Wikipedia

Montenegro men's national basketball team

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

The Montenegro men's national basketball team (Montenegrin: Кошаркашка репрезентација Црне Горе, romanized: Košarkaška reprezentacija Crne Gore) represents Montenegro in international basketball tournaments. The supervising body is the Basketball Federation of Montenegro.

Montenegro
FIBA ranking16 Increase 1 (26 November 2024)[1]
Joined FIBA2006
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationBasketball Federation of Montenegro (KSCG)
CoachBoško Radović
Nickname(s)Црна Гора / Crna Gora
(The Black Mountain)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances2
MedalsNone
EuroBasket
Appearances4
MedalsNone
Games of the Small States of Europe
Appearances3
MedalsGold Gold: (2015, 2019)
Silver Silver: (2017)
First jersey
Team colours
First
Second jersey
Team colours
Second
First international
 Netherlands 63–70 Montenegro 
(Almere, Netherlands; 6 September 2008)
Biggest win
 San Marino 37–100 Montenegro 
(Serravalle, San Marino; 2 June 2017)
Biggest defeat
 Spain 99–60 Montenegro 
(Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 1 September 2017)

Montenegro joined FIBA in 2006, following the restoration of Montenegrin independence in the same year. Since 2006, the national team has qualified for EuroBasket on four occasions (2011, 2013, 2017, 2022). Montenegro has qualified for the FIBA World Cup twice, in 2019 and 2023. The team has also taken part in smaller tournaments such as the Games of the Small States of Europe.

History

edit

2006–2014

edit
 
Nikola Peković played a single game for Montenegro national team in 2011

In 2006, the Basketball Federation of Montenegro along with this team joined the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) on its own following the Independence of Montenegro.

The Montenegrin national team entered international competition in 2008,[2] and appointed Duško Vujošević as the national coach. Montenegro started from FIBA Division B, where they won first place in their first competitive season. Since becoming a separate team, Montenegro has won 13 official games in a row, until losing to Israel in August 2010.

At that time, NBA players like Nikola Vučević and Nikola Peković became the most known players of Montenegrin national team.

In their first qualifiers for EuroBasket, Montenegro finished first in the group. So, the team qualified for Eurobasket 2011, where they played five games in the first phase – with one win and four losses. The Coach of Montenegro at their first-ever EuroBasket was Dejan Radonjić.

In August 2012, with the new coach Luka Pavićević, Montenegro started qualifiers for Eurobasket 2013. Again, they won first place, but without any defeat from 10 matches. Notable matches were against Serbia, first after the two countries separated. Montenegro won both games, and victory in Belgrade (73:71), in front of 18,000 spectators, is gained by Nikola Ivanović three-point shot from the center, one second before the end of the match.[3][4]

As the first-place team in qualifiers, Montenegro participated at Eurobasket 2013 in Slovenia. They made better results than 2011, with two wins and three defeats, but that was not enough for the second phase of EuroBasket.

First unsuccessful qualifying campaign since independence, Montenegro had during the 2014. Surprisingly, group stage at the EuroBasket 2015 qualification, Montenegro finished third, so they failed to qualify for the final tournament.

2015–present

edit
 
Nikola Vučević

In 2015, Montenegro named Bogdan Tanjević new head coach of the national team. Prior to taking the reins of the national team, he was the head coach of Fenerbahçe. As the national team earlier failed to qualify for EuroBasket 2015, they participated in the Games of the Small States of Europe (European countries with less than a million citizens) in Iceland and easily won the gold medal.

In summer 2016, Montenegro started competition in EuroBasket 2017 qualifiers, with the only ambition to qualify for their third final tournament since independence. In a group with Georgia, Slovakia and Albania, Montenegro finished as a second-place team, with one defeat, and qualified for EuroBasket 2017.

For the first time in their history, in Eurobasket 2017, Montenegro finished as a third-place team in the group stage and qualified to the knockout stage. At that time, that was the biggest success of the Montenegrin national team since its independence in 2006. Two years later, Montenegro qualified for the 2019 FIBA World Cup for the first time, after a winner-take-all game in Podgorica against Latvia. Montenegro lost the game 80–74 but still went through as they had won the away game 84–75, thus holding the tiebreaker on points difference. With that result, Montenegro became the smallest state by population and territory to qualify for the FIBA World Cup since the establishing of competition.

