101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
his career. Just as he exited the club, a long period of
crisis started for Crvena Zvezda, which would last for
15 years. At the same time, Partizan started its rise to
domination with 12 consecutive national leagues, plus
triumphs in cups and the Adriatic League, soon becoming
a consistent protagonist in the EuroLeague.
Over the next four years, from 1995 to 1999, Tomasevic
had a prominent role both with Partizan and the national
team. At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, he won the
silver medal after contributing 6.2 points and 4 rebounds
per game. At the 1997 EuroBasket in Barcelona, he repeated
as champ with 4.5 points and 3.4 boards. In 1998, he
was back to Barcelona to play the EuroLeague Final Four
with Partizan and that same summer he won the World
Cup with Yugoslavia in Athens, averaging 6.2 points and
5.7 rebounds. In 1999, he won the bronze medal at the
EuroBasket in France with 7.2 points and 6 rebounds.
During those four years, Tomasevic improved a lot
from a technical point of view. Little by little he started
overcoming his biggest obstacle, free throw shooting.
At the same time, he started dishing many assists,
about which he learned a lot from Divac, another big
man with a great ability to pass. Most important, however,
was Tomasevic’s ability to grab rebounds, especially
on offense. He had that sixth sense attributed to
the greats, to know where the ball would fall. Over the
years, Tomasevic also gained experience that guaranteed
him a high level in each game. It was almost impossible
to see him play badly. When he didn’t have a good
day, he always delivered something for his coaches.
In the summer of 1999, after two league titles and
one national cup with Partizan, Tomasevic was 26 years
old and in his prime. He received many calls from many
foreign clubs, but he decided to join Buducnost Podgorica.
There, he joined with Igor Rakocevic, an old teammate
of his in Crvena Zvezda who was five years younger than
Tomasevic. At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Tomasevic
contributed 10.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists
per game – his best performance in a tournament with
the national team, but Yugoslavia fell in the quarterfinals
against the excellent Canada of Steve Nash.
In Podgorica, he won two Yugoslav Leagues with
Buducnost plus a national cup. He was also MVP of the
regular season in the first modern EuroLeague in 2000-
01, with 22.9 points per game. At the end of the season,
he was named to the All-EuroLeague Team. From his
time in Buducnost, some personal records stuck: a
performance index rating of 42 against PAOK and 29
points plus 17 boards against Barcelona. When Tomasevic
was in Podgorica, he had a very special deal with
his coach, Miroslav Nikolic. For every EuroLeague game
in which he grabbed 15 rebounds or more, he would
have a special bonus. If he didn’t reach that number,
he would pay the club one-tenth of what he had agreed
on as bonuses. Normally he won the bet, but his extra
bonus was soon spent right after the game to pay for
dinner for the whole team!
Triple-double with Pamesa Valencia
After two years in Buducnost, Tomasevic left at
age 28. He did so as three-time European champ, too,
because Yugoslavia had recovered the title at the 2001
EuroBasket in Turkey. His first stop abroad was in Vitoria,
where he signed with Tau Ceramica. In his first
year, he won the Spanish double crown with the league
and cup titles. In the cup final at home, Tau defeated FC
Barcelona 85-83. Tomasevic scored 20 points and was
chosen MVP. A few months later, despite having finished
fourth in the regular season, Tau Ceramica won
the league title by dominating the playoff rounds at
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