Serbia men's national basketball team explained

Country:Serbia
Nickname:Орлови, Оrlovi
(The Eagles)
Coach:Svetislav Pešić
Joined Fiba:1936[1]
Fiba Zone:FIBA Europe
National Fed:KSS
Oly Appearances:5
Oly Medals: Silver: (1996, 2016)
Bronze: (2024)
Wc Appearances:7
Wc Medals: Gold: (1998, 2002)
Silver: (2014, 2023)
Zone Championship:EuroBasket
Zone Appearances:13
Zone Medals: Gold: (1995, 1997, 2001)
Silver: (2009, 2017)
Bronze: (1999)
H Body:FFFFFF
H Shorts:FFFFFF
A Body:0000aa
A Shorts:0000aa
First Game: FR Yugoslavia 93–87
(Sofia, Bulgaria; 31 May 1995)[2]
Largest Win: FR Yugoslavia 128–61
(Atlanta, United States; 30 July 1996)[3]
Largest Loss: 92–129
(Madrid, Spain; 14 September 2014)
Show-Medals:No

The Serbia men's national basketball team (Serbian: Кошаркашка репрезентација Србије|Košarkaška reprezentacija Srbije) represents Serbia in international men's basketball competition, and is controlled by the Basketball Federation of Serbia. Serbia is currently ranked second in the FIBA World Ranking.[4]

From 1992 to 2003, the national team played in international tournaments under the name FR Yugoslavia, and from 2003 to 2006, under the name Serbia and Montenegro. Following Montenegro's declaration of independence in 2006, the Basketball Federation of Serbia retained the place of Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro as a FIBA member,[5] and Serbia thus officially inherited all of the preceding country's results and medals.

History

See also: Yugoslavia men's national basketball team.

Serbia and Montenegro

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

In 1992, FR Yugoslavia was established as the federation of the two remaining Yugoslav republics, Serbia and Montenegro. The newly established country had less than half the population of the former country. The Basketball Federation of FR Yugoslavia became the governing body of basketball for the 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.

1995–2002: Golden generation

Without much sponsorship for the 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. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, the team lost 69–95 to the United States in the gold-medal game. After the defeat, the national team would go on to claim the gold medal in their next two international competitions, EuroBasket 1997 and the 1998 FIBA World Cup; while winning the bronze medal at EuroBasket 1999 and reclaiming gold once again at the EuroBasket 2001.

One of the most notable wins for the Yugoslavia national team came in the quarter-finals of the 2002 FIBA World Cup, where the host nation of the tournament, the United States was eliminated 81–78.[6] 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; as well as civil victims during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.[7] Thereafter, the Yugoslavia national team went on to win the competition, by defeating New Zealand in the semi-finals and Argentina in the final 84–77 in OT to win the gold medal.[6]

2003–2006: Underwhelming results

In 2002, FR Yugoslavia consisted of the states of Serbia and Montenegro. The merged nations 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 at international tournaments, after decades of winning medals.

At the EuroBasket 2003, the team came in sixth place, but due to their world champion status, were automatically qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece. Entering 2004, the national team participated in the less important Diamond Ball tournament, prior to the 2004 Olympic Games where they won the gold medal. Although the team was unable to carry over the momentum heading into the Olympics, and were eliminated in the group stage with a (1–4) record, finishing in 11th place.

After two consecutive tournament disappointments, hopes of getting back on the podium returned for the EuroBasket 2005 where Serbia and Montenegro was the host nation. Heading into the tournament, Željko Obradović was brought back for a second stint as head coach of the national team. However, they were eliminated in the play-off stage by France 74–71, and finished in ninth place. After the tournament, Obradović stepped down, and blamed a bad atmosphere among the team's star players for the failure. The team then 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. Although the national team of Serbia and Montenegro came up short once again, with another ninth-place finish.

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

2006–2009

Following the dissolution of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro, the national team participated at the EuroBasket 2007. There, the team finished the competition failing to make it out of the group stage after three close losses. The result failed to qualify the team for the 2008 Summer Olympics, which was their first time missing the Olympic tournament after missing it in 1992 due to suspension.

