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 assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

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 (appro ...

player. Vučićević has played professional basketball in several countries including

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. In May 2010,

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas () or the SBP is the national sport association for basketball in the Philippines, formed from the merging of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) and Pilipinas Basketball (PB). It was formed ...

announced that Vučićević will suit up for the developmental Philippine national basketball team,

Smart Gilas The Philippines men's national basketball team (), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (Basketball Federation of the Philippines or s ...

, in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2010.

Basketball career

Serbia

Vučićević played for

KK Tamiš Košarkaški klub Tamiš ( sr-cyr, Кошаркашки клуб Тамиш), commonly referred to as KK Tamiš, is a men's professional basketball club based in Pančevo, Serbia. They are currently competing in the Basketball League of Serbia. ...

, which represents the city of

Pančevo Pančevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчево, ; ; ; ; ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located on the shores of rivers Timiș (ri ...

, at the start of the 2008–09 season of

Basketball League of Serbia The Basketball League of Serbia (), commonly abbreviated as KLS, is a Serbian basketball league system, top-tier men's professional basketball Sports league, league in Serbia. Founded in 2006. It is currently not run by the Basketball Federation o ...

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

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

Cyprus

In 2009, Vučićević signed with AEK Larnaca B.C., a professional basketball club based in

Larnaca Larnaca, also spelled Larnaka, is a city on the southeast coast of Cyprus and the capital of the Larnaca District, district of the same name. With a district population of 155.000 in 2021, it is the third largest city in the country after Nicosi ...

. 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 * Coac ...

Jerry Hemmings was able to watch the skilled center play for

basketball team, Al Nizwa, at the Arab Club Championship held in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, 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

executive director Noli Eala 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 (), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (Basketball Federation of the Philippines or s ...

, in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2010. He will play under coach

Rajko Toroman Rajko Toroman ( sr-Cyrl, Рајко Тороман; born February 10, 1955) is a Serbian professional basketball coach. Coaching career Before 2016, he served as a team consultant for the Barako Bull Energy Cola and the Petron Blaze Boosters ...

, former coach of the

Iran national basketball team The Iran men’s national basketball team (Persian: تیم ملی بسکتبال مردان ایران) represents Iran in international basketball, and are governed by the Islamic Republic of Iran Basketball Federation (IRIBF). Iran is one of ...

, and will join notable Smart Gilas players such as

Chris Tiu Christopher John Alandy-Dy Tiu (born July 15, 1985) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Ateneo Blue Eagles with whom he won the UAAP title in 2008. He went on to play his entire professional ...

, Japeth Aguilar, and Dylan Ababou, as well as former

Oakland University Oakland University (OU or Oakland) is a public university, public research university in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson and husband ...

Golden Grizzly

Kelly Williams Kelly Williams (born February 7, 1982) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the TNT Tropang 5G in the PBA. He played collegiate basketball at Oakland University, an NCAA Division I school in the United States, and he als ...

, 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 The Yugoslavia men's national basketball team ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Košarkaška reprezentacija Jugoslavije, Кошаркашка репрезентација Југославије; ; ) represented the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

that featured players such as

Predrag Danilović Predrag "Saša" Danilović ( sr-Cyrl, 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 o ...

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 King ...

, and

Dejan Bodiroga Dejan Bodiroga ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Бодирога; born 2 March 1973) is a Serbian basketball executive and former professional player, who is currently the president of EuroLeague Basketball. In 1998 and 2002, he received the Golden Badge ...

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

Doha Doha ( ) 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 (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

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

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

after his stint with Gilas.

Player profile

Vučićević is 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) tall, and plays the center and

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

positions. He has played for several

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

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 Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

) and Al Sadd (

), to name a few. In terms of inside players from

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, 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 Zoran Savić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Савић; born November 18, 1966) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former professional player who is currently the sports director for Partizan Belgrade of the Serbian KLS, the Adriatic Le ...

, 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 national teams. It was hosted by Argentina from 8 to 19 August 1990. The final phase of the competition was held at t ...

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 The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

players Jamal Sampson and C. J. Giles. *Before Smart Gilas considered him as the team's

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

candidate, Vučićević had previously bought an

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

jacket from a store in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, sometime in 2008, that had the

Philippine flag The national flag of the Philippines () is a horizontal List of flags by design#Bicolour, bicolor flag with equal bands of royal blue and Crimson, crimson red, with a white, equilateral chevron at the Glossary of vexillology#Flag elements, hois ...

as part of its design.

References

External links