KK Zlatorog Laško

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KK Zlatorog Laško
Founded May 29, 1969
Hall Dvorana Tri lilije
(3,000 seats)
Homepage http://www.kosarkarskiklub-lasko.si/
president Miro Firm
director Aleš Antauer
Trainer Aleš Pipan
league 1st SKL
2015/16: 2nd place
Colours green white
Jersey colors
Jersey colors
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Kit shorts.svg
home
Jersey colors
Jersey colors
Kit shorts greensides.png
Kit shorts.svg
Away
successes
Slovenian Cup Winner 2004;
Vice Alpe Adria Cup 2016;
4 times Slovenian runner-up (1999, 2000, 2004, 2016)

Košarkarski klub Zlatorog is a Slovenian basketball club from Laško in Lower Styria , whose first men's team started between 1994 and 2006 under the sponsor name Pivovarna Laško . The men's team has been playing in the top national leagues since Slovenia gained independence and won the national cup in 2004. After founding the Adriatic Basketball League (ABA League), the four-time runner-up took part in this supranational competition five times in a row until 2006 and in the 2011/12 season. After reaching the final in the newly created Alpe Adria Cup 2016 , the Slovenian runner-up in 2016 will again take part in the ABA league in the 2016/17 season.

history

Promotion as Pivovarna (until 2006)

The club was founded as an independent association in May 1969 in Laško and three years later took the nickname " Zlatorog ". After Slovenian independence, the well-known local brewery, which brews a beer of the same name, became the name sponsor of the team from 1994 to 2006 , which for clarity was called Pivovarna Laško. Together with the construction of the new sports hall, in 1996 the promotion to the highest Slovenian league succeeded, in which at the premiere in the 1996/97 season under the new coach Aleš Pipan , the leap into the play-offs of the four best teams succeeded. Here you lost in the semifinals of the team of KD Hopsi Polzela as well as in the following season, in which you competed in international competitions for the first time in the FIBA EuroCup . After surviving the group phase, the team lost in the knockout phase in the first round of the top 32 teams of the Turkish team Tofaş SK Bursa . A year later, the team defeated in the now "Saporta Cup" international competition in the knockout phase 1999 Śląsk Wrocław and Cholet Basket and reached the quarter-finals, in which they were defeated by Aris Saloniki . In the national championship, the team moved into the final series for the first time, in which they lost in three games to the dominating series champion KK Union Olimpija from the capital Ljubljana . In the following season 1999/2000 Pivovarna moved after only two defeats in the regular season as a table first in the play-offs for the championship. Defending champion Union Olimpija weakened in second place and lost the Slovenian championship title for the first time in the semi-final series when the team from the capital lost to KK Krka . The club from Novo mesto was then able to defeat KK Pivovarna in the final series, who only won one of four finals, and then signed Pivovarna's coach Aleš Pipan. As the Slovenian runner-up, the team from Laško took part in the highest European club competition, last played as the FIBA Europaliga, but only won two of 16 games in the group phase of the 1999/2000 season against Olympiacos and Fenerbahçe Ülker .

After the temporary high point in the club's young history with two runners-up championships and participation in the European league, the team was unable to build on their latest successes in the following years from 2000, as the new champion KK Krka became the new challenger to record champions Union Olimpija. Pivovarna's team was eliminated three times in a row in the national semi-finals. After the FIBA ​​Europaliga in the 1999/2000 season, the team started in the 2000/01 season in the Saporta Cup and finally in the 2001/02 season in the last international Korać Cup , in which the last title winner SLUC Nancy was not won until the semi-finals Basket was subject. With the newly introduced supranational ABA league , there was a follow-up competition for the former top Yugoslav division on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, initially excluding Serbia and Montenegro . At the premiere ABA-Liga 2001/02 Pivovarna Laško was there, who had not played at this level before 1991, and the Slovenian teams except for KD Geoplin Slovan dominated the competition when three of the four semi-finalists came from Slovenia. KK Pivovarna lost its semifinals in the Final Four tournament against the host and later title winner Union Olimpija. With the participation of Serbian teams, the field of participants in the ABA league 2002/03 rearranged and Pivovarna reached eighth place out of twelve teams behind Krka, although Pivovarna with the American Kenyan Weaks, who scored more than 20 points per game , the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the season. Internationally one was also represented in the newly introduced ULEB Cup 2002/03 , in which one was defeated after the group stage in the round of 16 to the national competitor and later finalist KK Krka Novo mesto, who also won the national championship. However, the successful team of the new master had to accept a personal bloodletting and so Pivovarna could overtake in the ABA League 2003/04 with returnees Aleš Pipan in sixth place on Seventh Krka. With the final victory in the national cup competition in 2004 over KK Union Olimpija, who had previously been victorious in the cup finals against Pivovarna from 1998 to 2000, Pivovarna even celebrated his first title win with MVP Nebojša Joksimović . The team was also able to move into the final series for the championship for the first time in four years, but in which record champions Union Olimpija struck back and took the title back in three games. While Pivovarna could not defend its title in the cup competition in cup finals in 2005 and 2006 against KK Union Olimpija, they also slipped in the championship and even missed the play-offs of the four best teams in 2006. In the second participation in the ULEB Cup 2004/05 , six wins, including two against the future German champions GHP Bamberg , in ten games were not enough to progress and after ninth place in 2005 the team slipped to 14th and last place in the ABA League from 2005/06 .

Return to the name Zlatorog (from 2006)

After the team missed another participation in the ABA league and the brewery cut back its involvement as a name sponsor in 2006, the club returned to the old name Zlatorog. After a fourth place in the championship in 2007 the team returned in FIBA EuroCup 2007/08 in international competitions back, but lost both qualifying matches against GS Olympia Larissa before reaching the group stage, as well as one year later in now Euro Challenge 2008/09 competition against said Macedonian association AMAK. After three semi-finals in the Slovenian championship, the team was only seventh in the 2009/10 season, but reached the cup final again, which was lost again to defending champions Union Olimpija. In the following season, the return to the semi-finals of the 2011 championship was enough for another participation in the ABA League 2011/12 , after both Slovenian representatives had reached the Final Four of the supranational league with Krka and Union Olimpija . But Krka was only fourth from bottom in 2012, KK Helios Domžale penultimate and KK Zlatorog only with two wins in 26 games, the bottom of the table in the ABA league. Despite the disappointing performance in the supranational competition, it was enough in the championship to make another semifinal participation, which could also be confirmed in the following season. In the 2013/14 season it was only enough for fifth place, but due to the addition of a quarter-finals to the play-offs, they were only briefly qualified for the final round of the championship. In the first round played as a quarter-final series, they lost to KD Hopsi Polzela. The 2015 cup final was lost to defending champion Krka Novo mesto, before the team, finishing fourth in the 2015 championship round, then lost the quarter-finals against eventual surprise champions Tajfun Šentjur . After the early retirement in the FIBA Europe Cup 2015/16, among other things because of two defeats against the Austrian champions UBC Güssing Knights , coach Aleš Pipan returned one more time. In the Alpe Adria Cup, which was played for the first time between two teams from Croatia , Austria , Slovakia and Slovenia, the team reached the final, in which they lost to their national competitor Helios Suns by three points. In the championship round, the team reached the play-offs in second place, in which they could defeat record champions Union Olimpija in the semifinals. But also in the championship, the Helios Suns from Domžale knew how to prevent the club from Laško from winning the first title in this competition with three wins from four games in the final series.

Known players

Web links