Novica Veličković

Novica Veličković (Serbian Cyrillic: Новица Величковић; born October 5, 1986) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Partizan of the ABA League and the Basketball League of Serbia. He also represented the senior Serbian national basketball team internationally.

Novica Veličković
Veličković with Partizan in 2009
No. 12 – KK Partizan
PositionPower forward
LeagueABA League
Basketball League of Serbia
EuroCup
Personal information
Born (1986-10-05) October 5, 1986
Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
NationalitySerbian
Listed height2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)
Listed weight105 kg (231 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2008 / Undrafted
Playing career2004–present
Career history
2004–2009Partizan
2009–2012Real Madrid
2013Mega Vizura
2013–2014Brose Baskets
2014Mega Vizura
2014–2016Trabzonspor
2016–presentPartizan
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Serbia
EuroBasket
2009 PolandTeam
Representing  Serbia and Montenegro
U20 European Championship
2006 TurkeyTeam
2005 RussiaTeam

Professional career

Veličković started playing basketball for KK Drvomarket in 1996. Then he played for Zemun from 1998 to 2001 before signing with KK Partizan in 2001.

Partizan

Veličković made his professional debut with Partizan during the 2004–05 season. He made his EuroLeague debut on 3 November 2005 against Pau-Orthez, scoring 2 points.[1] In the 2007–08 season, Veličković had a bigger role in the team. On 16 January 2008 in an 88–87 loss to Lottomatica Roma, he scored 22 points and 9 rebounds, his best game in new season.[2] He led the team with 11 points and 4 rebounds to the EuroLeague Quarterfinals in an 82–73 win over Panathinaikos on 19 March 2008.[3] Over the season, in 22 EuroLeague games, Veličković averaged 10.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. As of 2018, Veličković was the only player to not be drafted by any NBA team in an NBA Draft.

In February 2009, he won the Serbian Cup in an 80–65 win over Crvena zvezda and he was the MVP of the competition.[4] On 31 March 2009, Veličković scored a career-high 26 points against CSKA Moscow.[5] On 18 April 2009, he helped his team with 17 points and 8 rebounds in a 63–49 win over Cibona to win the 2008–09 ABA League trophy. For his performances, he was named the Adriatic League Final Four MVP.[6] In April 2009, he won the EuroLeague Rising Star award for the 2008–09 season.[7] Partizan finished the season by winning 8th consecutive Serbian League title, after once again defeating their archrivals, Crvena zvezda, 3–2 in the league's finals series.[8] Veličković was named the Serbian Super League MVP and MVP of the Finals.

Real Madrid

Veličković was seen as the first target of Real Madrid's new coach Ettore Messina. His transfer, with the signing of a two-year contract with an option for a third one, was made official on June 23, 2009.[9] In June 2012, Real Madrid decided to release Veličković due to the numerous injuries.[10]

2013–2016

On January 31, 2013, he signed a short-term contract with the Serbian team Mega Vizura.[11][12] In the game against the Radnički Kragujevac on May 12, he recorded season-best 37 points while shooting 11 from 16 from the field and grabbed 8 rebounds.[13]

On August 5, 2013, Veličković signed a contract for the upcoming season with the German team Brose Baskets.[14][15] He was released on February 20, 2014.[16] Four days later, he returned to Mega Vizura for the remainder of the season.[17]

On June 21, 2014, he signed a one-year contract with the Turkish team Trabzonspor.[18][19] On May 24, 2015, he extended his contract with Trabzonspor for one more season.[20]

Return to Partizan

On March 1, 2016, Veličković left Trabzonspor and signed with his former club Partizan for the rest of the season.[21] On 7 May, Veličković made his re-debut for Partizan against Borac Čačak and recorded 9 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists.[22]

On September 14, 2016, Veličković re-signed with Partizan for the 2016–17 season,[23] and he became the new team captain.[24] In March 2017, he was selected for the ideal team of the 2016–17 ABA League season,[25] after averaging 11.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists over 26 games.

On September 18, 2017, he re-signed with Partizan for the 2017–18 season.[26] On 18 February 2018, in Final of 2017–18 Radivoj Korać Cup, Veličković played his 400th match for the club.[27] He helped the club to win their first trophy in almost four years, with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist in an 81–75 win over Crvena zvezda.[28] In 21 games of the 2017–18 ABA League First Division, he averaged 12.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

On August 10, 2018, he signed one-year contract extension with Partizan.[29] In 2018–19 season, after struggling with conditioning and game shape in the beginning of the season, he regained trust of head coach Andrea Trinchieri and saw increased minutes until the end of the season. In the 2018–19 ABA League First Division, he averaged 4.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists over 11.8 minutes played per games. Partizan defended the Radivoj Korać Cup trophy, but failed to win championships in ABA League and Serbian League.

