Igor Rakočević
 Igor Rakočević with TAU. |
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| Montepaschi Siena | |
|---|---|
| Point Guard-Shooting Guard | |
| Personal information | |
| Nickname(s) | "The Grasshopper"[1] |
| Born | March 29, 1978 Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia |
| Nationality |  Serbian |
| Listed height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) |
| Listed weight | 86 kg (190 lb) |
| Career information | |
| NBA Draft | 2000 / 2nd round, 51st overall |
| Selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves | |
| Pro career | 1995–present |
| League | Serie A Euroleague |
| Career history | |
| Red Star Belgrade (1995-00) Budućnost Podgorica (2000-02) Minnesota Timberwolves (2002-03) Red Star Belgrade (2003-04) Pamesa Valencia (2004-05) Real Madrid (2005-06) TAU Cerámica (2006-09) Efes Pilsen (2009-11) Montepaschi Siena (2011-present) |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
| Yugoslavian League Most Improved Player 1998 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship MVP 1998 Adriatic League Final Four MVP 2004 Spanish ACB League 3 Point Shootout Champ 2007 All-Euroleague Second Team 2007 3x Alphonso Ford Trophy 2007, 2009, 2011 All-Euroleague First Team 2009 |
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| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Competitor for  Yugoslavia |
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| FIBA World Cup | ||
| Gold | 2002 Indianapolis | National Team |
| FIBA EuroBasket | ||
| Gold | 2001 Turkey | National Team |
| Mediterranean Games | ||
| Bronze | 1997 Bari | National Team |
Igor Rakočević (Serbian: Игор Ракочевић; born March 29, 1978, in Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia) is a Serbian professional basketball player who plays for Montepaschi Siena. He can play at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, but has spent the vast majority of his career playing as a shooting guard. He is 1.94 m (6 ft 4 ½ in) tall.[2][3] He is the son of Serbian basketballer Goran Rakočević who played as point guard for Crvena zvezda.[4]
Contents |
[edit] Pro career
[edit] KK Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade)
Rakočević played with Red Star Belgrade for five seasons before going to the NBA. With Red Star Belgrade, he won the YUBA League championship in the 1997-98 season, and finished second in the Korać Cup in the same season.
[edit] NBA
Rakočević was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2nd round (51st overall) of the 2000 NBA Draft. He did not play until the 2002-03 NBA season, in which he amounted 244 minutes in 42 games and averaged 1.9 points, 0.8 assists, and 0.4 rebounds per game. He was released after the season and signed by the San Antonio Spurs, who also released him shortly after.
[edit] Europe
Rakočević then returned to Europe as a member of Red Star Belgrade, and was named the most valuable player of the Adriatic League Final Four. He was the captain and best player of Red Star Belgrade in that season.
He continued his career in Spain where he played for Pamesa Valencia, Real Madrid and Tau Cerámica. In the Euroleague 2006-07 season he won the Alphonso Ford Trophy. He was also selected to the All-Euroleague 2nd Team of that year's competition.
With TAU Cerámica, Rakočević won the Spanish Supercup in 2006, 2007, and 2008, the Spanish King's Cup in 2008, and the Spanish ACB League championship in 2008. In 2009, he signed a contract with the Turkish League club Efes Pilsen.[5][6]
Rakočević joined Montepaschi Siena in October 2011.[7]
[edit] FIBA international career
Rakočević made his debut with the senior Yugoslavian national team at the 2000 Olympic Basketball Tournament. After that he played in the EuroBasket 2001 in Turkey (where he won a gold medal) and at the EuroBasket 2005 in Serbia and Montenegro. He was a member of the team that became the FIBA World Champions in Indianapolis, at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, and he was the captain of the Serbia and Montenegro national team in Japan, at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. He also played at the 2004 Olympic Basketball Tournament at Athens.
[edit] Awards and accomplishments
[edit] Yugoslavian national team
- Won the bronze medal at the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship (1996)
- Won the bronze medal at the FIBA Under-21 World Championship (1997)
- Won the gold medal at the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship (1998)
- FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship MVP (1998)
- Won gold medal at EuroBasket 2001
- Won the gold medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship
[edit] Pro career
- Won 2 Yugoslavian Championships (1998, 2001)
- Yugoslavian League Most Improved Player (1998)
- Won the Yugoslavian Cup (2001)
- Won the Serbian Cup (2004)
- Adriatic League Final Four MVP (2004)
- Led the Adriatic League in scoring (2004)
- Won 3 Spanish Supercups (2006, 2007, 2008)
- Won the Spanish ACB League 3 Point Shootout Contest 2007
- 3x Alphonso Ford Trophy 2007, 2009, 2011[8]
- All-Euroleague Second Team (2007)
- Won the Spanish Championship (2008)
- Won the Spanish King's Cup (2009)
- All-Euroleague First Team (2009)
[edit] Personal life
He is the father of a son, and he is married.
[edit] References and notes
- ^ Interbasket.net Nicknamed "The Grasshopper" due to his leaping ability.
- ^ Official FIBA Europe height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 ½ in)
- ^ Official Olympic height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 ½ in).
- ^ Euroleague - Vladimir Stanković: The excitement starts here
- ^ B92.net Rakočević in Efes (Serbian).
- ^ Euroleague.net Top scorer Rakocevic joins Turkish champs.
- ^ MONTEPASCHI SIENA bags scoring champ Rakocevic
- ^ Euroleague.net Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy: Igor Rakocevic, Efes Pilsen.
[edit] External links
- Personal Website
- NBA.com Profile
- NBA.com Player Bio
- Euroleague.net Profile
- FIBA.com Profile
- Igor Rakočević on Twitter
- Euroleague.net Rakočević Interview
- Draftexpress.com Profile
- Adriatic League Profile
- Interbasket Profile
- Hoopshype Profile
- Olympic Profile
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Radoslav Nesterović |
FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship MVP 1998 |
Succeeded by Sani Bečirovič |
Preceded by Drew Nicholas Marc Salyers Linas Kleiza |
Alphonso Ford Trophy 2007 2009 2011 |
Succeeded by Marc Salyers Linas Kleiza Incumbent |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Igor Rakočević |
- 1978 births
- Living people
- Serbian basketball players
- Serbian expatriates in Spain
- Serbian expatriate basketball people in the United States
- KK Crvena zvezda players
- Liga ACB players
- Valencia BC players
- Real Madrid Baloncesto players
- Saski Baskonia players
- Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks
- Minnesota Timberwolves players
- Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Olympic basketball players of Yugoslavia
- Olympic basketball players of Serbia and Montenegro
- People from Belgrade
- Point guards
- Shooting guards
- Eurobasket-winning players
