Croatia was once part of Yugoslavia, hence the Croatian basketball players played for the Yugoslaviang national basketball team from the year 1936.
The Croatian Basketball Federation was formed in the year 1948, however it was just a part of the larger Yugoslavian Basketball Federation.
When Croatia got their political independence in 1991, they also got their basketball independence. The Croatian Basketball Federation became an official member of the FIBA on January 19, 1991. The Croatian National Basketball Team was formed, and the team represents the Croatia in different international basketball competitions, and is governed by the Croatian Basketball Federation.
The Croatian’s national basketball team achievements
The Croatian national men’s basketball team played their debut game during the 1992 Summer Basketball Olympics that took place in Barcelona. The team won their first medal as representatives of Croatia, and their only silver medal, in the said league.
The Croatian national men’s basketball team competed until the finals, where they came face to face with what the so-called “The Dream Team” or the USA National men’s basketball team. The Croatian men’s team got their silver medal when they were defeated by the United States of America national men’s team with the final score of 85-117.
The Croatian team’s next appearance in the Summer Olymics was in 1996 where they ended up at the 7th place, however the Croatian national basketball team did not qualify for the next two years of the Summer Olympics, and their last appearance was in the 2008 Summer Olympics where they ranked 6th overall.
The Croatian national men’s team also participated in different leagues such as the FIBA World Championships and the EuroBasket. The team first participated in the FIBA World Championships in the year 1994, and that same year they won their first bronze medal when they won against the Greek national basketball team with the final score of 78 to 60.
The team did not qualify for the 1998, 2002 and 2006 FIBA World Championships, but they qualified in 2010, however they ended up at the 14th place overall. The Croatian basketball team first participated in the EuroBasket in 1993, and the team participated since then. The first two appearances of the Croatian team were the most memorable ones because they won the bronze medal consecutively.
The team ranked 11th, 11th, 7th, 11th, 7th, 6th and 6th in the 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 FIBA World Championships respectively.
The team’s roster in the 2010 FIBA World Championships
The 2010 FIBA World Championships were held at Turkey, and lasted from August 28 up to September 12, 2010. The Croatian basketball players that were privileged to represent their country in the said World Championships were Roko Ukic, Davor Kus, Marko Popovik, Bojan Bogdanovic, Rok Stipcevic, Marko Tomas, Zoran Planinic, Ante Tomic which is the team captain, Kresimir Loncar, Marko Banic, Luka Zoric, and lastly Luksa Andric.
The Croatian national basketball team head coach was Josip Vrankovic and he was assissted by Mladen Erjavec, Tomislav Mijatovic, and Luka Milanovic.
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