The North Macedonia men's national basketball team ( mk, Кошаркарска репрезентација на Северна Македонија, Košarkarska reprezentacija na Severna Makedonija) represents

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

in international

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and is controlled by the

Basketball Federation of North Macedonia The Basketball Federation of North Macedonia (Macedonian: ''Кошаркарска федерација на Северна Македонија'' / ''Košarkarska federacija na Severna Makedonija'') is the governing body of basketball in North M ...

. They joined

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

in 1993, after they gained

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

from Yugoslavia. That same year the national team played their first official match against

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. Prior to 1993, Macedonian players took part on the Yugoslavia national team. Macedonia debuted in their first international tournament at the EuroBasket in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

. They have appeared five times at the event overall, with their top performance coming in 2011.

History

Macedonian National Basketball team, August 2010

Before 1991, Macedonia was a Federal Republic of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, with players from Macedonia being part of the Yugoslavia national team. First match was in 1945 when Macedonia finished 4th. The first match was in 1945 against Croatia finishing 27-29. The team had mostly played matches against teams from other republics of federation and was represented by Macedonian players under the traditional red, color.

EuroBasket 1999

After qualifying for

EuroBasket 1999 The 1999 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1999, was the 31st FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2000 Olympic Tournament, giving a berth ...

, the national team was placed in Group A, along with

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yug ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. The first game Macedonia came out firing showing solid competitive play against the French Team, however, eventually lost by a narrow margin of 67–71. Next up, was Group A favorites FR Yugoslavia, showing superior play with their post up offense, Macedonia lost 68–83. With the final game of the group Macedonia played a fairly even match, however, luck was not on their side, losing 82–84. Even though Macedonia lost all 3 of their matches to be eliminated, the team showed heart and talent with their impressive play against France and Israel. Due to their small margin of the losses Macedonia ended the tournament ranked as 13th overall.

EuroBasket 2009

EuroBasket 2009 The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

was the first EuroBasket tournament that Macedonia qualified for in a decade. Macedonia was placed in Group A, along with

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and

. Macedonia began the tournament with a brutal 54–86 loss to rivals Greece, but rebounded with an 82–79 victory over Israel. Despite dropping their last match against Croatia, the Israel result was enough to secure second round qualification. In the second round, Macedonia was placed in Group E alongside

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Macedonia lost to France in the second round opener, but famously defeated Germany in the next game. Against Russia, Macedonia was narrowly defeated by a score of 69–71. This performance was not enough to secure a berth in to the knockout round. Nevertheless, Macedonia considers this as a historic success for the national team, since it was only the country's second appearance at the EuroBasket and the team advanced past the first round. In the final tournament rankings, Macedonia ranked 9th place with a record of 2–4.

EuroBasket 2011

Through the

qualifying round Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

, Macedonia qualified for

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted the 1939 cha ...

and was in Group C along with

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

, and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in the preliminary phase. The national team lost their first match to Montenegro 65–70 in overtime but won the remaining four against Croatia 78–76, Greece 72–58, Finland 72–70, and Bosnia and Herzegovina 75–63. Macedonia finished first in the group and advanced to the second round. In the second round, Macedonia was in Group F with

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, Greece,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, and Finland. Having beaten Greece and Finland in the preliminary round, Macedonia went in to the second round with a 2–0 record. After beating Georgia 65–63, Macedonia qualified for the knockout round. The team then beat Slovenia 68–59, but lost to Russia by 2 points 63–61 after Sergey Monya made a buzzer-beating shot to win the final game of the second round. Macedonia, therefore, finished second in Group F. For the first time in the national team's history, it reached the knockout stage where it defeated host country Lithuania 67–65 by 2 points in the quarter-finals. Macedonia then lost to the eventual champion

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

92–80 in the semi-finals. They then lost again in the third place game to Russia 68–72 and finished in fourth place.

