North Macedonia men's national basketball team

The North Macedonia men's national basketball team (Macedonian: Кошаркарска репрезентација на Северна Македонија, romanizedKošarkarska reprezentacija na Severna Makedonija) represents North Macedonia in international basketball and is controlled by the Basketball Federation of North Macedonia. They joined FIBA in 1993, after they gained independence from Yugoslavia. That same year the national team played their first official match against Estonia. Prior to 1993, Macedonian players took part on the Yugoslavia national team.

North Macedonia
FIBA ranking57 Steady (26 November 2024)[1]
Joined FIBA1993
(1936 within Yugoslavia)
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationBFNM
CoachAleksandar Jončevski
Nickname(s)Лавови
(Lions)
Црвено-Жолти
(The Red and Yellow)
Фаланга
(Phalanx)
FIBA World Cup
AppearancesNone
EuroBasket
Appearances5
MedalsNone
First international
 Estonia 74–60 Macedonia 
(Wrocław, Poland; 30 May 1993)[2]
Biggest win
 Macedonia 105–66 Luxembourg 
(Skopje, Macedonia; 3 September 2005)
Biggest defeat
 Croatia 128–72 Macedonia 
(Wrocław, Poland; 1 June 1993)

Macedonia debuted in their first international tournament at the EuroBasket in 1999. They have appeared five times at the event overall, with their top performance coming in 2011, finishing in fourth place.

History

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Macedonia basketball team prior to a match at Boris Trajkovski Sports Center

Before 1991, Macedonia was a Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with players from Macedonia being part of the Yugoslavia national team. First match was in 1945 when Macedonia finished 4th. The first match was in 1945 against Croatia finishing 27-29. The team had mostly played matches against teams from other republics of federation and was represented by Macedonian players under the traditional red, color.

EuroBasket 1999

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Macedonia basketball team at a time out during a match with Latvia.

After qualifying for EuroBasket 1999, the national team was placed in Group A, along with FR Yugoslavia, France and Israel. The first game Macedonia came out firing showing solid competitive play against the French Team, however, eventually lost by a narrow margin of 67–71. Next up, was Group A favorites FR Yugoslavia, showing superior play with their post up offense, Macedonia lost 68–83. With the final game of the group Macedonia played a fairly even match, however, luck was not on their side, losing 82–84. Even though Macedonia lost all 3 of their matches to be eliminated, the team showed heart and talent with their impressive play against France and Israel. Due to their small margin of the losses Macedonia ended the tournament ranked as 13th overall.

EuroBasket 2009

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EuroBasket 2009 was the first EuroBasket tournament that Macedonia qualified for in a decade. Macedonia was placed in Group A, along with Greece, Croatia and Israel. Macedonia began the tournament with a brutal 54–86 loss to rivals Greece, but rebounded with an 82–79 victory over Israel. Despite dropping their last match against Croatia, the Israel result was enough to secure second round qualification. In the second round, Macedonia was placed in Group E alongside France, Germany and Russia. Macedonia lost to France in the second round opener, but famously defeated Germany in the next game. Against Russia, Macedonia was narrowly defeated by a score of 69–71. This performance was not enough to secure a berth in to the knockout round. Nevertheless, Macedonia considers this as a historic success for the national team, since it was only the country's second appearance at the EuroBasket and the team advanced past the first round. In the final tournament rankings, Macedonia ranked 9th place with a record of 2–4.

EuroBasket 2011

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Marin Dokuzovski, head coach of the team in 2011.

Through the qualifying round, Macedonia qualified for EuroBasket 2011 and was in Group C along with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, and Finland in the preliminary phase. The national team lost their first match to Montenegro 65–70 in overtime but won the remaining four against Croatia 78–76, Greece 72–58, Finland 72–70, and Bosnia and Herzegovina 75–63. Macedonia finished first in the group and advanced to the second round.

In the second round, Macedonia was in Group F with Russia, Slovenia, Greece, Georgia, and Finland. Having beaten Greece and Finland in the preliminary round, Macedonia went in to the second round with a 2–0 record. After beating Georgia 65–63, Macedonia qualified for the knockout round. The team then beat Slovenia 68–59, but lost to Russia by 2 points 63–61 after Sergey Monya made a buzzer-beating shot to win the final game of the second round. Macedonia, therefore, finished second in Group F.

