As the 50th anniversary of the first basketball game in the Montenegrin coastal town of Bar nears, local side Mornar is establishing itself as a bona fide force in the 7DAYS EuroCup.
The Club Scene: Mornar Bar
Club Scene
5 mins read
Legend has it that the first basketball game in the Montenegrin coastal town of Bar took place on an outdoor court on May 11, 1972, between two local high school teams in front of a few hundred spectators. One of the teams, although the one that lost that game, was coached by a legendary high-school professor, Branka Korac.
She would go on to organize her students into a club called Gimnazijalac, which played games around the region. In February 1974, another basketball club, Mladost, was founded and during those years, alongside Korac, basketball enthusiast Petar Pero Blazevic and Ljubo Skokovic were heavily invested in introducing local kids to the sport. Skokovic coached the Mladost team that won the first basket trophy in Bar when the local youth team won the Montenegrin title and then a regional competition within the former Yugoslavia.
The club soon changed its name to Mornar - which translates into Sailor – as the games were first played on the legendary outdoor court of the local Jugoslavija primary school, before moving into the school's gym where the club played until 2008.
Many local basketball legends were part of the club in the late 1970s, including the likes of current head coach Mihailo Pavicevic and brothers Savo and Boro Vucevic, all of whom started off as teenagers with the team. The list of basketball pioneers in Bar also includes Predrag Milovic, Dusan Pavlovic, Vasko Lalosevic, Milovan Obradovic, Rajko Vujovic, Dragan Otasevic, Zoran Jovicevic, Nikola Kovacevic and Branislav Radovic.
The club played in the Yugoslav second division in the 1980s, which was when it reached the peak of its popularity. Mornar battled to reach the Yugoslav elite, arguably the best basketball league in all of Europe at the time, and with current club President Djordjije Pavicevic as its on-court mastermind, Mornar was on the brink of promotion several times in the late 80s. In addition, it twice reached the Yugoslav Cup semifinals – first in the 1986-87 season and again in 1992-93.
Mornar finally reached the Yugoslav first division in 1993 with Mihailo Pavicevic on the bench and his younger brother Djordjije on the floor. That team, which earned legendary status in Bar, also featured brothers Ranko and Rajko Carapic plus Dragoje Spicanovic, Djuro Ostojic and Vinko Bardic, among others.
Mihailo Pavicevic left the bench in 1996 and was first replaced by Slavko Lekic. Led by scorer Bozidar Vukazic, the team secured a Radivoje Korac Cup berth, but never played in the competition due to financial reasons. Djordjije Pavicevic soon took over as a head coach, but the club ended up relegated after finishing in last place in the 1997-98 season.
Those were tough times for Mornar; the club remained alive only thanks to a fusion with a city rival KK Primorka and did not return to prominence until Djordjije Pavicevic returned to his hometown club in 2003, again as a head coach. With the help of local authorities, Djodjije started with a long-term vision of building Mornar into a recognizable basketball name. It took only a year for the club to reach the first division of the Serbia & Montenegro League and when Montenegro declared its independence in 2006, Mornar started participating in the Montenegrin League.
The team moved into the newly-built Topolica Sports Hall and had its first big success when Djordjie Pavicevic guided the team to the 2010 Montenegrin Cup finals, where it fell to Buducnost Podgorica 97-79. Later that spring Mornar reached the Montenegrin League semifinals and the following season it advanced to the league finals for the first time. It was swept 3-0, again by perennial champion Buducnost, but that was the beginning of Mornar’s steady climb to the top of Montenegrin basketball and European prominence.
Mornar made the playoff semifinals in three of the next four years as Djordjije Pavicevic earned a larger-than-coach role with the club. In 2015 he persuaded his brother Mihailo to join him on the bench and in the 2015-16 season the team started its current run of four consecutive Montenegrin League playoff finals and four straight Montenegrin Cup finals. In the 2016 Montenegrin Cup title game, Buducnost topped Mornar 90-80. A couple of months later, Mornar swept the best-of-three playoff series against KK Lovcen and KK Sutjeska, before losing 3-1 in the league finals against Buducnost. But the foundation was in place to attack new challenges.
Reaching the playoff final the previous year allowed Mornar to make its Adriatic League debut in the 2016-17 season, as well as its European club competitions debut by taking part in the Basketball Champions League, but did not get past the group stage and finished eighth in the Adriatic League. Still, the team continued to get closer at home, losing a tight 72-68 decision against Buducnost in the Cup final. It then became the first team in league history to take the playoff finals against Buducnost to the decisive fifth game. Mornar won Games 2 and 4 on its home floor, only to lose the series in the fifth-and-deciding game, 76-73 in Podgorica.
Ahead of the 2017-18 season, in a planned move, Mihailo took over for Djordjie as head of bench, which turned into a historic season by all means for Mornar, which secured the best-ever results in every competition it entered. First, Mornar returned to the Adriatic League and withstood all the challenges to finish fourth in the regular season and reach the playoffs for the first time ever. In a dramatic best-of-three semifinal series, Mornar was ousted by mighty Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade, but not before it snatched a memorable 88-84 Game 2 win at home. Mornar also reached the FIBA Europa Cup quarterfinals and got to the Montenegrin Cup finals, which it lost in an 87-83 thriller to Buducnost. However, Mornar rose to the challenge by doing something it had never done before, beating Buducnost in the best-of-five Montenegrin League playoff finals. Mornar first stole Game 1 of the finals, 77-84 in Podgorica, behind 56 combined points from Derek Needham and Strahinja Micovic. Then Mornar defended its home floor in Game 2 by beating Buducnost 93-85. After nearly coming away with a sweep on the road in the third game, Mornar finished the job with a 75-63 win in front of its fans, clinching the first major title in club history. Coach Mihailo Pavicevic and his brother Djordjie were celebrated after fulfilling their lifelong dreams.
Following that historic season, Mornar made more history with its 7DAYS EuroCup debut. The team had a competition premier at home against mighty UNICS Kazan, finishing with a 74-87 loss, but it won its first-ever road game by downing Fiat Turin 80-84. However, in a group with a couple other former champions, Unicaja Malaga and Rytas Vilnius, as well as Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt, Mornar did not get past the regular season and finished with a 2-8 record, with both wins coming against Turin.
Domestically, Mornar enjoyed being the defending champion as it continued competing with Buducnost and reaching playoff finals, but this time it was ousted 76-72 in the deciding Game 5. Last season, Mornar reached the cup finals for the fifth time since 2010 and once again lost against Buducnost, while only a pandemic stopped its Adriatic League effort as the team led by Needham, Jacob Pullen, Milko Bjelica and Uros Lukovic was destined for a return to the playoffs.
This season, Mornar is back in the EuroCup and as it prepares to celebrate its 50th birthday, is more ambitious than ever and aiming to contend for titles in all the competition it enters.