101 Greats of European Basketball

made a big effort and managed to bring him back to
Istanbul. In March, Efes Pilsen advanced to the Korac
Cup final again, this time facing a Milano team that had
monster talent: Dejan Bodiroga, Nando Gentile, Gregor
Fucka and Rolando Blackman. In the first leg of the
two-game series, in Istanbul, Efes won 76-68 behind a
brilliant Naumoski, who poured in 31 points. He made
8 of 10 two-pointers and 5 of 11 threes to go with 3
rebounds and 10 assists in 40 minutes. Despite being
behind by 8 points before Game 2, Milano remained the
favorite, but only managed to win by 7 at home, 77-70,
with 20 points from Fucka, 15 by Gentile and 14 by Bodiroga.
By a single point, the title went to Efes, and the
man of the game was, once more, Naumoski, with 26
points on 3 of 5 two-pointers, 4 of 8 threes and 8 of 8
free throws. It was his fourth European trophy.
That same month, Naumoski got his Turkish passport
with the name Namik Polat, but he never would
play with the Turkish national team. His dream was
to wear the Macedonia jersey in a big competition.
His golden years at Efes went on: the double national
crown in 1997 and the Turkish Cup and President’s
Cup in 1998. He would stay at Efes until 1999 and that
summer he managed to fulfill his dream of playing EuroBasket
with Macedonia in France. The team featured
Naumoski, Vrbica Stefanov and a young Vlado Ilievski
in a great backcourt, but at the same time lacked big
men and experience. FYROM could only come home
with 13th place out of 16 teams. Naumoski was the top
scorer of the team at 15 points per game.
Return to Italy
At the end of the 20th century, Naumoski was voted
best Macedonian player of the millennium. For the
2000-01 season, he went back to Italy, joining Benetton
again. He was still on good form, with 16.9 points on
average, and still posted high percentages from the arc
(130 of 273, or 47.3%). He made his debut in the new
EuroLeague with 16.2 points for the season. For the following
one, he signed with Montepaschi Siena and won
his fifth European trophy, the Saporta Cup. In the final,
played in Lyon, Siena defeated Valencia by the score of
81-71. The MVP, you ask? Why, of course, it was Petar
Naumoski, who netted 23 points, including 5 of 8 triple,
and had good help from Vrbica Stefanov, who scored
17. Naumoski stayed in Italy for two more years, but
this time in Milano, averaging 17.9 and 15.1 points while
shooting 45.1% and a 42.6% from the arc, respectively.
At 35 years old, he was able to score 48 points against
Virtus Bologna. In 2003-04, at almost 36, he played his
last EuroLeague season, averaging 11.5 points.
It wasn’t time to retire yet, however. He was back to
Turkey to join Ulker and won the Turkish Cup, his last trophy.
He played in Italy again, this time with humble teams
like Pallacanestro Guido Rossi and Derthona Basket, but
he decided to put an end to his brilliant career in Macedonia
with the MZT Skopje jersey. In 2011 he played the
national cup final against Rabotnicki, his team of origin,
but lost 74-69. The circle closed where it had started, in
Skopje, with more than 25 years in between.
Naumoski was a playmaker but maybe “basket-maker”
is a term that would suit him better. He scored a lot
of points as one of those old-school point guards who
could really shoot. He used the backboard a lot, too,
with a double intent: more security and a guaranteed
basket if the rivals touched the ball. He was a complete
player, smart and with a winning character. He always
triumphed wherever he played.
Petar Naumoski, the Macedonian pearl.
101 greats of european basketball
Petar Naumoski
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