Nemanja Đurić ( sr-cyr, Немања Ђурић; June 18, 1936), 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 (appro ...

player and former coach. He represented 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 ...

internationally.

Early life

Đurić was raised in a sports family. His father and uncle played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

for Slavija in Belgrade. He has trained many sports, played football for Šumadija Belgrade, after which he moved to

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

club Hero, and later moved to

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

club Partizan where he stays for a longer period and played for all youth selections. Đurić started to play basketball at the urging of his friend Slobodan Ivković.

Playing career

Đurić made his first basketball steps in

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

when he was 19. The club felt that he was too old, so he went to Radnički Belgrade. Đurić played in Italy for Noalex Venezia in 1967–68 season. After that he return to Crvena zvezda and won Yugoslav League in 1968–69 season along with

Vladimir Cvetković Vladimir Cvetković ( sr-cyr, Владимир Цветковић; born 24 May 1941) is a Serbian former basketball player and sports administrator who is the honorary president of Crvena zvezda. He played with KK Crvena zvezda for 13 seasons. W ...

Zoran Slavnić Zoran "Moka" Slavnić (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Мока Славнић; born 26 October 1949) is a Serbian retired professional basketball player and coach. He played with Crvena zvezda and with Partizan. One of the best European point guar ...

Dragan Kapičić Dragan Kapičić ( sr-cyr, Драган Капичић; 7 August 1948 – 24 June 2024) was a Serbian professional basketball player and executive. Club career Kapičić played with Crvena zvezda, in his hometown of Belgrade, in the Yugoslav ...

Ljubodrag Simonović Ljubodrag "Duci" Simonović ( sr-Cyrl, Љубодраг Дуци Симоновић, ); born 1 January 1949) is a Serbian philosopher, author and retired basketball player. He played with Red Star Belgrade, with which he won two National Champi ...

and others. Also, he played in 1969–70 European Champions Cup. Later, he played for Oriolik from

Slavonski Brod Slavonski Brod (, ), commonly shortened to simply Brod, is a city in eastern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Being one of the principal cities in the historical regions of Slavonia and Posavina, Slavonski Brod is the 7th lar ...

National team career

As a player for the

Đurić has played from 1959 to 1967. He participated in two

FIBA World Championship The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition between the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's global governing body. It takes place every four ye ...

s ( 1963 in Brazil and 1967 in Uruguay) and four

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

( 1959 in Turkey, 1961 in Yugoslavia,

1963 in Poland Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

and 1965 in Soviet Union) and two

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

( 1960 in Rome and 1964 in Tokyo). Đurić won two silver medals at World Championships, two silver medals in 1961 and 1965) and one bronze (1963) at European Championships. He won a gold medal at 1959 Mediterranean Games in

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 ...

. During late May and early June 1964, Đurić faced off against a team of NBA All-Stars at three of their four games in Yugoslavia — on 29 May and 30 May 1964 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 ...

as well as 2 June 1964 in

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...

. In Karlovac, the team consisting of local players lost 65–110. US players coached by

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. As a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he led the Boston Celtics to an unprecedented champio ...

were

Bob Cousy Robert Joseph Cousy ( , born August 9, 1928) is an American former professional basketball player. He played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969–70 season. A 13-time NBA ...

Tom Heinsohn Thomas William Heinsohn (August 26, 1934 – November 9, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. He was associated with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for six decades as a pl ...

, K. C. Jones,

Jerry Lucas Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) is an American former basketball player. He was a nationally awarded high school player, national college star at Ohio State University, and 1960 Olympic medal, gold medal Olympian and international player be ...

Bob Pettit Robert E. Lee Pettit Jr. ( ; born December 12, 1932) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association, NBA, all with the Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks (1954–1965). In ...

Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson played ...

and Bill Russel. Alongside Đurić, the players on the local team were Giuseppe Gjergja,

Mirko Novosel Mirko Novosel (30 June 1938 – 20 July 2023) was a Croatian professional basketball coach and player. Playing career Novosel played club basketball, from 1952 to 1966, with Lokomotiva Zagreb (later changed to KK Cibona Zagreb). Coaching caree ...

, Petar Skansi and others.

Coaching career

Đurić was an assistant coach of the

roster that won the 1974 European Cup Winners' Cup, assisting to

Aleksandar Nikolić Aleksandar "Aca" Nikolić ( sr-cyr, Александар "Аца" Николић; 28 October 1924 – 12 March 2000) was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He was also a professor at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of S ...

. Đurić was the head coach of Crvena zvezda for two seasons between 1974 and 1976, winning one

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

in 1975.

Career achievements

;As player * Yugoslav League champion: 1 (with

: 1968–69). ;As head coach *

winner: 1 (with

: 1974–75). ;As assistant coach *

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

winner: 1 (with

: 1973–74).

Coaching record

;Yugoslav Basketball League , - , align="left",

, align="left", 1974–75 , 26 , , 18 , , 8 , , , , 4th , - , align="left",

, align="left", 1975–76 , 26 , , 13 , , 13 , , , , 5th , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 52, , 31, , 21, , , ,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duric, Nemanja 1936 births Living people Basketball players from Belgrade Serbian expatriate basketball people in Italy Serbian expatriate basketball people in Croatia Yugoslav men's basketball players 1963 FIBA World Championship players 1967 FIBA World Championship players Yugoslav basketball coaches Serbian men's basketball players Serbian men's basketball coaches KK Crvena zvezda assistant coaches KK Crvena zvezda head coaches KK Crvena zvezda (youth) coaches KK Crvena zvezda players Power forwards BKK Radnički players Basketball players at the 1960 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Competitors at the 1959 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Mediterranean Games medalists in basketball Olympic basketball players for Yugoslavia