Croatia men's national basketball team

Croatia
FIBA ranking	11 1
Joined FIBA	1992
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	Croatian Basketball Federation
Olympic Games
Appearances	4 (First in 1992)
Medals	Silver: (1992)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	3 (First in 1994)
Medals	Bronze: (1994)
EuroBasket
Appearances	13 (First in 1993)
Medals	Bronze: (1993, 1995)
Uniforms
Light Dark

The Croatia men's national basketball team (Croatian: Hrvatska muška košarkaška reprezentacija) represents Croatia at international basketball tournaments.^[1] It is organized by the Croatian Basketball Federation (Croatian: Hrvatski košarkaški savez).^[2]

The biggest success Croatia has achieved was at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when the team reached the finals against the United States team and won the silver medal. Croatia has also won one bronze medal at the FIBA World Cup and two bronze medals at the FIBA EuroBasket.

Croatia's Krešimir Ćosić, Dražen Petrović, and Mirko Novosel are members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Ćosić being inducted in 1996 as a player, Petrović in 2002, also as a player, and Novosel in 2007, as a coach. Petrović, Ćosić, and Novosel are also members of the FIBA Hall of Fame. Ćosić however never played for the Croatian national team, he was a member of the Yugoslavia national basketball team.

History

Prior to Croatian independence

Croatia played its first unofficial friendly game on 2 June 1964 in Karlovac.^[3] Croatian team played against US All Star Team and lost 65:110 (31:50). USA players coached by Red Auerbach were Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, K. C. Jones, Jerry Lucas, Bob Pettit, Oscar Robertson and Bill Russel and Croatian team was Giuseppe Gjergja, Nemanja Đurić, Živko Kasun, Zlatko Kiseljak, Slobodan Kolaković, Dragan Kovačić, Boris Križan, Stjepan Ledić, Mirko Novosel, Marko Ostarčević, Petar Skansi and Željko Troskot.^[4][5]

Independent Croatia

After independence of Croatia in 1991, the first official tournament played by Croatians were 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Croatia defeated CIS team 75:74 and reached the finals against USA Dream Team led by Michael Jordan. USA won 85:117 but Croatia won its first medal at major tournaments in history.

Next tournament was 1993 EuroBasket in Germany. Tragically, before the championship Dražen Petrović died in a car accident on 7 June 1993 at the age of 28. Croatia still managed to reach bronze medal beating Greece 99:59.

Croatia reached its third medal at 1994 FIBA World Championship in Canada. Croatia lost semifinals 64:66 against Russia but again beat Greece 78:60 for the bronze medal. Similar happened at 1995 EuroBasket in Greece. Croatia lost semifinals 80:90 against Lithuania but beat Greece 73:68 for the third time in a row in a bronze medal match. That medal was to date the last Croatian medal from major tournaments. At 1996 Summer Olympics Croatia won the 7th place.

Decline

At 1997 Eurobasket in Spain new Croatian generation emerged and ended in 11th place. Croatia failed to qualify at 2000, 2004 and 2012 Summer Olympics but ended 6th in 2008. Croatia also failed to qualify to 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Championships, best result being 14th place at 2010. At EuroBaskets Croatia's best results were 6th places at 2007 and 2009.

Competitive record

Olympic Games

Competitive record at the Summer Olympic Games Year Round Position Pld W L PF PA PD 1936 to 1988 Part of Yugoslavia 1992 Final 8 6 2 681 656 +25 1996 Quarterfinal 7th 8 4 4 662 622 +40 2000 Did not qualify 2004 2008 Quarterfinal 6th 6 3 3 458 452 +6 2012 Did not qualify 2016 Quarterfinal 5th 6 3 3 483 493 −10 Total Qualified: 4/7 28 16 12 2284 2223 +61

Record against other teams at the Summer Olympic Games National team Pld W L PF PA PD Angola 2 2 0 144 112 +32 Argentina 3 1 2 225 242 −17 Australia 3 2 1 266 220 +46 Brazil 3 2 1 243 230 +13 China 2 2 0 208 163 +45 CIS 1 1 0 75 74 +1 Germany 1 1 0 99 78 +21 Iran 1 1 0 91 57 +34 Lithuania 3 1 2 244 250 −6 Nigeria 1 0 1 76 90 −14 Russia 1 1 0 85 78 +7 Serbia 1 0 1 83 86 −3 Spain 3 2 1 219 221 −2 United States 3 0 3 226 322 −96 Total 14 teams

