Petar Popović ( sr-cyr, Петар Поповић; born 13 July 1959) is a Croatian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach and former player.

Playing career

Popović played for

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...

in the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League ( Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

(later Croatian League) for 18 seasons. In 1993 he moved to

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

where he signed with Benston of the Croatian League.

National team career

Popović was a member of the Yugoslavia national team, alongside

Krešimir Ćosić Krešimir "Krešo" Ćosić (; 26 November 1948 – 25 May 1995) was a Croatian-Yugoslavian professional basketball player and coach. He was a collegiate All-American at Brigham Young University. He revolutionized basketball in Yugoslavia and w ...

Dragan Kićanović Dragan Kićanović ( sr, Драган Кићановић; born 17 August 1953) is a Serbian and Yugoslav retired professional basketball player. A 1.92m (6 ft 3 in) tall shooting guard, Kićanović played in the 1970s and 1980s, and is cons ...

Dražen Dalipagić Dražen "Praja" Dalipagić (; born 27 November 1951) is a Serbian former professional basketball player and head coach. He was selected the best athlete of Yugoslavia in the year 1978, and is one of the most decorated athletes in Yugoslavian his ...

and

Mirza Delibašić Mirza Delibašić (9 January 1954 – 8 December 2001) was a Bosnian professional basketball player and coach. Delibašić was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. He was enshrined into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2008, he w ...

, that won the silver medal at the

EuroBasket 1981 The 1981 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1981, was the 22nd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Czechoslovakia and took place from 26 May to 5 June 1981 ...

held in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Over six tournament games, he averaged 2.3 points per game. Also, he won the bronze medal at the 1978 European Championship for Juniors in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

where he averaged 10 points per game.

Coaching career

Popović was selected as the head coach for Zadar twice; the first time briefly in 2001, and later from the end of the 2005–06 season till March 2007.

Personal life

His son, Marko, was also a professional basketball player. His nephews are both former professional basketballers, Alan Gregov, who won the silver medal with the Croatia national team at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, a bronze medal at the 1994 FIBA World Championship and a bronze medal at

EuroBasket 1993 The 1993 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1993, was the 28th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Germany between 22 June and 4 July 1993. Sixteen national teams entered ...

, and

Arijan Komazec Arijan Komazec (born January 23, 1970) is a retired Croatian professional basketball player. Professional career Komazec started his professional career as a basketball player at the age of 16, in the historical club of Zadar, in the 1986–87 s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popović, Petar 1959 births Living people Croatian men's basketball players Croatian basketball coaches Croatian people of Serbian descent KK Dubrava players KK Zadar coaches KK Zadar players Sportspeople from Kraljevo Serbian men's basketball players Serbian expatriate basketball people in Croatia Serbian emigrants to Croatia Shooting guards Yugoslav men's basketball players