The Serbian men's national basketball team represents Serbia in international basketball matches and is controlled by the Basketball Federation of Serbia. Serbia is currently ranked third in the FIBA World Rankings.[1]
History
Serbia and Montenegro
1992–1995: Breakup of Yugoslavia
With the start of Yugoslav Wars in 1991, the mighty team of Yugoslavia was disbanded. The players were selected from the population of over 23 million people and basketball infrastructure evenly distributed all over the six states which formed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The national team was suspended from participating in 1992 Summer Olympics, EuroBasket 1993 and 1994 FIBA World Championship due to the ongoing war and sanctions imposed on newly formed country of FR Yugoslavia, which was consisted of Serbia and Montenegro, and had less than half the population of former country.
1995–2002: Golden generation
Without much sponsorship of war-impoverished country, the national team made its comeback to the international scene at the EuroBasket 1995 in Greece, where the national team won the gold medal after defeating Lithuania in gold-medal game. At the 1996 Summer Olympics the team lost with 69–95 to the United States in gold-medal game. The national team won the gold medal at the EuroBasket 1997, 1998 FIBA World Championship, EuroBasket 2001 and bronze medal at the EuroBasket 1999.
One of the most notable wins of the Yugoslavian national team came in the quarter-finals of the 2002 FIBA World Championship, when the host nation of the tournament United States was eliminated with 81–78.[2] The significance of the win was tremendous for the Serbian people in general, as the public in Serbia perceived the United States political leadership responsible for the breakup of Yugoslavia and destruction of country's infrastructure and civil victims during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.[3] Later, the Yugoslavian national team won the tournament by defeating New Zealand in the semi-finals and Argentina after 84–77 OT win in gold-medal game.[2]
2002–2006: National team disappointments
In 2002, FR Yugoslavia consisted of Serbia and Montenegro, came to a new agreement regarding continued co-operation, which, among other changes, promised the end of the name Yugoslavia, since they were part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 4 February 2003, the federal assembly of Yugoslavia created a loose state union—the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. The following years were underwhelming as the national team failed to make the podium of the tournament, after decades of winning medals.
At the EuroBasket 2003 it came in 6th place, but due the world champion status, qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece. However, it was eliminated in the group stage with 1–4 score, finishing in 11th place. The national team participated at the 2004 FIBA Diamond Ball where it won the gold medal.
After two consecutive tournament disappointments, hope for the comeback came at the EuroBasket 2005 where the national team of Serbia and Montenegro was a host nation. Also, legendary Željko Obradović became national head coach again. However, the national team was surprisingly eliminated in the play-off stage by France with 71–74 loss, and finished in 9th place. Obradović stepped down shortly after the tournament, and blamed the bad atmosphere among the team star players for yet another failure. The national team participated at the 2006 FIBA World Championship on a wild card due to the results in the past, on initiative by FIBA prominent administrator Borislav Stanković. However, the national team of Serbia and Montenegro once again failed to impress and finished in 9th place.
On 21 May 2006, Montenegrins voted in an independence referendum, with 55.5% supporting independence. The subsequent Montenegrin proclamation of independence in June 2006 and the Serbian proclamation of independence on 5 June ended the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and thus the last remaining vestiges of the former Yugoslavia.
Serbia
2006–2009: Continued disappointments
Following the dissolution of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro, national team participated at the EuroBasket 2007 and finished the competition in the group stage with three close losses. Also, it failed to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics, missing the Olympics for the first time after being suspended at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
A new generation led by legendary Dušan Ivković returned some of the old glory by taking the silver medal in Eurobasket 2009, and fourth place in the 2010 FIBA World Championship, with the youngest team.[4] However, the national team failed to reach the semifinals at the EuroBasket 2011 and EuroBasket 2013, thus way failing to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics, missing second Olympics tournament in a row.