FIBA World Cup

Competitive record at the FIBA World Cup Year Round Position Pld W L PF PA PD 1950 to 1990 Part of Yugoslavia 1994 Semifinal 8 7 1 692 502 +190 1998 Did not qualify 2002 2006 2010 Round of 16 14th 6 2 4 467 480 −13 2014 Round of 16 10th 6 3 3 478 467 +11 2019 Qualification in progress Total Qualified: 3/6 20 12 8 1637 1449 +188

Record against other teams at the FIBA World Cup National team Pld W L PF PA PD Argentina 1 1 0 90 85 +5 Australia 1 1 0 83 69 +14 Brazil 1 0 1 74 92 −18 Canada 1 1 0 92 61 +31 China 1 1 0 105 73 +32 Cuba 1 1 0 85 65 +20 France 1 0 1 64 69 -5 Greece 3 2 1 224 191 +33 Iran 1 1 0 75 54 +21 Philippines 1 1 0 81 78 +3 Puerto Rico 1 1 0 103 82 +21 Russia 1 0 1 64 66 −2 Senegal 1 0 1 75 77 -2 Serbia 1 0 1 72 73 −1 Slovenia 1 0 1 84 91 −7 South Korea 1 1 0 104 53 +51 Tunisia 1 1 0 84 64 +20 United States 1 0 1 78 106 −28 Total 18 teams

EuroBasket

Competitive record at EuroBasket Year Round Position Pld W L PF PA PD 1935 to 1991 Part of Yugoslavia 1993 Semifinal 9 8 1 864 679 +185 1995 Semifinal 9 8 1 758 683 +75 1997 Second Round 11th 8 2 6 619 620 −1 1999 Second Round 9th 6 3 3 444 454 −10 2001 Quarterfinal 7th 8 2 6 619 620 −1 2003 Second Round 11th 4 1 3 318 304 +14 2005 Quarterfinal 7th 7 4 3 566 564 +2 2007 Quarterfinal 6th 9 3 6 704 704 0 2009 Quarterfinal 6th 9 4 5 646 648 −2 2011 Preliminary Round 13th 5 2 3 396 404 −8 2013 Semifinal 4th 11 8 3 805 801 +4 2015 Round of 16 9th 6 3 3 418 423 -5 2017 Qualified Total Qualified: 13/13 85 45 40 7157 6904 +253 Including qualifying rounds 136 86 50 11561 10474 +1087

Record against other teams at EuroBasket National team Pld W L PF PA PD Belgium 1 1 0 106 74 +32 Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 2 1 243 229 +14 Bulgaria 2 2 0 192 165 +27 Czech Republic 2 2 0 156 117 +39 Estonia 2 2 0 179 149 +30 Finland 3 3 0 264 219 +45 France 7 3 4 566 566 0 Georgia 1 1 0 77 76 +1 Germany 7 3 4 559 559 0 Greece 7 3 4 555 523 +32 Israel 2 1 1 161 159 +2 Italy 6 5 1 424 394 +30 Latvia 2 1 1 170 176 −6 Lithuania 5 0 5 356 417 −61 Macedonia 2 1 1 157 149 +8 Montenegro 1 1 0 97 81 +16 Poland 2 1 1 150 147 +3 Portugal 1 1 0 90 68 +22 Russia 7 3 4 550 547 +3 Serbia 2 0 2 128 144 −16 Slovenia 4 2 2 312 313 −1 Spain 6 2 4 427 493 −66 Turkey 6 3 3 503 430 +73 Ukraine 3 2 1 265 238 +27 Total 24 teams Including qualifying rounds 34 teams

