KK Cibona

Cibona
Cibona
Nickname	Vukovi (The Wolves)
Leagues	Adriatic League; Croatian League
Founded	1946; 74 years ago
Arena	Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall
Capacity	5,400
Location	Zagreb, Croatia
Team colors	Blue and white;
President	Mladen Bušić
General manager	Domagoj Čavlović
Head coach	Vladimir Jovanović
Championships	2 EuroLeague; 2 Saporta Cup; 1 FIBA Korać Cup; 1 Adriatic League; 19 Croatian League; 7 Croatian Cups; 3 Yugoslav League; 8 Yugoslav Cups
Retired numbers	4 (4, 10, 11, 20)
Website	www.cibona.com
Home	Away

Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association,^[1] and competes in the Adriatic League and the Croatian League.

History[]

Formation and early years[]

Cibona's history dates to late autumn of 1945 when Sloboda (Freedom) was founded as a sports society of bank workers, craftsmen, traders, and clerks. On April 24, 1946 thanks to basketball enthusiast Branimir Volfer and his friends Ljubo Prosen and Joso Miloš, basketball section of Sloboda, the predecessor of today's Cibona, is formed. Its first game was against local rival Slavija on May 7, 1946. Sloboda did not last too long under that name as in November 1946 it merged with Tekstilac, Amater and Grafičar into Sportsko društvo Zagreb (Sports Society Zagreb). Name changing continued through the next four years. In late 1948 it was known as Vihor (Vortex) and already in 1949 as Polet (Elan). Finally, in June 1950, the club changed the name to Lokomotiva (Locomotive) and that name is going to stick for the next 25 years. Lokomotiva competed in Yugoslav top division since 1951, with only two years (1952 and 1960) spent in the second division.

Play media

Apollo Hall in Amsterdam between AMVJ and Lokomotiva from Yugoslavia (37-64) in 1955

**Name through history**
SD Sloboda (April 1946 – November 1946) SD Zagreb (November 1946 – December 1948) KK Vihor (December 1948 – February 1949) KK Polet (February 1949 – June 1950) KK Lokomotiva (1950–1975) KK Cibona (1975–present)

First trophies[]

Lokomotiva's first major trophy came in 1969, when they won the Yugoslav Cup, led by legendary Hall of Famer Mirko Novosel. The final game against AŠK Olimpija was played in Lokomotiva's new basketball hall "Kutija šibica" (literally meaning Matchbox). Led by phenomenal trio Većeslav Kavedžija, Nikola Plećaš and Milivoj Omašić, Lokomotiva won the game 78:77.

Their first European trophy came in 1972 when Lokomotiva won the premier edition of FIBA Korać Cup. Their opponent in finals was OKK Beograd and the first game was played in Belgrade. OKK Beograd won the first game 83:71 but in a return match Lokomotiva, led by great Nikola Plećaš (nicknamed Sveti Nikola) who scored 40 points, trashed the Belgrade side by 94–73.

Cibona's glory years[]

Nakić, D. Petrović & Knego's jerseys hanging in the rafters of the Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall

Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall

In November 1975, the basketball club split away from the Lokomotiva sports society and came under the direct control of the municipal authorities of the city of Zagreb. Politicians such as Slavko Šajber became very influential in the club during this period and set about getting the club some financial support. In that regard, the club's main sponsors became four SR Croatia-based food industry giants (all of them state-owned at the time): Kraš, Franck, Badel and Voće. The club took the name Cibona, taken from the Latin cibus bonus, which translates to good food.

For the first trophy under the new name Cibona, they had to wait until 1980, when they won the Yugoslav Cup. The Final match was played in Borovo, and Cibona's opponent was mighty Bosna, led by Bogdan Tanjević on the bench, and Mirza Delibašić on the court. But Cibona, led by impressive Andro Knego, managed to beat them 68:62. This trophy marked the beginning of Cibona's golden era, influenced by two great basketball players and Hall of Famers – Krešimir Ćosić and Dražen Petrović. Between 1980 and 1988, Cibona won 14 major trophies: 3 Yugoslav League championships (1982, 1984, 1985), 7 Yugoslav Cups (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988), 2 FIBA European Champions Cups (1985, 1986), and 2 Cup Winners' Cups (1982, 1987).

At the beginning of the war in the Former Yugoslavia in 1991, the team was forced to emigrate in order to play their games, and in an area with the minimum guarantees required by FIBA. For this reason, the club played in Spain for two years (seasons 1991–92 and 1992–93), specifically in Puerto Real (Cádiz).

Croatian powerhouse[]

In independent Croatia, Cibona became a dominant force strongly backed both politically and economically. The crisis of traditionally powerful Dalmatian clubs Split, Zadar and Šibenik also came in hand and Cibona won 11 national titles in a row (from 1992 to 2002). They were also regular Euroleague participant, reaching quarterfinals in 1996/97 and 1999/00.