Following the EuroBasket 2013, Ivković stepped from the position and Serbian basketball hall of famer Aleksandar Đorđević stepped in. Đorđević led the team to two silver medals at the 2014 FIBA World Championship[5] and the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Honours
Medals table
Individual awards
- FIBA World Cup MVP
- FIBA EuroBasket MVP
- FIBA World Cup All-Tournament Team
- FIBA EuroBasket All-Tournament Team
- FIBA EuroBasket Assists Leader
Competitions
Olympic Games
World Cup
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EuroBasket
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Team
Current roster
The following is the Serbia roster in the men's basketball tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics
| Serbia men's national basketball team – 2016 Summer Olympics roster |
| Players | Coaches |
| Pos. | # | Name | Age – Date of birth | Ht. | Club | Ctr. |
|---|
| 1.0 !PG |
4 |
Teodosić, Miloš (C) |
7001290000000000000♠29 – (1987-03-19)March 19, 1987 |
1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) |
Los Angeles Clippers |
USA ! |
| 3.0 !SF |
5 |
Simonović, Marko |
7001300000000000000♠30 – (1986-05-30)May 30, 1986 |
2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) |
Crvena Zvezda |
SRB ! |
| 2.0 !SG |
7 |
Bogdanović, Bogdan |
7001230000000000000♠23 – (1992-08-18)August 18, 1992 |
1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) |
Fenerbahce |
TUR ! |
| 1.0 !PG |
9 |
Marković, Stefan |
7001280000000000000♠28 – (1988-04-25)April 25, 1988 |
1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) |
Baloncesto Málaga |
ESP ! |
| 3.0 !SF |
10 |
Kalinić, Nikola |
7001240000000000000♠24 – (1991-11-08)November 8, 1991 |
2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) |
Fenerbahce |
TUR ! |
| 1.5 !G |
11 |
Nedović, Nemanja |
7001250000000000000♠25 – (1991-06-16)June 16, 1991 |
1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) |
Baloncesto Málaga |
ESP ! |
| 4.0 !PF |
12 |
Birčević, Stefan |
7001260000000000000♠26 – (1989-12-13)December 13, 1989 |
2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) |
Estudiantes |
ESP ! |
| 5.0 !C |
13 |
Raduljica, Miroslav |
7001280000000000000♠28 – (1988-01-05)January 5, 1988 |
2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) |
Panathinaikos |
GRE ! |
| 5.0 !C |
14 |
Jokić, Nikola |
7001210000000000000♠21 – (1995-02-19)February 19, 1995 |
2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) |
Denver Nuggets |
USA ! |
| 5.0 !C |
15 |
Štimac, Vladimir |
7001280000000000000♠28 – (1987-09-25)September 25, 1987 |
2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) |
Beşiktaş |
SRB ! |
| 1.0 !PG |
24 |
Jović, Stefan |
7001250000000000000♠25 – (1990-11-03)November 3, 1990 |
1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) |
Crvena Zvezda |
SRB ! |
| 4.0 !PF |
25 |
Mačvan, Milan |
7001260000000000000♠26 – (1989-11-16)November 16, 1989 |
2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) |
Emporio Armani |
ITA ! |
|
- Head coach
- Assistant coach(es)
- Conditioning trainer
- Mladen Mihajlović
- Legend
- (C) Team captain
- Club – describes last
club before the tournament
- Age – describes age
on 6 August 2016
|
Depth chart
Past rosters
Head coaches
- Serbia and Montenegro
|
Serbia
|
Notable people
Players
- Vlade Divac
- Predrag Stojaković
- Dejan Bodiroga
- World and European Champion
- 3x Euroleague champion (2000, 2002, 2003)
- FIBA Saporta Cup Champion (1997)
- FIBA World Cup MVP (1998)
- FIBA World Cup All-Tournament Team member (1998)
- 2x All-EuroBasket Team member (1997, 1999)
- 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors (2008)
- Euroleague 2001–2010 All Decade Team member
- 2x Euroleague Final Four MVP (2001, 2002)
- Euroleague Top 16 MVP (2002)
- 3x All-Euroleague First Team member (2002, 2003, 2004)
- 2x FIBA EuroStar selection (1998, 1999)
- Spanish League MVP (1998)
- Greek League MVP (1999)
- 2x Greek League Finals MVP (1999, 2000)
- Spanish League Finals MVP (2004)
- Spanish Cup Final MVP (2003)
- 2x Golden Badge (1998, 2002)
- 2x Best Sportsman by Yugoslav Olympic Committee (1998, 2002)
- All-Europe Player of the Year (2002)
- Predrag Danilović
- Aleksandar Đorđević
- Zoran Savić
- Dragan Kićanović
- Dražen Dalipagić
- Zoran Slavnić
- Radivoj Korać
- Žarko Paspalj
- Željko Rebrača
- Dejan Tomašević
Notes
- ↑ Along with France hosts were also Germany, Croatia and Latvia. Serbia has been drawn in Group B, and therefore they competed in Germany. The further tournament stages were held in France.
- ↑ Along with Turkey, hosts will be Finland, Israel and Romania.
References
External links
Basketball in Serbia |
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| League competitions | |
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| Cup competitions | |
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- Rugby Union
- Softball
- Tennis
- Volleyball
- Water polo
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| Sportsman of The Year | |
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| Sportswoman of The Year | |
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| Men's Team of The Year | |
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| Women's Team of The Year | |
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| Young Athlete of The Year | |
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| Coach of The Year | |
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3
Silver: 1996, 2016
Gold: 1998, 2002
Gold: 1995, 1997, 2001
Silver: 2009
Bronze: 1999
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