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 ranking	16 1 (26 November 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 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

2006–2014

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

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

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.

FIBA World Cup World Cup Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1950 to 1990 Part of Yugoslavia 1994 to 2006 Part of Serbia and Montenegro 2010 Did not qualify EuroBasket served as qualifiers 2014 2019 25th 5 1 4 12 7 5 2023 11th 5 3 2 16 11 5 2027 To be determined To be determined Total 2/4 10 4 6 28 18 10 Olympic Games Olympic Games Qualifying Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1936 to 1988 Part of Yugoslavia 1992 to 2004 Part of Serbia and Montenegro 2008 Did not enter Did not enter 2012 Did not qualify Did not qualify 2016 2020 2024 2 1 1 Total 0/5 2 1 1

EuroBasket EuroBasket Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1947 to 1991 Part of Yugoslavia 1993 to 2005 Part of Serbia and Montenegro 2007 Did not enter Did not enter 2009 Division B 10 10 0 2011 21st 5 1 4 8 6 2 2013 17th 5 2 3 10 10 0 2015 Did not qualify 6 3 3 2017 13th 6 3 3 6 5 1 2022 13th 6 3 3 6 3 3 2025 To be determined To be determined Total 4/7 22 9 13 46 37 9 Games of the Small States of Europe Games of the Small States of Europe Year Position Pld W L 2015 3 3 0 2017 5 4 1 2019 4 4 0 2023 4th 5 2 3 Total 17 13 4

Results and fixtures

  Win   Loss

2024

22 February 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	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)

Germany  v  Montenegro

25 February 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	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)

Montenegro  v  Sweden

2 July 2024 2024 Olympic Qualifying Tournament – Group stage	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)

Brazil  v  Montenegro

3 July 2024 2024 Olympic Qualifying Tournament – Group stage	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)

Montenegro  v  Cameroon

22 November 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	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)

Montenegro  v  Bulgaria

25 November 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	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)

Bulgaria  v  Montenegro

2025

Montenegro  v  Germany

20 February 2025 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Montenegro	vs.	Germany	Montenegro
		Boxscore

23 February 2025 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Sweden	vs.	Montenegro	Sweden
		Boxscore

Sweden  v  Montenegro

Team

Current roster

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 Boško Radović 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

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	26–18	EuroBasket 2022 (13th); GSS 2023 (4th); World Cup 2023 (11th)

Notable former players

• Vlado Šćepanović
• Predrag Drobnjak
• Omar Cook
• Tyrese Rice
• Taylor Rochestie
• Derek Needham
• Nikola Peković
• Goran Jeretin
• Slavko Vraneš
• Bojan Bakić
• Boris Bakić
• Miloš Borisov
• Nebojša Bogavac
• Vladimir Dragičević
• Vladimir Golubović
• Ivan Maraš
• Goran Nikolić
• Blagota Sekulić
• Marko Todorović

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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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

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

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.

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	2	0	2	-20
Bulgaria	5	5	0	+54
Cameroon	1	1	0	+4
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)	124	83	41	+866

Last updated: 25 November 2024

Kit

Manufacturer

• Kappa (2008–2011)
• Peak (2011–2023)
• Dhika (2023–present)

Sponsor

• VOLI (2008–2011)
• diva (2012–2014)
• EPCG (2014–2015)
• m:tel (2015–present)

See also

• Sports portal

• Sport in Montenegro
• Montenegro women's national basketball team
• Montenegro men's national under-20 basketball team
• Montenegro men's national under-18 basketball team
• Montenegro men's national under-17 basketball team
• Montenegrin Basketball League

References

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.

External links

• Official website (in Montenegrin)
• Montenegro FIBA profile
• Montenegro National Team – Men at Eurobasket.com