For the first time in the national team's history, it reached the knockout stage where it defeated host country Lithuania 67–65 by 2 points in the quarter-finals. Macedonia then lost to the eventual champion Spain 92–80 in the semi-finals. They then lost again in the third place game to Russia 68–72 and finished in fourth place.

2012 Olympic qualifying tournament

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McCalebb with Macedonia in 2011

By finishing in 4th place at EuroBasket 2011, Macedonia qualified for the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. They were drawn into Group D along with Angola and New Zealand. In the first game against Angola, Macedonia came out non-aggressive in the 1st half falling to a 13 pt deficit 40–53 at halftime. During most of the match, the top Macedonian players showed fatigue due to the grueling playoff matches they had played for their club teams. In addition, Macedonia came out with a strong 4th quarter, eventually losing by a margin of 4 points, with the final score being 84–88 Angola. Top scorers for Macedonia against Angola were Pero Antic with 17, and Bo McCalebb with 21. On the next match day, which was the day after with less than 24 hours of rest, Macedonia came out a lot stronger in the 1st quarter with a strong lead that carried over the entire game. Eventually, New Zealand could not recover, and fell to Macedonia with a final score of 84–62. Leading scorers for the game were Todor Gecevski with 16, Antic with 17, and McCalebb with 23.

The Macedonian players got much needed rest before the quarterfinals, which would begin two days later on 6 July 2012. The team, following the 68–64 victory by New Zealand over Angola, won Group D and its opponent in the quarterfinals was to be the Group C runner-up, Dominican Republic. Macedonia lost the game 86–76, though the team had a 13-point lead at halftime. The lost eliminated the national team from qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Games.

EuroBasket 2013

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By participating at the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Macedonia qualified for EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia. In a disappointing campaign, Macedonia did not manage to repeat the success from the previous Eurobasket, having one victory in five matches in their preliminary Group B against Serbia 89–75, which was good enough only for the last place in the group stage and 21st overall. The first game of the Eurobasket against Montenegro was particularly demoralizing, as the Montenegrins won 81–80 in controversial fashion, after the referees didn't call interference on the basket during Gjorgji Čekovski's last second game winning attempt, despite the fact that one of the Montenegrin players got his hand trapped in the net.[3] Macedonia's best performers were once again McCalebb and Antić, with 17.6 and 13.8 points per game, respectively.[4] After the tournament, several of the Macedonian veteran players, led by captain Pero Antić, announced their retirement from the national team.

EuroBasket 2015

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At the EuroBasket 2015 there were not high expectations for Macedonia, due to their poor performance at their last EuroBasket appearance in 2013. In their first match against Greece they were thoroughly manhandled throughout as they were defeated 65-85. Looking for their first victory heading in to their second match of the tournament they went up against the Netherlands. The outcome was different this time, as the national team played with more energy and heart and pulled out an 78-71 win. Unfortunately, that would wind up being the only win for Macedonia, as they finished with an 1-4 record and a lousy 19th place at the event.

EuroBasket 2017

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Hungary 6 6 0 480 413 +67 12 EuroBasket 2017
2   Great Britain 6 3 3 512 479 +33 9
3   Macedonia 6 2 4 439 473 −34 8
4   Luxembourg 6 1 5 432 498 −66 7
Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.

FIBA World Cup 2019

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Since 12 February 2019, the national team participate as North Macedonia. The national team took part in the 2019 FIBA World Cup Pre-Qualifiers, but were eliminated after posting a 1–3 record in their group.

EuroBasket 2022

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The team went through EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers for the chance to qualify to the EuroBasket.They didn't make it finishing third with score 2-4.

FIBA World Cup 2023

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification  ESP  GEO  UKR  MKD
1   Spain 6 5 1 504 402 +102 11 Second round
(Group L)
89–61 88–74 80–44
2   Georgia 6 4 2 467 462 +5 10 82–76 (OT) 88–83 91–70
3   Ukraine 6 3 3 463 448 +15 9 76–77 79–66 78–61
4   North Macedonia 6 0 6 373 495 −122 6 65–94 65–79 68–73
Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.

2024 Olympic Qualifying Tournament

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Israel 3 2 1 231 199 +32 5[a] Semi-finals
2   Estonia (H) 3 2 1 224 201 +23 5[a]
3   Czech Republic 3 2 1 238 236 +2 5[a]
4   North Macedonia 3 0 3 206 263 −57 3
Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head points difference; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Tied on head to head points. Head to head points difference: Israel +11, Estonia −1, Czech Republic −10.