2012 Olympic Qualifying Tournament

By finishing in 4th place at EuroBasket 2011, Macedonia qualified for the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. They were drawn into Group D along with Angola and New Zealand. In the first game against Angola, Macedonia came out non-aggressive in the 1st half falling to a 13 pt deficit 40–53 at halftime. During most of the match, the top Macedonian players showed fatigue due to the grueling playoff matches they had played for their club teams. In addition, Macedonia came out with a strong 4th quarter, eventually losing by a margin of 4 points, with the final score being 84–88 Angola. Top scorers for Macedonia against Angola were Pero Antic with 17, and

Bo McCalebb Lester "Bo" McCalebb ( mk, Лестер „Бо“ МекКејлеб; born May 4, 1985) is an American-Macedonian former professional basketball player. He represented the senior Macedonian national team internationally. Standing at , he played ...

with 21. On the next match day, which was the day after with less than 24 hours of rest, Macedonia came out a lot stronger in the 1st quarter with a strong lead that carried over the entire game. Eventually, New Zealand could not recover, and fell to Macedonia with a final score of 84–62. Leading scorers for the game were Todor Gecevski with 16,

Antic Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) is an LSI ASIC dedicated to generating 2D computer graphics to be shown on a television screen or computer display. Under the direction of Jay Miner, the chip was designed in 1977-1978 by ...

with 17, and McCalebb with 23. The Macedonian players got much needed rest before the quarterfinals, which would begin two days later on 6 July 2012. The team, following the 68–64 victory by New Zealand over Angola, won Group D and its opponent in the quarterfinals was to be the Group C runner-up,

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. Macedonia lost the game 86–76, though the team had a 13-point lead at halftime. The lost eliminated the national team from qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Games.

EuroBasket 2013

By participating at the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Macedonia qualified for

EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France defeated Lithuania in th ...

in Slovenia. In a disappointing campaign, Macedonia did not manage to repeat the success from the previous Eurobasket, having one victory in five matches in their preliminary Group B against Serbia 89–75, which was good enough only for the last place in the group stage and 21st overall. The first game of the Eurobasket against Montenegro was particularly demoralizing, as the Montenegrins won 81–80 in controversial fashion, after the referees didn't call interference on the basket during Gjorgji Čekovski's last second game winning attempt, despite the fact that one of the Montenegrin players got his hand trapped in the net. Macedonia's best performers were once again McCalebb and Antić, with 17.6 and 13.8 points per game, respectively. After the tournament, several of the Macedonian veteran players, led by captain Pero Antić, announced their retirement from the national team.

EuroBasket 2015

At the

EuroBasket 2015 EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 S ...

there were not high expectations for Macedonia, due to their poor performance at their last EuroBasket appearance in 2013. In their first match against

they were thoroughly manhandled throughout as they were defeated 65-85. Looking for their first victory heading in to their second match of the tournament they went up against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The outcome was different this time, as the national team played with more energy and heart and pulled out an 78-71 win. Unfortunately, that would wind up being the only win for Macedonia, as they finished with an 1-4 record and a lousy 19th place at the event.

Recent years

Since 12 February 2019, the national team participate as North Macedonia. The national team took part in the 2019 FIBA World Cup Pre-Qualifiers, but were eliminated after posting an (1-3) record in their group. The team will now go through EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers for the chance to qualify to the next EuroBasket.

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup

1950(10),1954(11),1963(2),1967(2),1970(1)
1974(2),1978(1),1982(3),1986(3),1990(1)

Olympic Games

1960(6),1964(7),1968(2)
1972(5),1976(2),1980(1),1984(3),1988(2)

EuroBasket

1947(13),1953(6),1955(8),1957(6),1959(9),1961(2)
1963(3),1965(2),1967(9),1969(2),1971(2),1973(1),1975(1),1977(1)
1979(3),1981(2),1983(7),1985(7),1987(3),1989(1),1991(1) Former Yugoslavia Flag Map (With Kosovo)

Former Yugoslavia Flag Map (With Kosovo)

Minor Tournaments

* Yugoslav Basketball tournament ** 4th place:

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...

Team image

Home ground

The BTSC – Boris Trajkovski Sports Center mk, Спортски центар Борис Трајковски,

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

is a multi-functional indoor sports arena. It is located in the Karpoš Municipality of

, Macedonia. It is named after the former

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Boris Trajkovski Boris Trajkovski ( GCMG) ( mk, Борис Трајковски, pronounced ; 25 June 1956 – 26 February 2004) was a Macedonian politician who served as the second President of Macedonia from 1999 until his death in 2004 in a plane crash. Tra ...

. Its capacity is 10,000 .There is an Olympic size Swimming Pool and 5 Star Hotel Alexander Palace within the complex. Additional Water Land Fun Park and Ice Skating Rink next to it. The arena is a home-ground of the Macedonian basketball team (men and women). The venue also contains four restaurants and a sports bar.

