01 March 2019 - FC Bayern Munich snapped a two-game losing streak with a 75-89 road victory over Budućnost VOLI Podgorica on Friday to stay in the thick of the playoffs race.
Bayern Munich used a strong second half to remain in ninth place while raising its record to 12-12, the same as eighth-place KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. Vladimir Lucic collected 18 points and 7 rebounds while Danilo Barthel added 16 points for the winners. Nemanja Dangubic had 13 points and Petteri Koponen chipped in 11 as Bayern moved its road record to 4-8. Edwin Jackson paced Budućnost with 19 points on 5 three-pointers while Norris Cole had 12 points and Filip Barovic and Nemanja Gordic both tallied 10 points in the loss, which saw the Montenegrin side fall to 6-18.
Cole started the scoring but Stefan Jovic, back on the court for the first time since Round 21, had two baskets in a 2-9 run for a 4-9 Bayern lead. Jackson knocked down a three-pointer at the other end but Barthel matched it and Maodo Lo's steal and layup had the guests up 12-20. James Bell and Koponen swapped triples as Bayern stayed ahead 17-25 after 10 minutes. Bayern used the three-pointer to keep in front, too, as Dangubic hit twice from long range and Barthel connected a second time for a 26-34 lead. Jackson answered with 2 three-pointers, the second which started an 11-0 Budućnost run over a stretch of 4 minutes with Barovic tallying 6 points and Bayern committing 4 turnovers as the hosts led 40-36.
Derrick Williams stopped the drought for Bayern, but Petar Popovic connected at the buzzer to put the hosts up 44-41 at the break. Barthel's three-point play evened things to start the second half, and Williams's free throws put Bayern back ahead 44-46. After three successive Budućnost offensive rebounds, Jackson's free throws knotted it at 48-48. But Lucic sparked a 3-13 run with 8 points as Bayern surged ahead by double digits for the first time, 51-61. Braydon Hobbs followed up with a three-pointer as the Bayern advantage grew to 54-66. Gordic countered right back with a three-ball of his own, and he added another basket to make it 59-66 after 30 minutes. After Koponen and Cole each hit from downtown to start the final quarter, Koponen added a floater in helping Bayern push the gap to 62-75. Jackson kept Budućnost's hopes alive with a three-point shot, and Goga Bitadze trimmed the difference to 67-75. But Koponen struck from the arc again in an 0-8 surge for a 67-83 Bayern cushion with under 3 minutes to play, assuring the victory would go back to Germany.
The Bayern Munich captain Danilo Barthel was outstanding all game with 16 points on 4-for-4 shooting from two-point range, 2-for-3 from the outside and 2-for-3 from the free throw line while also picking up 4 rebounds, 3 assists and just 1 turnover for a performance index rating of 22 in 31 minutes of action.
Bayern head coach Dejan Radojic had a successful return to his hometown, where he played for Budućnost from 1991 to 1993 and again from 1998 to 2002. He also made his head coaching debut with Budućnost in 2005 and he served as the team's head coach for eight seasons, during which he won six Montenegrin League and as many Montenegrin Cup titles.
Bayern Munich was out-rebounded 35-25 but made 45.8% from three-point range as well as 67.7% from two-point range while holding Budućnost to just 44.4% inside the three-point line.
Budućnost will get its next shot to snap its four-game losing streak when it hosts Olympiacos Piraeus on March 8. Bayern meanwhile heads back home and will host Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv in a huge game in the battle for the playoffs on March 7.
The basketball players of Buducnost Voli welcome Bayern Munich in the 24th round of the European League on Friday at 7 pm.
"The Blue" play for pride and honor in the elite competition, for a win and the confidence before the final fight in the ABA league.
Goga Bitadze returns to the court after almost 20 days. The ankle injury, which he earned in a match with Partizan on February 10th healed.
"I feel good, everything is fine, I'm ready for the match," Bitadze said. Unlike Buducnost, Bayern is playing a game of great competitive significance. "Bayern is a very good defensive team, they play very well in the defense, they are very aggressive, and attackers are very dangerous," Bitadze said, who recorded the European League debut against Bayern in Munich with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Buducnost lost 93:88.
The Georgian super talent is convinced that Buducnost can win and end a series of three defeats.
"We can beat everyone, I'm sure. We have quality, we will go out on the court to show what we know, show the character and do everything to win," Bitadze said.
Text by Vijesti sport, on February 28th 2019, read more at Vijesti
The biggest Montenegrin club, the Women's Handball Club Buducnost, celebrated the Jubilee - 70 years of existence in the Montenegrin National Theater.
The history began on February 13th, 1949, when Jug from Dubrovnik was defeated in Titograd with the result 5:2.
