A Guide to the Montenegro Men’s Basketball Team
Keen to learn more about the Montenegro men’s basketball team ahead of the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments? The experts at Courtside 1891 have put together this comprehensive guide. So, read on to discover everything you need to know.
Since the Montenegro men’s basketball team joined FIBA in 2006, they’ve qualified for the FIBA Basketball World Cup twice and for FIBA EuroBasket on four occasions.
An emerging basketball programme, Montenegro, has embraced the popular Montenegrin nickname ‘Crna Gora’ (The Black Mountain). They have enjoyed a great amount of success at smaller tournaments like The Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE), where they’ve won two golds and a silver medal since 2015.
2024 Olympics - Men's Basketball
The Montenegro men's basketball team are confirmed as one of the 24 nations that will compete in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2024, which you can stream live with Courtside 1891. The tournaments are currently scheduled for July 2-7 2024.
Their road to a first-ever Olympics berth will stop in Riga, where the Montenegro team will take part in the Latvia leg of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
Bosko Radovic's team completed their 2nd FIBA World Cup in style, finishing 11th after progressing to the Second Round: the Crna Gora beat Egypt and Mexico in their Group before coming second best against another Baltic country, Valanciunas' Lithuania.
Their win against Greece was not enough to see them progress as Team USA had the last say against the Montenegrin, but their finish just outside top 10 was enough to get a shot at the Summer Olympics.
How Did Montenegro Do At The FIBA World Cup 2023?
Here are the top stats from Montenegro's FIBA Basketball World Cup campaign:
- → Final Standing: 11th
- → Results: Played 5 Won 3 Lost 2
- → Top Points Scorer: Nikola Vučević 99 PTS (19.8 PPG)
- → Top Assist Provider: Kendrick Perry 22 AST (5.5 APG)
- → Most Efficient Player: Nikola Vučević 24.0 EPG
11th place represents the nation's best finish at a major global tournament. Montenegro played to their increasingly high level in the 2023 World Cup, defeating Mexico, and Egypt before losing to superior opposition in Lithuania and the USA. A final group phase matchup with Greece would determine which nation would finish with a winning campaign record, and it was Montenegro who got the W, thanks to a big performance from their star man, Nikola Vučević. Check out his game MVP highlights below.
Nikola Vucevic | Greece v Montenegro
Team Presentation Video
Boost your knowledge about Montenegro with this handy Team Discovery Video. Released ahead of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, it will provide you with plenty of facts you can drop on your basketball buddies. The core of this team is largely unchanged, so despite one more trip around the sun, the knowledge is still valuable.
Team Presentation - Montenegro - FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023
Current Star Players
Montenegro announced an expanded 17-man preliminary roster for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. Star attractions include Nikola Vučević and embedded naturalized player, Kendrick Perry, who enjoyed a Basketball Champions League (BCL) win with his side Unicaja.
Vučević, a 13-year NBA vet and two-time NBA All-Star, led Montenegro in scoring at 14.6 points per game at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. He’s also represented his country at the three editions of FIBA EuroBasket.
When Vučević did not feature at EuroBasket 2022, Dubljević and Perry led their country to the Round of 16. They were supported by Nemanja Radović and Vladimir Mihailović, who also helped steer Montenegro through the World Cup qualifiers. Another name to look out for is Dino Radončić, who has good pedigree, having started his career with Real Madrid and is still under 25 years old.
With injuries keeping Nikola Ivanovic, Marko Todorovic, Nemanja Radovic and Bojan Dublicevic away from the national team, Perry and Dino Radoncic will need to pick up the slack to give the Crna Gora a chance.
Legends of the Team
Vučević is undoubtedly the current star of the Montenegro basketball team, but diehard fans of Crna Gora will tell you that Nikola Peković remains the finest player to ever don his country’s colors.
A 6ft 11in center, Peković began his playing career in Europe before spending seven years with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA. Throughout a glittering domestic career, he won the EuroLeague, the GBL, the Greek Cup and a host of other titles. He was also a two-time All-EuroLeague selection.
On the international stage, Peković represented the Montenegrin national team at EuroBasket 2011. Across 5 games, he averaged 13.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
Peković retired in 2017 and he’s since moved into the operational side of the game. He’s currently the President of the Basketball Federation of Montenegro.
Historical World Cup Performance
The Montenegro side made their first appearance at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2019. At the time, they were the smallest country by terms of population to feature at the tournament (a fact that now belongs to Cape Verde, who have qualified for the first time in 2023).
The 2019 team lost every game in their group, but they did claim their first Finals win when they overpowered Japan in the 17th-32nd place classification round.
Previous Successes and Tournament Wins
Since 2011, the Montenegro basketball team have featured at FIBA EuroBasket four times. Their best finish to date is 13th, which they achieved in 2017 and 2022.
As Montenegro has a population of less than one million, the country’s basketball team can compete at the Games of the Small States of Europe. Since their first appearance at the games in 2015, Basketball Montenegro have enjoyed a great amount of success, winning two golds and a silver in four appearances.
How to Watch Montenegro Men's Basketball
With Courtside 1891, worldwide fans can watch Montenegro compete in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (FOQTs) 2024. We stream every game of FIBA international tournaments as well as other competitions from around the world.
As FIBA’s premium streaming partner for the World Cup, Courtside 1891 provided access to every 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup game! Watch the competition's biggest games and best moments on-demand on our FIBA Basketball World Cup page.
The best way to make sure that you never miss a single second of the upcoming action is to download our app, which is available on the App Store and Google Play, or sign up to our website platform. Please be aware that, due to broadcasting rights and restrictions, access to some games might be restricted depending on your location. See our where-to-watch page for full details of upcoming competitions.
Looking for the latest results from the world of basketball? Head over to the Courtside 1891 Game Center. Here you’ll also find matchup times in your country as well as easy-to-access game highlights you can watch when you register with Courtside 1891.