In December 2007, the legendary Dušan Ivković hinted that he would take the helm as head coach of the national team.[8]

2009–2013: Flashes of old glory

Under Ivković's 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, Miloš Teodosić hit a deep three-point shot to upset the favourites of the tournament Spain in the quarter-finals.[9] Entering the semis, Serbia would come up short, after a controversial referee's error to the tournament's host Turkey 83–82. With the youngest team in the competition, Serbia eventually finished in fourth place after losing to Lithuania 99–88 in the bronze-medal game.[10]

At the EuroBasket 2011, the team failed to reach the semi-finals, finishing the tournament in eighth place; thus failing to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics. At the EuroBasket 2013, the team was once again eliminated in the quarter-finals and finished in seventh place.

2013–2019: Silver generation

See also: 2014 Serbia FIBA Basketball World Cup team, 2016 Serbia Olympic basketball team and 2017 Serbia EuroBasket team. Following the EuroBasket 2013, Ivković stepped away from the position, and Serbian basketball hall of famer Aleksandar Đorđević stepped into his place.[11]

Đorđević led the team to the silver medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, where they lost in the final to the United States.[12] [13] At the EuroBasket 2015, Serbia finished in fourth place, with their only tournament loses coming in the semi-finals to Lithuania and in the bronze-medal game to France.

After winning the 2016 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 to the United States.[14] [15]

With the absence of team captains Miloš Teodosić, and Nikola Jokić, rising star Bogdan Bogdanović emerged as team leader at the EuroBasket 2017. The national team went on to earn their third silver medal in four years, after falling to a Goran Dragić-led Slovenia 93–85 in the final.[16]

Facing a different qualification system introduced by FIBA for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, the national team was forced to play without their key players in nearly all of their qualification matches. However, they narrowly secured the last spot for the World Cup in their second round qualification group.[17] Prior the World Cup, Serbia was dubbed as one of the favourites to win the tournament;[18] but was eventually defeated in the quarter-finals by Argentina.[19] With the team relegated to the classification phase, they would pick up wins against the United States and Czech Republic to finish in fifth place.[20] [21] [22] After the tournament, head coach Đorđević announced his decision to leave the position after six years.[23]

2019–2021

Under head coach Igor Kokoškov, Serbia failed to qualify to the 2020 Summer Olympics after losing in the final game of the Qualifying Tournament to Italy before home crowd.

2021–present

See also: 2022 Serbia EuroBasket team, 2023 Serbia FIBA Basketball World Cup team and 2024 Serbia men's Olympic basketball team. In 2021, legendary head coach Svetislav Pešić took over the team once again. In Pešić' first tournament as head coach, after winning all five group matches at the EuroBasket 2022, Italy upset Serbia in Round of 16 with 94–86 and Serbia finished in ninth place. At the 2023 FIBA World Cup, despite absence of several star players, Serbia managed to reach the tournament final where they lost to the Germany.[24] Serbia won the bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics after defeating Germany with 93–83.[25]

Honours

Medals table

Competitive record

Name of the nation during the tournaments:

