Milan Vučićević ( sr-cyr, Милан Вучићевић; born July 20, 1985), also known by his online

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Nichim Izazvan, is a Serbian marketing consultant and former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. Vučićević has played professional basketball in several countries including

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. In May 2010, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas announced that Vučićević will suit up for the developmental Philippine national basketball team, Smart Gilas, in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2010.

Basketball career

Serbia

Vučićević played for KK Tamiš, which represents the city of

Pančevo Pančevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчево, ; german: Pantschowa; hu, Pancsova; ro, Panciova; sk, Pánčevo) is a city and the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located on ...

, at the start of the 2008–09 season of

Basketball League of Serbia The Basketball League of Serbia ( sr, Кошаркашка лига Србије, Košarkaška liga Srbije; abbr. КЛС or KLS), is a top-tier men's professional basketball league in Serbia. Founded in 2006, it is run by the Basketball Federatio ...

, the highest professional basketball league in the country. The Serbian has also played for several ball clubs in his homeland, namely:

Vizura Beograd Vizura is the name of several sports teams from Belgrade, Serbia: *OK Vizura, women's volleyball team *KK Vizura, defunct men's basketball team (2003–2009) *KK Mega Vizura, a former name of men's basketball team now known as KK Mega Basket *Vizura ...

and

KK Mašinac Košarkaški klub Mašinac ( sr-cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Машинац, en, Mašinac Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Mašinac or simply Mašinac, was a men's professional basketball club based in Kraljevo, Serbia. The clu ...

Cyprus

In 2009, Vučićević signed with

AEK Larnaca B.C. Petrolina AEK Larnaca B.C. (in Greek language, Greek: ΑΕΚ Λάρνακας), is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional basketball club based in Larnaca, Cyprus. The club competes in the Cyprus Basketball Division A, Cypriot Basketball League. The pr ...

, a professional basketball club based in

Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 144 ...

. AEK Larnaca

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Jerry Hemmings Jerry D. Hemmings (born February 17, 1948) is a former American basketball coach and former professional basketball player. He coached the Brandon University men's basketball team to four CIAU National Championships. Hemmings is a member of the Man ...

was able to watch the skilled center play for

basketball team, Al Nizwa, at the

Arab Club Championship The Arab Club Champions Cup ( ar, كأس العرب للأندية الأبطال, french: Ligue des Champions Arabe) is an annual regional club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by elit ...

held in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, and was impressed with his dominating performance. Vučićević averaged 23.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game during his stint with Al Nizwa.

Smart Gilas

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director

Noli Eala Jose Emmanuel "Noli" M. Eala is a Filipino sports executive and disbarred lawyer who served as the 11th chairperson of the Philippine Sports Commission from August 30 to December 28, 2022. He previously served as the sixth commissioner of the P ...

announced in May 2010 that Vučićević will play for Smart Gilas, the

Philippines men's national basketball team The Philippines men's national basketball team ( fil, Pambansang koponan ng basketbol ng Pilipinas), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipi ...

, in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2010. He will play under coach Rajko Toroman, former coach of the Iran national basketball team, and will join notable Smart Gilas players such as Chris Tiu,

Japeth Aguilar Japeth Paul Cabrera Aguilar (born January 25, 1987) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He first played college basketball for the Ateneo Blue Eagles of ...

, and Dylan Ababou, as well as former

Oakland University Oakland University is a public research university in Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson, it was initially known as Michigan State University-Oakland, operating under the Mi ...

Golden Grizzly

Kelly Williams Kelly Williams (born February 7, 1982) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the TNT Tropang Giga in the PBA. He played collegiate basketball at Oakland University, an NCAA Division I school in the United States, and he ...

, who will also join the national squad.

National team career

Toroman, who has served as the assistant coach from 1991 to 1995 of the Yugoslavia national basketball team that featured players such as

Predrag Danilović Predrag "Saša" Danilović ( sr-cyr, Предраг "Саша" Даниловић, ; born February 26, 1970), usually referred to in English as Sasha Danilović, is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player, considered one of ...

Vlade Divac Vlade Divac ( sr-Cyrl, Владе Дивац, ; born February 3, 1968) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento Kings ...

, and Dejan Bodiroga, has said that Vučićević's performance in the 2010 FIBA Asia Champions Cup will be the team's basis if they will consider him to become a naturalized

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

. Smart Gilas officials have decided that, although the Serbian has made a good impression during the FIBA Asia Champions Cup in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

, the team needs a bigger and stronger reinforcement. Vučićević will fly to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

after his stint with Gilas.

Player profile

Vučićević is 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) tall, and plays the center and power forward positions. He has played for several

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an basketball teams including Age Halkidas (Greece), Unia Tarnow (Poland), and Budivelnik Kyiv (Ukraine). Outside Europe, Vučićević has suited up for a number of teams such as a.s Bond Shiraz ( Iran) and Al Sadd (

), to name a few. In terms of inside players from Serbia, Vučićević is considered one of the biggest prospects. Aside from having great individual skills, he is often described as a player who possesses a winning mentality and good attitude. He is frequently compared to Serbian basketball legend Zoran Savić, a member of the

1990 FIBA World Championship The 1990 FIBA World Championship was the 11th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Argentina from 8 to 19 August 1990. The final phase of the competition was held at the Luna Pa ...

Yugoslavian team that won the gold medal.

Interesting facts

*Vučićević is the first

an to play for the national basketball team of the Philippines, replacing former National Basketball Association players

Jamal Sampson Jamal Wesley Sampson (born May 15, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. A power forward / center, Sampson is the cousin of the 1983 NBA draft's number one overall pick Ralph Sampson. He attended the University of Califor ...

and

C. J. Giles Chester Jarrel "C. J." Giles, Jr. (born September 23, 1985) is an American-Bahraini professional basketball player for Ezzahra Sports of the Championnat National A, as well as national player for Bahrain. He previously played for Pelita Jaya Bask ...

. *Before Smart Gilas considered him as the team's

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

candidate, Vučićević had previously bought an

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

jacket from a store in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, sometime in 2008, that had the

Philippine flag The national flag of the Philippines ( tgl, Pambansang watawat ng Pilipinas; ilo, Nailian a bandera ti Filipinas; ceb, Nasudnong bandila ng Pilipinas; es, Bandera Nacional de Filipinas) is a horizontal List of flags by design#Bicolour, bicol ...

as part of its design.

References

External links