Competitive record

edit
Main article: List of Montenegro national basketball team games

Montenegro made their first appearance at the FIBA World Cup in 2019. The national team has also appeared four times at the EuroBasket (2011, 2013, 2017, 2022). Among the other competitions, as a country with less than a million inhabitants, Montenegro participated at the Games of the Small States of Europe winning the gold medal in 2015 and 2019.

Results and fixtures

edit

  Win   Loss

2024

edit
22 February 2024 Germany   85–61   Montenegro Ludwigsburg, Germany
19:30 (UTC 1) Scoring by quarter: 28–10, 19–20, 11–20, 27–11
Pts: Da Silva 19
Rebs: Da Silva 7
Asts: Weiler-Babb 5 		Boxscore Pts: Perry 16
Rebs: Nikolić 8
Asts: five players 1 		Arena: MHPArena
Attendance: 4,141
Referees: Yohan Rosso (FRA), Paulo Marques (POR), Péter Praksch (HUN)
25 February 2024 Montenegro   95–70   Sweden Podgorica, Montenegro
19:00 (UTC 1) Scoring by quarter: 27–24, 23–13, 25–20, 20–13
Pts: Perry 18
Rebs: Simonović 8
Asts: Perry 5 		Boxscore Pts: Njie 15
Rebs: Gaddefors 8
Asts: Borg, Njie 4 		Arena: Morača Sports Center
Attendance: 5,500
Referees: Antonio Conde (ESP), Andris Aunkrogers (LAT), Valentin Oliot (FRA)
2 July 2024 Brazil   81–72   Montenegro Riga, Latvia
15:30 (UTC 3) Scoring by quarter: 15–23, 21–19, 16–14, 29–16
Pts: Caboclo 25
Rebs: Caboclo 9
Asts: Yago 5 		Boxscore Pts: Vučević 17
Rebs: Vučević 13
Asts: Perry, Simonović 3 		Arena: Arena Riga
Attendance: 1,022
Referees: Ademir Zurapović (BIH), Takaki Kato (JPN), Jenna Reneau (USA)
3 July 2024 Montenegro   70–66   Cameroon Riga, Latvia
15:30 (UTC 3) Scoring by quarter: 16–13, 13–19, 20–10, 21–24
Pts: Simonović 18
Rebs: Vučević 14
Asts: Perry, Popović 5 		Boxscore Pts: Ateba, Bayehe 14
Rebs: Eyaga 6
Asts: Hill 10 		Arena: Arena Riga
Attendance: 622
Referees: Luis Castillo (ESP), Omar Bermúdez (MEX), Wael Mostafa (EGY)
22 November 2024 Montenegro   85–62   Bulgaria Podgorica, Montenegro
19:00 (UTC 1) Scoring by quarter: 20–16, 24–11, 21–25, 20–10
Pts: Perry 18
Rebs: Simonović 10
Asts: Ivanović 4 		Boxscore Pts: Dimitrov 17
Rebs: Minchev 7
Asts: Young 4 		Arena: Bemax Arena
Attendance: 2,318
Referees: Savrio Lanzarini (ITA), Karem Baki(TUR), Juozas Barkauskas(LTU)
25 November 2024 Bulgaria   86–90   Montenegro Botevgrad, Bulgaria
19:00 (UTC 2) Scoring by quarter: 21–22, 27–19, 19–25, 19–24
Pts: Ivanonv 26
Rebs: Alipiev 6
Asts: Ivanov, Young 4 		Boxscore Pts: Perry 31
Rebs: Dubljević 7
Asts: Ivanović, Perry 4 		Arena: Arena Botevgrad
Attendance: 2,500
Referees: Georgios Poursanidis (GRE), Lorenzo Baldini (ITA), Marek Kukelcik (SVK)