Cibona's dominance in the national championship was broken in 2003 when Split CO led by coach Petar Skansi, legendary Dino Rađa and revived talent Josip Sesar won the championship. Cibona regained the title next season but was beaten in finals by Zadar season after. In 2005–06 and 2006–07 Cibona won championships beating Zadar in the final series twice but then shockingly missed the final series in 2007/08 after Split eliminated them in semifinal series.

In 2001 regional basketball league called Adriatic League was formed and Cibona took part in it. After disappointing first and second season, Cibona hosted Final Four and reached the final game in 2003/04 but was defeated on the home court by FMP Reflex.

Recent seasons[]

Recent seasons have been a mixture of success and failure for Cibona.

In national championship, Cibona won four out of five recent league titles but this dominance is seriously put on test by the rise of large company backed Cedevita.

In European competitions, Cibona lost its Euroleague license for the 2011/12 season after competing in Euroleague since its formation. During 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons Cibona competed in Eurocup but failed to win any game.

In regional ABA League Cibona had a great 2009/10 season. Cibona entered the Final four held in Arena Zagreb as a top-seeded team. After beating Union Olimpija in semifinals, Cibona faced Partizan in the final game. Partizan won the title thanks to an off-the-glass three-pointer by Dušan Kecman from half-court at the buzzer, bringing the celebration of Cibona players and staff (who already invaded the floor as Bojan Bogdanović scored a corner three-pointer for Cibona with just 0.6 seconds left on the clock) to an abrupt end. The final score was 75–74 and Cibona once again didn't manage to win a title at the home court. The next three seasons in the regional league were disappointing for Cibona, finishing 12th, 7th, and 11th.

In the 2013–14 season, under head coach Slaven Rimac, Cibona won the ABA League championship, despite huge financial problems the club was facing.^[2] As a champion of the league, Cibona had direct spot in the Euroleague, but withdrew from it in order to stabilize financially.^[3] Eventually, Crvena Zvezda, as third in the standings, took its spot in the Euroleague.^[4]

Honours[]

Total titles: 43

Domestic competitions[]

Croatian League

Winners (19): 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2018–19

Runners-up (7): 2002–03, 2004–05, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18

Croatian Cup

Winners (7): 1994–95, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2008–09, 2012–13

Runners-up (11): 1991–92, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1999–00, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019-20

Yugoslav League (defunct)

Winners (3): 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85

Runners-up (4): 1960–1961, 1970–71, 1980–81, 1985–86

Yugoslav Cup (defunct)

Winners (8): 1968–69, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88

Runners-up (2): 1971–72, 1990–91

European competitions[]

EuroLeague

Winners (2): 1984–85, 1985–86

FIBA Saporta Cup (defunct)

Winners (2): 1981–82, 1986–87

Semifinalist (3): 1980–81, 1983–84, 1988–89

FIBA Korać Cup (defunct)

Winners (1): 1971–1972

Runners-up (2): 1979–80, 1987–88

European Super Cup (semi-official, defunct)

Winners (1): 1987

Runners-up (1): 1986

Euroleague Opening Tournament (1): 2001

Regional competitions[]

Adriatic League

Winners (1): 2013–14

Runners-up (3): 2003–04, 2008–09, 2009–10

Worldwide competitions[]

FIBA Intercontinental Cup

3rd place (3): 1985, 1986, 1987

Other competitions[]

FIBA International Christmas Tournament (defunct)

3rd place (1): 1992

Charleroi, Belgium Invitational Game

Winners (1): 2008

Porec, Croatia Invitational Game

Winners (1): 2009

Zagreb, Croatia Invitational Game

Winners (1): 2009

Županja, Croatia Invitational Game

Winners (1): 2010

Drazen Petrovic Cup

Runners-Up (1): 2014

Rijeka Tournament

Winners (1): 2015

Individual club awards[]

Triple Crown

Winners (1): 1984–85

Small Triple Crown

Winners (1): 1981–82

Season by season record[]

The following table shows the records from the season 1990–91 in all competitions:

Home arenas[]

Open basketball court in Kranjčevićeva street (1946–1947)
Open basketball court Tuškanac (1947–1969)
Sports hall "Kutija šibica" (1969–1987)
Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall (1987–present)

Players[]

Current roster[]

