Montenegro men's national basketball team

Montenegro
FIBA ranking	16 1 (26 November 2024)
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)

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 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

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	Did not qualify				EuroBasket served as qualifiers
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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

2025

20 February 2025 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Montenegro	vs.	Germany	Montenegro

		Boxscore

23 February 2025 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Sweden	vs.	Montenegro	Sweden

		Boxscore

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
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

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)

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

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