Competitive record

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Minor Tournaments

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Team image

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Home ground

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Boris Trajkovski Sports Arena in Skopje.

The BTSC – Boris Trajkovski Sports Center Macedonian: Спортски центар Борис Трајковски, Skopje is a multi-functional indoor sports arena. It is located in the Karpoš Municipality of Skopje, Macedonia. It is named after the former president, Boris Trajkovski. Its capacity is 10,000 .There is an Olympic size Swimming Pool and 5 Star Hotel Alexander Palace within the complex. Additional Water Land Fun Park and Ice Skating Rink next to it.

The arena is a home-ground of the Macedonian basketball team (men and women). The venue also contains four restaurants and a sports bar.

Colors

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National kit colors are colors of the flag which are also Spread on the Presidential Shield. Noble Red blood and Golden Yellow Sun Devine "ILI".

Team

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Current roster

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Squad for EuroBasket 2025 qualification games against Lithuania in November 2024.

North Macedonia men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
C 0 Bojan Krstevski 35 – (1989-06-04)4 June 1989 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) MZT Skopje  
G 4 Boban Stajić 31 – (1993-10-06)6 October 1993 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Pelister  
PG 5 Kristijan Nikolov 28 – (1996-10-15)15 October 1996 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Cedi Osman basketball Club  
G 7 Nenad Dimitrijević 26 – (1998-02-23)23 February 1998 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Olimpia Milano  
G/F 8 Vojdan Stojanovski (C) 37 – (1987-12-09)9 December 1987 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) MZT Skopje  
G/F 10 Adem Mekić 28 – (1995-12-28)28 December 1995 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Bora  
F 11 Stojan Gjuroski 33 – (1991-11-06)6 November 1991 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Rabotnički  
F/C 13 Andrej Maslinko 27 – (1997-05-20)20 May 1997 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) MZT Skopje  
G/F 19 Damjan Stojanovski 37 – (1987-12-09)9 December 1987 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) MZT Skopje  
G/F 20 Damjan Robev 27 – (1997-04-10)10 April 1997 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Rabotnički  
G/F 25 Viktor Efremovski 26 – (1998-10-21)21 October 1998 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Rabotnički  
F 27 Lejson Zekiri 23 – (2001-09-17)17 September 2001 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Bashkimi  
PF 99 Strahil Nikolov 24 – (2000-07-17)17 July 2000 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) TFT  
Head Coach
Assistant Coaches

Legend
  • Club – describes last
    team before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 12 August 2023

Following list is of active players who have been called up by the national team in the last year

Players previously called up roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
C 13 Ljubomir Mladenovski 29 – (1995-05-02)2 May 1995 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) unattached  
G 9 Andrej Magdevski   28 – (1996-01-14)14 January 1996 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) MZT Skopje  
F/C 22 Ethan Happ   28 – (1996-05-07)7 May 1996 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Valencia  
F/C 00 Dimitar Pandev 27 – (1997-10-09)9 October 1997 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Pelister  
PG 00 T. J. Shorts 27 – (1997-10-15)15 October 1997 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Paris  
PF 6 Valmir Kakruki 24 – (2000-09-20)20 September 2000 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Cair  
SF 23 Andrej Jakimovski 23 – (2001-03-18)18 March 2001 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) University of Colorado  
PG 77 Viktor Tashovski 23 – (2001-11-22)22 November 2001 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) Pelister  
G/F 5 Marko Milovanović 22 – (2002-01-18)18 January 2002 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) MZT Skopje  
G 21 Luka Savićević 22 – (2002-02-19)19 February 2002 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Lafayette University  
F 6 Andrej Andonoski 22 – (2002-04-02)2 April 2002 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) MZT Skopje  
F Goce Petrushevski 22 – (2002-08-24)24 August 2002 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) San Severo  
G 4 Marin Petkov   21 – (2003-02-20)20 February 2003 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) MZT Skopje  
G Rezart Memed 21 – (2003-05-01)1 May 2003 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Bora  
F Amar Hot 21 – (2003-08-17)17 August 2003 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Rabotnichki  
G 1 Andrej Mitrevski 21 – (2003-09-17)17 September 2003 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Feniks  
C 15 Teodor Simić 20 – (2004-02-04)4 February 2004 2.14 m (7 ft 0 in) TFT  
SG 10 Petar Boshaleski 20 – (2004-07-08)8 July 2004 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Pelister  
G 1 Andrej Shoshkić 19 – (2005-04-27)27 April 2005 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Rabotnichki  
PG 1 Rubin Stefanov 19 – (2005-05-03)3 May 2005 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Pescara Basket  

