Yugoslavia national basketball team

This article is about Yugoslavia men's national basketball team. For the women's team, see Yugoslavia women's national basketball team. For the national team that played under the flag of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, see FR Yugoslavia national basketball team.

Yugoslavia

FIBA ranking	Defunct
Joined FIBA	1936
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia
Nickname(s)	Plavi (Blues)
Olympic Games
Appearances	8
Medals	Gold: 1980 Silver: 1968, 1976, 1988 Bronze: 1984
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	10
Medals	Gold 1970, 1978, 1990 Silver 1963, 1967, 1974 Bronze 1982, 1986
FIBA EuroBasket
Appearances	21
Medals	Gold: 1973, 1975, 1977, 1989, 1991 Silver 1961, 1965, 1969, 1971, 1981 Bronze 1963, 1979, 1987
Uniforms
Light Dark
Medal record Summer Olympic Games 1980 Moscow 1968 Mexico City 1976 Montreal 1988 Seoul 1984 Los Angeles FIBA World Cup 1970 Yugoslavia 1978 Philippines 1990 Argentina 1963 Brazil 1967 Uruguay 1974 Puerto Rico 1982 Colombia 1986 Spain FIBA EuroBasket 1973 Spain 1975 Yugoslavia 1977 Belgium 1989 Yugoslavia 1991 Italy 1961 Yugoslavia 1965 Soviet Union 1969 Italy 1971 West Germany 1981 Czechoslovakia 1963 Poland 1979 Italy 1987 Greece Mediterranean Games 1959 Beirut 1967 Tunis 1971 Izmir 1975 Algiers 1983 Casablanca 1979 Split 1963 Naples Summer Universiade 1987 Yugoslavia 1979 Mexico City 1983 Kobe 1981 Bucuresti

The Yugoslavian national basketball team (Serbo-Croatian: Košarkaška reprezentacija Jugoslavije / Кошаркашка репрезентација Југославије; Slovene: Jugoslovanska košarkarska reprezentanca; Macedonian: Кошаркарска репрезентација на Југославија) represented Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1943 until 1992 in the international basketball matches and was controlled by the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia (KSJ).

Competitions

At the Summer Olympic Games, Yugoslavia captured one gold medal (1980), took the silver medal on three occasions (1968, 76, 88) and captured the bronze medal once (1984).

At the FIBA World Cup, Yugoslavia captured three gold medals (1970, 1978 and 1990), three silver medals (1963, 1967, 1974) and two bronze medals (1982, 1986).

At the EuroBasket, Yugoslavia captured the gold medal five times (1973, 1975, 1977, 1989, 1991), were silver medalists on five occasions (1961, 1965, 1969, 1971, 1981), and captured the bronze medal four times (1963, 1979, 1987).

Performance at Summer Olympic Games

Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1936 Berlin	Did not qualify
1948 London
1952 Helsinki
1956 Melbourne
1960 Rome	6th	8	4	4
1964 Tokyo	7th	9	5	4
1968 Mexico City	2nd	9	7	2
1972 Munich	5th	9	7	2
1976 Montreal	2nd	7	5	2
1980 Moscow	1st	8	8	0
1984 Los Angeles	3rd	8	7	1
1988 Seoul	2nd	8	6	2
Total	8/12	66	49	17

Performance at FIBA World Cup

Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1950 Argentina	10th	5	0	5
1954 Brazil	11th	5	1	4
1959 Chile	Did not qualify
1963 Brazil	2nd	9	8	1
1967 Uruguay	2nd	9	6	3
1970 Yugoslavia	1st	6	5	1
1974 Puerto Rico	2nd	7	6	1
1978 Philippines	1st	11	11	0
1982 Colombia	3rd	10	8	2
1986 Spain	3rd	12	10	2
1990 Argentina	1st	8	7	1
Total	10/11	82	62	20

