KK MZT Skopje

Lazar Lečić was a head coach of MZT in the mid-1980s

KK Skopje was formed in 1966 by a group of enthusiasts, led by the first president of the club, Mile Melovski. The interest in basketball was high, and even though there were four clubs in Skopje, there was still need for more clubs. Soon after the club's establishment, a number of young players joined the club and started training on an open field in Avtokomanda. The first team roster consisted of Trpezanovski, Atanasovski, Strezovski, Lazarevski, and Domlevski, who was also the team coach. Two years later, the club became a member of the Macedonian League. In 1971, Uroš Maljković was chosen to be the new president of the club, with Boris Sokolovski becoming the new head coach. After the reorganization of the leagues in Yugoslavia, KK Skopje[4] gained the right to play in the Second League – South. In the first season in this league, KK Skopje finished seventh. In the second season, the team reached the First League qualifications. KK Skopje lost and due to leaving the field in Ivangrad, received a penalty of eight points for the next season.

KK Skopje got relegated again to the regional league and Taki Dzikov was selected to be the head coach. In 1979, the team finished first in the Macedonian League and gained promotion for the Second Yugoslav League yet again. With this success, the factory Metalski Zavod Tito, or MZT, started investing in KK Skopje. Slobodan Mucunski, one of the leading people of MZT, became the president of the club. In 1984, MZT completely took the club under their wing, building the new Jane Sandanski Arena in Aerodrom. In 1986, KK Skopje, under the new name MZT Skopje and the leadership of Lazar Lečić, reached the Yugoslav First Basketball League where they competed for two seasons.

The team debuted in the Yugoslav First Basketball League in the 1986–87 season with coach Lazar Lečić, who was previously head of their "eternal rivals" Rabotnički. At that period, the most prominent individuals were Vlatko Vladičevski with an average of 16,4 points, Vojislav Zivčević with 15,6 points, and Darko Knežević with 14,5 points. There was also significant contribution by the former player of Partizan, Milan Medić, and the former player of Crvena zvezda, Aleksandar Milivojša. In the fourth final of the play-off, Cibona eliminated MZT in two games.

After the independence of Macedonia, MZT Skopje immediately became one of the leading basketball clubs in the country. In the mid-1990s, MZT Skopje had a few successful runs in the European competitions, the most memorable being the 1996–97 season when the team played in the Raimundo Saporta Cup. In this period, MZT was led by coach Aleksandar Knjazev, and the team defeated Real Madrid, Benfica, and Ratiopharm, and has therefore qualified for the 1/16 finals, without losing one match at home in Jane Sandanski Arena. The draw allocated that MZT Skopje were to play Porto, with the first match to be played at home. The home form continued when MZT Skopje managed to defeat Porto in Jane Sandanski. But the win was not enough, as Porto won at home by a bigger margin, ending MZT Skopje European season. In the Macedonian National championship, MZT was eliminated by Žito Vardar in the semifinal. In the next few seasons, MZT Skopje had a marginal role in the European cups, playing against teams like Žalgiris, ASVEL, Cholet, Split, and others. In the domestic league, MZT Skopje had a few tries to get to the championship trophy, playing in the play-off finals six times, but the team did not manage to win the championship in this period. However, MZT won four Macedonian Basketball Cups in this period, in 1996, 1997, 1999, and in 2000.

Toni Grnčarov in 2010

In 2008, after many years of the poor decision making of the then management of the club, the fans decided to start a boycott in order to change the entire set of the management team of MZT Skopje. In the summer of 2009, the entire management left the club, leaving the club in financial debt. Two weeks before the beginning of the season, MZT Skopje was left without players, coach, youth school, and sponsors. A day before the deadline for application of teams for the current championship, the Family Aerodrom fan group organized a march in order to save the club. As a result, the club was taken over by the Municipality of Aerodrom. Due to the financial problems of the club, it had the worst season since the independence of Macedonia, so MZT Skopje had to play in the play-out to secure its place in the league. MZT succeeded and therefore secured the place in the first division for the next season. In the next season, 2010–11, the club got new sponsors, there was a complete reorganization of the management set, and the junior school was reactivated, which had been defunct for eight years. All debts were repaid, and the team succeeded in entering the playoff semifinals, and the finals of the Macedonian Cup.

Champions of the 2011–12 season

After all the turmoil and upheavals in the past, after a long time, KK MZT Skopje formed a team which became a favourite for winning the first league title since its existence. Before the start of the season, an agreement has been reached with the ABA League, and the team participated in the 2012–13 ABA League. Aleksandar Todorov, who had previously been on the bench of MZT several times, was appointed as a new coach. Since the last season, the team has included Toni Grnčarov and Igor Penov, while the new signings were Ognen Stojanovski and Gjorgji Čekovski, as well as the foreign players Cade Davis, Noah Dahlman, and Igor Mijajlović. In the regular part of the championship, they won the first place, and the roster was completed with the coming of another player from Montenegro, international player Nikola Vučurović. The first "exam" for the team was the Macedonian Cup, where the team defeated Feni in the finals at Boris Trajkovski Arena. Feni was also an opponent in the league finals; Aerodrom won the series 4–1 and became a champion of Macedonia on May 2, 2012, for the first time in its history.[5]

MZT Aerodrom's debuted in the ABA League in the 2012–13 season. In its first official game in the Adriatic League, MZT won against Cibona in Zagreb,[6] which was immediately followed by its first official victory at home over Široki Breg. In the last round, MZT had a chance to qualify for the Eurocup. It was necessary to defeat Krka in Slovenia, and for Cedevita to be defeated by the Široki Breg. The task was fulfilled by the Macedonian champions, but the qualification did not depend on MZT alone, and eventually MZT ranked seventh, with a score of 14 wins and 12 losses, thus ensuring its participation in the ABA League in the next season. The team has won the Cup of Macedonia, defeating Kumanovo in the finals, while in the league playoffs, MZT Skopje succeeded in making it to the title without a single defeat, achieving victories over Feni in the semifinals with 3–0 and over Kozuv in the finals with 4–0.

