Vladimir Dragichevich (Serbian: Vladimir Dragičević; born May 30, 1986, in Cetinje, Montenegro) is a Montenegrin professional basketball player, a power forward and center. In the 2018/19 season he played for the Nizhny Novgorod club BC Nizhny Novgorod in the VTB United League and the FIBA Champions League.[4]

Career before joining Nizhny Novgorod

Dragichevich began his basketball career in the junior team of Lovćen from his hometown of Cetinje, and in the 2004/05 season he made his debut for the senior squad. In 2007 he moved to the Montenegrin club Budućnost, where he spent about four years and became a four-time national champion and a four-time winner of the Montenegrin Cup (2008–2011).[4]

He finished the 2010/11 season with the Spanish club Caja Laboral (now Baskonia), after which, in July 2011, he signed a contract with Spartak (Saint Petersburg). With the Saint Petersburg club he reached the quarterfinals of the VTB United League (2011/12 season) and the quarterfinals of the EuroCup (2012/13 season). In May 2013 he took part in the playoff series between Spartak and Nizhny Novgorod in the VTB United League round of 16: in the third game, which ended only in the second overtime, Dragichevich scored 17 points and grabbed 8 rebounds; BC NN advanced to the quarterfinals.[4]

In 2013 he moved to the Polish club Zielona Góra, which was then making its EuroLeague debut. Although the club was eliminated at the group stage, in November 2013 Dragichevich was named MVP of the tournament's sixth round.[1][4] In 2014–2016 he played for the Turkish clubs Banvit and TED Ankara, then returned to Zielona Góra. In the 2016/17 season the club won the championship and the Polish Cup, and Dragichevich was named to the all-league first team of the Polish championship (he had also received this honor in 2014 and 2015). In the following season, 2017/18, he posted perhaps the best individual statistics of his career: 17.2 points on 68.9% two-point shooting, 6.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 0.8 steals per game.[4]

The season with Nizhny Novgorod

On September 7, 2018, Dragichevich signed a contract with BC Nizhny Novgorod; his first official game for the club was the Champions League match against Porto.[4][1] In the opening game of the VTB United League season, the Nizhny Novgorod side lost to the Estonian club Kalev (68–82); after the game, the team's coach Zoran Lukić named Dragichevich the best player in the NN lineup.[3]

In the 2018/19 VTB United League season, Dragicevic played 25 games, averaging 12.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 25 minutes 33 seconds on the court. In the FIBA Champions League, he averaged 12.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists across 14 games.[2] On August 1, 2019, the club announced the departure of the 33-year-old forward, who went on to continue his career with another team.[2]

Sources

  1. RIA Novosti — Vladimir Dragicevic — biography, personal life, and career
  2. RIA Novosti — Vladimir Dragicevic leaves "Nizhny Novgorod" (archive)
  3. V gorode N — BC "Nizhny Novgorod" loses to Estonia's "Kalev" in the opening game of the VTB United League (archive)
  4. old2.nn-basket.ru — BKNN — Basketball Club of Nizhny Novgorod