Colors

National kit colors are colors of the flag which are also Spread on the Presidential Shield. Noble Red blood and Golden Yellow Sun Devine "ILI". File:Flag of North Macedonia.svg File:Coat of arms of the President of North Macedonia.svg File:Bo McCalebb Eurobasket.jpg File:Pero Antić.JPG

Team

Current roster

Squad for the games vs Norway and Denmark on November 10 and November 13, 2022. , valign="top" , ; Head Coach *

Aleksandar Jončevski Aleksandar Jončevski (born January 9, 1981) is a Macedonian professional basketball coach. Coaching career He started his coaching career in 2010 in KFUM Uppsala U18 in Sweden. After being one year ass.coach in Rabotnicki, he became assistant ...

; Assistant Coaches * Nikola Vasilev *

Nikola Velev Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek ''Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος). It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavs, South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedon ...

---- ;Legend: *Club – describes last
team before the competition *Age – describes age
on 12 July 2022 Following list is of active players who have been called up by the national team in the last year

Depth chart

Notable players

Petar Naumoski Petar "Pece" Naumoski ( mk, Петар "Пеце" Наумоски; born 27 August 1968) is a former Macedonian professional basketball player. At a height of 1.95 m (6'4 ") tall, and a weight of 95 kg (210 lbs.). He played mainly at th ...

– (1995–2002) *

Vrbica Stefanov Vrbica Stefanov ( mk, Врбица Стефанов, ; born December 19, 1973) is a retired Macedonian professional basketball player and later was a head coach of Macedonian basketball team Kožuv. Professional career After starting his basketb ...

– (1995–2009) * Pero Blaževski – (1995–2009) * Todor Gecevski – (1996–2013) * Pero Antić – (2002–2013) *

– (2010–2013) *

Vlado Ilievski Vlado Ilievski ( mk, Владо Илиевски; born 19 January 1980) is a former Macedonian professional basketball. Standing at , he played at the point guard position. Professional career During his career, Ilievski played for KK Nemetali Og ...

– (1998–2015) *

Predrag Samardžiski Predrag Samardžiski ( mk, Предраг Самарџиски; born April 11, 1986) is a Macedonian professional basketball player who plays for EuroNickel 2005 of the Macedonian League. Professional career Samardžiski started his career at K ...

– (2005–2015) * Gjorgji Čekovski – (1999–2017) * Damjan Stojanovski – (2009–2021)

Coaching history

Past rosters

1999 EuroBasket The 1999 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1999, was the 31st FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2000 Olympic Tournament, giving a berth ...

: finished 13th among 16 teams 4

, 5

, 6 Gjorgji Čekovski, 7

Mirza Kurtović Mirza Kurtović (born 2 August 1977) is a former Macedonian professional basketball point guard who played for MZT Skopje Aerodrom, Rabotnički, Kumanovo Kumanovo ( mk, Куманово ; also known by other alternative names) is a city i ...

, 8

Marjan Srbinovski Marjan Srbinovski (born December 8, 1974) is Macedonian basketball coach for Gostivar, of the Macedonian First League The Macedonian First Football League ( mk, Прва македонска фудбалска лига, ''Prva Мakedonska Fudbal ...

, 9

Igor Mihajlovski Igor Mihajlovski ( mk, Игор Михајловски; born December 24, 1973) is a Macedonian former professional basketball player and currently assistant coach of Rabotnički. Playing career Mihajlovski has played with: KK Kumanovo, KK Parti ...

, 10

, 11

Todor Gečevski Todor Gečevski ( mk, Тодор Гечевски; born 28 August 1977) is a Macedonian former professional basketball player. Standing at a height of , he played at the center and power forward positions. Professional career While playing with ...

, 12 Dejan Jovanovski, 13 Srdjan Stanković, 14 Pero Blaževski, 15 Dušan Bocevski (Coach: Zare Markovski) ---- 2009 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 16 teams 4

, 5 Dimitar Mirakovski, 6

Darko Sokolov Darko Sokolov ( mk, Дарко Соколов; born May 8, 1986) is a Macedonian professional basketball player who plays for EuroNickel 2005 of the Macedonian First League. Pro career Since beginning his professional career in 2002, Sokolov has ...