Depth chart

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Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Bojan Krstevski Andrej Maslinko
PF Stojan Gjuroski Lejson Zekiri Strahil Ivanov
SF Damjan Stojanovski Damjan Robev Viktor Efremovski
SG Vojdan Stojanovski Adem Mekić
PG Nenad Dimitrijević Kristijan Nikolov Boban Stajić

Notable players

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Coaching history

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Past rosters

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1999 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 16 teams[5]

4 Vrbica Stefanov, 5 Vlado Ilievski, 6 Gjorgji Čekovski, 7 Mirza Kurtović, 8 Marjan Srbinovski, 9 Igor Mihajlovski, 10 Petar Naumoski, 11 Todor Gečevski, 12 Dejan Jovanovski, 13 Srdjan Stanković, 14 Pero Blaževski, 15 Dušan Bocevski (Coach: Zare Markovski)


2009 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 16 teams[6]

4 Vrbica Stefanov, 5 Dimitar Mirakovski, 6 Darko Sokolov, 7 Riste Stefanov, 8 Vojdan Stojanovski, 9 Pero Blaževski, 10 Dime Tasovski, 11 Todor Gečevski, 12 Pero Antić, 13 Damjan Stojanovski, 14 Jeremiah Massey, 15 Predrag Samardžiski (Coach: Jovica Arsić)


2011 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 24 teams[7]

4 Dimitar Mirakovski, 5 Vlado Ilievski, 6 Darko Sokolov, 7 Bo McCalebb, 8 Vojdan Stojanovski, 9 Damjan Stojanovski, 10 Marko Simonovski, 11 Todor Gečevski, 12 Pero Antic, 13 Ivica Dimcevski, 14 Gjorgji Čekovski, 15 Predrag Samardžiski (Coach: Marin Dokuzovski)


2013 EuroBasket: finished 21st among 24 teams[8]

4 Aleksandar Kostoski, 5 Vlado Ilievski. 6 Darko Sokolov, 7 Bo McCalebb, 8 Vojdan Stojanovski, 9 Damjan Stojanovski, 10 Vladimir Brčkov, 11 Todor Gečevski, 12 Pero Antić, 13 Stojan Gjuroski, 14 Gjorgji Čekovski, 15 Predrag Samardžiski (Coach: Aleš Pipan)


2015 EuroBasket: finished 19th among 24 teams[9]

4 Vladimir Brčkov, 5 Vlado Ilievski. 6 Darko Sokolov, 7 Aleksandar Kostoski, 8 Vojdan Stojanovski, 9 Damjan Stojanovski, 10 Marko Simonovski, 11 Ljubomir Mladenovski, 12 Bojan Trajkovski, 13 Stojan Gjuroski, 14 Richard Hendrix, 15 Predrag Samardžiski (Coach: Marjan Srbinovski)

Results and fixtures

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  Win   Loss

2024

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23 February 2024 North Macedonia   69–74   Estonia Skopje, North Macedonia
19:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 21–19, 23–17, 10–21, 16–17
Pts: Dimitrijević 25
Rebs: Happ 10
Asts: Happ 3
Boxscore Pts: Kotsar 16
Rebs: Rosenthal 6
Asts: Jõesaar 5
Arena: SRC Kale
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Kerem Baki (TUR), Ventsislav Velikov (BUL), Orhan Çağrı Hekimoğlu (TUR)
26 February 2024 Poland   71–96   North Macedonia Sosnowiec, Poland
18:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 21–19, 23–17, 10–21, 16–17
Pts: Michalak 20
Rebs: Michalak 9
Asts: Pluta 4
Boxscore Pts: Dimitrijević 32
Rebs: Mekić 10
Asts: Dimitrijević 8
Arena: ArcelorMittal Park
Attendance: 2,894
Referees: Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Gatis Saliņš (LAT), Zafer Yılmaz (TUR)
21 November 2024 North Macedonia   67–82   Lithuania Skopje, North Macedonia
18:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 9–23, 18–21, 16–20, 24–18
Pts: Nikolov 18
Rebs: Maslinko 8
Asts: Nikolov 6
Boxscore Pts: Echodas 18
Rebs: Tubelis 6
Asts: Žemaitis 5
Arena: SRC Kale
Attendance: 2,500
Referees: Manuel Mazzoni (ITA), Martin Horozov (BUL), Geert Jacobs (BEL)
24 November 2024 Lithuania   94–72   North Macedonia Klaipėda, Lithuania
19:30 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 23–27, 20–19, 21–16, 30–10
Pts: Radzevičius 18
Rebs: Radzevičius 11
Asts: Žemaitis 9
Boxscore Pts: Dimitrijević 43
Rebs: Dimitrijević 4
Asts: Dimitrijević 6
Arena: Švyturio Arena
Attendance: 4,889
Referees: Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Nicolás Maestre (FRA), Carsten Straube (GER)

