InterBasket > profiles > Rakocevic
InterBasket > Player Profiles > Igor Rakocevic, Serbia From Eurobasket2005.com: A proud graduate of Red Star Belgrade. His father played for the club and Igor followed in his footsteps. As a junior had a stint with arch-rival Partizan, but before long returned home and got his chance in the YUBA league. At the time his leaping abilities earned him the nickname “Grasshopper”. Playing for Red Star and Buducnost Podgorica, he established himself as one of Europe’s most talented players, but only after a season in the NBA did he get to the top. He didn’t play much for the Minnesota Timberwolves, but worked hard and improved his game considerably. Igor returned to Europe and we saw a totally different player who was among the statistical leaders in the past two seasons. He matured as a leader, learned how to pass and play a team game. He’s a playmaker who is a deadeye shooter and a big scorer, very aggressive on defense, unstoppable in one-on-one situations.	Igor Rakočević Profile Name: Igor Rakocevic Nickname: Grasshopper Born: March 29, 1978 Status: Active Origin: Belgrade, Serbia Height: 6-4/1,94m Weight: 185lbs/83kg Schools: IX-th Belgrade Gymnasium Drafted: 2000, Second Round, 51st pick overall by Minnesota Languages: English Website: InterBasket Teams (jersey): Serbian National Team, Crvena zvezda, Red Star Belgrade, Buducnost, Minnesota Timberwolves, Crvena zvezda, Valencia, Real Madrid Ibn Notes: "I think some Euroleague teams can beat lot of of NBA teams in games if they had the chance," Rakocevic said. "There is huge quality here and a lot of the games are very interesting. I like to play those kinds of games. And I don't just play for fun: I play to win." From Fiba.com: Igor Rakocevic has long been part of Serbia’s top brass. In the absence of Milos Vujanic, the “Grasshopper”, as he was nicknamed in his junior days at Red Star, emerges as a logical leader of the rejuvenated Serbia-Montenegro team. After high-profile seasons in the Yugoslav League, Igor took a shot at the NBA. He didn’t see much action for the Minnesota Timberwolves, but he earned precious experience he used in the subsequent years to establish himself as one of the best guards in Europe - namely in the Spanish league. The leader of this year’s edition of Real Madrid, Igor will take the command of a national team in dire need of leadership. He’s a playmaker who is a deadeye shooter and a big scorer, unstoppable in one-on-one situations. This year, Serbia-Montenegro will have few go-to guys. But one of them will surely be Igor Rakocevic.
lgor Rakocevic Links  From our forum: Serbia Basketball Forum     Articles and other resources: Igor Rakocevic Euroleague Interview (Euroleague.net), Igor Rakocevic Highlight Video 2003/04 (YouTube)