You look at the rosters for Eurobasket this summer and automatically Spain and France pop up as the potential front-runners like they were in Lithuania, two years ago.
This summer though, Montenegro are preparing themselves to challenge the best in Europe. Since gaining independence from Serbia in 2006, the country located on the coast of the Adriatic Sea have rebuilt themselves to become a competitive basketball nation and the time could be right to move to the next level: Europe’s elite.
This September’s Eurobasket will be the Montenegrins second appearance as an independent nation. They breezed through the qualifying stage with a 10-0 record, which included two wins over neighbours Serbia, and they prepare for Group B knowing that they have the strength and depth to beat Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Serbs again.
The inclusion of their NBA big men, Nikola Vucevic and Nikola Pekovic makes the Balkan country’s chances even better, though the latter might not be able to join up with the team until late July due to free-agency.
“He [Pekovic] is a free agent in the NBA, and that means that from 2 July, when the transfer window opens in the USA, he is waiting on the outcome of events to know at which club he will play next season,” Montenegro coach Luka Pavicevic explained.
“Surely we cannot count on him for the beginning of the program, once he signs a contract he will come to join us as soon as possible.
“He has the best of intentions to represent Montenegro.”
While Pekovic awaits his fate before he joins up with the squad, Orlando Magic center, Vucevic has improved drastically since arriving from the Philadelphia 76ers. The 22-year-old, seven-footer averaged a double-double of 13.1 points and 11.9 rebounds a contest. He will join up with the Montenegrins in the best form of his life.
Barcelona forward Marko Todrovic is another youngster who has improved greatly as the domestic season wore on and, provided he recovers in time from a fracture in his hand will bring tons of energy and a soft touch around the hoop in Slovenia.
In the latter stages of the Catalan side’s Euroleague campaign, which saw them reach the Final Four in London. Todorovic showed great maturity and poise for an inexperienced player as he blended into the line-up in Barcelona’s key quarter-final games against Panathinaikos. If passed fit, valuable court time will only further improve the 21-year-old’s confidence.
The team’s leading scorer last summer Vladimir Dasic is included in the squad along with Bojan Dubljevic further illustrating Montenegro’s fierce frontcourt.
If there is one area where Spain and France could have the advantage, it’s the backcourt; which has been a slight concern over the last few years. Marko Popovic is in the line-up along with veteran point guard Taylor Rochestie but it will be a side fully focused on getting the ball in the paint predominantly. Group B is a tough group, possibly the toughest one to call, but if Montenegro keep their heads and play as a unit, like the one we all saw last summer, then a emerging European powerhouse might just make themselves heard in mountainous Slovenia.
It all starts in Jesenice, nearly 69 days from now.
