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Marko Popović (basketball, born 1982)

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Marko Popović
Marko Popović with Žalgiris in 2011
No. 2 – Montakit Fuenlabrada
PositionPoint guard / Shooting guard
LeagueLiga ACB
Personal information
Born (1982-06-12) June 12, 1982 (age 42)
Zadar, SR Croatia,
SFR Yugoslavia
NationalityCroatian
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
CollegeCollege of Southern Idaho
(2000–2001)
NBA draft2004: undrafted
Playing career1998–present
Career history
1998–2003Zadar
2003–2004Valencia
2004–2005Cibona Zagreb
2005–2006Efes Pilsen
2006–2008Žalgiris Kaunas
2008–2011UNICS Kazan
2011–2013Žalgiris Kaunas
2013–2015Khimki
2015–presentFuenlabrada
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men’s basketball
Representing  Croatia
European U-18 Championship
Silver medal – second place 2000 Croatia

Marko Popović (born 12 June 1982) is a Croatian professional basketball player for Montakit Fuenlabrada of the Liga ACB. Standing at a height of 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in), he plays at the point guard and shooting guard positions.[1]

Early life

Marko Popović was born in Zadar, the son of Petar Popović,[2] a retired basketball player and a present-day basketball coach. Marko started training in basketball in the youth school of KK Zadar, in 1991, but his family moved to Zagreb in 1994, when the father signed with Benston.[3] Marko then entered the youth system of Cibona Zagreb, where he remained until 1997, when his family moved back to Zadar. Marko's cadet team won the national championship, and he was voted the MVP of the tournament.[3]

College career

After Popović had a successful 2000 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship with Croatia's junior national team, KK Zadar decided to offer him a seven-year contract, but he declined the offer, and instead went to an NCAA Division II college basketball team in the United States. He joined the College of Southern Idaho, where he stayed for a year.[3]

Professional career

Popović played with the youth junior squad of KK Zadar in the 1998–99 season, and also played in 3 games with the club's senior team that season. In the club's youth squad, he scored an average of 25 points per game, which earned him a spot in the top-tier level senior men's team of the club in the following season of 1999–00.[3] After spending a year in the United States, playing college basketball at the College of Southern Idaho (NCAA Division II), he moved back to Croatia and Zadar in 2001.[3]

In the 2002–03 ABA League season, Zadar surprisingly won the ABA League championship, after beating Maccabi Tel Aviv in the finals. Popović played a major role in his team's success, and he was awarded with the MVP title of the leagues' final four tournament, which took place in Ljubljana.

In 2003, he moved Pamesa Valencia of the Spanish ACB League, for the 2003–04 season, where he stayed until February 2004, before moving back to Croatia again, this time to Cibona Zagreb, with which he won the Croatian League championship in the 2003–04 season.

In 2005, Popović was signed by the Turkish League club Efes Pilsen, and the next year, he moved to Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian League, with which he won both the 2006–07 and 2007–08 Lithuanian League season championships. While playing with UNICS Kazan, he was named the Finals MVP of the 2nd-tier level European-wide league, the EuroCup, in 2011.[4]

In 2011, he returned to Žalgiris.[5] After leaving Žalgiris in June 2013, Popović agreed to contract terms with the Russian VTB United League club Khimki Moscow Region, as he signed a two-year deal with the club on 7 August 2013.[6] On 16 June 2015, he left Khimki, after spending two seasons with the club.[7]

On 6 October 2015, he signed with the Spanish club Baloncesto Fuenlabrada.[8] In February 2017 he became the all-time EuroCup scoring leader,[9] but was surpassed by Bojan Dubljević and Rafa Martínez later same season.[10] On July 17, 2018, he re-signed with the Spanish club Baloncesto Fuenlabrada.[11]

Croatian national team

Popović played for the Croatian men's junior national basketball teams. With Croatia's junior national team, he won a silver medal at the 2000 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, which was held in his home town of Zadar. Croatia lost that tournament's gold medal game by one point against the junior national team of France, which was led by Tony Parker. Popović led the tournament in assists, with an average of 5.2 assists per game.[3] He also led the 2002 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship in both scoring and assists.

Popović joined the senior men's Croatian national basketball team in 2002, and with the senior team, he played at the following EuroBasket tournaments: the EuroBasket 2003, the EuroBasket 2005, the EuroBasket 2007, the EuroBasket 2009, the EuroBasket 2011 and finally the EuroBasket 2017. He also played at the 2008 Summer Olympics and at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.[12]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

EuroLeague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2001–02 Zadar 11 4 30.4 .402 .299 .813 1.8 4.0 1.6 .0 13.9 13.1
2003–04 Valencia 17 5 20.0 .363 .339 .767 2.2 1.8 1.1 .0 6.8 6.5
2004–05 Cibona 17 16 31.8 .449 .386 .733 2.2 4.0 1.9 .0 15.4 16.2
2005–06 Efes Pilsen 16 13 24.0 .478 .419 .776 1.4 3.1 1.4 .0 12.9 12.8
2006–07 Žalgiris 7 7 34.4 .395 .273 .909 .9 4.9 1.4 .0 15.1 15.9
2007–08 Žalgiris 20 0 21.5 .432 .396 .839 1.4 2.0 1.0 .0 11.7 10.3
2011–12 Žalgiris 14 1 22.2 .404 .387 .906 2.1 2.1 .4 .0 12.5 11.4
2012–13 Žalgiris 21 13 24.0 .486 .439 .855 1.4 2.2 .7 .0 13.4 12.5
Career 123 59 29.2 .434 .380 .821 1.7 2.8 1.2 .0 12.5 12.0

References

  1. ^ Marko Popovic PG/SG Nationality: Croatia Birth Place: Zadar, HRV Birth Date: 12-06-1982 Height: 185 cm Weight: 86 kg.
  2. ^ "Košarkaši strepili za pobjedu i protiv Finaca". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). 31 August 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2011. [...] Petar Popović, legenda zadarske košarke, koji je potegnuo do Alytusa pogledati uživo nastupe Hrvatske na Eurobasketu. Otac Marka Popovića, [...][permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ a b c d e f Dean Sinovčić (15 April 2003). "Bit ću najniži europski igrač u NBA" [I will be the shortest European NBA player]. Nacional (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 3 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Eurocup Finals MVP, Marko Popovic of Unics". Eurocupbasketball.com. 17 April 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  5. ^ "Kapetan može bezbrižno na Eurobasket: Marko Popović se vraća u Žalgiris!". Sportske Novosti (in Croatian). 14 August 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  6. ^ "BC Khimki inks Popovic to two-year deal". Euroleague.net. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  7. ^ "Hvala Marko". BCKhimki.ru. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  8. ^ "Marko Popovic signs with Fuenlabrada". Sportando.com. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Marko Popovic becomes EuroCup scoring king". eurocupbasketball.com. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  10. ^ "EuroCup scoring crown belongs to Dubljevic - for now". eurocupbasketball.com. 28 March 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  11. ^ "Fuenlabrada re-signs Marko Popovic". Sportando. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  12. ^ Marko POPOVIC (CRO) participated in 17 FIBA / FIBA Zones events.
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