Montenegro_national_basketball_team
Montenegro men's national basketball team
Men's national basketball team representing Montenegro
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.
| FIBA ranking | 17  (1 March 2024)[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Joined FIBA | 2006 | ||
| FIBA zone | FIBA Europe | ||
| National federation | Basketball Federation of Montenegro (KSCG) | ||
| Coach | Boško Radović | ||
| Nickname(s) | Црна Гора / Crna Gora (The Black Mountain) | ||
| FIBA World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 2 | ||
| Medals | None | ||
| EuroBasket | |||
| Appearances | 4 | ||
| Medals | None | ||
| Games of the Small States of Europe | |||
| Appearances | 3 | ||
| Medals |  Gold: (2015, 2019) Silver: (2017) | ||
| |||
| 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.
2006–2014
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
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.
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.
FIBA World Cup
Olympic Games
|
EuroBasket
Games of the Small States of Europe
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Win Loss
2023
| 25 August 2023 | Mexico  |
71–91 | Montenegro |
Pasay, Philippines | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16:45 (UTC+8) | Scoring by quarter: 19–19, 20–29, 19–20, 13–23 | ||||
| Pts: Cruz 16 Rebs: Jaimes 8 Asts: Stoll 7 |
Boxscore | Pts: Vučević 27 Rebs: Vučević 10 Asts: Perry 7 |
Arena: Mall of Asia Arena Attendance: 6,668 Referees: Manuel Mazzoni (ITA), Daniel García (VEN), Kristian Paez (ECU) |
||
| 27 August 2023 | Montenegro |
89–74 |  Egypt |
Pasay, Philippines | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16:45 (UTC+8) | Scoring by quarter: 27–17, 24–20, 19–19, 19–18 | ||||
| Pts: Vučević 16 Rebs: Radončić, Vučević 7 Asts: Perry 7 |
Boxscore | Pts: Amin 26 Rebs: Gardner 8 Asts: El Gendy 4 |
Arena: Mall of Asia Arena Attendance: 3,751 Referees: Antonio Conde (ESP), Takaki Kato (JPN), Andris Aunkrogers (LAT) |
||
| 29 August 2023 | Montenegro |
71–91 |  Lithuania |
Pasay, Philippines | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:30 (UTC+8) | Scoring by quarter: 27–26, 13–22, 10–18, 21–25 | ||||
| Pts: Vučević 19 Rebs: Simonović 6 Asts: six players 2 |
Boxscore | Pts: Jokubaitis 19 Rebs: Sedekerskis 11 Asts: Jokubaitis 6 |
Arena: Mall of Asia Arena Attendance: 5,707 Referees: Boris Krejič (SVN), Kristian Paez (ECU), Manuel Attard (ITA) |
||
| 1 September 2023 | United States  |
85–73 | Montenegro |
Pasay, Philippines | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16:40 (UTC+8) | Scoring by quarter: 19–18, 18–20, 24–17, 24–18 | ||||
| Pts: Edwards 17 Rebs: Ingram 5 Asts: Haliburton 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Vučević 18 Rebs: Vučević 16 Asts: Perry 6 |
Arena: Mall of Asia Arena Attendance: 7,699 Referees: Yohan Rosso (FRA), Boris Krejič (SVN), Gatis Saliņš (LAT) |
||
| 3 September 2023 | Greece  |
69–73 | Montenegro |
Pasay, Philippines | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16:40 (UTC+8) | Scoring by quarter: 14–19, 16–17, 12–14, 27–23 | ||||
| Pts: Papapetrou 16 Rebs: Bochoridis 6 Asts: Walkup 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Vučević 19 Rebs: Dubljević 9 Asts: Dubljević 9 |
Arena: Mall of Asia Arena Attendance: 6,193 Referees: Daniel García (VEN), Kristian Paez (ECU), Péter Praksch (HUN) |
||
2024
| 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  |
vs. | Montenegro |
Riga, Latvia | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:30 (UTC+3) | |||||
| Boxscore | Arena: Arena Riga |
||||
| 3 July 2024 | Montenegro |
vs. |  Cameroon |
Riga, Latvia | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:30 (UTC+3) | |||||
| Boxscore | Arena: Arena Riga |
||||
v 
Bulgaria
| 22 November 2024 | Montenegro |
vs. | Bulgaria |
Montenegro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boxscore | |||||
2025
v Germany
| 20 February 2025 | Montenegro |
vs. | Germany |
Montenegro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boxscore | |||||
Current roster
Roster for EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers matches on 22 and 25 February 2024 against Germany and Sweden.[5]
| Montenegro men's national basketball team roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Depth chart
| 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
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 |
23–17 | EuroBasket 2022 (13th); GSS 2023 (4th); World Cup 2023 (11th) |
Notable former players
Past rosters
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)
- 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
Below is the list of official performances of the Montenegro national basketball team against every single opponent.
