JESENICE, Slovenia – Two years after directing the Macedonia national basketball team on a magical 'Cinderella run' through the 2011 FIBA EuroBasket, former New Orleans Privateer Bo McCalebb returns to the tournament which put he and the country of two million citizens in the spotlight.
Behind McCalebb's 21.4 points, 3.8 assists and 1.9 steals per contest, Macedonia placed fourth in the 2011 edition of the event. Stunning upsets of Lithuania and Greece highlighted the run for the squad which was competing in EuroBasket for just the third time in the history of the national team.
A native of New Orleans, who holds a Macedonian passport, McCalebb was the lone non-NBA player on the 2011 all-tournament team which featured MVP Juan Carlos Navarro, Tony Parker, Andrei Kirilenko and Pau Gasol.
McCalebb and Macedonia are no longer the underdogs as they enter the 2013 event.
Ranked No. 9 in the most recent FIBA Europe power rankings, Macedonia's pre-tournament schedule featured wins over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany and Greece. McCalebb scored 25 points in the win over Greece, currently ranked No. 1 in FIBA Europe.
At stake in this year's tournament is a berth in the 2014 FIBA World Cup (formerly the FIBA World Championships). The top six teams in this year's EuroBasket gain passage into the event which will be held in Spain just prior to the start of the 2014 NBA season. Macedonia has never played in the FIBA World Cup.
Macedonia will begin play in the 2013 EuroBasket on Wednesday in 'Group B' against Montenegro.
Other group games for Macedonia include Latvia, Lithuania, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The top three teams from the group advance to the second round of competition, which will set the seeds for the 'knockout' stage of the event.
Notable players competing in the tournament from the NBA include Omer Asik (Turkey), Nicolas Batum (France), Marco Belinelli (Italy), Omri Casspi (Israel), Goran Dragic (Slovenia), Marc Gasol (Spain), Nemanja Nedovic (Serbia) and Ricky Rubio (Spain).
McCalebb's Macedonia squad includes recent Atlanta Hawks signee Pero Antic and Louisiana Tech's Stojan Gjuroski.
All EuroBasket games will be broadcast in the United States on ESPN3. The championship game will also be televised on ESPN2.
Coverage of McCalebb in EuroBasket will be available on UNOPrivateers.com and on the Privateer athletic department's official Twitter account (@UNOPrivateers). A schedule of Macedonia's games are available below.
MACEDONIA SCHEDULE (All Times Central and games televised on ESPN3)
Wednesday, Sept. 4 –vs. Montenegro, 10:45 a.m.
Thursday, Sept. 5 –vs. Lithuania, 2 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 6 – vs. Serbia, 10:45 a.m.
Sunday, Sept. 8 – vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, 7:30 a.m.
Monday, Sept. 8 – vs. Latvia, 7:30 a.m.
Additional games will be added pending second round qualification.