Major tournaments

Major tournaments
width=240Tournamentwidth=120RoundPositionwidth=60width=30width=100width=60Head Coachwidth=120Qualification
1935 to 1991Part of YugoslaviaPart of Yugoslavia
1992 OlympicsSuspendedDuda IvkovićSuspended
1993 Eurobasket
1994 World Cup
1995 Eurobasket Champions 1st9-01.000750-639+111Qualifying round
1996 Olympics Runners-up 2nd7-1.875741-578+163Željko ObradovićDirectly qualified
1997 Eurobasket Champions 1st8-1.888628-544+84Directly qualified
1998 World Cup Champions 1st8-1.888698-563+135Directly qualified
1999 Eurobasket Semi-finals 3rd7-2.777657-587+70Directly qualified
2000 OlympicsQuarter-finals6th4-3.571494-483+11Directly qualified
2001 Eurobasket Champions 1st6-01.000549-409+140Svetislav PešićDirectly qualified
2002 World Cup Champions 1st7-2.777816-670+146Directly qualified
2003 EurobasketQuarter-finals6th3-4.429537-561-24Duško VujoševićDirectly qualified
2004 OlympicsGroup stage11th2-4.333462-450+12Željko ObradovićDirectly qualified
2005 EurobasketPlay-off round9th2-2.500316-307+9Qualified as host
2006 World CupRound of 1611th2-4.333484-439+45Dragan ŠakotaWild card
2007 EurobasketGroup stage14th0-3.000215-228−13Moka SlavnićDirectly qualified
2008 OlympicsDid not qualifyDuda IvkovićDid not qualify
2009 Eurobasket Runners-up 2nd6-3.666603-602+1Group A
2010 World CupSemi-finals4th6-3.666800-699+101Directly qualified
2011 EurobasketQuarter-finals8th5-6.455600-648-48Directly qualified
2012 OlympicsDid not qualifyDid not qualify
2013 EurobasketQuarter-finals7th6-5.545581-589-8Group A
2014 World Cup Runners-up 2nd5-4.555743-720+23Sale ĐorđevićDirectly qualified
2015 EurobasketSemi-finals4th7-2.777748-658+90Directly qualified
2016 Olympics Runners-up 2nd4-4.500665-627+38Qual. Tournament
2017 Eurobasket Runners-up 2nd7-2.777741-670+71Directly qualified
2019 World CupQuarter-finals5th6-2.750753-598+155Group L
2020 OlympicsDid not qualifyIgor KokoškovQual. Tournament
2022 EuroBasketRound of 169th5-1.833552-455+97Svetislav PešićGroup E
2023 World Cup Runners-up 2nd6-2.750761-617+144Group I
2024 Olympics Semi-finals 3rd4-2.666566-529+37Directly qualified
2025 EurobasketTo be determinedTo be determined
2027 World Cup
2028 Olympics
Total128-61.67715460 - 13870+159025/28

Olympic Games

Olympic Games
width=160Yearwidth=120RoundPositionwidth=60width=30width=80width=60Head Coachwidth=120Qualification
1936 to 1988Part of YugoslaviaPart of Yugoslavia
1992SuspendedDuda IvkovićSuspended
1996 Runners-up 2nd7-1.875741-578+163Željko ObradovićDirectly qualified
2000Quarter-finals6th4-3.571494-483+11Directly qualified
2004Group stage11th2-4.333462-450+12Directly qualified
2008Did not qualifyDuda IvkovićDid not qualify
2012Did not qualifyDid not qualify
2016 Runners-up 2nd4-4.500665-627+38Sale ĐorđevićQual. Tournament
2020Did not qualifyIgor KokoškovQual. Tournament
2024 Semi-finals 3rd4-2.666566-529+37Svetislav PešićDirectly qualified
2028To be determinedTo be determined
2032
Total17-12.5862928 - 2667+2615/8

FIBA World Cup

FIBA World Cup
width=160Yearwidth=120RoundPositionwidth=60width=30width=80width=60Head Coachwidth=120Qualification
1950 to 1990Part of YugoslaviaPart of Yugoslavia
1994SuspendedDuda IvkovićSuspended
1998 Champions 1st8-1.888698-563+135Željko ObradovićDirectly qualified
2002 Champions 1st7-2.777816-670+146Svetislav PešićDirectly qualified
2006Round of 1611th2-4.333484-439+45Dragan ŠakotaWild card
2010Semi-finals4th6-3.666800-699+101Duda IvkovićDirectly qualified
2014 Runners-up 2nd5-4.555743-720+23Sale ĐorđevićDirectly qualified
2019Quarter-finals5th6-2.750753-598+155Group L
2023 Runners-up 2nd6-2.750761-617+144Svetislav PešićGroup I
2027To be determinedTo be determined
Total40-18.6905055 - 4306+7497/7

