Croatia men's national basketball team

Croatia
FIBA ranking30 Steady (1 March 2024)[1]
Joined FIBA1992
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationHKS
CoachJosip Sesar
Nickname(s)Kockasti
(The Chequered Ones)
Olympic Games
Appearances4
MedalsSilver Silver: (1992)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances3
MedalsBronze Bronze: (1994)
EuroBasket
Appearances14
MedalsBronze Bronze: (1993, 1995)
First international
 Germany 86–74 Croatia 
(Murcia, Spain; 22 June 1992)[2]
Biggest win
 Croatia 124–51 Iceland 
(Murcia, Spain; 24 June 1992)
Biggest defeat
 Croatia 70–103 United States 
(Barcelona, Spain; 27 July 1992)
Medal record
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1992 Barcelona Team
FIBA World Cup
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Canada
EuroBasket
Bronze medal – third place 1993 Germany
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Greece
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 2009 Pescara Team
Silver medal – second place 1993 Languedoc-Roussillon Team

The Croatia men's national basketball team (Croatian: Hrvatska košarkaška reprezentacija)[3] represents Croatia in international basketball matches. The team is controlled by the Croatian Basketball Federation (HKS).[4]

The biggest success Croatia has achieved was at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when the team reached the final 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, Mirko Novosel and Toni Kukoč are members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Ćosić was inducted in 1996, Petrović in 2002, Rađa in 2018 and Kukoč in 2021, all as players. Novosel was inducted 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 Croatia national team. As he was only a member of the Yugoslavia national 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.[5] 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.[6][7]

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 a major tournament in history.[8]

The next competition for Croatia was the 1993 EuroBasket in Germany. Tragically, before the tournament Dražen Petrović died in a car accident on 7 June 1993 at the age of 28. Croatia still managed to reach the bronze medal game to defeat Greece 99–59.[9]

Croatia earned its third medal at the 1994 FIBA World Cup in Canada. Croatia lost their semi-finals match against Russia 64–66, but beat Greece once again 78–60 for the bronze medal. A similar occurrence happened at the EuroBasket 1995 in Greece. Croatia lost in the semi-finals 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 seventh place.[10]

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 sixth in 2008. Croatia also failed to qualify for the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups. Although the team did manage to qualify in 2010, before falling in the Round of 16. However, at the EuroBasket 2013, Croatia had its best tournament appearance since 1995, where the team finished in fourth place.[11]

Honours

The Croatia national team's all-time medal table:

Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
Summer Olympics 0 1 0 1
FIBA World Cup 0 0 1 1
EuroBasket 0 0 2 2
Mediterranean Games 1 1 0 2
Stanković Cup 2 1 0 3
Total 3 3 3 9

Competitive record

Results and fixtures

  Win   Loss

2023

19 July 2023 Croatia  89–49  Ireland Opatija, Croatia
20:00 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 24–5, 32–12, 14–16, 19–16
Pts: Badžim 18
Rebs: Perković 8
Asts: Kapusta 9 		Boxscore Pts: Quinn 12
Rebs: Alajiki 5
Asts: Quinn 4 		Arena: Sportska dvorana Marino Cvetković
Attendance: 970
Referees: Georgios Poursanidis (GRE), Luis Castillo (ESP), Oskars Lūcis (LAT)
22 July 2023 Croatia  98–62  Luxembourg Opatija, Croatia
20:00 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 31–14, 26–20, 23–12, 18–16
Pts: Kapusta, Prkačin 16
Rebs: Branković, Mazalin 6
Asts: Badžim 6 		Boxscore Pts: Laurent 18
Rebs: Laurent, Rugg 9
Asts: Grün, Gutenkauf 4 		Arena: Sportska dvorana Marino Cvetković
Attendance: 600
Referees: Paulo Marques (POR), Geert Jacobs (BEL), Ivor Matějek (CZE)
29 July 2023 Ireland  61–95  Croatia Dublin, Ireland
14:30 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 12–20, 22–22, 8–21, 19–32
Pts: Murphy 12
Rebs: Alajiki 5
Asts: Fulton 4 		Boxscore Pts: D. Drežnjak 17
Rebs: D. Drežnjak 5
Asts: five players 3 		Arena: National Basketball Arena
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Fernando Calatrava (ESP), Javier Torres (ESP)
2 August 2023 Luxembourg  79–91  Croatia Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
20:15 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 12–25, 25–25, 18–24, 24–17
Pts: Laurent 13
Rebs: Rugg 7
Asts: Kovac 4 		Boxscore Pts: Perković 23
Rebs: Ljubičić 7
Asts: Kapusta 9 		Arena: d'Coque
Attendance: 1,650
Referees: Can Mavisu (TUR), Geert Jacobs (BEL), Alexandre Deman (FRA)

