Montenegro, smallest nation to ever play World Cup, focusing ''only on their team''

PODGORICA (Montenegro) - In a poetic twist of fate, Montenegro, the second tallest country in the world, will become the smallest nation by population to ever appear at the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Various sources quote the World Health Organization (WHO) or eLife's research done by the scientists at Imperial College London, and claim that Dutchmen are the tallest people in all of the world, with an average height of 1.84m (6ft). Right behind them are Montenegrins with an average height of 1.83m.

It comes as no surprise then that Montenegro are good at basketball. They booked their first-ever trip to the FIBA Basketball World Cup, just edging out Latvia on a wild final day of action in the European Qualifiers.

Coach Zvezdan Mitrovic does not think about the fact that his giants will make their debut at the summit and isn't worried at all about the opponents they will face in China. 

"We will focus on our team, and only on our team," Mitrovic said. "We're interested to learn in what kind of shape our players will be when they arrive to training camp and we don't know (if) we will have all of them available. But first, we will be thinking about our game and then about our opponents."

Yet, with all of the height they have over there - reaching unreal mean numbers of 1.85m (6ft 1in) in the municipalities of Kolasin and Savnik as explained in Stevo Popovic's research study in 2017 - Montenegro is set to go down in history as the smallest to reach the World Cup in one respect.

By contrasts, a population of 4.7 million inhabitants makes New Zealand look like a gigantic country compared to Crna Gora. The two teams will cross paths in Group F action in Nanjing at the World Cup. 

"New Zealand are a tough team for sure. Definitely not a game in which we expect an easy win," Mitrovic said about Montenegro's closest opponents in terms of sheer country size. "I know for a fact that they always play very tough basketball, they keep on fighting, and what they show during continental competitions is really interesting."

"WE'RE INTERESTED TO LEARN IN WHAT KIND OF SHAPE OUR PLAYERS WILL BE WHEN THEY ARRIVE TO TRAINING CAMP... WE WILL BE THINKING ABOUT OUR GAME AND THEN ABOUT OUR OPPONENTS."- Mitrovic

Greece and Brazil, the other two nations in Group F, will be favorites to advance to the next round, and Montenegrin players and coaches are well aware that the hopes and dreams of those teams go all the way to the final days of competition, when pieces of silverware will be up for grabs.

"We got Greece, who will certainly be the biggest candidate to win a medal if Giannis Antetokounmpo plays. But if he doesn't, then they are a better draw for us than Serbia, who we could've ended up in the same group with. Greeks have a lot of potential and experience, but it comes down to their motivation. Some championships they play great, other times they fail big time," Mitrovic  pointed out, obviously hoping for the latter version of Greece.

"Brazil are alluring opponents, but we will see what their roster looks like. We know their players who were in the NBA and strong European leagues, but we don't know who will be on their final list, who will come from their domestic championship."

A potential disadvantage for Mitrovic's team will be in the fact that Croatian-born Brazil head coach Aco Petrovic will understand everything Montenegrin players are saying on the court, but it seems that this generation of Montenegro is not afraid of anyone.

They stormed through Slovenia, taking down the FIBA EuroBasket 2017 winners in the First Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers, and their games against Turkey, Ukraine and Latvia showed that they are a force to be reckoned with in Europe.

With Derek Needham firing away from the outside, Nikola Vucevic and Bojan Dubljevic filling the painted area, and Mitrovic using his defensive schemes that earned him a living in France, the 600,000 strong nation could be the surprise package in China. It's all up to them to show us what standing on the shoulders of world's second tallest giants looks like.

FIBA