Mark Worthington may not have been lucky enough to make an AFL team list after his flirtation with the West Coast Eagles earlier in the year but he has made up for it by leading new team Radnicki Kragujevac to early success in Serbia.
Radnicki Kragujevac became the winner of an international pre-season tournament in Kumanovo after going undefeated over four games. The final game of the tournament saw Radnicki defeat Vojvodina 87-72. Mark Worthington was instrumental all throughout the tournament including an 11 points effort in the final victory.
The game between Radnicki Kragujevac and Vojvodina was a rematch of sorts after a “friendly” was played between the two teams earlier in the week. That game resulted in a 91-81 victory over Vojvodina with Worthington producing 15 point’s, the second highest tally behind Radnicki’s star import Terrico White. White played briefly for the NBA’s Detroit Pistons in 2010–2011 and was considered one of the best dunkers in the NBA during that time.
Mark Worthington is not the only Australian on Radnicki’s roster either with former NBL Rookie of the Year and member of the 2010 Australian National team Steven Markovic who has been a mainstay in Radnicki since 2010.
Markovic was one of the best players for Radnicki Kragujevac during last season of the Adriatic and Serbian league. Radnicki has been knocked out during the Serbian Leagues semi-finals the past three years in a row. The two Australian Boomers will be focused on helping take Radnicki that next step forward.
This season Radnicki Kragujevac will play in both the Serbian National League (Agroživ Basketball League) and the stronger Adriatic League (or Liga ABA), a localised version of Euroleague which features teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Hungary . Radnicki have only been a part of the Adriatic league for three seasons and have never finished higher than 8th.
Mark Worthington who won an NBL championship with the South Dragons in 2009 averaged 2.8ppg, 2.5rpg and 1.3apg for Australia during the London Olympics and 14.3ppg, 6.3rpg and 1.7apg for the Gold Coast Blaze prior to their withdrawal from the NBL.
Mark Worthington looks to transition from the NBL to the AFL
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