Željko Obradović

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Basketball player
Želimir Obradović
Željko Obradović (Fenerbahçe, 2019)
Player information
Nickname Željko
birthday March 9, 1960
place of birth Čačak, SFR Yugoslavia
size 190 cm
position Point guard
Clubs as active
1980–1983 KK Borac Čačak 1983–1991 KK Partizan BelgradeYugoslavia Socialist Federal RepublicYugoslavia
Yugoslavia Socialist Federal RepublicYugoslavia
National team
Yugoslavia
Clubs as coaches
1991–1993 KK Partizan Belgrade 1993–1994 Joventut Badalona 1994–1997 Real Madrid 1997–1999 Benetton Treviso 1999–2012 Panathinaikos Athens 2013–2020 FenerbahçeYugoslavia Socialist Federal RepublicYugoslavia
SpainSpain
SpainSpain
ItalyItaly
GreeceGreece
TurkeyTurkey
National team as coach
0 0001995 Yugoslavia (Assistant Coach) 1996–2000 Yugoslavia 2004–2005 Serbia and MontenegroYugoslavia Federal Republic 1992Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia Federal Republic 1992Yugoslavia
Serbia and MontenegroSerbia and Montenegro

Želimir "Željko" Obradović ( Serbian - Cyrillic Желимир "Жељко" Обрадовић ; born March 9, 1960 in Čačak , Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ) is a former Serbian basketball player. As a player he became world champion and is one of the most successful coaches in European basketball history. In 2008 Obradović was named one of the 50 most important players in the history of the Europa League.

Obradović as a player

Obradović began his career at Borac Čačak, where he was under contract for six years. In 1983 he moved to Partizan Belgrade, where he was finally able to celebrate his first successes. In addition to a championship and a European cup, he won a silver medal at the Olympic Games and a basketball world championship. During his playing career Obradović played on the position of point guard .

successes

  • Yugoslav champion: 1987
  • Korać Cup : 1989
  • Silver medal at the Olympic Games: 1988
  • World Champion: 1990

Obradović as a coach

Obradović began his coaching career in 1991 when he ended his career as a player at the age of only 31 and took over the coaching position at Partizan Belgrade, where he was a basketball player just a few weeks earlier. In his first season he won the Serbian championship as well as the cup and thus secured Partizan the double . At the European level, too, there was success immediately. Obradović led Partizan in the 1991/92 season to win the European Cup . Led by Predrag Danilović and Aleksandar Đorđević , Partizan beat Joventut Badalona 71:70 in the final . As a consultant at his side, Obradović had Professor Aleksandar Nikolić, whom he referred to as his mentor, in his first year as a coach.

In the following years Obradović coached a number of top European teams. In 1994 he led Badalona to the top of Europe. After a mixed season until then, they prevailed against FC Barcelona in the semifinals, in the final Obradović relied on keeping the event low as he calculated a better chance of victory for his team. This calculation worked. He led Badalona to a 59:57 final victory over Olympiacos Piraeus .

After a year in Badalona, ​​he moved to Real Madrid within Spain . In Madrid he had greats like Arvydas Sabonis and Joe Arlauckas in his squad, who formed one of the best teams in European basketball history in the "big positions". Arlauckas later said that it was difficult to get used to working under Obradović, who had changed everything, that it was "almost like in a dictatorship" in which Obradović was the dominant man. Obradović himself said of his way of working that he always involves his players, asks them for their opinion and in this way learns a lot from them. In the Spanish league he did not make the leap into the final series for the championship with Real during his tenure, but in 1995 he triumphed in the European Cup with the Madrilenians. In 1997 he won a second European competition with Real, the European Cup Winners' Cup .

