Croatia men's national basketball team

The Croatia men's national basketball team (Croatian: Hrvatska košarkaška reprezentacija)[3] represents Croatia in international basketball competition and is controlled by the Croatian Basketball Federation.[4] Croatia is currently ranked fourteenth in the FIBA World Rankings.[5]

Croatia
Croatia at the EuroBasket 2022 qualification
FIBA ranking14 (9 December 2020)[1]
Joined FIBA1992
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationHKS
CoachVeljko Mršić
Nickname(s)Kockasti
(The Chequered Ones)
Olympic Games
Appearances4
Medals Silver: (1992)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances3
Medals Bronze: (1994)
EuroBasket
Appearances14
Medals Bronze: (1993, 1995)
First international
 Germany 86–74 Croatia 
(Murcia, Spain; 22 June 1992)[2]
Biggest win
 Croatia 127–51 Iceland 
(Murcia, Spain; 24 June 1992)
Biggest defeat
 Croatia 85–117 United States 
(Barcelona, Spain; 8 August 1992)

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

Croatia's Krešimir Ćosić, Dražen Petrović, Dino Rađa and Mirko Novosel are members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Ćosić being inducted in 1996 as a player, Petrović in 2002 and Rađa in 2018 also as players, and Novosel in 2007 as a coach. Petrović, Ćosić, Kukoč and Novosel are members of the FIBA Hall of Fame. Ćosić is also the only Croatian to have received the FIBA Order of Merit. Ćosić, however, never played for the Croatian national team, he was a member of the Yugoslavia national basketball team holding the record for number of medals (including Olyimpic gold) and the most games played by a player.

History

Prior to Croatian independence

Croatia played its first unofficial friendly game on 2 June 1964 in Karlovac.[6] 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 Russell 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.[7][8]

Independent Croatia

After independence of Croatia in 1991, the first official tournament played by Croatians were the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Croatia defeated the CIS team 75-74 and reached the final against the USA Dream Team led by Michael Jordan. The USA won 85–117, but Croatia won its first medal at an major tournament 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 earned its third medal at the 1994 FIBA World Cup in Canada. Croatia lost the semifinals match against Russia 64–66, but beat Greece once again 78–60 for the bronze medal. A similar occurrence happened at EuroBasket 1995 in Greece. Croatia lost in the semifinals, 80–90 against Lithuania but beat Greece 73–68 for the third time in a row in a bronze medal match. That medal to date was the last Croatian medal from any major tournament. At the 1996 Summer Olympics Croatia finished in a subpar 7th place.

Decline

At the EuroBasket 1997 in Spain, the new Croatian generation emerged, but ended in 11th place. Croatia failed to qualify for the 2000, 2004 and 2012 Summer Olympics, but finished 6th in 2008. Croatia also failed to qualify for the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups, with their best result being 14th place in 2010. However, at the EuroBasket 2013, Croatia had its best tournament appearance since 1995, where the team finished in 4th place.

Competitive record

Medals table

Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
Summer Olympics 0101
FIBA World Cup 0011
EuroBasket 0022
Mediterranean Games 1102
Stanković Cup 2103
Grand Totals 3339

Team

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers matches played on 27 and 29 November 2020 against Turkey and Sweden.[9][10]

Croatia men's national basketball team roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameAge – Date of birthHeightClubCtr.
SF 3 Pavle Marčinković 31 – (1989-05-06)6 May 1989 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Split
SG 5 Filip Krušlin 31 – (1989-03-18)18 March 1989 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Dinamo Sassari
PG 10 Roko Leni Ukić 35 – (1984-12-05)5 December 1984 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Cedevita Olimpija
C 15 Miro Bilan 31 – (1989-07-21)21 July 1989 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Dinamo Sassari
SG 23 Mateo Drežnjak 21 – (1999-03-08)8 March 1999 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Cibona
PG 30 Dominik Mavra 26 – (1994-06-15)15 June 1994 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Zadar
PG 32 Roko Rogić 28 – (1992-09-25)25 September 1992 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Mitteldeutscher
PF 33 Željko Šakić 32 – (1988-04-14)14 April 1988 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Avtodor
C 34 Marin Marić 26 – (1994-02-21)21 February 1994 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Lietkabelis
F Tomislav Gabrić 25 – (1995-08-17)17 August 1995 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Astoria Bydgoszcz
SG Antonio Jordano 21 – (1999-02-25)25 February 1999 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Vrijednosnice
PF Roko Prkačin 18 – (2002-11-26)26 November 2002 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Cibona
SF Ivan Ramljak 30 – (1990-08-09)9 August 1990 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Śląsk Wrocław
G/F Krunoslav Simon 35 – (1985-06-24)24 June 1985 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Anadolu Efes
C Antonio Vranković 24 – (1996-10-28)28 October 1996 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Split
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 29 November 2020

