Ivan Paunić (Serbian Cyrillic: Иван Паунић; born January 27, 1987) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He also represented the Serbian national basketball team internationally.
Professional career
editPaunić began playing basketball at a professional level in the Adriatic League when he was a teenager, beginning with Serbian club Partizan in the 2004–05 season. He spent next season on loan at Mega Ishrana and Mornar. In 2006 he was sent to Vojvodina Srbijagas. He spent two seasons in Vojvodina, and then in 2008 went to Oostende. In December 2009 he goes to Greece and signed with Aris Thessaloniki.[1]
In August 2010, Paunić signed with the Russian team Nizhny Novgorod where he stayed till April 2012, when he moved to Italy and signed with Virtus Bolgna for the rest of the season. Paunic was the best player and scorer in Nizhny Novgorod [2]
In July 2012, Paunić signed with the Ukrainian side Azovmash.[3] He left them in December 2012.[4] Couple days later he signed with Lagun Aro GBC till the end of the season.[5] On September 25, 2013, he signed a one-year deal with Baloncesto Fuenlabrada.[6]
On October 30, 2014, he signed with Astana in Kazakhstan.[7] On December 18, 2014, he left Astana and signed with Budućnost Podgorica for the rest of the season.[8] On August 25, 2015, he returned to Baloncesto Fuenlabrada. Playing for Fuenlabrada, Ivan Paunic was the club's top scorer and best three point shooter in the league [9] On August 1, 2016, he re-signed with Fuenlabrada for one more season.[10]
On September 25, 2017, he signed a contract with Turkish club Tofaş.[11]
On April 5, 2019, he has signed with Chemidor Tehran of the Iranian Super League.[12]
On February 13, 2020, he signed with Mega Bemax of the Basketball League of Serbia.[13]
On October 14, 2020, he signed with Lokomotiv Kuban of the VTB United League, and of the EuroCup until the team was suspended due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[14]
Serbian national team
editPaunić was a member of the Serbian national team that competed at the EuroBasket 2009 in Poland and won the silver medal. He played at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey where Serbia was fourth, and at the EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania where Serbia finished eight of 24 teams.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ "Aris lands Paunic". Sportando.net. 30 December 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
- ^ "Virtus Bologna signs Ivan Paunic". Sportando.net. 22 April 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
- ^ "AZOVMASH tabs combo guard Paunic". Eurocupbasketball.com. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
- ^ "Ivan Paunic left Azovmash". Eurobasket.com. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
- ^ "Ivan Paunic is a newcomer at Lagun Aro Gipuzkoa BC". Eurobasket.com. 4 January 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
- ^ "Llega Ivan Paunic y cierra la plantilla del Fuenlabrada". baloncestofuenlabrada.com. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- ^ "Ivan Paunic joins BC Astana". Eurobasket.com. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- ^ "Paunić u Budućnosti, debituje protiv Partizana!". Mondo.rs (in Serbian). 18 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
- ^ "Fuenlabrada brings back Ivan Paunic". Sportando.com. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
- ^ "Fuenlabrada re-signs Ivan Paunic". Sportando.com. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- ^ "Tofas Bursa bolsters backcourt with Paunic". Eurocupbasketball.com. 25 September 2017. Archived from the original on October 10, 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- ^ "Ivan Paunic signs with Chemidor Tehran". Sportando. April 5, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Skerletic, Dario (February 13, 2020). "KK Mega Bemax sign Ivan Paunic". Sportando. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
- ^ Skerletic, Dario (October 14, 2020). "Lokomotiv Kuban announces Ivan Paunic". Sportando. Retrieved October 14, 2020.