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

KK Cibona roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Age
G	3		1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	24 – (1997-04-19)19 April 1997
G	8	Mustapić, Jakov	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	27 – (1994-08-22)22 August 1994
PF	17	Prkačin, Roko (C)	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)	18 – (2002-11-26)26 November 2002
SG	19		1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)	20 – (2001-04-18)18 April 2001
C	22		2.15 m (7 ft 1 in)	21 – (2000-05-11)11 May 2000
SG	23	Drežnjak, Mateo	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	22 – (1999-03-08)8 March 1999
SF	99		2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	22 – (1999-06-01)1 June 1999
G			1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	25 – (1996-07-24)24 July 1996
SG		Gegić, Amar	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	23 – (1998-02-14)14 February 1998
PG			1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	25 – (1996-06-15)15 June 1996
PF		Reuvers, Nate	2.11 m (6 ft 11 in)	22 – (1998-09-30)30 September 1998
C			2.13 m (7 ft 0 in)	24 – (1996-10-28)28 October 1996

Head coach

Vladimir Jovanović

Assistant coach(es)

Bariša Krasić
Damir Meštrović

Legend

(C) Team captain
Injured

Roster

Updated: July 24, 2021

Depth chart[]

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C
PF	Roko Prkačin	Nate Reuvers
SF	Amar Gegić
SG		Mateo Drežnjak
PG			Jakov Mustapić

Retired numbers[]

Nakić, D. Petrović & Knego's jerseys hanging in the rafters of the Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall

4 – Mihovil Nakić
10 – Dražen Petrović
11 – Andro Knego
20 – Marin Rozić

Players at the NBA Draft[]

^	Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
^x	Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-NBA Team
^#	Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game

Position	Player	Year	Round	Pick	Drafted by
SG	Dražen Petrović^{^}^x	1986	3rd round	60th	Portland Trail Blazers
C	Franjo Arapović^#	1987	7th round	159th	Atlanta Hawks
SG/SF	Gordan Giriček	1999	2nd round	40th	Dallas Mavericks
SG	Josip Sesar^#	2000	2nd round	47th	Portland Trail Blazers
SG	Zoran Planinić	2003	1st round	22nd	New Jersey Nets
PF	Damir Markota	2006	2nd round	59th	San Antonio Spurs
SG/SF	Bojan Bogdanović	2011	2nd round	31st	Miami Heat
PF/C	Tomislav Zubčić^#	2012	2nd round	56th	Toronto Raptors
PF	Dario Šarić	2014	1st round	12th	Orlando Magic
C	Ante Žižić	2016	1st round	23rd	Boston Celtics

Notable players[]

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

showCriteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club. Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time. Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

Members of the Basketball Hall of Fame[]

Personnel[]

Head coaches[]

Management[]

Current officeholders are:^[5]

President: Mladen Bušić
Members of the Assembly: Mladen Bušić, Zdenko Antunović, Slavko Kojić, Vjekoslav Šafranić, Marin Rozić
General manager: Domagoj Čavlović

Top performances in European and worldwide competitions[]

Season	Achievement	Notes
Euroleague
1982–83	Semi-final group stage	6th place in a group with Ford Cantù, Billy Milano, Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow and Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv
1984–85	Champions	defeated Real Madrid 87-78 in the final of European Champions Cup in Athens
1985–86	Champions	defeated Žalgiris 94-82 in the final of European Champions Cup in Budapest
1991–92	Quarter-finals	eliminated by Montigalà Joventut, 68-73 (L) in Zagreb and 67-92 (L) in Badalona
1994–95	Quarter-finals	eliminated by Real Madrid Teka, 78-82 (L) in Zagreb and 70-82 (L) in Madrid
1999–00	Quarter-finals	eliminated by Panathinaikos, 62-73 (L) in Athens and 63-69 (L) in Zagreb
FIBA Saporta Cup
1969–70	Quarter-finals	eliminated by Fides Napoli, 80-89 (L) in Zagreb and 84-102 (L) in Napoli
1980–81	Semi-finals	eliminated by FC Barcelona, 85-92 (L) in Barcelona and 79-75 (W) in Zagreb
1981–82	Champions	defeated Real Madrid 96-95 in the final of European Cup Winners' Cup in Brussels
1983–84	Semi-finals	eliminated by Real Madrid, 89-91 (L) in Zagreb and 80-94 (L) in Madrid
1986–87	Champions	defeated Scavolini Pesaro 89-74 in the final of European Cup Winners' Cup in Novi Sad
1988–89	Semi-finals	eliminated by Real Madrid, 91-92 (L) in Zagreb and 97-119 (L) in Madrid
FIBA Korać Cup
1972	Champions	defeated OKK Beograd, 71-83 (L) in Belgrade and 94-73 (W) in Zagreb in the double finals of Korać Cup
1979–80	Final	lost to Arrigoni Rieti, 71-76 in the final (Liège)
1987–88	Final	lost to Real Madrid, 89-102 (L) in Madrid and 94-93 (W) in Zagreb in the double final
1990–91	Quarter-finals	eliminated by Shampoo Clear Cantù, 70-80 (L) in Cucciago and 77-80 (L) in Zagreb
FIBA Europe Cup
2015–16	Quarter-finals	eliminated 2–1 by Enisey, 92-94 (L) in Krasnoyarsk, 77-69 (W) in Zagreb and 78-82 (L) in Krasnoyarsk
2016–17	Quarter-finals	eliminated by Élan Chalon, 87-85 (W) in Zagreb and 78-83 (L) in Chalon-sur-Saône
Intercontinental Cup
1985	3rd place	3rd place in Barcelona, lost to FC Barcelona 68–74 in the semi-final (Girona), defeated San Andrés 109-82 in the 3rd place game
1986	3rd place	3rd place in Buenos Aires, lost to Žalgiris 77–104 in the semi-final, defeated Corinthians 119-96 in the 3rd place game
1987	3rd place	3rd place in Milan, lost to Tracer Milano 83–94 in the semi-final, defeated Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv 106-96 in the 3rd place game