Seven decades were presented through a documentary by Blagota Marunovic and the Center for Multimedia Production (CEZAM), in which their stories about Buducnost were told by the former presidents Misko Kalezic, Rade Djurdjic, Budimir Stanisic and Predrag Boskovic, famous coach and sports director Nikola Petrovic, legends of this sport Maja Bulatovic and Bojana Popovic, current head of the expert staff Dragan Adzic and well-known senior fans - Zef-Bato Dedivanovic and Husein-Ceno Tuzovic.
A monograph was also presented, edited by Ana Markovic and Milos Pavicevic."The number of years of existence and trophies in club cabinets is almost identical - 65 cups in national, regional and European frames, give us the right to say that Buducnost is both a Montenegrin and European brand. Buducnost is the history of European handball, and I am sure it will have a bright future," said Radmila Petrovic, the president of Buducnost, who presented the thank-you notes to the Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, to EHF's leader Michael Viderer and to Boskovic, his predecessor at the head of the board.
At the end of the ceremony, the six legends of this sport received the newest club's most prestigious awards. The stars of Buducnost became Svetlana Antic, Ljiljana Vucevic, Olga Sekulic, Maja Bulatovic, Bojana Popovic and Milena Raicevic, who achieved the greatest successes in the history of Montenegrin handball.
Text by Nikola Nikolic, on February 28th 2019, read more at Vijesti
February 28, 2029 - The water polo players from Jadran Carine from Herceg Novi celebrated last night against OSC Budapest at 13:12 (2: 3; 1: 4; 5: 3; 5: 2) in the second semi-final match of the LEN Euro Cup and came to the finals. The first man of the national water polo team and Jadran’s trainer, Vladimir Gojkovic reminded that his team was better than Hungary and in the first semifinal match (11:10), played on 23 January in Herceg Novi. Final games are scheduled for March 30 and April 13.
25 February 2019 - In the direct clash for Europe’s last World Cup ticket, Latvia won 80-74 against Montenegro on the last game day. However, the Latvians needed a win with 9 points or more to qualify; hence, Montenegrians will be the ones traveling to China.
Latvia was holding the lead for all forty minutes and was above the needed margin multiple times during the game. In fact, Dairis Bertans shot twice in the last 15 seconds to reach the nine-point margin but fell short while on the other side, Derek Needham banked the free throws to secure Montenegro’s World Cup ticket.
Needham nailed 22 points while Marko Todorović scored 13 in addition to Bojan Dubljević’s and Aleksa Popović’s 11 points each.
For Latvia, Janis Strelnieks had an excellent game notching game-high 25 points while missing only one shot from the field (8-9). Martin Meiers added 12 and Janis Timma 11 points.
"It is difficult to find the words to explain how I feel tonight, especially because I remember very well when we started a year ago without any idea, but really any idea at all of going to the World Cup. We competed to get to the Second Round and it was our goal. Tonight I am delighted because all of these guys who played, they all deserve this. Like Blagota (Sekulić) kept saying, we are really, really, extremely happy. And for our country, you saw the atmosphere; it was really amazing tonight. Congratulations to everybody," said Montenegrin coach Zvezdan Mitrović.
Montenegrin forward player Blagota Sekulić also noted that the game was very hard and that this is a historical win for sports in Montenegro.
"It was a challenging game. We knew that this team is different from the previous game with five players who never played in the Qualifiers before. So we knew it would be a tough game because those players are great shooters and it isn't easy to guard them. Somehow we made it come true, and we did something historically great for basketball and sport in Montenegro," said Sekulić.
Head coach of Latvia Arnis Vecvagars congratulated Montenegro and wished the players good luck in China.
"First of all, I would like to congratulate Montenegro for qualifying to the World Cup. Good luck to them there. Talking about today's game, the main reason we did not get the result we wanted is defensive rebounding. We allowed too many offensive rebounds. We allowed too many second-chance points, and in the second half, we had a lot of plays one on one where we did not execute defensively as necessary. Obviously in the last minute of the game, our team's offense was different because of the injury to our point guard Janis Strelnieks. As you all could see, the Montenegro team could not stop him," concluded Vecvagars.
17 February 2019 - Devin Williams has decided to part ways with Büyükçekmece and will continue the rest of the season with Budućnost Voli.
Basketball Club Budućnost Voli Podgorica (Erste Liga) just signed a contract with 24-year-old American international centre Devin Williams. Williams started the season at Demir İnşaat Büyükçekmece Basket in Turkish BSL league. In 17 games he had very impressive stats: 17.7ppg, 11.9rpg, 1.9apg and 1.0spg this season.
Williams arrived last night in Podgorica and in an interview for CdM, he said that his desire was for the team to defend the ABA League trophy. The former centre of Turkish Büyükçekmece was brought by Budućnost with the goal to help the current champion of the Adriatic in winning the second consecutive title.