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench
C
PF
SF
SG
PG

Head coaches

Past rosters

1992 Olympic Games: finished 2nd among 12 teams

4 Dražen Petrović, 5 Velimir Perasović, 6 Danko Cvjetićanin, 7 Toni Kukoč, 8 Vladan Alanović, 9 Franjo Arapović, 10 Žan Tabak, 11 Stojko Vranković, 12 Alan Gregov, 13 Arijan Komazec, 14 Dino Rađa, 15 Aramis Naglić (Coach: Petar Skansi)


1993 EuroBasket: finished 3rd among 16 teams

4 Velimir Perasović, 5 Alan Gregov, 6 Ivica Žurić, 7 Vladan Alanović, 8 Franjo Arapović, 9 Žan Tabak, 10 Stojko Vranković, 11 Danko Cvjetićanin, 12 Arijan Komazec, 13 Dino Rađa, 14 Emilio Kovačić 15 Veljko Mršić (Coach: Mirko Novosel)


1994 FIBA World Cup: finished 3rd among 16 teams

4 Josip Vranković, 5 Alan Gregov, 6 Arijan Komazec, 7 Toni Kukoč, 8 Vladan Alanović, 9 Ivica Žurić, 10 Davor Pejčinović, 11 Stojko Vranković, 12 Danko Cvjetićanin, 13 Miro Jurić, 14 Dino Rađa, 15 Veljko Mršić (Coach: Josip Gjergja)


1995 EuroBasket: finished 3rd among 14 teams

4 Josip Vranković, 5 Velimir Perasović, 6 Arijan Komazec, 7 Toni Kukoč, 8 Vladan Alanović, 9 Ivica Marić, 10 Ivica Žurić, 11 Stojko Vranković, 12 Alan Gregov, 13 Veljko Mršić, 14 Dino Rađa, 15 Davor Pejčinović (Coach: Aleksandar Petrović)


1996 Olympic Games: finished 7th among 12 teams

4 Josip Vranković, 5 Velimir Perasović, 6 Arijan Komazec, 7 Toni Kukoč, 8 Vladan Alanović, 9 Slaven Rimac, 10 Žan Tabak, 11 Stojko Vranković, 12 Damir Mulaomerović, 13 Veljko Mršić, 14 Dino Rađa, 15 Davor Marcelić (Coach: Petar Skansi)


1997 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 16 teams

4 Josip Sesar, 5 Damir Mulaomerović, 6 Gordan Giriček, 7 Damir Milačić, 8 Vladan Alanović, 9 Slaven Rimac, 10 Emilio Kovačić, 11 Davor Pejčinović, 12 Siniša Kelečević, 13 Nikola Prkačin, 14 Ivan Grgat, 15 Davor Marcelić (Coach: Petar Skansi)


1999 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 16 teams

4 Vladimir Krstić, 5 Damir Mulaomerović, 6 Veljko Mršić, 7 Toni Kukoč, 8 Nikola Prkačin, 9 Gordan Zadravec, 10 Gordan Giriček, 11 Joško Poljak, 12 Jurica Ružić, 13 Ivan Tomeljak, 14 Nikola Vujčić, 15 Hrvoje Henjak (Coach: Boško Božić)


2001 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 16 teams

4 Damir Mulaomerović, 5 Josip Vranković, 6 Josip Sesar, 7 Veljko Mršić, 8 Nikola Prkačin, 9 Vladimir Krstić, 10 Gordan Giriček, 11 Emilio Kovačić, 12 Mate Skelin, 13 Matej Mamić, 14 Nikola Vujčić, 15 Žan Tabak (Coach: Aleksandar Petrović)


2003 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 16 teams

4 Damir Mulaomerović, 5 Marino Baždarić, 6 Marko Popović, 7 Sandro Nicević, 8 Nikola Prkačin, 9 Zoran Planinić, 10 Gordan Giriček, 11 Hrvoje Perinčić, 12 Andrija Žižić, 13 Matej Mamić, 14 Dalibor Bagarić, 15 Mate Skelin (Coach: Neven Spahija)


2005 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 16 teams

4 Mario Kasun, 5 Roko Ukić, 6 Marko Popović, 7 Nikola Vujčić, 8 Nikola Prkačin, 9 Andrija Žižić, 10 Gordan Giriček, 11 Zoran Planinić, 12 Marko Tomas, 13 Matej Mamić, 14 Dalibor Bagarić, 15 Damir Rančić (Coach: Neven Spahija)