Competitive record in qualifying rounds Year Pld W L PF PA PD Qual 1993 7 6 1 763 570 +193 yes 1995 6 5 1 510 438 +72 yes 1997 10 7 3 823 647 +176 yes 1999 10 7 3 813 711 +102 yes 2001 10 10 0 856 693 +163 yes 2003 10 8 2 834 724 +110 yes 2005 4 3 1 312 268 +44 yes 2007 6 5 1 498 397 +101 yes 2009 6th from 2007 EuroBasket yes 2011 6th from 2009 EuroBasket yes 2013 8 8 0 685 539 +146 yes 2015 4th from 2013 EuroBasket yes 2017 9th from 2015 EuroBasket yes Total 71 59 12 6094 4987 +1107 12/12

Record against other teams in qualifying rounds National team Pld W L PF PA PD Austria 2 2 0 160 149 +11 Belarus 1 1 0 112 72 +40 Belgium 2 2 0 176 129 +47 Bosnia and Herzegovina 4 2 2 295 267 +28 Bulgaria 2 1 1 173 148 +25 Cyprus 4 4 0 368 224 +144 Denmark 2 2 0 183 146 +37 England 2 2 0 163 149 +14 Estonia 5 4 1 417 350 +67 Germany 2 0 2 144 159 -15 Hungary 4 4 0 316 268 +48 Iceland 2 2 0 193 151 +42 Ireland 2 2 0 165 145 +20 Latvia 5 5 0 466 371 +95 Lithuania 2 1 1 137 140 -3 Macedonia 3 3 0 312 232 +80 Netherlands 4 4 0 331 265 +66 Romania 3 3 0 342 206 +136 Russia 2 1 1 151 138 +13 Slovakia 4 4 0 355 277 +53 Slovenia 1 0 1 90 94 -4 Sweden 4 3 1 320 289 +31 Switzerland 2 2 0 176 127 +49 Turkey 2 1 1 133 121 +12 Ukraine 5 4 1 416 370 +46 Total 25 teams

Team

Current roster

The following is the Croatia roster in the men's basketball tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics.^[6]

Croatia men's national basketball team – 2016 Summer Olympics roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Age – Date of birth Ht. Club Ctr. SF 4 Babić, Luka 24 – 29 September 1991 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Cedevita SG 5 Krušlin, Filip 27 – 18 March 1989 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Cedevita PG 6 Stipčević, Rok 30 – 20 May 1986 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Dinamo Sassari SG 7 Simon, Krunoslav 31 – 24 June 1985 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Armani Milano SF 8 Hezonja, Mario 21 – 25 February 1995 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Orlando Magic PF 9 Šarić, Dario 22 – 8 April 1994 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Anadolu Efes PG 10 Ukić, Roko (C) 31 – 5 December 1984 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Pallacanestro Cantù C 12 Planinić, Darko 25 – 22 November 1990 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Laboral Kutxa C 15 Bilan, Miro 27 – 21 July 1989 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in) Cedevita PF 33 Šakić, Željko 28 – 14 April 1988 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Cibona PF 35 Arapović, Marko 20 – 20 July 1996 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Cedevita SG 44 Bogdanović, Bojan 27 – 18 April 1989 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Brooklyn Nets	Head coach Aleksandar Petrović Assistant coach(es) Dražen Anzulović Ivica Skelin Dražen Orešković Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 6 August 2016

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Bench
C	Ante Žižić	Darko Planinić	Ivica Zubac
PF	Dario Šarić	Željko Šakić	Dragan Bender
SF	Mario Hezonja	Luka Babić
SG	Bojan Bogdanović	Krunoslav Simon	Marko Tomas
PG	Roko Ukić	Rok Stipčević

Past rosters

Olympic Games

FIBA World Cup

EuroBasket

Head coaches

Petar Skansi (1992) Mirko Novosel (1993) Giuseppe Gjergja (1994) Aleksandar Petrović (1995) Petar Skansi (1996–1998)

Boško Božić (1999) Aleksandar Petrović (2000–2001) Neven Spahija (2002–2005) Jasmin Repeša (2005–2009)

Josip Vranković (2010–2011) Jasmin Repeša (2012–2014) Velimir Perasović (2015) Aleksandar Petrović (2016)