The road to the European Cup victories[]

1972 FIBA Korać Cup

Round	Team	Home	Away
Quarter-finals	Caen	103–87	109–83
Semi-finals	Standard Liège	71–54	96–91
Finals	OKK Beograd	94–73	71–83

1981–82 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup

Round	Team	Home	Away
Quarter-finals	Sutton & Crystal Palace	105–97	74–70
	Sinudyne Bologna	121–91	81–88
	Hapoel Ramat Gan	98–97	81–85
Semi-finals	Stroitel	92–66	66–82
Final	Real Madrid	96–95

1984–85 FIBA European Champions Cup

Round	Team	Home	Away
1st Round	CSKA Sofia	89–73	91–97
2nd Round	NMKY Helsinki	102–95	88–83
Semi-finals	Real Madrid	99–90	89–87
	Granarolo Bologna	96–89	72–81
	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	88–77	87–88
	Banco di Roma Virtus	97–83	87–89
	CSKA Moscow	95–77	71–65
Final	Real Madrid	87–78

1985–86 FIBA European Champions Cup

Round	Team	Home	Away
1st Round	Galatasaray	121–106	110–97
2nd Round	Klosterneuburg	85–70	98–83
Semi-finals	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	90–86	102–105
	Simac Milano	111–95	66–90
	Žalgiris	99–90	91–94
	Real Madrid	88–81	108–91
	Limoges CSP	116–106	106–95
Final	Žalgiris	94–82

1986–87 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup

Round	Team	Home	Away
Quarter-finals	Scavolini Pesaro	123–99	83–82
	Maes Pils	130–90	121–98
	Efes Pilsen	125–78	86–70
Semi-finals	ASVEL	109–93	98–82
Final	Scavolini Pesaro	89–74

References[]

^ "Company registration info: ABA LIGA j.t.d." aba-liga.com. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
^ "CEDEVITA – CIBONA 59-72 Briljantni Šarić srušio Cedevitu i odveo Cibonu do prvog trofeja u regionalnoj ABA ligi!". jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 8 October 2014.
^ "Zvezda direktno u Evroligi?". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 8 October 2014.
^ "Cibona odustala, Zvezda u Evroligi!". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 8 October 2014.
^ "Board of KK Cibona". cibona.com. Retrieved 30 July 2019.

External links[]

Official website (in Croatian)
KK Cibona at Eurobasket.com
Cibona vs Real Madrid 1985 European Champions Cup Final

[1] "Company registration info: ABA LIGA j.t.d." aba-liga.com. Retrieved 30 July 2019.

[2] "CEDEVITA – CIBONA 59-72 Briljantni Šarić srušio Cedevitu i odveo Cibonu do prvog trofeja u regionalnoj ABA ligi!". jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 8 October 2014.

[3] "Zvezda direktno u Evroligi?". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 8 October 2014.

[4] "Cibona odustala, Zvezda u Evroligi!". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 8 October 2014.

[5] "Board of KK Cibona". cibona.com. Retrieved 30 July 2019.

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show v t HT Premijer liga teams
2021–22 teams	Adria Oil Škrljevo Alkar Cibona Cedevita Junior Furnir Gorica Sonik-Puntamika Split Šibenka Vrijednosnice Zabok Zadar
Former	Bosco Dalvin Dubrovnik Hermes Analitica Jazine Arbanasi Jolly JB (defunct) Kaštela Križevci Kvarner (defunct) Kvarner 2010 Osječki sokol Slavonski Brod KK Šibenik (defunct) Trogir Vinkovci Zagreb (defunct) Zrinjevac

show v t Cibona current roster
3 8 Mustapić 17 Prkačin 19 22 23 Drežnjak 99 Gegić Reuvers
Head coach: Jovanović Assistant coach: Krasić