2025

edit
20 February 2025 Montenegro   vs.   Germany Montenegro
Boxscore
23 February 2025 Sweden   vs.   Montenegro Sweden
Boxscore

Team

edit

Current roster

edit

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers matches on 22 and 25 November 2024 against Bulgaria.[5]

Montenegro men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
G 3 Vladimir Mihailović 34 – (1990-08-10)10 August 1990 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Zadar  
SG 7 Andrija Slavković 25 – (1999-02-15)15 February 1999 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Budućnost  
SF 8 Dino Radončić 25 – (1999-01-08)8 January 1999 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Real Betis  
C 9 Marko Simonović 25 – (1999-10-15)15 October 1999 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Bahçeşehir Koleji  
F 11 Nemanja Radović 33 – (1991-11-11)11 November 1991 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Murcia  
PF 14 Bojan Dubljević 33 – (1991-10-24)24 October 1991 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Zaragoza  
C 18 Marko Todorović 32 – (1992-04-19)19 April 1992 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Murcia  
C 19 Zoran Nikolić 28 – (1996-04-01)1 April 1996 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) SC Derby  
PG 20 Nikola Ivanović 30 – (1994-02-19)19 February 1994 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Brescia  
PG 22 Igor Drobnjak 24 – (2000-04-21)21 April 2000 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) SC Derby  
SG 44 Luka Bogavac 21 – (2003-09-20)20 September 2003 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) SC Derby  
PG 55 Kendrick Perry 31 – (1992-12-23)23 December 1992 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Unicaja  
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  •   Vladimir Todorović
  •   Boško Boškovič
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 22 November 2024

Depth chart

edit
Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3 Inactive
C Nikola Vučević Bojan Dubljević Zoran Nikolić Vasilije Baćović
PF Nemanja Radović Marko Simonović Aleksa Ilić Andrija Grbović Radosav Spasojević
SF Dino Radončić Emir Hadžibegović Andrija Slavković Zoran Vučeljić Đorđije Jovanović
SG Vladimir Mihailović Jonah Radebaugh Petar Popović Fedor Žugić Balša Živanović
PG Kendrick Perry Nikola Ivanović Igor Drobnjak Luka Bogavac Mašan Vrbica

Head coaches

edit

Since independence, all head coaches were Montenegrin-born. The first head coach of Montenegro was Duško Vujošević. With him, Montenegro won the FIBA B division championship (2009). From 2010 to 2012, Montenegro was coached by Dejan Radonjić, who led the national team to their first EuroBasket (2011). At their next Eurobasket participation (2013), Montenegro was led by Luka Pavićević. From 2015 to 2017, the head coach of Montenegro was Bogdan Tanjević, who led Montenegro to their first-ever Second phase games at the Eurobasket (2016). After that tournament, the Basketball Federation of Montenegro named Zvezdan Mitrović new head coach of the national team. During his mandate, Montenegro for the first time qualified for the World Cup (2019), as the smallest state to ever play at the global tournament.

Years Name Record Competitions
2007–2010   Duško Vujošević 10–0 None
2010–2012   Dejan Radonjić 7–6 EuroBasket 2011 (21st)
2012–2014   Luka Pavićević 15–6 EuroBasket 2013 (17th)
2015–2017   Bogdan Tanjević 15–5 GSS 2015 (1st); EuroBasket 2017 (13th); GSS 2017 (2nd)
2017–2019   Zvezdan Mitrović 12–9 GSS 2019 (1st); World Cup 2019 (25th)
2019–present   Boško Radović 26–18 EuroBasket 2022 (13th); GSS 2023 (4th); World Cup 2023 (11th)

Notable former players

edit

Past rosters

edit

2011 EuroBasket: finished 21st among 24 teams

4 Nikola Vučević, 5 Goran Jeretin, 6 Boris Bakić, 7 Vlado Šćepanović, 8 Miloš Borisov, 9 Vladimir Mihailović, 10 Omar Cook,
11 Slavko Vraneš, 12 Milko Bjelica, 13 Vladimir Dragičević, 14 Nikola Peković, 15 Vladimir Dašić (Coach:   Dejan Radonjić)