EuroBasket

EuroBasket
width=160Yearwidth=120RoundPositionwidth=60width=30width=80width=60Head Coachwidth=120Qualification
1935 to 1991Part of YugoslaviaPart of Yugoslavia
1993SuspendedDuda IvkovićSuspended
1995 Champions 1st9-01.000750-639+111Qualifying round
1997 Champions 1st8-1.888628-544+84Željko ObradovićDirectly qualified
1999 Semi-finals 3rd7-2.777657-587+70
2001 Champions 1st6-01.000549-409+140Svetislav Pešić
2003Quarter-finals6th3-4.429537-561-24Duško Vujošević
2005Play-off round9th2-2.500316-307+9Željko ObradovićQualified as host
2007Group stage14th0-3.000215-228−13Moka SlavnićDirectly qualified
2009 Runners-up 2nd6-3.666603-602+1Duda IvkovićGroup A
2011Quarter-finals8th5-6.455600-648-48Directly qualified
2013Quarter-finals7th6-5.545581-589-8Group A
2015Semi-finals4th7-2.777748-658+90Sale ĐorđevićDirectly qualified
2017 Runners-up 2nd7-2.777741-670+71
2022Round of 169th5-1.833552-455+97Svetislav PešićGroup E
2025To be determinedTo be determined
Total71-31.7007477 - 6897+58013/13

Results and fixtures

2025

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Depth chart for the 2024 Olympics

Players on the preliminary squad list for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris. Active players, that were for different reasons either not called up, or declined the invitation, include Miloš Teodosić, Nikola Kalinić, Vladimir Lučić, Stefan Jović, Boban Marjanović, Nemanja Nedović, Luka Mitrović, Nikola Topić, Nikola Đurišić, Tristan Vukčević, Dušan Beslać, Boriša Simanić, Uroš Trifunović, Balša Koprivica, Danilo Anđušić, Branko Lazić, Alen Smailagić

Past rosters

See also: List of Serbia men's national basketball team players and List of Serbia and Montenegro men's national basketball team players.

  • EuroBasket 1995
  • EuroBasket 1997
  • EuroBasket 1999
  • EuroBasket 2001
  • EuroBasket 2003
  • EuroBasket 2005
  • EuroBasket 2007
  • EuroBasket 2009
  • EuroBasket 2011
  • EuroBasket 2013
  • EuroBasket 2015
  • EuroBasket 2017
  • EuroBasket 2022
  • 1998 FIBA World Cup
  • 2002 FIBA World Cup
  • 2006 FIBA World Cup
  • 2010 FIBA World Cup
  • 2014 FIBA World Cup
  • 2019 FIBA World Cup
  • 2023 FIBA World Cup
  • 1996 Summer Olympics
  • 2000 Summer Olympics
  • 2004 Summer Olympics
  • 2016 Summer Olympics
  • 2024 Summer Olympics

Head coaches

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

YearsCoachCompetition
1992–1995 Dušan Ivković 1995 EuroBasket
1996–2000 Željko Obradović 1996 Summer Olympics
1997 EuroBasket
1998 World Cup
1999 EuroBasket
6th 2000 Summer Olympics
2000–2002 Svetislav Pešić 2001 EuroBasket
2002 World Cup
Serbia and Montenegro
YearsCoachCompetition
2003 Duško Vujošević6th 2003 EuroBasket
2004–2005 Željko Obradović11th 2004 Summer Olympics
9th 2005 EuroBasket
200611th 2006 World Cup

Serbia

YearsCoachCompetition
2007 Zoran Slavnić14th 2007 EuroBasket
2007–2013 Dušan Ivković 2009 EuroBasket
4th 2010 World Cup
8th 2011 EuroBasket
7th 2013 EuroBasket
2013–2019 Aleksandar Đorđević 2014 World Cup
4th 2015 EuroBasket
2016 Summer Olympics
2017 EuroBasket
5th 2019 World Cup
2019–2021 Igor Kokoškov
2021– Svetislav Pešić9th 2022 EuroBasket
2023 World Cup
2024 Summer Olympics

Player statistics

These tables include player statistics on Olympic games, FIBA World Cup and FIBA Eurobasket matches as well as matches on qualification tournaments since 1995. Friendly matches are not included.[26] [27]

  • Bold denotes players still playing international basketball.