2007 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 16 teams

4 Roko Ukić, 5 Davor Kus, 6 Marko Popović, 7 Marin Rozić, 8 Nikola Prkačin, 9 Marko Tomas, 10 Zoran Planinić, 11 Mario Stojić, 12 Damir Markota, 13 Marko Banić, 14 Mario Kasun, 15 Stanko Barać (Coach: Jasmin Repeša)


2008 Olympic Games: finished 6th among 12 teams

4 Roko Ukić, 5 Davor Kus, 6 Marko Popović, 7 Marin Rozić, 8 Nikola Prkačin, 9 Marko Tomas, 10 Zoran Planinić, 11 Sandro Nicević, 12 Damjan Rudež, 13 Marko Banić, 14 Krešimir Lončar, 15 Stanko Barać (Coach: Jasmin Repeša)


2009 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 16 teams

4 Roko Ukić, 5 Davor Kus, 6 Marko Popović, 7 Nikola Vujčić, 8 Nikola Prkačin, 9 Marin Rozić, 10 Zoran Planinić, 11 Mario Stojić, 12 Krešimir Lončar, 13 Marko Banić, 14 Sandro Nicević, 15 Mario Kasun (Coach: Jasmin Repeša)


2010 FIBA World Cup: finished 14th among 24 teams

4 Roko Ukić, 5 Davor Kus, 6 Marko Popović, 7 Bojan Bogdanović, 8 Rok Stipčević, 9 Marko Tomas, 10 Zoran Planinić, 11 Ante Tomić, 12 Krešimir Lončar, 13 Marko Banić, 14 Luka Žorić, 15 Lukša Andrić (Coach: Josip Vranković)


2011 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 24 teams

4 Ante Tomić, 5 Lukša Andrić, 6 Marko Popović, 7 Bojan Bogdanović, 8 Rok Stipčević, 9 Marko Tomas, 10 Dontaye Draper, 11 Krunoslav Simon, 12 Damir Markota, 13 Damjan Rudež, 14 Luka Žorić, 15 Stanko Barać (Coach: Josip Vranković)


2013 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 24 teams

4 Ante Tomić, 5 Lukša Andrić, 6 Dontaye Draper, 7 Bojan Bogdanović, 8 Dario Šarić, 9 Damjan Rudež, 10 Roko Ukić, 11 Krunoslav Simon, 12 Damir Markota, 13 Mario Delaš, 14 Luka Žorić, 15 Ante Delaš (Coach: Jasmin Repeša)


2014 FIBA World Cup: finished 10th among 24 teams

4 Ante Tomić, 5 Lukša Andrić, 6 Oliver Lafayette, 7 Bojan Bogdanović, 8 Dario Šarić, 9 Damjan Rudež, 10 Roko Ukić, 11 Krunoslav Simon, 12 Damir Markota, 13 Mario Hezonja, 14 Luka Žorić, 15 Luka Babić (Coach: Jasmin Repeša)


2015 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 24 teams

4 Ante Tomić, 5 Damjan Rudež, 6 Rok Stipčević, 7 Bojan Bogdanović, 8 Dario Šarić, 9 Marko Tomas, 10 Roko Ukić (C), 11 Krunoslav Simon, 13 Dontaye Draper, 15 Miro Bilan, 21 Luka Žorić, 23 Mario Hezonja (Coach: Velimir Perasović)


2016 Olympic Games: finished 5th among 12 teams

4 Luka Babić, 5 Filip Krušlin, 6 Rok Stipčević, 7 Krunoslav Simon, 8 Mario Hezonja, 9 Dario Šarić, 10 Roko Ukić (C), 12 Darko Planinić, 15 Miro Bilan, 33 Željko Šakić, 35 Marko Arapović, 44 Bojan Bogdanović (Coach: Aleksandar Petrović)


2017 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 24 teams

5 Filip Krušlin, 6 Marko Popović, 7 Krunoslav Simon, 9 Dario Šarić, 10 Roko Ukić (C), 11 Luka Žorić, 12 Darko Planinić, 17 Dragan Bender, 25 Ivan Buva, 27 Ivan Ramljak, 33 Marko Tomas, 44 Bojan Bogdanović (Coach: Aleksandar Petrović)

Results and fixtures

Group D

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Croatia (Q) 4 4 0 307 249 +58 8 EuroBasket 2022
2  Netherlands 4 2 2 280 283 3 6
3  Sweden 4 1 3 291 317 26 5
4  Turkey 4 1 3 280 309 29 5
Updated to match(es) played on 29 November 2020. Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated.
*Due to the COVID-19 pandemic matches in the November 2020 and February 2021 windows will be played behind closed doors in select host cities.[12]