Performance at FIBA EuroBasket

Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1935 Switzerland	Did not qualify
1937 Latvia
1939 Lithuania
1946 Switzerland
1947 Czechoslovakia	13th	5	2	3
1949 Egypt	Did not qualify
1951 France
1953 Soviet Union	6th	11	6	5
1955 Hungary	8th	11	4	7
1957 Bulgaria	6th	10	4	6
1959 Turkey	9th	7	6	1
1961 Yugoslavia	2nd	10	8	2
1963 Poland	3rd	9	8	1
1965 Soviet Union	2nd	9	8	1
1967 Finland	9th	9	6	3
1969 Italy	2nd	7	6	1
1971 Germany	2nd	7	6	1
1973 Spain	1st	7	7	0
1975 Yugoslavia	1st	8	8	0
1977 Belgium	1st	7	6	1
1979 Italy	3rd	9	6	3
1981 Czechoslovakia	2nd	10	8	2
1983 France	7th	7	4	3
1985 Germany	7th	8	5	3
1987 Greece	3rd	8	5	3
1989 Yugoslavia	1st	5	5	0
1991 Italy	1st	5	5	0
Total	21/27	169	123	46

Medals table

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Summer Olympic Games
Yugoslavia	1	3	1	5
FIBA World Cup
Yugoslavia	3	3	2	8
FIBA EuroBasket
Yugoslavia	5	5	3	13
Mediterranean Games
Yugoslavia	5	1	1	7
Summer Universiade
Yugoslavia	1	2	1	4
Grand Totals	15	14	8	37

European championships

EuroBasket 1947

Yugoslavia made its European championship debut in EuroBasket 1947, the fifth edition of the tournament. The team placed 13th out of 14 teams in the competition, losing to the Soviet Union and Hungary in the preliminary round, beating the Netherlands but losing to Italy in the semifinal round (placing third in the three-way tie between the teams), and defeating Albania in the 13th/14th classification match.

EuroBasket 1953

Yugoslavia's second appearance was at EuroBasket 1953 in Moscow. They dropped an early 27–25 decision against Bulgaria but finished at 3–1 in their preliminary group. In the three-way tie-breaker with Bulgaria and Israel, Yugoslavia ended up in second place to advance to the final round. There, they won 3 but lost 4 to take 6th place overall in the 17 team tournament.

EuroBasket 1955

Apollo Hall in Amsterdam between AMVJ and Lokomotiva from Yugoslavia (37-64) in 1955

Yugoslavia again advanced to the final round at EuroBasket 1955 in Budapest, this time in sole second place with a 3–1 record in the preliminary round pool. Their final round performance was riddled with 6 losses in 7 games, but did include the high point of a 52–49 victory over eventual silver medallist Czechoslovakia on Yugoslavia's way to an 8th-place finish of the 18 entrants.

EuroBasket 1957

Yugoslavia's appearance at the EuroBasket 1957 tournament in Sofia resulted in a 2–1 record for the preliminary round and advancement to the final round robin. There, they proved capable of two wins, defeating Poland and France to finish at 2–5 for 6th place in the tournament.

Dominate FIBA Years

The Yugoslav national team of the late 1980s and early 1990s featured what was perhaps the greatest generation in the history of Yugoslav basketball. A common quip about basketball is: "The Americans invented it, the Yugoslavs perfected it." With such players as Dražen Petrović, Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoč, Dino Rađa, Predrag Danilović, Žarko Paspalj and Jure Zdovc has pioneered the wave of international NBA players well before the early 21st century, when the concept began to gain true global momentum.

Many of the former Yugoslav stars mentioned above were a part of the under-21 national team that won the FIBA World Junior Championships in 1987, defeating the U.S. both in pool play and in the final.

Rosters

1947 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 14 teams

Nebojša Popović, Ladislav Demšar, Aleksandar Gec, Srđan Kalember, Mirko Marjanović, Zorko Cvetković, Božo Grkinić, Zlatko Kovačević, Aleksandar Milojković, Božidar Munćan, Otone Olivieri, Tulio Roklicer, Miodrag Stefanović (Coach: Stevica Čolović)