"I just landed and all I can say is that the city is not too big, but you can feel the community, that the whole city stands behind the club, like a large family. I just want to be the best I can, find my role and work hard as always," Williams said.
To recall, 2018 was a very spectacular year in Williams’ career as he was named to Turkish League All-Star Game and League Player of the Week (2 times). Williams ended the last season at Team Fredette in U.S. semi-pro league The Basketball Tournament, as he helped them to make it to the semi-finals. But the most of that year he spent at Vaqueros (BSN) in Puerto Rican league where in 21 games he recorded 13.6ppg, 8.8rpg (#2 in the league) and 1.6apg. For him, this was a quite impressive season as he was named to Latinbasket.com All-Puerto Rican BSN Honorable Mention, All-Star Game and also here League Player of the Week.
"This is my first season in Europe and the chance to play in ABA and Euroleague is a blessing and reward for the hard work I have invested in me. I want to help the team win as many victories as possible and defend the ABA League title. I would like to thank the team, city, president of the club, coaches and everyone who gave me this opportunity, "added Williams.
The 24-year-old centre will get a chance to debut in the next game against Zadar, which is scheduled for March 4 in Podgorica.
17 February 2019 - The reconstruction of the indoor swimming pool "Nikša Bućin" in Kotor has reached its final phase. Minister of Sports and Youth Nikola Janović said that the Kotor pool is a symbol of Montenegrin water polo and swimming sports, and that it has huge importance for the Montenegrin sport, as well as for children and youth throughout the Bay of Kotor.
"I am one of those people who started their first career adventure in this very pool. That's why I know its significance and its potential. Part of the policies of the Government and the Ministry of Sports and Youth relate to the establishment of sports infrastructure in every city, in every place where it is possible to do so. By reconstructing this pool, water polo returns to Kotor," said Minister Janović.
He added that the sports facilities will be reconstructed or built throughout Montenegro and that the Ministry will continue with precise policies and measures from now on - that the sport comes to life in every Montenegrin quarter, in every settlement.
The director of the Public Works Directorate, Rešad Nuhodžić, said that the Government provided all the money needed for the next stages of the reconstruction of this pool and that the Public Works Directorate will ensure that the works will be completed within eight months, as foreseen by the planned period of development.
"As we promised during the conclusion of the contract on the start of the second phase of the reconstruction of the pool in Kotor, today Minister Janović and I visited the construction site and officially held the final meetings with both the contractor and supervision unit. Now it is time for us to finish the reconstruction in the deadlines agreed upon, which is until the end of this year, and make this pool operational," said the director of the Public Works Directorate.
He added that it is particularly satisfying that this is an object that, in addition to water polo players, can be used by the citizens of Kotor, which is an additional motive for completing the works in time and in full.
"What I will particularly insist from the position of Director of the Public Works Directorate is that the works are completed within the agreed time and that their quality will be in accordance with the highest standards," said the Director of Public Works.
February 16, 2019 - He knows they’re building mementos in his hometown, he embraces the fact he’s the first NBA All-Star from his country and he appreciates the love.
In short, Nikola Vučević sounds elated to represent Montenegro in the 2019 NBA All-Star game.
“It’s an amazing feeling to be the first player from Montenegro ever to do it,” said Vučević. “I’ve had a lot of people from back home reach out to me, and text me to let me know how proud they are. Actually, the city I’m from put a billboard with my picture on [it]. Things like that make this even more special.”
Amidst the train of events and engagements, Vučević was found sitting on a bench coaching international youth basketball players at the NBA’s ‘Basketball Without Borders’ camp Friday in Charlotte.
Vučević, at times, could be seen rooted on sidelines next to Montenegro’s own, 17-year-old Jovan Kljajic.
“It’s funny, I saw [Kliajic] over the summer when he did the BWB in Europe, and now he’s here,” Vučević said. “He actually reached out to me a couple of days ago telling me he was going to be here. It’s fun to see him, and I try to give him some advice when I see different stuff.”
Kliajic is unavailable for comment until after camp.
For ‘Vooch’ as he is affectionately called here in the states, coaching international players at the camp is a way to give back to over 60 teens from more than 30 countries who are following in his path.
Vučević was joined by fellow 2019 NBA All-Star Nikola Jokić (Denver Nuggets; Serbia), 2018s No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton (Phoenix Suns; Bahamas), and Bogdan Bogdanović (Sacramento Kings; Serbia) to coach the top high school age talent from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe.
This year marks a changing of the guard, in some respect, as international NBA icon and 14-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki makes his final appearance in the game.
Most understand Nowitzki is a big reason why this generation of international players is reaching back to guide today’s international youth.
Nowitzki seems content with the future of international players in the NBA under the charge Vučević and others.
“He does everything the right way, and I'm a big fan of his game,” Nowitzki said.