Notable players

Dražen Petrović World and European Champion 2× Euroleague champion (1985, 1986) 2× FIBA Saporta Cup Champion (1987, 1989) FIBA World Championship MVP (1986) FIBA World Cup All-Tournament Team member (1986) FIBA EuroBasket MVP (1989) Euroleague Finals Top Scorer (1985) 2× FIBA EuroBasket All-Tournament Team (1985, 1989) 2× FIBA Saporta Cup Finals Top Scorer (1987, 1989) FIBA Korać Cup Finals Top Scorer (1988) Spanish Cup Final Top Scorer (1989) All-NBA Third Team (1993) 4× Euroscar (1986, 1989, 1992–1993) 2× Mr. Europa Award (1986, 1993) FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors FIBA Hall of Fame induction (2007) Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction (2002) FIBA European Selection (1987) Golden Badge (1985) No. 3 Retired by the New Jersey Nets

Toni Kukoč World and European Champion 3× NBA champion (1996–1998) 3× Euroleague champion (1989, 1990, 1991) FIBA World Championship MVP (1990) FIBA EuroBasket MVP (1991) FIBA World Cup All-Tournament Team member (1990) 2× FIBA EuroBasket All-Tournament Team (1991, 1995) NBA Sixth Man of the Year (1996) NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1994) 3× Euroleague Final Four MVP (1990, 1991, 1993) 5× Euroscar (1990–1991, 1994, 1996, 1998) 4× Mr. Europa Award (1990–1992, 1996) FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors FIBA European Selection (1991)

Dino Rađa European Champion 2× Euroleague champion (1989, 1990) Korać Cup champion (1992) FIBA World Cup All-Tournament Team member (1994) 2× FIBA EuroBasket All-Tournament Team (1989, 1993) Euroleague Final Four MVP (1989) Greek League Finals MVP (1998) Croatian Cup Final Four MVP (2000) Croatian Cup Final Four Top Scorer (2000) 2× Greek League Rebounding leader (1998, 2001) NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1994) FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors (2008) FIBA European Selection (1991) 2× FIBA EuroStar selection (1997, 1998)

Nikola Vujčić 2× Euroleague champion (2004, 2005) 3× All-Euroleague First Team: (2005, 2006, 2007) 2× All-Euroleague Second Team: (2003, 2004) Euroleague All-Decade Team 2001–10 Žan Tabak NBA champion (1995) 3× Euroleague champion (1989–1991) Stojko Vranković European Champion Euroleague champion (1996) FIBA European Selection (1987) FIBA EuroStar selection (1999)

Statistics

Record against other teams

As of 18 Aug 2016

Key

	Positive total balance (more wins)
	Neutral total balance (equal W/L ratio)
	Negative total balance (more losses)

National team	Total			Olympic Games			World Championship			European Championship			Mediterranean Games			Qualifications
	Pld	W	L	Pld	W	L	Pld	W	L	Pld	W	L	Pld	W	L	Pld	W	L
Albania	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Angola	2	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0
Argentina	4	2	2	3	1	2	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0
Australia	4	3	1	3	2	1	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0
Austria	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	2	2	0
Belarus	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	1	1	0
Belgium	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	2	2	0
Bosnia and Herzegovina	7	4	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	1	0	0	0	4	2	2
Brazil	4	2	2	3	2	1	1	0	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0
Bulgaria	4	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	—	—	—	2	1	1
Cameroon	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	0
Canada	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	0
China	3	3	0	2	2	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0
Cuba	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0
Cyprus	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4	0
Czech Republic*	4	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	1	—	—	—	1	1	0
Denmark	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	2	2	0
England	2	2	0	—	—	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	2	2	0
Estonia	7	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	—	—	—	5	4	1
Finland	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	0	—	—	—	0	0	0
France	8	3	5	0	0	0	1	0	1	7	3	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
Georgia	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	—	—	—	0	0	0
Germany	12	5	7	1	1	0	0	0	0	7	3	4	—	—	—	4	1	3
Great Britain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	0	0	0
Greece	15	9	6	0	0	0	3	2	1	8	3	5	2	2	0	2	2	0
Hungary	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	4	4	0
Iceland	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	3	3	0
Iran	2	2	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0
Ireland	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	2	2	0
Israel	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	—	—	—	1	1	0
Italy	10	8	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	5	1	1	1	0	3	2	1
Latvia	7	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	—	—	—	5	5	0
Lithuania	11	2	9	3	1	2	0	0	0	5	0	5	—	—	—	3	1	2
Macedonia	6	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	1	0	0	0	3	3	0
Montenegro	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Morocco	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	1	1	0	0	0	0
Netherlands	5	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	4	4	0
Nigeria	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0
Philippines	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0
Poland	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	—	—	—	0	0	0
Portugal	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	1	1	0
Puerto Rico	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	0
Romania	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	4	4	0
Russia**	13	7	6	2	2	0	1	0	1	7	3	4	—	—	—	3	2	1
Senegal	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0
Serbia***	5	1	4	1	0	1	1	0	1	2	0	2	1	1	0	0	0	0
Slovakia	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	4	4	0
Slovenia	8	4	4	0	0	0	1	0	1	5	3	2	0	0	0	2	1	1
South Korea	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0
Spain	9	4	5	3	2	1	0	0	0	6	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sweden	4	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	4	3	1
Switzerland	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	2	2	0
Tunisia	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	0	0	0	1	1	0
Turkey	8	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	3	3	0	0	0	2	1	1
Ukraine	8	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	1	—	—	—	5	4	1
United States	4	0	4	3	0	3	1	0	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0
Total (56)	234	157	77