1948 Olympic Games: did not participate

1949 EuroBasket: did not participate

1950 World Championship: finished 10th among 10 teams

Borislav Stanković, Nebojša Popović, Ladislav Demšar, Aleksandar Gec, Srđan Kalember, Vilmos Loczi, Lajos Engler, Aleksandar Blašković, Mirko Amon, Dusan Radojčić, Milorad Sokolović, Milenko Novaković (Coach: Nebojša Popović)

1951 EuroBasket: did not participate

1952 Olympic Games: did not participate

1953 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 17 teams

Borislav Stanković, Ladislav Demšar, Aleksandar Gec, Srđan Kalember, Vilmos Loczi, Lajos Engler, Aleksandar Blasković, Mirko Marjanović, Đorđe Andrijašević, Milan Bjegojević, Borislav Ćurčić, Dragan Godžić, Borko Jovanović (Coach: Nebojša Popović)

1954 World Championship: finished 11th among 12 teams

Vilmos Loczi, Lajos Engler, Aleksandar Blasković, Mirko Marjanović, Đorđe Andrijašević, Milan Bjegojević, Borislav Ćurčić, Dragan Godzić, Bogdan Muller, Đorđe Konjović, Milan Blagojević, Boris Kristančič (Coach: Aca Nikolić)

1955 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 18 teams

Ladislav Demšar, Vilmos Loczi, Aleksandar Blasković, Đorđe Andrijašević, Milan Bjegojević, Borislav Ćurčić, Bogdan Muller, Đorđe Konjović, Milutin Minja, Obren Popović, Jože Zupančič, Ljubomir Katić (Coach: Aca Nikolić)

1956 Olympic Games: did not participate

1957 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 16 teams

Ivo Daneu, Vilmos Loczi, Lajos Engler, Bogdan Muller, Boris Kristančič, Milutin Minja, Ljubomir Katić, Marjan Kandus, Miodrag Nikolić, Branko Radović, Matija Dermastija, Branko Miletić (Coach: Aca Nikolić)

1959 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 17 teams

Radivoj Korać, Ivo Daneu, Slobodan Gordić, Boris Kristančič, Milutin Minja, Marjan Kandus, Miodrag Nikolić, Branko Radović, Matija Dermastija, Nemanja Đurić, Radovan Radović, Igor Jelnikar (Coach: Aca Nikolić)

1959 World Championship: did not participate

1960 Olympic Games: finished 6th among 16 teams

Radivoj Korać, Ivo Daneu, Slobodan Gordić, Josip Đerđa, Boris Kristančič, Marjan Kandus, Miodrag Nikolić, Nemanja Đurić, Radovan Radović, Miha Lokar, Zvonko Petričević, Sreten Dragojlović (Coach: Aca Nikolić)

1961 EuroBasket: finished 2nd among 19 teams

Radivoj Korać, Ivo Daneu, Slobodan Gordić, Marjan Kandus, Miodrag Nikolić, Nemanja Đurić, Radovan Radović, Miha Lokar, Zvonko Petričević, Sreten Dragojlović, Vital Eiselt, Željko Troskot (Coach: Aca Nikolić)

1963 EuroBasket: finished 3rd among 16 teams

Radivoj Korać, Ivo Daneu, Slobodan Gordić, Trajko Rajković, Borut Bassin, Miodrag Nikolić, Nemanja Đurić, Zvonko Petričević, Dragoslav Ražnatović, Miloš Bojović, Živko Kasun, Emil Logar (Coach: Aca Nikolić)

1963 World Championship: finished 2nd among 13 teams

Radivoj Korać, Ivo Daneu, Josip Đerđa, Slobodan Gordić, Trajko Rajković, Miodrag Nikolić, Nemanja Đurić, Zvonko Petričević, Dragoslav Ražnatović, Vital Eiselt, Vladimir Cvetković, Dragan Kovačić (Coach: Aca Nikolić)

1964 Olympic Games: finished 7th among 16 teams

Radivoj Korać, Ivo Daneu, Josip Đerđa, Slobodan Gordić, Trajko Rajković, Miodrag Nikolić, Nemanja Đurić, Zvonko Petričević, Dragoslav Ražnatović, Vital Eiselt, Vladimir Cvetković, Dragan Kovačić (Coach: Aca Nikolić)

