TBILISI (FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers) - It was a no-brainer for Montenegro.

When the need arose to appoint a coach for the FIBA EuroBasket 2017 qualifying campaign and the giant figure of Montenegro-born Bogdan Tanjevic was available late last year, the federation and the tactician joined forces. It was a perfect match.

Tanjevic, 69, long ago established a reputation as one of the great tacticians and motivators in European basketball.

His most noteworthy achievement was the FIBA EuroBasket title he steered Italy to in France 17 years ago. Eleven years later and Tanjevic piloted a Turkey ship that sailed into the FIBA Basketball World Cup Final in Istanbul.

Tanjevic led Turkey into the World Cup Final in 2010

Now at the helm of his homeland, a country that is trying to make it back to the FIBA EuroBasket Final Round for the first time since 2013, his team has three wins in as many games, including Wednesday night's 76-74 victory at Georgia.

"It is really satisfying for me that we won this game," he said. "By this victory, we took a major leap towards EuroBasket 2017. This will play a major role in the Qualifiers.

"We played good basketball in the atmosphere of a large crowd that has an excellent understanding of the game, in a country that has a tradition of basketball for more than 50 years.

"The victory is sweet because we got them in front of their fans in a great atmosphere." - Petar Popovic

"We played against a team that is very powerful, especially under the basket, and managed to come back from being down by double digits (11 points) in the first half. In the second half we came out with a decent start which gave us the strength to go back, turn things around and eventually get a big win."

How big was the crowd? Very.

With international basketball set to move back to home-and-away games in their qualification process for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the attendance of 9,800 in Georgia to watch a pulsating encounter with Montenegro was further proof that the new FIBA calendar is going to be a big hit.

A crowd of 9,800 spectators watched Georgia host Montenegro

The fans in Georgia clearly are champing at the bit to see their national team more.

Now, while Tanjevic is good, it helps to have a player like Nikola Vucevic in the squad. A center with the Orlando Magic, the 2.13m Vucevic averaged 15.5 points and 5 rebounds in Montenegro's wins over the Slovak Republic and Albania, but he turned it up a notch in Georgia and finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks.

Though Vucevic would deny that this is "his" team, it most certainly looks as if it is. Montenegro need the full concentration and commitment of their best known player who competes in the top league in the world if they are going to reach their peak.

They need him to be locked in if they are going to make it to FIBA EuroBasket and right now, it looks like he is fully focused.

Vucevic was the lead man, but not the only man. Youngster Petar Popovic raised eyebrows with his performance.

The 19-year-old point guard came off the bench and in 11 scintillating minutes buried two three-pointers and scored eight points. He also came up with a steal.

"The victory means a lot to us," Popovic said. "We went into the game with a lot of confidence and were ready for what awaited us. We knew it would be a great atmosphere and would enjoy playing in front of such a crowd. The victory is sweet because we got them in front of their fans in a great atmosphere."

FIBA