, 7 Riste Stefanov, 8 Vojdan Stojanovski, 9 Pero Blaževski, 10 Dime Tasovski, 11

, 12 Pero Antić, 13 Damjan Stojanovski, 14 Jeremiah Massey, 15

(Coach: Jovica Arsić) ----

2011 EuroBasket EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted the 1939 cha ...

: finished 4th among 24 teams 4 Dimitar Mirakovski, 5

, 6

, 7

, 8 Vojdan Stojanovski, 9 Damjan Stojanovski, 10 Marko Simonovski, 11

, 12 Pero Antic, 13 Ivica Dimcevski, 14 Gjorgji Čekovski, 15

(Coach:

Marin Dokuzovski Marin Dokuzovski ( mk, Марин Докузовски; born July 14, 1960 in Skopje) is a Macedonian former professional basketball coach. Career Dokuzovski played club basketball at the senior level from 1978 to 1989 with the Yugoslav League cl ...

) ---- 2012 Olympic Qualifying Tournament 4

Aleksandar Kostoski Aleksandar Kostoski ( mk, Александар Костоски; born 5 March 1988) is a Macedonian professional basketball player. He currently plays for TFT. He is also a member of the Macedonian national team. Pro career Kostoski started his ...

, 5

. 6

, 7

, 8 Vojdan Stojanovski, 9 Damjan Stojanovski, 10 Marko Simonovski, 11

, 12 Pero Antić, 13

Kiril Nikolovski Kiril Nikolovski ( mk, Кирил Николовски; born 9 June 1988) is a Macedonian professional basketball player born in Skopje. He is a former member of the Macedonian national basketball team. Pro career Nikolovski started his pro ca ...

, 14 Gjorgji Čekovski, 15

(Coach:

Marjan Lazovski Marjan Lazovski ( mk, Марјан Лазовски; 7 September 1962 – 19 December 2020) was a Macedonian professional basketball player and coach of KK Rabotnički, MZT Aerodrom, Vardar, and AMAK SP. Career Lazovski served as an assistant ...

) ---- 2013 EuroBasket: finished 21st among 24 teams 4

, 5

. 6

, 7

, 8 Vojdan Stojanovski, 9 Damjan Stojanovski, 10 Vladimir Brčkov, 11

, 12 Pero Antić, 13

Stojan Gjuroski Stojan Gjuroski ( mk, Стојан Ѓуроски) (born November 6, 1991) is a Macedonian professional basketball player for Ourense in Spain. He graduated from Louisiana Tech University in 2014, where he played for four years. He is also a memb ...

, 14 Gjorgji Čekovski, 15

(Coach:

Aleš Pipan Aleš Pipan (born 24 May 1959) is a Slovenian basketball coach and former basketball player, who is currently coach of Šentjur in the Liga Nova KBM. Coaching career Pipan coached Slovenia at the EuroBasket 2005, 2006 FIBA World Championship ...

) ---- 2015 EuroBasket: finished 19th among 24 teams 4 Vladimir Brčkov, 5

. 6

, 7

, 8 Vojdan Stojanovski, 9 Damjan Stojanovski, 10 Marko Simonovski, 11

Ljubomir Mladenovski Ljubomir Mladenovski (born May 2, 1995) is a Macedonian professional basketball Center (basketball), center who last played for KK Pelister, Pelister. He is also member of Macedonia national basketball team. References External links mztskopje ...

, 12 Bojan Trajkovski, 13

, 14 Richard Hendrix, 15

(Coach:

)

Statistics

Most games played

All time points scored

*''* Active NT players are listed in bold'' *''* Official FIBA games excluding Friendly games''

Leader in points per game

300px, thunb, right * Only played 2005 season in Division B (won promotion)

Notes

References

External links

Official website

North Macedonia FIBA profileNorth Macedonia National Team – Men
at Eurobasket.com

at FIBA Archive {{National sports teams of North Macedonia

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

Men's national basketball teams

History

EuroBasket 1999

EuroBasket 2009

EuroBasket 2011

2012 Olympic Qualifying Tournament

EuroBasket 2013

EuroBasket 2015

Recent years

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup

Olympic Games

EuroBasket

Minor Tournaments

Team image

Home ground

Colors

Team

Current roster

Depth chart

Notable players

Coaching history

Past rosters

Recent results and upcoming fixtures

2021

2022

2023

Statistics

Most games played

All time points scored

Leader in points per game

See also

Notes

References

External links