• *includes games against Czechoslovakia
• **includes games against CIS and Soviet Union
• ***includes games against Serbia and Montenegro

Biggest Wins

20+ point difference

Olympic Games	World Championship	EuroBasket	Mediterranean Games	Qualifications
+34 vs. Iran (91–57) 2008 +33 vs. Australia (98–65) 1992 +31 vs. China (109–78) 1996 +23 vs. Angola (71–48) 1996 +21 vs. Germany (99–78) 1992	+51 vs. South Korea (104–53) 1994 +32 vs. China (105–73) 1994 +31 vs. Canada (92–61) 1994 +26 vs. Greece (81–55) 1994 +21 vs. Iran (75–54) 2010 +20 vs. Cuba (85–65)1994 +20 vs. Tunisia (84–64) 2010	+50 vs. Turkey (113–63) 1993 +40 vs. Greece (99–59) 1993 +32 vs. Belgium (106–74) 1993 +25 vs. Finland (88–63) 2013 +22 vs. Turkey (90–68) 1995 +22 vs. Czech Republic (86–64) 1999 +22 vs. Ukraine (93–71) 2003 +22 vs. Portugal (90–68) 2007 +21 vs. Bulgaria (104–83) 1993 +20 vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (98–78) 1993 +20 vs. Germany (75–55) 1997	+24 vs. Albania (94–70) 2009	+73 vs. Iceland (124-51) 1992 +52 vs. Portugal (109-57) 1992 +46 vs. Italy (108-62) 1992 +39 vs. Greece (102-63) 1992 +23 vs. Slovenia (93-70) 1992

Biggest Losses

-20< point difference

Olympic Games	World Championship	EuroBasket	Mediterranean Games	Qualifications
-33 vs. USA (70–103) 1992 -32 vs. USA (85–117) 1992 -31 vs. USA (71–102) 1996 -24 vs. Argentina (53–77) 2008	-28 vs. USA (78–106) 2010	-28 vs. Spain (40-68) 2013 -26 vs. Spain (66-92) 2013 -21 vs. Czech Republic (59-80) 2015

See also

• Croatia women's national basketball team
• Croatia men's national 3x3 team

Notes

References

1. http://www.eurobasket.com/Croatia/basketball.asp
2. http://www.hks-cbf.hr
3. "All Star NBA u Šancu 1964.". http://kafotka.net. Retrieved 8 September 2012. External link in |work= (help)
4. "U Šancu haklale NBA zvijezde, a u Draganiću gradili naftnu bušotinu". http://www.kaportal.hr. Retrieved 8 September 2012. External link in |work= (help)
5. "KARLOVAC: 40 GODINA NBA LIGE U KARLOVCU". http://index.hr. Retrieved 21 August 2012. External link in |work= (help)
6. "Petrovic sticks with the 12 that qualified for Olympics". FIBA. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.

External links

• Official website
• FIBA profile
• Eurobasket.com