1965 EuroBasket: finished 2nd among 16 teams

Radivoj Korać, Ivo Daneu, Petar Skansi, Josip Đerđa, Slobodan Gordić, Trajko Rajković, Nemanja Đurić, Zvonko Petričević, Dragoslav Ražnatović, Vital Eiselt, Dragan Kovačić, Milos Bojović (Coach: Aca Nikolić)

1967 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 16 teams

Kresimir Ćosić, Petar Skansi, Aljoša Zorga, Rato Tvrdić, Damir Šolman, Borut Bassin, Ljubodrag Simonović, Dragoslav Ražnatović, Vladimir Cvetković, Dragan Kapičić, Zoran Marojević, Goran Brajković (Coach: Ranko Žeravica)

1967 World Championship: finished 2nd among 13 teams

Radivoj Korać, Krešimir Ćosić, Ivo Daneu, Josip Đerđa, Petar Skansi, Rato Tvrdić, Borut Bassin, Nemanja Đurić, Trajko Rajković, Dragoslav Ražnatović, Vladimir Cvetković, Dragan Kovačić (Coach: Ranko Žeravica)

1968 Olympic Games: finished 2nd among 16 teams

Radivoj Korać, Krešimir Ćosić, Ivo Daneu, Petar Skansi, Nikola Plecas, Aljoša Žorga, Damir Šolman, Trajko Rajković, Dragoslav Ražnatović, Vladimir Cvetković, Dragutin Čermak, Zoran Marojević (Coach: Ranko Žeravica)

1969 EuroBasket: finished 2nd among 12 teams

Krešimir Ćosić, Ivo Daneu, Nikola Plećaš, Vinko Jelovac, Rato Tvrdić, Damir Šolman, Ljubodrag Simonović, Trajko Rajković, Dragutin Čermak, Dragan Kapičić, Vladimir Cvetković, Zoran Marojević (Coach: Ranko Žeravica)

1970 World Championship: finished 1st among 13 teams

Krešimir Ćosić, Ivo Daneu, Petar Skansi, Nikola Plećaš, Vinko Jelovac, Aljoša Žorga, Rato Tvrdić, Damir Šolman, Ljubodrag Simonović, Trajko Rajković, Dragutin Čermak, Dragan Kapičić (Coach: Ranko Žeravica)

1971 EuroBasket: finished 2nd among 12 teams

Krešimir Ćosić, Nikola Plećaš, Vinko Jelovac, Aljoša Žorga, Ljubodrag Simonović, Dragutin Čermak, Borut Bassin, Dragan Kapičić, Blagoje Georgijevski, Žarko Knežević, Dragiša Vučinić, Davor Rukavina (Coach: Ranko Žeravica)

1972 Olympic Games: finished 5th among 16 teams

Krešimir Ćosić, Nikola Plećaš, Vinko Jelovac, Rato Tvrdić, Damir Šolman, Ljubodrag Simonović, Dragan Kapičić, Blagoje Georgijevski, Žarko Knežević, Dragutin Čermak, Miroljub Damnjanović, Milun Marović (Coach: Ranko Žeravica)

1973 EuroBasket: finished 1st among 12 teams

Kresimir Ćosić, Dražen Dalipagić, Dragan Kićanović, Nikola Plecas, Vinko Jelovac, Zoran Slavnić, Željko Jerkov, Rato Tvrdić, Damir Šolman, Žarko Knezević, Milun Marović, Dragan Ivković (Coach: Mirko Novosel)

1974 World Championship: finished 2nd among 14 teams

Kresimir Ćosić, Dražen Dalipagić, Dragan Kićanović, Nikola Plecas, Vinko Jelovac, Zoran Slavnić, Željko Jerkov, Rato Tvrdić, Damir Šolman, Žarko Knezević, Dragan Kapičić, Milun Marović (Coach: Mirko Novosel)

1975 EuroBasket: finished 1st among 12 teams

Krešimir Ćosić, Dražen Dalipagić, Mirza Delibašić, Dragan Kićanović, Nikola Plećaš, Vinko Jelovac, Zoran Slavnić, Željko Jerkov, Rato Tvrdić, Damir Šolman, Dragan Kapičić, Rajko Žižić (Coach: Mirko Novosel)