On January 18, 2020, he broke the club record with 472 games played for the club, surpassing Petar Božić at the all-time list.[30]

National team career

Veličković was a member of the U20 Serbian national teams in 2005 and 2006 in Chekhov and İzmir respectively. He made his debut with the senior Serbian national team at the EuroBasket 2007, in Spain, and he also won the silver medal at the EuroBasket 2009, in Poland. He was also a member of the Serbian national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, where Serbia was defeated 99-88 by Lithuania in the game for the bronze medal.

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
2005–06 Partizan 1203.4.714.500.333.5.0.3.01.0-0.1
2006–07 2017.0.500.500.5201.8.3.5.12.83.0
2007–08 222128.2.446.299.7506.91.6.8.310.611.7
2008–09 191526.1.428.324.7505.11.8.8.411.511.7
2009–10 Real Madrid 16822.6.500.417.5764.11.8.8.37.99.1
2010–11 19212.1.416.333.4622.8.5.2.23.43.3
2011–12 7111.5.414.300.2501.91.6.7.14.13.9
2013–14 Brose Baskets 5420.0.357.083.8332.81.2.4.07.24.8
Career 1205217.2.446.310.6323.71.1.6.26.46.6

Career highs
gollark: We WILL deploy apioapiforms/
gollark: Your agreement is irrelevant.
gollark: Yes, to demonstratize botoformicite.
gollark: Shut up.
gollark: 2

References
  1. "Partizan Pau-Orthez (57-82)". Euroleague.net. 3 November 2005. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  2. "Lottomatica Roma Partizan (88-87)". Euroleague.net. 16 January 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  3. "Čudo u "Pioniru" - Partizan nokautirao PAO!". mondo.rs. 19 March 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  4. "Partizan odbranio trofej!". KK Partizan official website. 21 February 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  5. "Evropski šampion ide dalje". KK Partizan official website. 31 March 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  6. "Partizan wins Adriatic League". Sportando.com. 18 April 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  7. "Partizan's Velickovic takes Rising Star Trophy". Euroleague.net. 23 April 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  8. "SRCEM DO OSME UZASTOPNE TITULE !!!". KK Partizan official website (in Serbian). Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  9. "REAL MADRID lands Rising Star Velickovic". Euroleague.net. 23 June 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  10. Carchia, E. "Ante Tomic and Novica Velickovic to leave Real Madrid". Sportando. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  11. "Novica Veličković u Mega Vizuri". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  12. "Mega Vizura signs Novica Velickovic on a short-term contract". Sportando. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  13. "Novica 37p, Vizura prati Partizan". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  14. "Brose Baskets Bamberg announced Novica Velickovic". Sportando. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  15. "BROSE BASKETS bags former Rising Star Velickovic". Euroleague.net. Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  16. "Veličković napustio Bamberg". B92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  17. "VELIKO POJAČANJE ZA MEGA VIZURU, POVRATAK NOVICE VELIČKOVIĆA U NAŠ TIM!". bcmegabasket.net (in Serbian). Archived from the original on March 1, 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  18. "Trabzonspor announces Hardy, Simmons and Velickovic". sportando.net. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  19. "Veličković se seli u Tursku". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  20. "Trabzonspor officially extends Novica Velickovic". Sportando.com. 24 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  21. "Novica Veličković ponovo u Partizanu". kkpartizan.rs (in Serbian). 1 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  22. "Ponovo igra Partizan! Pukla stotka u praznom Pioniru, upisao se i Novica". mozzartsport.com (in Serbian). 7 May 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  23. "Dres sa brojem 12 ne menja vlasnika". kkpartizan.rs (in Serbian). 14 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  24. "Veličković: Čast i obaveza". mondo.rs (in Serbian). 21 September 2016.
  25. "Jović, Simonović i Veličković u petorci ABA lige". novosti.rs (in Serbian). 14 March 2017.
  26. "Novi ugovor za kapitena". kkpartizan.rs (in Serbian). 18 September 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  27. "ВЕЛИЧКОВИЋ У "КЛУБ 400": Капитен Партизана на трећем месту вечне листе". novosti.rs (in Serbian). 1 March 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  28. ""Žućkova levica" je crno-bela". kkpartizan.rs (in Serbian). 18 February 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  29. "Veličković u Partizanu još godinu dana". politika.rs (in Serbian). 10 August 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  30. "Veličković igrač sa najviše nastupa za KK Partizan". danas.rs (in Serbian). Beta. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
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