Zoran Erceg (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Зоран Ерцег; born 11 January 1985) is a Serbian 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. He represented the

Serbian national basketball team Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation) ...

internationally. Standing at , he played the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

position.

Professional career

Early years

Erceg started playing professionally with Polet Keramika Novi Bečej in 2002, before going to FMP in 2003. In 2006 he was shortly loaned to

Borac Čačak Borac may refer to: * FK Borac Banja Luka, a football club from Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina ** RK Borac Banja Luka, an affiliated team handball club ** OK Borac, an affiliated volleyball club * FK Borac Čačak, a football club from Čačak ...

Olympiacos (2008–11)

He signed a 5-year contract with the Greek team Olympiacos Piraeus in June 2008. In December 2009, Erceg was loaned to

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

for the rest of the 2009–10 season.

Beşiktaş (2011–12)

In August 2011, he signed a one-year deal with the Turkish team Beşiktaş. With them, he won every competition they participated in, the

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

championship,

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

and a third-tier European competition

EuroChallenge FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier level transnational men's professional continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run ...

. His games in Beşiktaş attracted the interest of many European big clubs.

CSKA Moscow (2012–13)

On 29 June 2012 he signed a three-year contract with the Russian team

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

. During his stint in CSKA, Erceg has mostly came off-the-bench, producing 6.2 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. He won the Russian League championship and the

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus an ...

Galatasaray (2013–15)

Despite having a three-year contract, Erceg terminated it and signed a two-year contract with

Galatasaray Liv Hospital Galatasaray S.K., is a professional basketball team based in the city of Istanbul in Turkey. It is a part of the Galatasaray Sports Club. The team competes in the Turkish Basketball Super League and Basketball Champions League. The team has won 16 ...

in July 2013. In the new team, Erceg had bigger role than in his previous team. In April Euroleague game overtime loss against his former team CSKA Moscow, he set career-high and also team record 35 points, while also adding 9 rebounds and 2 steals. He finished season with career-highs of 11.2 points and 4.9 rebounds over 25 games. In the 2014–15 season his role in the team increased even more. He had a season-high 32 points in a double overtime 110–103 victory over

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional Association football, foot ...

. He also hit a 30 feet far

buzzer-beater In basketball and other such timed sports, a buzzer beater is a shot that is taken before the game clock of a quarter, a half (if the half is the second one, then, a game), or an overtime period expires but does not go in the basket until after t ...

to put the game in an overtime. For such performance, he was named the Euroleague MVP of Round 6, for the first time in his career.

National team career

Erceg played with the senior

at the

EuroBasket 2007 The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to th ...

. He represented Serbia once again at the

EuroBasket 2015 EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 S ...

under head coach

Aleksandar Đorđević Aleksandar "Saša" Đorđević or Sale Đorđević (Anglicized: Sasha Djordjevic; sr-Cyrl, Александар Саша Ђорђевић, ; born 26 August 1967) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serve ...

. In the first phase of the tournament, Serbia dominated in the toughest

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

with 5-0 record, and then eliminated

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in the round-of-16 and quarterfinals, respectively. Erceg had his best performance scoring 20 points against Czech Republic in the quarterfinal game. However, Serbia was stopped in the semifinal game by

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

64–67, and eventually lost to the host team

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the bronze-medal game 68–81. Over 9 tournament games, Erceg averaged 8.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game on 52.4% shooting from the field.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2,

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

, 20 , , 1 , , 11.8 , , .583 , , .445 , , .559 , , 2.1 , , .3 , , .5 , , .1 , , 5.0 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 , 16 , , 4 , , 17.8 , , .413 , , .297 , , .875 , , 3.1 , , .5 , , .4 , , .4 , , 5.9 , , 5.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2012–13 , style="text-align:left;", CSKA , 15 , , 5 , , 14.4 , , .457 , , .375 , , .917 , , 2.5 , , .5 , , .7 , , .1 , , 6.2 , , 6.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2,

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

, 25 , , 23 , , 27.5 , , .400 , , .333 , , .925 , , 4.9 , , 1.6 , , .6 , , .2 , , 11.2 , , 13.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , 22 , , 22 , , 30.7 , , .408 , , .388 , , .899 , , 4.3 , , .9 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 15.0 , , 15.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 98 , , 55 , , 22.5 , , .427 , , .363 , , .854 , , 3.6 , , .8 , , .7 , , .2 , , 9.1 , , 9.7