| Opponents | Pld | W | L | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Albania |
2 | 2 | 0 | +78 |
 Andorra |
2 | 2 | 0 | +61 |
 Austria |
2 | 2 | 0 | +46 |
 Belarus |
2 | 2 | 0 | +35 |
 Belgium |
1 | 1 | 0 | +6 |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
4 | 1 | 3 | -3 |
| Brazil |
1 | 0 | 1 | -11 |
| Bulgaria |
3 | 3 | 0 | +27 |
 Croatia |
2 | 0 | 2 | -10 |
 Cyprus |
2 | 1 | 1 | +33 |
 Czech Republic |
3 | 3 | 0 | +40 |
 Denmark |
4 | 4 | 0 | +75 |
| Egypt |
1 | 1 | 0 | +15 |
 Estonia |
2 | 2 | 0 | +22 |
 Finland |
3 | 2 | 1 | +28 |
 France |
4 | 1 | 3 | -26 |
 Georgia |
3 | 2 | 1 | +4 |
| Germany |
4 | 2 | 2 | -17 |
 Great Britain |
2 | 1 | 1 | -9 |
| Greece |
3 | 1 | 2 | -37 |
 Hungary |
3 | 2 | 1 | +36 |
 Iceland |
9 | 9 | 0 | +150 |
 Israel |
6 | 4 | 2 | +8 |
 Italy |
2 | 1 | 1 | +8 |
 Japan |
1 | 1 | 0 | +15 |
 Latvia |
6 | 3 | 3 | +6 |
| Lithuania |
4 | 0 | 4 | -53 |
 Luxembourg |
3 | 3 | 0 | +51 |
 North Macedonia |
2 | 2 | 0 | +6 |
 Malta |
1 | 1 | 0 | +13 |
| Mexico |
1 | 1 | 0 | +20 |
| Netherlands |
4 | 2 | 2 | +14 |
 New Zealand |
1 | 0 | 1 | -10 |
 Portugal |
2 | 2 | 0 | +29 |
 Romania |
1 | 1 | 0 | +17 |
| San Marino |
1 | 1 | 0 | +63 |
 Serbia |
3 | 3 | 0 | +19 |
 Slovakia |
4 | 4 | 0 | +114 |
 Slovenia |
2 | 1 | 1 | +1 |
| Spain |
4 | 0 | 4 | -81 |
| Sweden |
3 | 3 | 0 | +62 |
 Turkey |
4 | 1 | 3 | -14 |
 Ukraine |
2 | 2 | 0 | +8 |
| United States |
1 | 0 | 1 | -12 |
| Total (44) | 120 | 80 | 40 | +844 |
Last updated: 25 February 2024
Manufacturer
Sponsor
- "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- Eurobasket – Montenegro Profile Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- "Čudo! Crna Gora trojkom Ivanovića sa pola terena srušila Srbiju! – Vijesti.me". Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- "– YouTube" – via YouTube.
- "Montenegro during the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers in February 2024". Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- Official website
(in Montenegrin) - Montenegro FIBA profile
- Montenegro National Team – Men at Eurobasket.com