The 2013–14 season was historic for MZT and the Macedonian basketball. After a long time, Macedonia had a team which was a part of the group stage in the Eurocup. The newly named coach Vlada Vukoičić, who replaced Aleš Pipan, brought some new players, including Stefan Sinovec, Uroš Lučić, Justin Reynolds, and Macedonian international Aleksandar Kostoski. The team was drawn in the group with UNICS, Banvit, Maccabi Haifa, VEF Riga, and BC Kalev/Cramo. MZT finished in the last place in the group with one win against Cramo at home.

Damjan Stojanovski

Along with the performance in the Eurocup, MZT also competed in the ABA League. MZT appointed Zoran Martić as their new head coach. Instead of desired sixth place in the ABA League, MZT ended the season in ninth place. In February 2014, MZT won the National Cup by defeating Lirija in the final. After that, MZT won ten league games in a row. In the semifinals of the league, the opponents were again Lirija, which MZT eliminated with a score of 2–0 in series. In the final, MZT Skopje defeated "eternal rivals" Rabotnički. The series ended with a 3–1 victory, and MZT won the league for the third season in a row.[7] Prior to the 2014–15 season, many of the players has left the club, and Zmago Sagadin[8] was appointed a new coach. He was sacked shortly after the season began, and was replaced by Vrbica Stefanov. Stefanov was also sacked during the season, and was replaced by Bobi Mitev.[9] Mitev resigned after the series of defeats, and was replaced by Aleksandar Jončevski, who used to be an assistant coach during the mandates of all previous coaches. The elimination from the Macedonian Cup in the semifinals by Kozuv and the next-to-last place in the ABA League meant resignation for Jončevski. He was replaced by Aleš Pipan, who became the fifth coach in the season. In the semifinals of the league, MZT eliminated Feni Industries, while in the finals, the team defeated the Kumanovo team, winning the championship for the fourth time in a row.[10] Aleš Pipan was appointed as a head coach again in the 2015–16 season. After mixed performances in the ABA League regular season, the head coach Aleš Pipan was replaced by Aleksandar Jončevski. MZT ended the ABA League season in the tenth place. In domestic competitions, MZT won another cup and league "double", becoming the champions for the fifth time in a row.[11]

In the 2016–17 season, MZT Skopje applied for participation in the Eurocup for the second time in the last four years. Emil Rajković was appointed as new head coach. After a few games, the coach position was taken up by former assistant Aleksandar Jončevski, but the season ended with Croatian coach Ante Nazor on the bench. The Eurocup campaign ended without a victory out of ten games. In the ABA League, the team defeated Krka in the decisive match in the last part of the season and was thus saved from relegation, finishing in 13th position.[12] The team won their sixth consecutive league title against Karpoš Sokoli 3–2 in the final. Charlon Kloof was MVP of the finals.[13]

MZT Skopje started the 2017–18 season with Aleksandar Todorov as new head coach. However, due to poor results, he was sacked in December 2017. In the same month December 8, 2017,[14] Željko Lukajić was named as the head coach of MZT Skopje. During the season, there were big changes in the club with completely new management, new coach, and changes in the squad. After six years in the First ABA league, MZT got relegated with a score of 3–19. In February 2018, MZT won its nine Macedonian Cup trophy with a win over Rabotnički in the final tournament in Kavadarci. In the meantime Lukajić left the team, and for new head coach was appointed his assistant Gjorgji Kočov. In the Macedonian League MZT finished as the runners-up, losing to Rabotnički in the finals.

In the 2018–19 ABA League Second Division, MZT Skopje, coached by Gjorgji Kočov, finished in third place during the regular season. In the play-offs, the club defeated Spars Sarajevo 2–0 to reach the final, where they lost to Sixt Primorska (3–0).[15] The club also lost in the ABA League promotion/relegation play-offs against Zadar (2–1), thus staying in the second division.[16] In the domestic competitions, MZT was eliminated in the semi-finals of the Macedonian Cup against Rabotnički. However, MZT won their seventh domestic championship after defeating Rabotnički 3–0 in the final.[17]

For the reserves team of MZT Skopje, see MZT Skopje UNI Banka.

For a list of all notable KK MZT Skopje players, former and current, see Category:KK MZT Skopje players.

[20]

No	Player	Position	Period	App.
1	Damjan Stojanovski	SG	2012–2018;	101
2	Uroš Lučić	PF	2013–2015; 2016	56
3	Kiril Nikolovski	C	2012–2015	56
4	Stefan Sinovec	SG	2013–2015; 2016–2017	50
5	Cade Davis	SF	2012–2014	50

Last updated on: 13 March 2018

[21]

No	Player	Position	Period	Pts.
1	Damjan Stojanovski	SG	2012–2018;	1086
2	Đorđe Drenovac	SF	2015–2017;	671
3	Todor Gečevski	C	2012–2014	622
4	Jure Lalić	C	2016–2018;	524
5	Stefan Sinovec	SG	2013–2015; 2016–2017	523