2013 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 24 teams

4 Nikola Vučević, 5 Bojan Bakić, 6 Suad Šehović, 7 Aleksa Popović, 8 Sead Šehović, 9 Blagota Sekulić, 10 Nikola Ivanović,
11 Milko Bjelica, 12 Tyrese Rice, 13 Marko Popović, 14 Bojan Dubljević, 15 Vladimir Dašić (Coach:   Luka Pavićević)

2017 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 24 teams

2 Tyrese Rice, 4 Nikola Vučević, 6 Suad Šehović, 7 Nikola Pavličević, 8 Dino Radončić, 11 Marko Todorović, 14 Bojan Dubljević,
15 Filip Barović, 17 Vladimir Mihailović, 20 Nikola Ivanović, 21 Nemanja Vranješ, 22 Nemanja Đurišić (Coach:   Bogdan Tanjević)

2019 FIBA World Cup: finished 25th among 32 teams

4 Nikola Vučević, 5 Derek Needham, 6 Suad Šehović, 7 Nemanja Radović, 8 Sead Šehović, 10 Aleksa Popović, 11 Marko Todorović,
14 Bojan Dubljević, 20 Nikola Ivanović, 23 Dino Radončić, 30 Petar Popović, 51 Milko Bjelica (Coach:   Zvezdan Mitrović)

2022 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 24 teams

0 Zoran Vučeljić, 2 Aleksa Ilić, 3 Vladimir Mihailović, 4 Nikola Pavličević, 8 Dino Radončić, 9 Marko Simonović, 11 Nemanja Radović,
14 Bojan Dubljević (C), 19 Zoran Nikolić, 22 Igor Drobnjak, 30 Petar Popović, 55 Kendrick Perry (Coach:   Boško Radović)

2023 FIBA World Cup: finished 11th among 32 teams

2 Aleksa Ilić, 3 Vladimir Mihailović, 4 Nikola Vučević, 7 Andrija Slavković, 8 Dino Radončić, 11 Nemanja Radović, 14 Bojan Dubljević (C),
19 Marko Simonović, 20 Nikola Ivanović, 22 Igor Drobnjak, 30 Petar Popović, 55 Kendrick Perry (Coach:   Boško Radović)

Records

edit
Largest home victory
102–58,   Montenegro –   Iceland, 26 August 2009, Podgorica
Largest away victory
37–100,   San Marino –   Montenegro, 2 June 2017, Serravalle
Largest home defeat
65–80,   Montenegro –   Israel, 20 August 2014, Podgorica
Largest away defeat
99–60,   Spain –   Montenegro, 1 September 2017, Cluj-Napoca
Longest winning streak
13 matches, (6 September 2008 – 14 August 2010)
Longest losing streak
4 matches, (1 September 2011 – 5 September 2011; 1 September 2019 – 9 September 2019)
Most scored points in a match
113,   Albania –   Montenegro 73–113
Least scored points in a match
55,   Greece –   Montenegro 71–55,   Netherlands –   Montenegro 68–55
Most conceded points in a match
104,   Slovenia –   Montenegro 104–100, (Friendly, 8 August 2023)
Least conceded points in a match
37,   San Marino –   Montenegro 37–100
Highest home attendance
5,500,   Montenegro –   Serbia 72–62, 2 September 2012, Podgorica
Highest away attendance
18,000,   Serbia –   Montenegro 71–73, 18 August 2012, Belgrade

Head to head record

edit
See also: List of Montenegro national basketball team games

Below is the list of official performances of the Montenegro national basketball team against every single opponent.

Last updated: 25 November 2024

Kit

edit

Manufacturer

edit
edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  2. ^ Eurobasket – Montenegro Profile Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Čudo! Crna Gora trojkom Ivanovića sa pola terena srušila Srbiju! – Vijesti.me". Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  4. ^ "– YouTube" – via YouTube.
  5. ^ "Montenegro during the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers in November 2024". Retrieved 22 November 2024.
edit
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Montenegro men's national basketball team.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Montenegro_men's_national_basketball_team&oldid=1260096538"