Prague 2017 and Brno 2025 - out of eight appearances at European championships, the tournaments that the Montenegrin women's basketball team played in the Czech Republic will be remembered as the worst.
Eight years ago, the girls of then-coach Robert Injiges finished last in Eurobasket, this summer Jelena Škerović's team were second to last, but it seems like they played a much weaker tournament this time.
Then in the Golden City they also recorded three defeats, two convincing ones against Latvia (76:55) and Russia (78:54), and in one - against Belgium - they failed to use the attack to force overtime or win (66:64).
Now in the second largest city in the Czech Republic, our basketball players were nowhere near surprising in any match, and only against Belgium, the European champions, did they score more than 50 points (87:53) - not even that many against the hosts (89:44) and debutant Portugal (63:49).
If you don't count the Small Countries Games, Jelena Škerović's team didn't score more than 79 points even in serious Eurobasket tests against Italy (41:62) and Slovenia (42:50).
It was bad in the Czech Republic this time too, but the reality is that nothing more was expected from Montenegro this time - a weakened and rejuvenated team with four debutants at major competitions could hardly have done more.
After the last match in Brno, the coach said what perhaps everyone in Montenegro knows.
"We have talented kids, but we don't have any plan for women's basketball," Škerović told Radio Television of Montenegro.
Montenegro is a country where one team has dominated for years - Buducnost. At the same time, that team is often the strongest in the regional WABA league, but also a club that practically does not know how to play in European competitions.
"The Montenegrin Women's League has not had a representative in European competitions since 2009, and we always play in Eurobasket. The fact is that Portugal has three teams in Europe, while we haven't had a team that can compete for 15 years," the coach added.
Jelena Škerović arrived on the bench of Montenegro in place of Injiges - in 2019 after the Spaniard led the "reds" to EuroBasket. It is not yet known whether she will remain in the same position after this summer, but one thing is certain.
"It is necessary to organize the Basketball Federation, to organize the House of Basketball. Whoever is involved in women's basketball must delve deeper into the problem," believes Škerović.
Montenegro made its debut at the European Championships in 2011 and has been a regular participant ever since - its best finish was when it was sixth, in 2015 it took seventh place, while two years ago, under Škerović's leadership, it was in eighth position.
Farewell to the trio
The tournament in the Czech Republic this summer was the last in the national team for Milica Jovanović, Jovana Pašić and Jelena Vučetić.
For the first two, this does not mean a definitive farewell to basketball, as they will continue to play for their clubs, while Vučetić put an end to her career with the match against Portugal.
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