2024

23 February 2024 France  73–61  Croatia Brest, France
20:30 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 15–14, 20–16, 22–14, 16–17
Pts: Luwawu-Cabarrot 15
Rebs: Cordinier 6
Asts: Albicy, Inglis 4 		Boxscore Pts: Hezonja 22
Rebs: three players 5
Asts: three players 3 		Arena: Brest Arena
Attendance: 5,029
Referees: Wojciech Liszka (POL), Michał Proc (POL), Mehmet Karabilecen (TUR)
26 February 2024 Croatia  92–63  Cyprus Rijeka, Croatia
20:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 22–8, 26–16, 22–26, 22–13
Pts: Prkačin 24
Rebs: Hezonja, Prkačin 10
Asts: Kapusta 8 		Boxscore Pts: Simitzis 17
Rebs: Willis 9
Asts: Mantovani, Willis 3 		Arena: Zamet Sports Centre
Attendance: 2,500
Referees: Radomir Vojinović (MNE), Ventsislav Velikov (BUL), Can Mavisu (TUR)
2 July 2024 Slovenia  vs.  Croatia Piraeus, Greece
Boxscore Arena: Peace and Friendship Stadium
3 July 2024 Croatia  vs.  New Zealand Piraeus, Greece
Boxscore Arena: Peace and Friendship Stadium
21 November 2024 Croatia  vs.  Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia
Boxscore
24 November 2024 Bosnia and Herzegovina  vs.  Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina
Boxscore

2025

21 February 2025 Croatia  vs.  France Croatia
Boxscore
24 February 2025 Cyprus  vs.  Croatia Cyprus
Boxscore

Team

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers matches on 23 and 26 February 2024 against France and Cyprus.[12]

Croatia men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
SG 1 Toni Perković 25 – (1998-04-10)10 April 1998 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Split Croatia
PG 2 Goran Filipović 27 – (1996-11-26)26 November 1996 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Igokea Bosnia and Herzegovina
G 3 Jaleen Smith 29 – (1994-11-24)24 November 1994 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Partizan Serbia
PG 4 Borna Kapusta 27 – (1996-07-24)24 July 1996 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Derby Montenegro
PF 5 Roko Prkačin 21 – (2002-11-26)26 November 2002 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Gran Canaria Spain
PG 6 Mate Kalajžić 25 – (1998-03-15)15 March 1998 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Split Croatia
G/F 8 Mario Hezonja 28 – (1995-02-25)25 February 1995 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Real Madrid Spain
C 13 Ivan Vraneš 27 – (1996-05-29)29 May 1996 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Juventus Lithuania
SG 18 Roko Badžim 26 – (1997-08-18)18 August 1997 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Merkezefendi Turkey
C 22 Danko Branković 23 – (2000-11-05)5 November 2000 2.14 m (7 ft 0 in) Bayern Munich Germany
SG 23 Mateo Drežnjak 24 – (1999-03-08)8 March 1999 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Derby Montenegro
SF 24 Dario Drežnjak 25 – (1998-03-24)24 March 1998 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Zadar Croatia
C 34 Marin Marić 30 – (1994-02-21)21 February 1994 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Andorra Spain
PF 99 Toni Nakić 24 – (1999-06-01)1 June 1999 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Breogán Spain
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 23 February 2024

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Ivica Zubac Karlo Matković Danko Branković
PF Dario Šarić Roko Prkačin Luka Šamanić
SF Mario Hezonja Luka Božić Dario Drežnjak
SG Bojan Bogdanović Mateo Drežnjak Toni Perković
PG Jaleen Smith Borna Kapusta Mate Kalajžić

Head coaches

Past rosters

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
  • +21 vs. Great Britain (86–65) 2022
  • +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
  • +32 vs. Sweden (99–67) 2024
  • +31 vs. Belgium (86–55) 2024
  • +23 vs. Slovenia (93–70) 1992
  • +20 vs. Tunisia (72–52) 2016
  • +27 vs. Romania (90–63) 2018
  • +60 vs. Romania (115–55) 1997
  • +56 vs. Macedonia (128–72) 1993[14]
  • +40 vs. Belarus (112–72) 1993
  • +40 vs. Ireland (89–49) 2025
  • +36 vs. Luxembourg (98–62) 2025
  • +34 vs. Latvia (113–79) 1993
  • +34 vs. Ireland (95–61) 2025
  • +33 vs. Romania (119–86) 1993
  • +31 vs. Switzerland (84–53) 2025
  • +29 vs. Ukraine (107–78) 1993
  • +29 vs. Cyprus (92–63) 2025
  • +25 vs. Austria (100–75) 2025

See also

References

  1. ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  2. ^ "XIII Olympic Basketball Tournament (Barcelona 1992) Qualifying stage". Linguasport. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Croatia basketball news". eurobasket.com.
  4. ^ Naslovnica – Hrvatski košarkaški savez
  5. ^ "All Star NBA u Šancu 1964". kafotka.net. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ "KARLOVAC: 40 GODINA NBA LIGE U KARLOVCU". Index.hr. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Croatia at the 1992 Olympic Games". Archive.fiba.com. 8 August 1992.
  9. ^ "Croatia v Greece EuroBasket 1993 Bronze medal game results". Archive.fiba.com. 3 July 1993.
  10. ^ "Croatia at the 1996 Olympic Games". Archive.fiba.com. 2 August 1996.
  11. ^ "Croatia at the EuroBasket 2013". Archive.fiba.com. 22 September 2013.
  12. ^ "Croatia during the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers in February 2024". Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  13. ^ "ACO PETROVIĆ OTIŠAO, A HRVATSKA EKSPRESNO DOBILA NOVOG IZBORNIKA EVO TKO ĆE VODITI REPREZENTACIJU U KVALIFIKACIJAMA ZA SVJETSKO PRVENSTVO!". Jutarnji.hr. 15 September 2017.
  14. ^ "XXVIII European Championship (München 1993) Qualifying stage". Linguasport. Retrieved 18 August 2017.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Croatia men's national basketball team.
  • Official website (in Croatian)
  • Croatia FIBA profile
  • Croatia National Team – Men at Eurobasket.com
  • Croatia Basketball Records at FIBA Archive
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