Notable players and coaches

Head-to-head record

Biggest tournament wins

20+ point difference

Olympic Games World Cup EuroBasket
  • +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
  • +38 vs. Czech Republic (107–69) 2017
  • +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

Biggest tournament losses

-20> point difference

Olympic Games World Cup EuroBasket
  • -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

Biggest qualification wins

20+ point difference

Olympic qualification World Cup qualification EuroBasket qualification
  • +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
  • +27 vs. Romania (63-90) 2018
  • +60 vs. Romania (115-55) 1997
  • +56 vs. Macedonia (128-72) 1993[13]
  • +40 vs. Belarus (112-72) 1993
  • +34 vs. Latvia (113-79) 1993
  • +33 vs. Romania (119-86) 1993
  • +29 vs. Ukraine (107-78) 1993

Statistics

Record against other teams

As of 18 Aug 2016, after 2016 Olympics

Key
Positive total balance (more wins)
Neutral total balance (equal W/L ratio)
Negative total balance (more losses)
National team Total Olympic Games World
Cup
EuroBasket Mediterranean
Games
Qualifications
Pld W L Pld W L Pld W L Pld W L Pld W L Pld W L
Albania 110 000 000 000 110 000
Angola 220 220 000 000
Argentina 422 312 110 000
Australia 431 321 110 000
Austria 220 000 000 000 220
Belarus 110 000 000 000 110
Belgium 330 000 000 110 220
Bosnia and
Herzegovina
743 000 000 321 000 422
Brazil 422 321 101 000
Bulgaria 431 000 000 220 211
Cameroon 110 000 000 110
Canada 220 000 110 110
China 330 220 110 000
Cuba 110 000 110 000
Cyprus 440 000 000 000 000 440
Czech Republic * 431 000 000 321 110
Denmark 220 000 000 000 220
England 220 000 000 220
Estonia 761 000 000 220 541
Finland 330 000 000 330 000
France 835 000 101 734 000 000
Georgia 211 000 000 211 000
Germany 1257 110 000 734 413
Great Britain 000 000 000 000 000
Greece 1596 000 321 835 220 220
Hungary 440 000 000 000 440
Iceland 330 000 000 000 330
Iran 220 110 110 000
Ireland 220 000 000 000 220
Israel 321 000 000 211 110
Italy 1082 000 000 651 110 321
Latvia 761 000 000 211 550
Lithuania 1129 312 000 505 312
Macedonia 651 000 000 321 000 330
Montenegro 110 000 000 110 000 000
Morocco 110 000 000 110 000
Netherlands 550 000 000 110 440
Nigeria 101 101 000 000
Philippines 110 000 110 000
Poland 211 000 000 211 000
Portugal 220 000 000 110 110
Puerto Rico 220 000 110 110
Romania 440 000 000 000 440
Russia ** 1376 220 101 734 321
Senegal 101 000 101 000
Serbia *** 514 101 101 202 110 000
Slovakia 440 000 000 000 440
Slovenia 844 000 101 532 000 211
South Korea 110 000 110 000
Spain 945 321 000 624 000 000
Sweden 431 000 000 000 431
Switzerland 220 000 000 000 220
Tunisia 220 000 110 000 110
Turkey 844 000 000 633 000 211
Ukraine 862 000 000 321 541
United States 404 303 101 000
Total (56) 23415777

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

See also

References

  1. "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  2. "XIII Olympic Basketball Tournament (Barcelona 1992) Qualifying stage". Linguasport. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  3. http://www.eurobasket.com/Croatia/basketball.asp
  4. http://www.hks-cbf.hr
  5. "FIBA WORLD RANKING". fiba.com. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  6. "All Star NBA u Šancu 1964". kafotka.net. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  7. "U Šancu haklale NBA zvijezde, a u Draganiću gradili naftnu bušotinu". www.kaportal.hr. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  8. "KARLOVAC: 40 GODINA NBA LIGE U KARLOVCU". Index.hr. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  9. "FOTO: Reprezentacija otputovala na kvalifikacije za EP, ukupno 15 igrača na popisu" (in Croatian). Croatian Basketball Federation. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  10. "Croatia during the EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers". Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  11. "Aco Petrovic otišao, a Hrvatska ekspresno dobila novog izbornika". Jutarnji.hr. 15 September 2017.
  12. "Statement regarding the November 2020 and February 2021 Qualifiers". Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  13. "XXVIII European Championship (München 1993) Qualifying stage". Linguasport. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
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