February 04, 2012
The Club Scene: KK Buducnost
KK Buducnost KK Buducnost - 1999 Yugoslav League champions (PHOTO: www.kkbuducnost.cg.yuNot many pro basketball teams anywhere bridged the 20th and 21st centuries with quite the same style as did KK Buducnost. The team from Podgorica, Montenegro, earned its name among the top clubs in Europe then by dominating the world-renowned Yugoslav League at the end of the 1990s and into the new millennium. Three straight Yugoslav League titles were forged by a record-setting domestic winning streak of 51 games that ran from 1999 to 2001. Now, another resurgence is at hand in Podgorica. Last season, Buducnost reached the ULEB Cup elimination rounds for the first time in club history. And this fall, Buducnost qualified for the Eurocup with hopes of making a whole new country proud of its efforts.

Buducnost is a club whose importance can also be traced by the great names of European basketball who either passed by or originated there. Dusko Ivanovic, a multiple Euroleague champion and current member of the coaching elite, was one of the best players in Buducnost's history. Zoran Sutulovic, now prestigious refree, also played for Buducnost. Zarko Paspalj, Luka Pavicevic, Zdravko Radulovic, Vlado Scepanovic, Nikola Bulatovic…all achieved their reputations wearing the blue jersey of the Podgorica-based club. Dejan Tomasevic, Milenko Topic and Dejan Milojevic become stars while at Buducnost. Goran Bojanic, Miroslav Nikolic, Bosa Tanjevic and Vlade Djurovic put their seal as coaches on the successes of the club.

BC Buducnost Podgorica was founded in 1949 and its first success came just two years later, when the club took the first place in the First Championship of the Cities of Montenegro, one of the six republics that formed Yugoslavia at that time. It took almost 30 years until Buducnost made a mark on the national scene, reaching the quarterfinals of the Yugoslav Cup, only to be knocked out by the following season's Euroleague champions, Bosna, led by legends Tanjevic and Mirza Delibasic.

One of the most significant seasons in club history was 1979-80. Buducnost took the first place in Yugoslav second division, and thus automatically qualified for the first. That was the generation of Nikola Antic, Dragan and Dusko Ivanovic, Zoran Sutulovic, Goran Bojanic ... The team was coached by Rusmir Halilovic. Shortly before the team debuted in the Yugoslav League, the brand-new Moraca Sports Center opened in Podgorica. Buducnost played all of its official matches in the sold-out arena that first season, against some of the biggest names in the sport: Cibona, Bosna, Olimpija, Partizan, Jugoplastika, Red Star... And in that debut season, Buducnost achieved significant success, finishing eighth among 12 teams.

KK Buducnost - 1985 (PHOTO: www.kkbuducnost.cg.yu The club's best results in the old Yugoslav League came in the 1985-86 season, when Buducnost finished third. This was when Cibona reigned as European champion during two seasons, the legend of Jugoplastika was beginning and a generation of superstars out of Partizan was close. The young Buducnost head coach at the time, Milutin Petrovic, had players like the Ivanovic brothers, Antic, Zarko Paspalj, Nikola Milatovic, Jadran Vujacic, and together they managed to qualify for the Radivoje Korac Cup. In its European debut, Buducnost posted a respectable three wins and five losses.

The next milestone for Buducnost came a decade later, when the club lifted its first trophy ever, the Yugoslav Cup. At the tournament held in Niksic, Montenegro, the winners first defeated defeated BFC Beocin in the semifinals and Partizan Belgrade in a title game that is remembered for a record 21 three-pointers made by Buducnost! The roster that made up that pioneer generation for Buducnost included Vlado Scepanovic, Gavrilo Pajovic, Dragan Tomovic, Miodrag Djaletic, Cedo Mudresa, Pedja Popovic, Aleksandar Ivanovic, Savo Djikanovic, Darko Ivanovic, Mirko Simovic, Dragan Vukcevic and Miomir Mugosa. The head coach was Zivko-Garo Brajovic. With a program that was clearly on the right track, Buducnost would only have to wait two seasons to repeat the success, taking the 1997-98 Yugoslav Cup - also in Niksic - with victories over Partizan Belgrade and Beobanka Belgrade. The cast of winners that season consisted of Scepanovic, Pajovic, Ivanovic, Vukcevic, Marko Krivokapic, Djuro Ostojic, Marko Ivanovic, Dragan Ceranic, Stevan Pekovic, Sasa Radunovic and Vlada Dragutinovic. The team was coached by former player Goran Bojanic.

At that time, Montenegrin officials wanted to promote their republic, so they invested a lot of money in the best sport’s clubs. Buducnost formed a domestic "Dream Team" with Scepanovic, Pajovic, Ostojic, Vukcevic, Radunovic, Ceranic, Goran Boskovic, Dejan Radonjic, Blagota Sekulic, Nikola Bulatovic, Balsa Radunovic and Zeljko Topalovic. Coached by Miroslav Nikolic, the team won its first national title in 1998-99, an historic moment to commemorate teh 40th anniversary of the club. In the same season, Buducnost had significant success in European competition, but political factors due to the NATO intervention against Yugoslavia stopped its march in the Saporta Cup semifinals, where it forfeited the second-leg game against eventual champion Benetton. Nevertheless, the team from Podgorica was already earning its name among the top clubs in Europe by thoroughly dominating the Yugoslavian League at the end of the 1990s and into the new millennium. Three straight Yugoslavian League titles were forged by a record-setting domestic winning streak of 51 games that ran from 1999 to 2001 as players like Dejan Tomasevic, Haris Brkic, Vlada Kuzmanovic and Milenko Topic helped push Buducnost to a new level.

KK Buducnost - 2001 Yugoslav League championsIn the 1999-2000 season, Buducnost participated in the Euroleague for the first time. Due to continuing UN sanctions against Yugoslavia, Buducnost had to play its home game away from Podgorica (in Sarajevo and Budapest), but still managed to qualify for the Top 16 stage. Again in 2000-01, Buducnost qualified for the Top 16 with a roster that featured some new names like Bojan Bakic, Sasa Obradovic, Igor Rakocevic, Dejan Milojevic and Jerome James. At midseason, Bogdan Tanjevic had replaced Miroslav Nikolic as head coach, and before it was over, the team had its first double-trophy effort: both the Yugoslav Cup and Yugoslav League tiels.

That, however, was the end of Buducnost's dominant generation. With several times smaller budget and without big names on the roster, Buducnost ended 2002-03 Euroleague season with only two victories. Soon, however, Buducnost became a co-founder and co-owner of the Adriatic League. In seven appearances in that competition, its fifth-place finish in 2006-07 was Buducnost's best result. Through the Adriatic League, Buducnost managed to qualify to ULEB Cup three times. In the two years since its country went independent, Buducnost has dominated the Montenegrin League with a combined 45-1 record.

The current roster is full of young players who also want to leave their stamps on Buducnost's story of glory, too. Head coach Dejan Radonjic, who debuted three years ago, has nurtured talents like Vladimir Dasic, Ivan Maras, Vlada Micov, Nemanja Gordic, Vladimir Dragicevic, Nikola Otasevic, Suad Sehovic and others with the clear aim to bring back Buducnost to its position at the beginning of this century. He has full support of his former teammate, Gavrilo Pajovic, who is the Buducnost general manager, as well as the support of club's directors.

For the time being, the team has been successful playing at home, but everyone in Podgorica is waiting for the next big step. The formula of giving precocious young talents the attention and experience to excel has already been tested - and succeeded - in Buducnost. The only question now is how soon it will work again
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Milivoje Kovacevic, Podgorica
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