The 40-year-old Nowitzki reflected on what it was like for him to return Würzburg, Germany, after his first All-Star selection, and compared it to what Vučević is probably feeling right now.
“It's awesome. Friends, family, and fans are excited about your success,” Nowitzki said. “The people who have gone through the tough times - the good times - they’re excited for you. The country is excited for you, and this should be a fun time for him.
After all the events that require his presence, Vučević will lace it up Saturday to compete in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge at 8 p.m. EST, and then he’ll don a team Giannis jersey for the 67th NBA All-Star Game Sunday at 8 p.m. EST.
“I’m proud to represent my countrymen here,” Vučević said. “It’s a huge honor, and I’m going to do my best to represent them in the right way.”
Text by Christopher Cadeau
15 February 2019 - The 15th Open Swimming Championship of Montenegro, a sporting event organised within the official program of the 50th Mimosa Festival will be opened at the Simo Milošević Institute in Igalo on February 16, followed by the 24th International Swimming Meeting "Montenegro Mimosa Cup". This year's swimming meeting will gather over 400 competitors from all countries which were a part of the former Yugoslavia, as well as from Italy, Hungary, and Russia.
The delegates' meeting and cocktail gathering at the Institute, which will be held on February 15, will precede the competition, organized by Herceg Novi Municipality and Public Culture Institution Herceg Fest.
The opening of the 24th International Swimming Meeting is scheduled for February 16 at 4:45 pm, with the City Music and the performance of the city majorettes, while the first competitors will enter the swimming pool already at 8:30 am, when the first debrief is scheduled.
The first part of the competition will start at 9 am, which is a 50 metres women swimming race. The second part begins with the competitors’ preparations at 3:30 pm, after which a 100 metres swimming race of mixed style swimming for men will start at 5 pm.
The third phase of the program will begin on Sunday. From 8 am to 8:45 am the competitors will warm up. The 100 metres mixed style swimming race for women will start at 9 am.
Last year's winner was Swimming Club Olimpija from Ljubljana.
The event is supported by the Government of Montenegro, Water polo and Swimming Federation, Olympic Committee and numerous sponsors.
Source: Radio Jadran
In the month of three defeats in four games (two in the European and one in the ABA league), Buducnost Voli basketball players have the chance to qualify for the first trophy of the season.
They are the hosts of the final tournament of the Cup of Montenegro, and will play against the main competitor, Mornar, in the semi-finals.
"The Cup is such a competition that always carries more uncertainty than any other competition, simply because it is to be or not to be in one game. Our commitment as a club and me as a coach is to confirm that we are, at this moment, the best club in Montenegro, which has to be confirmed on the court as well. We need to play well and appropriate to such a competition, to give our best to get to the trophy," coach Jasmin Repesa said. In addition to playing at home, in Buducnost’s favor is their quality. Since only three foreigners can play, Repesa will have to decide by Friday whom he will send to the stands out of the Americans Norris Cole, Earl and Coty Clarke, James Bel, the Frenchman Edwin Jackson and Nemanja Gordic (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
If there are no unexpected events, the Croatian expert will not be able to count on Georgian Goga Bitadze, who hurt his ankle against Partizan. Repesa, therefore, has at his disposal a number of high-quality Montenegrin players, Suad and Sead Sehovic, Filip Barovic, Petar Popovic, Danilo Nikolic.
"Bitadze's injury is such that it will be difficult for him to play the Cup. I think it would be inappropriate to force it because of the great obligations that are waiting for us later. However, I am still waiting for official confirmation regarding his current state of fitness, recovery length and all that that can affect such an injury. In the last period, we had a lot of problems with the flu, many players missed one or two days of training, and the drop in the quality was visible. A stabilization program is in progress, hopefully, by Friday we will succeed to put each player in their places," added Repesa.
Specialized basketball website Sportando yesterday sent Blagota Sekulic to Buducnost Voli, but the Montenegrin representative rejected that option. Now, supposedly, as Sportando reports, the wish of the team from Podgorica is Milko Bjelica, the wing center, but the final word still needs to be given.
The final deadline for the registration is Friday. "As for new players, we have not signed a contract at this point, and I think the timing is too short for a player to get in the game system and adjust to playing in the Cup, no matter who he is," concluded Repesa. The match Buducnost - Mornar is on Friday night at 8 p.m. Lovcen and Sutjeska will play at 5 p.m. The final in "Moraca" is scheduled on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Text by Sasa Joncic, on February 13th 2019, read more at Vijesti
February 9, 2019 - The traditional regatta of the Mimosa Cup gathered today the young competitors of all active Montenegrin sailing clubs for the 45th time. The race in the waters of the Herceg Novi Bay is a traditional sports event within the program of the Mimosa Festival.