Serbia men's national basketball team

Serbia

2020 Serbia men's OQT basketball team
FIBA ranking	6 1 (9 August 2021)[1]
Joined FIBA	1936[2]
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	KSS
Nickname(s)	Орлови, Оrlovi (The Eagles)
Olympic Games
Appearances	4
Medals	Silver: (1996, 2016)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	6
Medals	Gold: (1998, 2002) Silver: (2014)
EuroBasket
Appearances	13
Medals	Gold: (1995, 1997, 2001) Silver: (2009, 2017) Bronze: (1999)
Home Away
First international
FR Yugoslavia 93–87  Bulgaria (Sofia, Bulgaria; 31 May 1995)[3]
Biggest win
FR Yugoslavia 128–61 China  (Atlanta, United States; 30 July 1996)[4]
Biggest defeat
Serbia 92–129 United States  (Madrid, Spain; 14 September 2014)
hide Medal record Representing  FR Yugoslavia/ Serbia and Montenegro/ Serbia Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta Team 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team FIBA World Cup 1998 Greece 2002 United States 2014 Spain EuroBasket 1995 Greece 1997 Spain 2001 Turkey 2009 Poland 2017 Turkey 1999 France Mediterranean Games 2013 Mersin Team 1997 Bari Team Diamond Ball 2004 Belgrade 2000 Hong Kong Stanković Cup 2008 Hangzhou

The Serbia national basketball team (Serbian: Кошаркашка репрезентација Србије / Košarkaška reprezentacija Srbije) represents Serbia in international basketball competition and is controlled by the Basketball Federation of Serbia. Serbia is currently ranked fifth in the FIBA World Rankings.^[5]

From 1992 to 2003, the national team played under name of FR Yugoslavia and from 2003 to 2006 under name of Serbia and Montenegro in international competitions. Following the Montenegrin declaration of independence in 2006, Basketball Federation of Serbia retained the place of Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro as a FIBA member.^[6][7] Therefore, all the results and medals from this period are succeeded by the Serbian national basketball team.

History[]

See also: Yugoslavia men's national basketball team

Serbia and Montenegro[]

1992–1995: Breakup of SFR Yugoslavia[]

With the start of Yugoslav Wars in 1991 and subsequent breakup of Yugoslavia, the mighty team of Yugoslavia was disbanded, which had the players selected from the population of over 23 million people and basketball infrastructure evenly distributed among the six states which formed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

In 1992, FR Yugoslavia was established, as the federation of two remaining Yugoslav republics Serbia and Montenegro. A newly established country had less than half the population of former country. The Basketball Federation of FR Yugoslavia became the governing body of basketball in a new country. After the adoption of UNSCR 757, the national team was suspended from participating in international tournaments. Due to these sanctions and ongoing war, the national team was prevented from participating at the 1992 Summer Olympics, EuroBasket 1993 and 1994 FIBA World Cup.

1995–2003: 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 it won the gold medal after defeating Lithuania in the final game. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, the team lost with 69–95 to the United States in the gold-medal game. Then, the national team won the gold medal at the EuroBasket 1997, 1998 FIBA World Cup, the bronze medal at the EuroBasket 1999 and then once again gold medal at the EuroBasket 2001.

One of the most notable wins for the Yugoslavian national team came in the quarter-finals of the 2002 FIBA World Cup, when the host nation of the tournament, the United States, was eliminated (81–78).^[8] 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 the country's infrastructure, and civil victims during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.^[9] After that, the Yugoslavian national team won the tournament by defeating New Zealand in the semi-finals and Argentina after an (84–77) OT win in the gold-medal game.^[8]

2003–2006: Disappointments[]

In 2002, FR Yugoslavia that consisted of states Serbia and Montenegro came to a new agreement regarding continued co-operation, which, among other changes, promised the end of the name 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 to the world champion status, qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece. However, it was eliminated in the group stage with a 1–4 record, finishing in 11th place. The national team participated in the less important Diamond Ball tournament in 2004, where they won the gold medal.

