The young basketball team of Montenegro started today in Podgorica preparations for the European Championship, which will be held in Gdynia, Poland, from July 13 to 21.
Selector Dušan Dubljević invited 18 players, and on the first day of preparation with the team, there are 16 of them. The young national team will complete their preparations in Podgorica, and on July 11 they will travel to Gdina.
"All the players who were invited responded to the invitation, except Amar Hot, who asked to join the selection at the end of June, while David Mirković appeared at the gathering, but for now we do not know exactly when he will join the team, because we are waiting for confirmation of how much is the extent of the injury he suffered in the recent playoff series final match. Of course, we will wait for David, because he is necessary for the national team as a key player and I hope he will join, and we will constantly coordinate with SC Derby and monitor his condition," he said. Dušan Dubljević, the selector of the young national team of Montenegro, for the Association's website.
Dubljević's list of coaches includes: Amar Hot (Lions), Amar Ličina (Bayern 2), Petar Minic (Buducnost), Igor Joković (Buducnost), Nikola Ratknić (Podgorica), Danilo Lacmanović (Podgorica), Filip Bošković (Podgorica), Čedomir Žižić (Pljevlja), Jakša Pejović (Buducnost), Aleksa Lekić (Lamar), Vladimir Sudar (SC Derbi), Vasilije Todorović (SC Derbi), Lazar Mirotic (Podgorica), Petar Radonjić (Podgorica), Aleksa Janičić (Junior), Petar Strugar (Junior), Milorad Brajović (Podgorica) and David Mirković (SC Derbi).
In 2022, the young national team of Montenegro won bronze at the European Championship in Podgorica, while last year it won 13th place with a triumph against Croatia and remained in the A division. Now an even more difficult mission awaits her on the way to preserve the elite rank.
"Two years ago we won a medal, last year with players who now have serious roles in their clubs, we saved ourselves in the last match, which is the best proof of how strong the A division under the age of 20 is. Now we have a situation where we have a lot of players who played only the junior leagues, and only a few of them were in the training process of the senior teams, but with little minutes in their clubs. I think it would be a big thing to stay in the A division, and although I know it will be difficult, we will try our best to let's make it happen," emphasized Dubljević.
The young national team has four tests scheduled - June 20 and 21 against North Macedonia, and June 28 and 29 against Israel.
"We will play all matches in Podgorica, and apart from those four games, we also plan to play two control matches with Podgorica in mid-June, but we will specify that. In any case, we should have six checks before leaving for Poland," he said. Dubljevic.
Montenegro is in group D, where there are also Lithuania, Iceland and Slovenia, after which our national team will meet the teams from group C, where Turkey, Spain, Belgium and North Macedonia are. The "Reds" will play their premier match on July 13 against Slovenia.
"We have a strong group, and the biggest problem is that then there is a crossover where there are really strong selections, like Turkey, which last year at the U19 World Championship defeated the USA and won bronze, while Spain was the world champion and is always a medal contender . Belgium has been doing a great job for years, the Belgians were defeated in the bronze medal match. However, we will try our best as always." underlined Dubljević.
Dubljevic's coaching staff includes coaches Žarko Dragićević and Radojica Petrić, team manager Boris Jeknić, conditioning coach Dejan Vujisić, and physiotherapist Radoš Raković.
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