Marko Simonović

Marko Simonović

Simonović with Crvena zvezda in November 2016
No. 19 – Crvena zvezda mts Belgrade
Position Small forward
League Basketball League of Serbia
Adriatic League
Euroleague
Personal information
Born (1986-05-30) May 30, 1986
Priština, SR Serbia,
SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality Serbian
Listed height 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)
Listed weight 95 kg (209 lb)
Career information
NBA draft 2008 / Undrafted
Playing career 2003–present
Career history
2003–2005 Lavovi 063
2005–2006 Ergonom
2006 Oostende
2006–2008 Hemofarm
2008–2011 Budućnost Podgorica
2011–2012 Alba Berlin
2012–2014 Crvena zvezda
2014–2015 Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez
2015–present Crvena zvezda
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Serbia
Summer Olympics
2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
World Championship
2014 Spain
Universiade
2009 Belgrade Team
2007 Bangkok Team

Marko Simonović (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Симоновић, born May 30, 1986) is a Serbian professional basketball player who plays for Crvena zvezda of the Basketball League of Serbia. He also represents the Serbian national basketball team internationally. Standing at 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in), he plays the small forward position.[1]

Professional career

Simonović began his professional career in 2003 with Lavovi 063 where he stayed for two seasons. In 2005, he then moved to Ergonom. In 2006, he moved the Belgian team Oostende, only being there for half season. In the summer of 2006, he signed with Serbian team Hemofarm, staying with them until the summer of 2008. He then moved to the Montenegrin team Budućnost Podgorica, staying with them for three full seasons. With them he won three consecutive times the Montenegrin League championship and Montenegrin Cup, from 2009 until 2011.

On July 18, 2011, Simonović signed a contract with German team Alba Berlin.[2] Over the season he averaged 6.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in the German League. In the summer of 2012, he signed a contract with Crvena zvezda.[3] After club legend Igor Rakočević retired from the professional basketball in 2013, Simonović became next team captain.[4] In his first season in the Euroleague, he averaged 4.8 points and 2.9 rebounds.

In August 2014, he signed with the French team Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez.[5] On September 30, French Cup game against Orléans Loiret Basket, Simonović made a buzzer beater three pointer to edge Orléans by 72–70.[6] He led his team in scoring with 27 points, while also having 9 steals, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.[7] On April 21, 2015, he had the best game since coming in the club, scoring season-high 31 points in a 89–96 loss to Limoges CSP.[8] Pau-Orthez finished the season in the French League in 13th place. Over 26 games played, Simonović averaged 13.4 points, and 3 rebounds on 39.6% shooting from the field. He also scored 20 and more points four times during the season.[9]

On September 30, 2015, he signed a short-term contract with Crvena zvezda.[10] On November 19, 2015, he re-signed with the club for the rest of the season.[11] On July 10, 2016, he re-signed with the team until the end of 2017–18 season.[12]

International career

Simonović was a member of the Serbian national basketball team which took silver medal at the 2014 World Cup under head coach Aleksandar Đorđević and after that he was a part of Olympic team that took silver medal at the 19th Olympic Basketball Tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics under the head coach Aleksandar Đorđević.

He also represented Serbia at the EuroBasket 2015.[13] In the first phase of the tournament, Serbia dominated in the toughest Group B with 5-0 record, and then eliminated Finland and Czech Republic in the round of 16 and quarterfinal game, respectively. However, they were stopped in the semifinal game by Lithuania with 67–64,[14] and eventually lost to the host team France in the bronze-medal game with 81–68.[15] Simonović was mostly used as a three-point and defensive task specialist; he averaged 2.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game on 30.8% shooting from the three-point line.[16]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

Euroleague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2013–14 Crvena zvezda 10 1 19.4 .395 .375 .667 2.9 .6 .8 .2 4.8 5.8
2015–16 27 6 19.9 .457 .421 .783 1.9 .3 .5 .1 7.4 5.9
Career 37 7 19.8 .443 .410 .769 2.2 .4 .6 .1 6.7 5.9

Controversy

2014 Serbian League trophy incident

On 21 June 2014, Simonović, captain of Red Star Belgrade, was part of a bizarre incident following the Serbian League final series game 4, a hard-fought overtime contest that saw Partizan defeat arch-rivals Red Star Belgrade and clinch their 13th straight league title.

The home court loss came as a bitter pill to the Red Star team, considered by significant sections of the Serbian media and fans as title favorites capable of finally ending Partizan's 12-year domestic league domination.[17] However, Partizan, already up 2-1 in the best-of-5 series, led by Bogdan Bogdanović's 36 point performance, managed a memorable overtime away win for its 13th consecutive Serbian title.[18]

Disappointed and embittered over yet another failure to win the Serbian League, members of the Red Star ultra fan group, Delije, decided to disrupt the championship trophy presentation by storming the court, grabbing the displayed trophy, and taking it back with them into the stands among a crowd of fellow ultra fans. Simonović was soon seen entering the said crowd of Red Star fans by climbing into the stands where he proceeded to lift up the seized trophy, an act met with loud approval from the gathered fans who immediately erupted into cheers and fan songs.[19] Many others in the arena expressed visible disapproval, among them seemingly even some Red Star players who turned away and began walking off the court.[20][21]

Since the trophy got damaged in the process, the championship trophy ceremony was eventually held with a smaller replica trophy presented to Partizan players and staff. Simonović later denied trying to offend anyone with his actions, claiming he entered the stands after being asked by the game's delegate to do so and try to return the trophy on the court.[22]

References

  1. ↑ "Marko SIMONOVIC". fiba.com. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  2. ↑ "Alba Berlin signs Marko Simonovic". sportando.net.
  3. ↑ "Red Star lands Marko Simonovic". sportando.net. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  4. ↑ "MARKO JE KAPITEN". kkcrvenazvezda.rs. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  5. ↑ "Marko Simonovic signs with Pau Orthez". Sportando.com. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  6. ↑ "Elan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez - La preuve par deux!". elan-bearnais.fr (in French). Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "Meč karijere Marka Simonovića!". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  8. ↑ "Limoges Vs. Pau-Lacq-Orthez". lnb.fr (in French). Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "Simonović odličan na oproštaju". b92.net (in Serbian). 17 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  10. ↑ "Simonović se vratio da pomogne". kkcrvenazvezda.rs (in Serbian). 30 September 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  11. ↑ "Simonović Zvezdin do kraja sezone". kkcrvenazvezda.rs (in Serbian). 19 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Crvena Zvezda holds on to Simonovic, Dangubic". euroleague.net. 10 July 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  13. ↑ "AMBITIOUS SERBIA UNVEIL POWERFUL 12-MAN SQUAD". eurobasket2015.org. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  14. ↑ "LITHUANIA END SERBIAN STREAK, RETURN TO FINAL". eurobasket2015.org. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "FRANCE REWARD HOME SUPPORT WITH BRONZE". eurobasket2015.org. 20 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "Player profile: Marko Simonovic". eurobasket2015.org. FIBA Europe. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  17. ↑ "SL: Počinje finalna serija - Partizan brani, Zvezda "napada" titulu". sportal.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  18. ↑ "Ništa novo, Partizan je šampion!". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  19. ↑ "Navijači Zvezde ukrali pehar!". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  20. ↑ "Otkud Simonoviću pehar!?". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  21. ↑ Xavi Maestro - Youtube user. "Marko Simonovic sa navijacima podize " ukradeni " pehar KLS. [Video]". youtube.com. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  22. ↑ ""Nisam želeo nikoga da uvredim"". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 30 September 2014.
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