After two consecutive tournament disappointments, hopes of getting back on the podium came back at the EuroBasket 2005 were Serbia and Montenegro was a host nation. Also, the legendary Željko Obradović became the national team head coach again. However, they were surprisingly eliminated in the play-off stage by France with a 74-71 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 Cup on a wild card due to the results in the past, on the initiative by FIBA prominent administrator Borislav Stanković. But, once again the national team of Serbia and Montenegro came up short, failing to impress finishing 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[]

Following the dissolution of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro, the national team participated at the EuroBasket 2007 and finished the competition in the group stage with three close losses. Also, they failed to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics, missing the Olympics for the first time after being suspended at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

In December 2007, legendary Dušan Ivković hinted that he will take the seat of national team head coach.^[10]

2009–2014: Flashes of old glory[]

Under Ivković' coaching, a new generation of players led by Nenad Krstić and Miloš Teodosić returned some of the old glory by taking the silver medal at Eurobasket 2009. At the 2010 FIBA World Cup, after narrowly defeating Croatia in the Round of 16, Teodosić hit deep three-point shot to sink favorite Spain.^[11] In the semifinals it lost after controversial referee's error to tournament's host Turkey with 83–82.^[11] With the youngest team in the tournament, the national team eventually finished in fourth place after losing to Lithuania with 99–88 in bronze-medal game.^[11][12]

At the EuroBasket 2011, the national team failed to reach the semifinals finishing the tournament in eighth place and thus way failing to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics. At the EuroBasket 2013, it was once again stopped in the quarterfinals and finished in seventh place.

2014–2019: Silver generation[]

Following the EuroBasket 2013, Ivković stepped away from the position and Serbian basketball hall of famer Aleksandar Đorđević stepped in his place.^[13]

Đorđević led the team to the silver medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, where they lost in the final game to the United States.^[14] At the EuroBasket 2015, the national team finished in fourth place with the only tournament loses coming in the semifinals to Lithuania and in bronze-medal game to France.

After winning the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in Belgrade, the national team won the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, losing in the final game to the superior team of the United States.

With the absence of team's captain Miloš Teodosić and rising star Nikola Jokić, Bogdan Bogdanović emerged as a team leader at the EuroBasket 2017. The national team won its third silver medal in four years after losing to Goran Dragić-led Slovenia with 93–85 in the Final.

Facing an different qualification system introduced by FIBA for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, the national team was forced to play without its key and most important players in nearly all the qualification matches. However, they narrowly secured the last spot for the World Cup in their second round qualification group. Before the World Cup, the national team of Serbia was dubbed as favorite to win the trophy,^[15] but was eventually upset in the quarterfinals by Argentina.^[16] With wins over the United States and Czech Republic, they finished in fifth place.^[17][18] At the end of the tournament, head coach Đorđević announced his decision to leave the position after six years.^[19]

Honours[]

Medals table[]

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Summer Olympics	0	2	0	2
FIBA World Cup	2	1	0	3
EuroBasket	3	2	1	6
Mediterranean Games	0	1	1	2
Diamond Ball	1	1	0	2
Stanković Cup	0	0	1	1
Grand Totals	6	7	3	16

Competitions[]

Name of the nation during the tournaments:

• FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro 1992–2006
• Serbia 2007–present

Results and fixtures[]

2021[]

2022[]

Team[]

Current roster[]

Serbia national basketball team – 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup roster v t
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. SF 5 Marko Simonović 33 – (1986-05-30)30 May 1986 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Zenit St. Petersburg SG 7 Bogdan Bogdanović 27 – (1992-08-18)18 August 1992 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Sacramento Kings F 8 Nemanja Bjelica 31 – (1988-05-09)9 May 1988 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Sacramento Kings F 11 Vladimir Lučić 30 – (1989-06-17)17 June 1989 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Bayern Munich C 13 Miroslav Raduljica (C) 31 – (1988-01-05)5 January 1988 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Jiangsu Dragons PF 14 Stefan Birčević 29 – (1989-12-13)13 December 1989 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Baskets Bonn PF 15 Nikola Jokić 24 – (1995-02-19)19 February 1995 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Denver Nuggets C 21 Nikola Milutinov 24 – (1994-12-13)13 December 1994 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Olympiacos PG 22 Vasilije Micić 25 – (1994-01-13)13 January 1994 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Anadolu Efes SG 23 Marko Gudurić 24 – (1995-03-08)8 March 1995 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Fenerbahçe PG 24 Stefan Jović 28 – (1990-11-03)3 November 1990 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) Bayern Munich C 51 Boban Marjanović 31 – (1988-08-15)15 August 1988 2.21 m (7 ft 3 in) Philadelphia 76ers	Head coach Aleksandar Đorđević Assistant coach(es) Miroslav Nikolić Jovica Antonić Darko Rajaković Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 31 August 2019

Depth chart[]