Most capped players

PlayerNational careerMatchesPoints
1 Miloš Teodosić 2007– 94 1057
2 1995–2005 85 1023
3 2009–201984 692
2007–2016 84 348
5 2004–2014 77 933
6 Bogdan Bogdanović 2013– 74 1112
7 1995–2005 71 502
8 2009–2019 61 447
9 Miroslav Raduljica 2009– 58 627
1995–200158 392

Top scorers

PlayerNational careerPointsMatchesAvg
1 Bogdan Bogdanović 2013– 1112 74
2 Miloš Teodosić 2007– 1057 94
3 1995–2005 1023 85
4 2004–2014 933 77
5 2009–2019 692 84
6 1995–2000640 43
7 Miroslav Raduljica 2009– 627 58
8 1995–2005 502 71
9 1999–2003 474 29
10 1995–2005 469 51

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.

  • 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

(including achievements of Serbian players from 1945 to 1991)

International competitions

Other notable achievements

Notable coaches

Individual achievements

(including achievements of Serbian coaches from 1945 to 1991)

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Profile: Serbia (SRB). fiba.com. FIBA. 24 May 2018.
  2. Web site: Atina, 2.juli 1995.. 2 July 2015.
  3. Web site: archive.fiba.com. archive.fiba.com.
  4. News: FIBA WORLD RANKING. 16 September 2019. fiba.basketball.
  5. News: PR no.22: Montenegro becomes 213th FIBA Member. 28 August 2006. fiba.basketball.
  6. News: BASKETBALL; U.S. an Embarrassed Sixth as Yugoslavia Takes the Gold. 8 April 2017. The New York Times. Associated Press. 9 September 2002.
  7. News: Jugoslavija pobedila 'Dream team'. 8 April 2017. b92.net. Beta. 6 September 2002. sr.
  8. News: Preradović . V. . Ivković selektor . 14 September 2019 . Večernje novosti . 20 December 2007 . sr.
  9. News: Stojsavljević . Vojislav . TURSKA 2010: Povratak Srbije u elitu, SAD konačno do zlata . 14 September 2019 . Danas (newspaper) . 30 August 2019 . sr.
  10. Web site: Duda otpisao Milosavljevića. B92.net. 25 August 2010 . BETA. 6 August 2012. sr.
  11. News: Ranković . Rade . Đorđević preuzeo reprezentaciju . 14 September 2019 . glasamerike.net . 25 December 2013 . sr.
  12. Web site: Srbija srebrna, 'vanzemaljci' Ameri šampioni. B92.net. 14 September 2014 . BETA. 15 September 2014. sr.
  13. Web site: Serbia at the 2014 FIBA World Cup. 14 September 2014.
  14. Web site: Serbia at the 2016 Olympic Qualifying Tournament. 9 July 2016.
  15. Web site: Serbia at the 2016 men's Olympic Basketball Tournament. 21 August 2016.
  16. Web site: Serbia at the EuroBasket 2017. 17 September 2017.
  17. Web site: Serbia during the 2019 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers. 24 February 2019.
  18. News: Curkovic . Igor . FIBA Basketball World Cup Power Rankings, Volume 3 . 14 September 2019 . fiba.basketball . 28 August 2019.
  19. News: Argentina upsets Olympic silver medalist Serbia in FIBA World Cup quarterfinals . 14 September 2019 . nbcsports.com . 10 September 2019.
  20. News: Serbia defeats USA in FIBA World Cup consolation round play . 14 September 2019 . National Basketball Association . 12 September 2019.
  21. News: T. . P. . Bogdanović ponovo briljirao – Srbiji peto mesto u Kini . 14 September 2019 . 14 September 2019 . sr.
  22. Web site: Serbia at the 2019 FIBA World Cup. 14 September 2019.
  23. News: T. . P. . Đorđević više nije selektor Srbije! . 14 September 2019 . b92.net . 14 September 2019 . sr.
  24. Web site: Serbia at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. 15 September 2023.
  25. News: Србија освојила бронзану медаљу на Олимпијским играма! . 10 August 2024 . kss.rs . 10 August 2024 . Serbian.
  26. https://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/index.asp
  27. https://www.fiba.basketball/
  28. Web site: FIBA Hall of Fame Class of 2024 headlined by Reggie Miller and Predrag Stojakovic .

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