2025

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21 February 2025 Estonia   vs.   North Macedonia Estonia
Boxscore
24 February 2025 North Macedonia   vs.   Poland North Macedonia
Boxscore

Statistics

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Vrbica Stefanov is one of the leaders in games played and points scored for the national team.

Most games played

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Rank Name NT Career Games
1 Todor Gečevski 1996–2013 89
2 Vojdan Stojanovski 2008 – 84
3 Vrbica Stefanov 1995–2009 66
4 Damjan Stojanovski 2009 – 61
5 Gjorgji Čekovski 1999–2017 60
6 Pero Blaževski 1995–2009 54
7 Predrag Samardžiski 2005–2015 52
8 Stojan Gjuroski 2013 – 51
9 Pero Antić 2002–2013 49
10 Vlado Ilievski 1998–2015 47

All time points scored

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Rank Name NT Career Total Points Caps Points per game
1 Petar Naumoski 1995–2002 989 42 23.5
2 Vrbica Stefanov 1995–2009 947 66 14.3
3 Todor Gečevski 1996–2013 891 89 10.0
4 Vojdan Stojanovski 2008 – 843 84 10.0
5 Pero Antić 2002–2013 605 49 12.3
6 Bo McCalebb 2010–2013 543 25 21.7
7 Vlado Ilievski 1998–2015 500 47 10.6
8 Dejan Jovanovski 1995–2002 394 38 10.4
9 Damjan Stojanovski 2009 – 338 61 5.5
10 Gjorgji Čekovski 1999–2017 318 60 5.3
  • * Active NT players are listed in bold
  • * Official FIBA games excluding Friendly games

Leader in points per game

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Name PPG Competition
Petar Naumoski 29.4 EuroBasket 1997 qualification
Petar Naumoski 30.5 EuroBasket 1999 qualification
Petar Naumoski 15.0 EuroBasket 1999
Vrbica Stefanov 21.2 EuroBasket 2001 qualification
Petar Naumoski 19.3 EuroBasket 2003 qualification
Vrbica Stefanov / Pero Antić 15.2 EuroBasket 2005 Division B*
Vrbica Stefanov 19.0 EuroBasket 2007 qualification
Vrbica Stefanov 15.0 EuroBasket 2009 qualification
Pero Antić 12.5 EuroBasket 2009
Bo McCalebb 23.5 EuroBasket 2011 qualification
Bo McCalebb 21.4 EuroBasket 2011
Bo McCalebb 26.3 2012 Olympic Qualifying
Bo McCalebb 17.6 EuroBasket 2013
Bojan Trajkovski 11.3 EuroBasket 2015 qualification
Aleksandar Kostoski 9.8 EuroBasket 2015
Vojdan Stojanovski 17.2 EuroBasket 2017 qualification
Jordan Theodore 19.5 2019 World Cup Pre-Qualifiers
Vojdan Stojanovski 15.2 EuroBasket 2021 qualification Round 1, 2 & 3
Nenad Dimitrijević 25.0 World Cup 2023 Qualifiers
T. J. Shorts 20.0 2024 Olympic Qualifiers
Nenad Dimitrijević 29.8 EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers
  • Only played 2005 season in Division B (won promotion)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  2. ^ "XXVIII European Championship (München 1993) Qualifying stage". Linguasport. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Montenegro escapes Macedonia". orlandomagicdaily.com. FanSided Inc. 4 September 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  4. ^ "MKD – 2013 EuroBasket". archive.fiba.com. FIBA. 22 September 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  5. ^ "Macedonia at the EuroBasket 1999". 23 June 1999.
  6. ^ "Macedonia at the EuroBasket 2009". Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  7. ^ "Macedonia at the EuroBasket 2011". Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  8. ^ "Macedonia at the EuroBasket 2013". Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  9. ^ "Macedonia at the EuroBasket 2015". Retrieved 10 September 2015.
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