PODGORICA (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - The FIBA EuroBasket Trophy Tour rolled into Montenegro on Friday, stopping traffic in the nation's capital along the way.

The third stop of the 2017 tour began early Friday morning on Podgorica's iconic Millennium Bridge, with traffic halted for an hour, allowing children to mingle with members of the Montenegrin national team, play some basketball and, most importantly, get up close with the Nikolai Semashko Trophy for photo opportunities.

"I am really happy today to have the trophy in our city," expressed a smiling Suad Sehovic, the national team captain. "We have a lot of time until EuroBasket and after missing the previous edition we have a lot of motivation and have been preparing for some time. 

"This is important for our country, as Montenegro is a basketball nation. The people love basketball and we have good teams of tall strong players and I hope that having the Trophy Tour today will be good for the country."

Following the morning's activities, the trophy was taken on a tour of the city, accompanied by official 2017 mascot Sam Dunk, with sites including the statue of Petar I Petrovic Njegos, who is credited for his role in consolidating the tribes of Montenegro.

During the afternoon there was also a visit to the University of Montenegro, which will this summer host the FIBA U16 European Championship. A taste of what is to come from August 4-12 was on display with an U16 scrimmage game taking place, followed by another photo opportunity for the enthusiastic participants.

The tour concluded on Saturday morning at the Montenegrin Basketball Federation headquarters, with the signing of a five-year television deal with Montenegro's state broadcaster, Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG).

"Montenegro might be small geographically speaking, but it is big in terms of basketball," commented Montenegrin Basketball Secretary General Petar Popovic. "Both of our senior teams will compete in EuroBaskets this summer, whilst all our men's youth teams compete in Division A.

"We are very glad to host the Trophy Tour, it was a very nice event. To be realistic, we have the trophy here now, but it will be difficult to win it at FIBA EuroBasket. But! As we are the third country on the Trophy Tour, we would be satisfied if we finish FIBA EuroBasket with bronze medals," he added, smiling graciously.

The FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Trophy Tour continues in Ukraine from April 28 to May 2, with stops across the country planned.

FIBA