. He won a gold medal with the Lithuania men's national basketball team, Lithuania national basketball team during EuroBasket 1939. He played one game against Finland and scored ...

Vytautas Budriūnas Vytautas Budriūnas (Americanized his first name as ''Walter "Whitey"'', last name as ''Budrunas'' or ''Budrun''; born December 19, 1908; died June 28, 2003) was a Lithuanian basketball player. He won gold medal at EuroBasket 1939 with Lithuan ...

Vytautas Lesčinskas Vytautas Lesčinskas (20 January 1922 – 8 August 1977) was a Lithuanian basketball player. He won the gold medal with the Lithuania national basketball team during EuroBasket 1939. Lesčinskas died in Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-la ...

(Coach: Pranas Lubinas) 2. Latvia: Visvaldis Melderis, Kārlis Arents, Jānis Graudiņš, Teodors Grīnbergs, Maksis Kazāks, Alfrēds Krauklis, Voldemārs Šmits, Juris Solovjovs, Aleksandrs Vanags, Kārlis Satiņš (Coach: Valdemārs Baumanis) 3. Poland: Paweł Stok, Bogdan Bartosiewicz, Jerzy Gregołajtis, Florian Grzechowiak, Zdzisław Kasprzak, Ewaryst Łój, Stanisław Pawlowski,

Zbigniew Resich Zbigniew () is a Polish masculine given name, originally Zbygniew . This West Slavic name is derived from the Polish elements ''Zby-'' (from ''zbyć, zbyć się, or pozbyć się'', meaning "to dispel", "to get rid of") and ''gniew'', meaning "ang ...

, Jerzy Rossudowski, Jarosław Śmigielski (Coach:

Walenty Kłyszejko Walenty Kłyszejko (, ; 2 December 1909 – 20 August 1987) was an Estonian– Polish basketball coach and player. He was also a professor of physical education at the Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw. Klyszejko was ...

) 4. France:

Robert Busnel Robert Busnel (19 September 1914 – 15 March 1991) was a French professional basketball player, coach, and administrator. During his playing career, the 1.92 m (6'3 ") tall Busnel, played at the power forward position. He was made an Officer o ...

, Vladimir Fabrikant, Henri Lesmayoux, Fernand Prudhomme, Jean Jeammes, Etienne Roland, Emile Frezot,

Robert Cohu Robert Cohu (20 August 1911 – 21 January 2011) was a French basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1936 Summer Olympics. He was inducted into the French Basketball Hall of Fame ...

, Maurice Mertz, Abel Gravier, Andre Ambroise, Gaston Falleur, Gabriel Gonnet, Alexandre Katlama (Coach: Paul Geist) 5. Estonia: Heino Veskila, Evald Mahl,

Oskar Erikson Oskar may refer to: People * Oskar (given name), a masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Jón Óskar (1921–1998), Icelandic poet * Lee Oskar (born 1948), Danish harmonica player, a founding memb ...

, Ralf Viksten, Georg Vinogradov, Erich Altosaar,

Artur Amon Artur "Ats" Amon (17 February 1916 – 3 September 1944) was an Estonian basketball player. He competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics. Amon was born in Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population o ...

, Hans Juurup, Valdeko Valdmäe, Herbert Tillemann (Coach: Herbert Niiler)

References

External links

FIBA Europe EuroBasket 1939Eurobasket.com 1939 EChampionship
{{Eurobasket

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

1939 in basketball

Sports competitions in Kaunas Basketball in Kaunas 1939 in Lithuanian sport May 1939 sports events in Europe 20th century in Kaunas