1976 Olympic Games: finished 2nd among 12 teams

Krešimir Ćosić, Dražen Dalipagić, Mirza Delibašić, Dragan Kićanović, Vinko Jelovac, Zoran Slavnić, Željko Jerkov, Žarko Varajić, Damir Šolman, Andro Knego, Rajko Žižić, Blagoje Georgijevski (Coach: Mirko Novosel)

1977 EuroBasket: finished 1st among 12 teams

Krešimir Ćosić, Dražen Dalipagić, Mirza Delibašić, Dragan Kićanović, Vinko Jelovac, Zoran Slavnić, Željko Jerkov, Žarko Varajić, Ratko Radovanović, Duje Krstulović, Ante Đogić, Joško Papić (Coach: Aca Nikolić)

1978 World Championship: finished 1st among 14 teams

Kresimir Ćosić, Dražen Dalipagić, Mirza Delibašić, Dragan Kićanović, Zoran Slavnić, Željko Jerkov, Andro Knego, Ratko Radovanović, Rajko Žižić, Duje Krstulović, Peter Vilfan, Branko Skroče (Coach: Aca Nikolić)

1979 EuroBasket: finished 3rd among 12 teams

Kresimir Ćosić, Dražen Dalipagić, Mirza Delibašić, Dragan Kićanović, Zoran Slavnić, Željko Jerkov, Žarko Varajić, Ratko Radovanović, Rajko Žižić, Duje Krstulović, Peter Vilfan, Mihovil Nakić (Coach: Petar Skansi)

1980 Olympic Games: finished 1st among 12 teams

Kresimir Ćosić, Dražen Dalipagić, Mirza Delibašić, Dragan Kićanović, Zoran Slavnić, Željko Jerkov, Andro Knego, Ratko Radovanović, Rajko Žižić, Duje Krstulović, Mihovil Nakić, Branko Skroče (Coach: Ranko Žeravica)

1981 EuroBasket: finished 2nd among 12 teams

Krešimir Ćosić, Dražen Dalipagić, Mirza Delibašić, Dragan Kićanović, Andro Knego, Ratko Radovanović, Peter Vilfan, Branko Skroče, Predrag Benaček, Boban Petrović, Željko Poljak, Petar Popović (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević)

1982 World Championship: finished 3rd among 13 teams

Dražen Dalipagić, Mirza Delibašić, Dragan Kićanović, Željko Jerkov, Aco Petrović, Andro Knego, Ratko Radovanović, Peter Vilfan, Rajko Žižić, Boban Petrović, Zufer Avdija, Zoran Radović (Coach: Ranko Žeravica)

1983 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 12 teams

Dražen Petrović, Krešimir Ćosić, Dražen Dalipagić, Dragan Kićanović, Zoran Slavnić, Ratko Radovanović, Peter Vilfan, Rajko Žižić, Ivan Sunara, Goran Grbović, Željko Poljak, Milenko Savović (Coach: Josip Đerđa)

1984 Olympic Games: finished 3rd among 12 teams

Dražen Petrović, Aco Petrović, Dražen Dalipagić, Andro Knego, Ratko Radovanović, Rajko Žižić, Mihovil Nakić, Emir Mutapčić, Sabit Hadžić, Ivan Sunara, Nebojša Zorkić, Branko Vukičević (Coach: Mirko Novosel)

1985 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 12 teams

Dražen Petrović, Andro Knego, Zoran Čutura, Mihovil Nakić, Emir Mutapčić, Stojan Vranković, Ivan Sunara, Zoran Radović, Sven Ušić, Nebojša Zorkić, Boban Petrović, Borislav Vučević (Coach: Krešimir Ćosić)

1986 World Championship: finished 3rd among 24 teams

Dražen Petrović, Aco Petrović, Dražen Dalipagić, Vlade Divac, Stojan Vranković, Ratko Radovanović, Zoran Čutura, Emir Mutapčić, Danko Cvjetičanin, Franjo Arapović, Zoran Radović, Veljko Petranović (Coach: Krešimir Ćosić)