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Nikola Milutinov	Boban Marjanović	Miroslav Raduljica
PF	Nikola Jokić	Nemanja Bjelica	Stefan Birčević
SF	Vladimir Lučić	Marko Simonović
SG	Bogdan Bogdanović	Marko Gudurić
PG	Stefan Jović	Vasilije Micić

Depth chart 2021[]

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Reserve	Reserve
C	Filip Petrušev	Nikola Milutinov	Boban Marjanović	Miroslav Raduljica
PF	Nemanja Bjelica	Nikola Kalinić	Dejan Davidovac	Dalibor Ilić
SF	Vladimir Lučić	Marko Gudurić	Ognjen Dobrić	Danilo Anđušić
SG	Bogdan Bogdanović	Nemanja Nedović	Branko Lazić	Dragan Milosavljević	Vanja Marinković
PG	Vasilije Micić	Miloš Teodosić	Stefan Jović	Aleksa Avramović	Ognjen Jaramaz

Past rosters[]

Head coaches[]

Since 1992, the national team was managed by a total of eight different head coaches. Dušan Ivković and Željko Obradović are the only coaches with more than one spell.

Player statistics[]

These tables include player statistics on Olympic games, FIBA World Cup and FIBA Eurobasket matches since 1995.^{[citation needed]}

• Bold denotes players still playing international basketball.

As of 14 September 2019

Notable players[]

Multiple medal winners[]

This is a list of people who have won two or more medals, who represented FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro or Serbia since 1995.

showPlayer	Career	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Dejan Bodiroga	1995–2005				7
Dejan Tomašević	1995–2005				7
Saša Obradović	1995–2001				6
Željko Rebrača	1995–2005				4
Aleksandar Đorđević	1995–1998				4
Miroslav Berić	1995–1998				4
Vlade Divac	1995–2002				4
Nikola Lončar	1997–1999				4
Predrag Danilović	1995–2000				4
Milenko Topić	1996–1999				4
Zoran Savić	1995–1997				3
Milan Gurović	1999–2007				3
Peja Stojaković	1999–2003				3
Marko Jarić	2001–2007				2
Igor Rakočević	2000–2006				2
Dejan Koturović	1995–2003				2
Žarko Paspalj	1995–1996				2
Dragan Lukovski	1998–2000				2
Dragan Tarlać	1999–2001				2
Stefan Marković	2007–2016				3
Miloš Teodosić	2007–				3
Bogdan Bogdanović	2013–				3
Miroslav Raduljica	2009–				3
Vladimir Štimac	2013–2016				3
Stefan Jović	2014–				3
Stefan Birčević	2014–				3
Milan Mačvan	2009–2020				3
Nemanja Bjelica	2009–				2
Nenad Krstić	2005–2014				2
Nikola Kalinić	2013–				2
Marko Simonović	2014–				2

• People in bold are still active competitors
• Montenegrin players from period 1995–2005 are not included, such as Vlado Šćepanović, Predrag Drobnjak and Nikola Bulatović.

Individual awards[]

Notable coaches[]

Individual achievements[]

• FIBA Hall of Fame
  • Dušan Ivković
  • Zoran Slavnić (as player)
  • Svetislav Pešić
• NBA All-Star Game
  • Igor Kokoškov – 2004
• NBA–winning assistant coach
  • Igor Kokoškov – 2004
• EuroLeague Basketball Legend Award
  • Dušan Ivković
• 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors (2008)
  • Dušan Ivković
  • Željko Obradović
• Alexander Gomelsky EuroLeague Coach of the Year
  • Željko Obradović – 2007, 2011, 2017
  • Duško Vujošević - 2009
  • Dušan Ivković – 2012
• EuroLeague-winning head coach
  • Željko Obradović – 1992, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2017
  • Dušan Ivković – 1997, 2012
  • Svetislav Pešić – 2003
• Triple Crown
  • Željko Obradović – 1992, 2007
  • Dušan Ivković – 1997
  • Svetislav Pešić – 2003

See also[]

• Sport in Serbia
• Serbia men's national under-20 basketball team
• Serbia men's national under-19 basketball team
• Serbia men's national under-18 basketball team
• Serbia men's national under-17 basketball team
• Serbia men's national under-16 basketball team

References[]

External links[]

• Media related to Serbia national basketball team at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website (in Serbian)
• Serbia at FIBA site
• Serbia National Team - Men at Eurobasket.com
• Serbia Basketball Records at FIBA Archive