His two years (1997 to 1999) with the Italian top club Benetton Treviso did not go without a title. In 1998 he won the Italian Supercup with the team, in 1999 he was runner-up in Italy and winner of the European Cup Winners' Cup. His most successful time as a club coach began in 1999 with his move to Panathinaikos Athens . The 13-year term was described on the occasion of the separation in June 2012 as the "most successful combination of a club and a head coach in European basketball history". Obradović led Panathinaikos to five Euroleague titles, eleven Greek championship titles and seven Greek cup wins. The Serb said in retrospect that he was a "big and real family" during his tenure in Athens. He worked closely in Athens with Dimitris Itoudis , who acted as his assistant coach and later won the Euroleague himself as head coach. During his time in Athens, top European players such as Dejan Bodiroga , Dimitris Diamantidis , Sarunas Jasikevicius and Nikola Pekovic were among Obradović's protégés. For years, the American Mike Batiste was also the top performer of his team. In 2007 and 2009 Obradović achieved the triple with Athens and was voted coach of the year in Greece and the Euroleague. In 2012 he left the club after 13 years.

In the summer of 2013 he was introduced as the new coach of the Turkish club Fenerbahçe Istanbul . After success at the national level, he led Fenerbahçe to win the Euroleague in 2017, which became the first Turkish winner of the competition. In 2016 Obradović lost the final with Istanbul against CSKA Moscow in extra time. Obradović is known for his outbursts of anger towards referees and his own players, as well as his tense relationship with press representatives. The Berliner Morgenpost described him in January 2020 as "angry and title guarantor". In December 2019, he hit the headlines when he told sports news outlet Sportando : “There are no European coaches [in the NBA ] and you know why? Because the NBA is a mafia. You don't have any [European] trainers working there. (…) The NBA is the best basketball league, but I can say without a doubt that there are many European coaches who can work there. "

At the end of June 2020, he announced his departure from Fenerbahçe to take a one-year break from the coaching profession.

In addition to his extremely successful career as a club coach, the Serb can also look back on significant successes as an association coach. So he won with the national team of his home country a. a. a world and a European championship.

successes

Awards

  • Alexander Gomelsky Trainer of the Year: 2007, 2011, 2017
  • Eurobasket Trainer of the Year: 2007

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ lingua Sport - Suproleague / Champions Cup (C1) (B). Retrieved June 17, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Igrao za Zvezdu i Partizan i večito zadužio Srbiju - Crvena zvezda info. Retrieved June 17, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Zeljko Obradovic - More than a coach. In: Euroleague on youtube.com. Retrieved June 17, 2020 .
  4. ^ F4 History: 1994, Erasing a bad memory. Accessed June 17, 2020 (English).
  5. ↑ European League 1993-94. Retrieved June 17, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Real Madrid, TEMPORADA 1994/95. In: ACB. Retrieved June 17, 2020 (Spanish).
  7. ↑ a b 1995, the last title for Real Madrid. Accessed June 17, 2020 (English).
  8. ↑ El palmarés de la Liga Endesa. In: ACB. Retrieved June 17, 2020 (Spanish).
  9. ↑ Eurocup 1996-97. Retrieved June 17, 2020 .
  10. ↑ LEGABASKET SERIE A LEGABASKET SERIE A. Accessed June 17, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Saporta Cup 1998-99. Retrieved June 17, 2020 .
  12. ^ Obradovic leaves Panathinaikos after 13 years. Accessed June 17, 2020 (English).
  13. ^ Tribute to the Champs: Dimitris Itoudis. Accessed June 17, 2020 (English).
  14. ↑ Euroleague 2001-02. Retrieved June 17, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Euroleague 2006-07. Retrieved June 17, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Euroleague 2008-09. Retrieved June 17, 2020 .
  17. ↑ http://www.linguasport.com/baloncesto/internacional/clubes/EL/EL_11.htm
  18. ↑ https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/zeljko-obradovic-named-new-fenerbahce-ulker-coach-49881
  19. ↑ https://www.euroleague.net/main/results?seasoncode=E2016
  20. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGCEVGcTnJA
  21. ↑ Dietmar Wenck: Zeljko Obradovic: A volcano that spits out basketball titles. January 29, 2020, accessed on June 17, 2020 (German).
  22. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGCEVGcTnJA
  23. ^ Obradovic leaves Fenerbahce for one-year 'timeout'. Retrieved June 24, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Obradović, Željko
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Obradović, Želimir; Обрадовић, Желимир (Cyrillic spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Serbian basketball player
DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Čačak , SR Serbia