The aura of basketball is still in Serbia-Montenegro.

Despite the host nation’s disappointing defeat on their home court, basketball is nevertheless taking centre stage in the capital city of Belgrade and throughout the country.

Newspapers continue to run stories about Serbia-Montenegro’s collapse in the tournament, their fighting players and the rumours surrounding the future of head coach Zelimir Obradovic.

The anger and passion of Serbia-Montenegrin fans can still be felt when walking the streets of Belgrade, even a few days removed from the team’s loss to France in the Elimination Round.

“We are very upset,” said Belgrade resident Milan Galic. “I don’t think they played a good game in the tournament.”

“My reaction and many from Belgrade’s reaction is anger,” said Dejan Mitrovic, another passionate Serbia-Montenegrin fan. “I think our players only think about themselves and not the good of the team.”

Despite the loss, people in Serbia-Montenegro will still be intensely watching EuroBasket.

“In this country, so many people love basketball,” said Mitrovic. “We are very sad our team lost, but we are still excited about seeing who wins.”

“Of course we will all be watching the end of the competition,” added Galic. “This is a basketball nation.”

One of the side events that portray this basketball nation is an exhibition and art show taking place from September 16-25 at the Cvijeta Pavilion in downtown Belgrade.

The exhibition is called “Welcome to Basketball Land” and highlights the history of European basketball including every EuroBasket ever held and displays trophies and medals from previous tournaments won by Serbia-Montenegro.

Also included is the work of prominent artists related to basketball: Zoran Naskovski’s Baskets in Serbia and Nothing but Net, Vesna Pavlovic’s project Watching 01 as well as the works of photographer Ana Adamovic whose pictures accompanied the “Welcome to Basketball Land” campaign.

The exhibition was also a part of the “Night of Museums” which was held with the goal showing the role of basketball in society and its historical impact.

So even if Serbia-Montengrin fans can’t watch their team in the quarter-final round of EuroBasket 2005, they can at least relish in their country’s basketball past while watching a highly competitive and exciting tournament.