1987 EuroBasket: finished 3rd among 12 teams

Dražen Petrović, Aco Petrović, Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoč, Dino Rađa, Žarko Paspalj, Aleksandar Đorđević, Stojan Vranković, Ratko Radovanović, Danko Cvjetičanin, Zoran Radović, Goran Grbović (Coach: Krešimir Ćosić)

1988 Olympic Games: finished 2nd among 12 teams

Dražen Petrović, Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoč, Dino Rađa, Žarko Paspalj, Stojan Vranković, Jure Zdovc, Zoran Čutura, Danko Cvjetičanin, Franjo Arapović, Željko Obradović, Zdravko Radulović (Coach: Dušan Ivković)

1989 EuroBasket: finished 1st among 8 teams

Dražen Petrović, Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoč, Dino Rađa, Žarko Paspalj, Predrag Danilović, Stojan Vranković, Jure Zdovc, Zoran Čutura, Zdravko Radulović, Zoran Radović, Mario Primorac (Coach: Dušan Ivković)

1990 World Championship: finished 1st among 16 teams

Dražen Petrović, Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoč, Žarko Paspalj, Zoran Savić, Velimir Perasović, Jure Zdovc, Zoran Čutura, Željko Obradović, Arijan Komazec, Radisav Ćurčić, Zoran Jovanović (Coach: Dušan Ivković)

1991 EuroBasket: finished 1st among 8 teams

Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoč, Dino Rađa, Žarko Paspalj, Zoran Savić, Predrag Danilović, Aleksandar Đorđević, Velimir Perasović, Jure Zdovc, Arijan Komazec, Zoran Sretenović, Zoran Jovanović (Coach: Dušan Ivković)

For 1992 onwards, as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: see Serbia and Montenegro national basketball team

Player statistics

Most appearances

100+

#	Player	Matches	Position	Years	Nationality
1	Krešimir Ćosić	303	C		CRO
	Vinko Jelovac	243	C		CRO
	Dražen Dalipagić	243			BIH
	Damir Šolman	226	SF		CRO
	Dragan Kićanović	216	SG		SRB
	Ivo Daneu	209			SLO
	Mirza Delibašić	176	SG		BIH
	Dragan Kapičić	169			SRB
	Zoran Radović	168	SG, SF		SRB
	Radivoj Korać	157	PF		SRB
	Ratko Radovanović	150+	C		BIH
	Peter Vilfan	121	SG		SLO
	Trajko Rajković	113			SRB
	Aleksandar Đorđević	108	PG		SRB
	Boris Kristančič	100			SLO
	Dragutin Čermak				CRO
	Nikola Plećaš				CRO
	Ratomir Tvrdić		SG		CRO
	Josip Gjergja				CRO
	Željko Jerkov		C		CRO
	Andro Knego		C		CRO
	Zoran Slavnić		PG		SRB
	Rajko Žižić		C		SRB
	Mihovil Nakić				CRO

Top scorers

1000+

#	Name	Points	PPG	Position	Years	Nationality
	Damir Šolman	1785	7.9	SF		CRO
	Mirza Delibašić	1759	10.0	SG		BIH

Manager history

• 1950–1953 – Nebojša Popović
• 1954–1965 – Aleksandar Nikolić
• 1967–1972 – Ranko Žeravica
• 1973–1976 – Mirko Novosel
• 1977–1978 – Aleksandar Nikolić
• 1979 – Petar Skansi
• 1980 – Ranko Žeravica
• 1981 – Bogdan Tanjević
• 1982 – Ranko Žeravica
• 1983 – Josip Gjergja
• 1984 – Mirko Novosel
• 1985–1987 – Krešimir Ćosić
• 1988–1991 – Dušan Ivković

Successor teams

• Bosnia and Herzegovina national basketball team
• Croatia national basketball team
• Macedonia national basketball team
• Montenegro national basketball team
• Serbia national basketball team
• Slovenia national basketball team

References

1. REDIRECT Template:Summer Olympics men's basketball tournament winners

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