The basketball players gathered, Škerović: We continue with a lot of motivation

The Montenegrin women's basketball team gathered today in Podgorica and began mini-preparations with training in the "Bemax Arena", which will last until May 18.

The selector, Jelena Škerović decided to gather mostly younger basketball players, and there are 13 players, 11 of them from Buducnost Bemax: Zorana Radonjić, Anastasija Drobnjak, Jelena Bulajić, Milena Bigović, Maja Bigović, Ksenija Šćepanović, Atina Radević, Marija Baošić, Nikolina Ilić, Lana Vukčević and Jovana Savković. There is Dragana Živković, who recently won the double crown in Romania with Konstanz, and Marija Leković, who won the European Championship with Fenerbahçe.

"We started mini-preparations with the girls who are in Montenegro. The plan is to be together for 10 days, in order to introduce them to work and prepare them for what awaits us during the summer. The main preparations will be in mid-July, when we will prepare for pre-qualifications for Mundobasket. There are a lot of younger players that we plan to introduce into our system and to explain and teach them, as much as possible in this short period of time, what we want from them, that is, what are our requirements, what is our tactic... I am satisfied with the first training session and we continue with a lot of motivation," said Jelena Škerović, the head coach of Montenegro.

The goal of the gathering is for the basketball players, who are already on break, to be in the training process, so Jelena Škerović used the opportunity to gather the players from Budućnost, and the younger basketball players who have finished their club duties all over Europe, over the course of two weeks.

"This is something new for them in terms of requirements, a different role, as well as a different responsibility than the one they have in the clubs. But they are very motivated and it is certainly nice that we are together," Škerović said.

Our basketball players will play pre-qualifications for Mundobasket in Mexico City from August 19 to 25. Montenegro is in a group with Mexico, New Zealand and Mozambique. The World Championship is scheduled from September 4 to 13, 2026 in Berlin.

"A nice chance for our players to gain some new experience, which we lack, especially for the girls who play in Montenegro. That's why this is a big plus that the Association allowed us to play pre-qualifications. As for the rivals, we are still analyzing and collecting them information, because we never played with them, nor did we have the opportunity to watch them. But we have time to prepare for the main goal," concluded Škerović.