Jure Zdovc
Jurij Zdovc ( born December 13, 1966 in Maribor, SR Slovenia) is a Slovenian basketball coach and former player. As a player won Zdovc, whose first name is usually abbreviated with Jure, with the Yugoslav selection 1990 World Cup and two European Championships in 1988 and the silver medal at the Olympics. He also won with CSP Limoges in 1993 the European Cup of Champions. As a coach Zdovc won a national championship ever been in Slovenia and Bosnia - Herzegovina.
Yuri ' Jure ' Zdovc belonged in early 2008 to a circle of 105 basketball players who were nominated by the Euro League Basketball and / or basketball stakeholders to fifty major personalities of the sport of basketball in Europe in the period 1958-2008 active, determined and subsequently in May to honor in 2008 in Madrid (Spain). All nominated players have played a particularly prominent role in the European Cup competitions of FIBA Europe and the Euro League basketball and belonged respectively to the most prominent ' stars' of their national league teams.
Playing career
1983 won Zdovc in a team with, among others, Luka Pavićević and Zarko Paspalj the Cadets ( U17) Championship for Yugoslavia and subsequently joined the basketball club Comet from Konjice, where he had learned to play basketball, the Slovenian top club KK Union Olimpija in Ljubljana, the capital of former republic. There he played until 1991, the year in which the Yugoslav wars broke out. The Yugoslav national basketball team won Zdovc at this time at the 1988 Olympic Games silver medal, as one of the Soviet selection in the final subject. The following European and World Championships they walked almost to the tournament victory. Except for a first round defeat at the 1990 World Cup against Puerto Rico they won all matches at Euro 1989, World Cup 1990 & EURO 1991 with at least seven points ahead. The EM 1991 should be the last joint of a Yugoslav tournament selection, as in Slovenia broke out of the War of Independence. Zdovc was forced by the Slovenian Government, the EM 1991 stop in Rome before the semi finals. Then he stayed in Italy and moved to Virtus Bologna in the Serie A1.
After a year Zdovc moved in 1992 to the French club Cercle Saint- Pierre in Limoges. The club had previously Serbian success coach Bozidar Maljković committed, who had become with KK Split twice European Cup winners ' Cup. In a team with, among others, Michael Young, Jim Bilba and Richard Dacoury the club to European Cup of Champions surprisingly won in the final against Benetton Treviso, which is to date the only title success of a French club team in the highest European league. Features of the team was an exceptionally strong defense, it was at the Final Four tournament of the now Euro League called competition, in which then the French vice champion Limoges could participate, both Real Madrid to Arvydas Sabonis in the semifinals and Treviso to Toni Kukoč in the finals on not more than 55 points is held. In addition to winning the French national championship in a final rematch against defending champion EB Pau Orthez -. In the summer of 1993 Zdovc then completed a trial with NBA club New York Knicks. After this association could not decide on a further obligation Zdovc joined the Greek League A1 Ethniki to Iraklis Thessaloniki from.
With Iraklis Saloniki Zdovc reached 1994, the Greek Cup final and 1995 semi-finals in the European Cup Winners' Cup. In the season 1995 /96 Zdovc injured long term and after financial difficulties of the club he left this in December 1996 and moved back to France to Basket Racing to Paris, where he again played together with the now 37 -year-old Dacoury and 1997, won the French Championship. Coach Maljković moved to the next season also to Basket Racing, but Zdovc accepted an offer from Turkish club Tofaş SK from Bursa, where he in 1997/98 only two games completed at the beginning of the season before he injured himself again heavier and the rest of season as an assistant coach working in his parent club from Konjice.
After he was about to resign from his active career, he was persuaded by his former coach in Olimpija Zmago Sagadin comeback. From 1998 he played two seasons for KK Union Olimpija, with whom he was able to celebrate 1999, the Slovenian Double and 2000 to defend the title in the Slovenian Cup competition. In 1999, he participated in his fourth European Championship finals with the Slovenian national team. Although they had regularly can qualify for the finals of the continental championships since the separation of Yugoslavia, but it never reached the quarterfinals in these sweeps. After another season in Greece in the season 2000/ 01 at Panionios in Athens won with KK Union Olimpija Zdovc again in 2002 the Double in Slovenia as well as the championship of the inaugural Adriatic League. The following season 2002 /03 he started at local rivals KD Slovan, he left after financial difficulties in December 2002 and the season continued to play at the Croatian club KK tradition Croatia Osiguranje from Split. With this club he won at the end of his playing career in 2003, the Croatian championship.
Coaching career
After the end of his playing career Zdovc was in November 2003, first assistant coach at the biggest national rival KK Union Olimpija of, the KK Krka from Novo Mesto. Already in December 2003 signed him KK Split, where he finished his playing career as a full-time coach. With the Croats, he won the national cup in 2004. For the following season, he was engaged by KD Slovan, but in December 2004 they separated again already. A year later he was again coach of the club for which he was also active as a player, and took over in December 2005, the fortunes of Iraklis in Greece. Zdovc did not succeed, the team's athletic stabilize the descent at the end of the season as the second to last from the first class, and was released in April 2006. In the following season, he worked as sports director at KK Union Olimpija.
In the season 2007/ 08 Zdovc was coach of the tradition-rich club KK Bosna Sarajevo, winning with this team in 2008 the championship title in Bosnia - Herzegovina. In the second most important European club competition ULEB Cup in 2007 /08 he had experience with how his team lost in a memorable game after five extensions of the German representatives Alba Berlin 127:141 as a coach. Nevertheless, the Bosnians were able to prevail in the preliminary round, but dropped out in the next round against the Spanish side CB Gran Canaria. In December 2008, he was finally Coach KK Union Olimpija and won from 2009 to quickly retrieve the Double in Slovenia. At Euro 2009, he was coach of the Slovenian selection. After the national team had each always qualified convincingly in the previous two title fights for the quarterfinals, was there then but failed Zdovc could result in the selection team this time even to the semifinals, where the team defeated the Serbs, who had yet defeated in the first round. The Serbs suffered a similar fate in the finals, where they lost to the Spaniards, who had in turn defeated in the first round while Slovenia the game for the bronze medal narrowly lost a point against Greece. After the tournament Zdovc was the coach of the national team at Memi BECIROVIC on. In the following two seasons with KK Union Olimpija could indeed defend each the national cup, but lost each against KK Krka in the championship final series. In the ULEB Euro League 2010/11 they reached the second round of the sixteen best teams after being excreted in the two previous seasons still stand a chance in the first round. Zdovc even resigned from his position as coach after the defeat on home soil in the Adriatic League final against KK Partizan Belgrade in April of 2011.
For the 2011/12 season Zdovc finally took over as coach at BK Spartak from Saint Petersburg in Russia. In Eurocup 2011/12, as the ULEB Cup was now, he reached with his team the Final Four tournament, where the semi-final against the hosts and national competitors BK Khimki, who also won the title later, lost and finished fourth. For these services Zdovc was in this competition awarded " Coach of the Year ". In the national championship you missed as the main round in fifth because of the poorer direct comparison against locomotive Kuban Krasnodar a place in the Championship play-off of the top four teams. In the Eastern European VTB United League 2011/12 it failed in the quarter-final play-offs against the same opponent at the entry into the Final Four tournament this competition. In the following season Zdovc was released after leaving the quarter-finals of the Euro Cup 2012/13 against BK Budiwelnik Kiev and a rather average performance in VTB United League and PBL early April 2013 from his post as coach. In the 2013/14 season Zdovc took in the Türkiye Ligi Basketbol the post as manager of Royal Halı from Gaziantep.