The 66-year-old head coach has made a telling impact at the start of his fourth spell in charge of the Spanish club.
Evergreen Dusko Ivanovic and Baskonia are thriving reunited
Articolo
4 Minuto di lettura
Regular Season
Round 13 of 34
Group Regular Season
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The future looked bleak for Dusko Ivanovic when he was dismissed as the head coach of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade in October after the Serbian club had lost three of its opening four games in this season’s Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Having conceded the regional ABA League championship to crosstown rival Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade the previous season, many Zvezda fans turned on Ivanovic following a poor start to the current EuroLeague campaign.
Rumors abounded that so did some of the players on a revamped Zvezda team struggling to cope with his no-nonsense approach in training, prompting the club to part ways with the Montenegrin tactician.
A week later, Joan Penarroya was shown the exit door at Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz after a 1-4 start in the EuroLeague, paving the way for Ivanovic to return to the club for a fourth time after he won three Spanish League crowns in his previous tenures at the helm.
Ivanovic guided Baskonia to glory in 2002, 2010 and 2020, quite a feat competing against the royalty of European basketball personified by Real Madrid and Barcelona, which have claimed 56 national championships between them.
As if he’d waved a magic wand, a rejuvenated Baskonia went on a 7-1 streak under Ivanovic in the EuroLeague and their most recent success was Friday’s 87-85 home victory over Zvezda, which has a 3-6 record under Ivanovic’s successor Ioannis Sfairopoulos.
Ivanovic was humble after enacting sweet revenge on Zvezda. “I am very happy with my players because they keep fighting, they are focused and everything we planned for is bearing fruit,” he told reporters after seeing Baskonia snatch a dramatic win. “Like I said before, the coach can’t score at one end of the court or defend at the other, only the players can do that and they are the ones who win games. The coach can only lose a game.”
Ivanovic’s selfless assessments reflect his philosophy akin to both halves of his glittering career. In his playing days, Ivanovic was a hardworking shooting guard and small forward who won back-to-back EuroLeague titles with the famous Split outfit in 1989 and 1990, featuring the likes of a young Toni Kukoc who went on to win three successive NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls.
Apart from his aggressive defending, Ivanovic was a lethal spot-up perimeter shooter and it’s hardly surprising that Baskonia thrived from long range against Zvezda, making 17 of 36 shots from beyond the three-point arc.
In particular, Markus Howard rediscovered his touch after a patchy start to the season, with Ivanovic electing Codi Miller-McIntyre as the team’s primary ball handler to create open looks for Howard. The 24-year-old guard netted 17 points against Zvezda after scoring a game-high 28 in an 80-79 home win over Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul on Wednesday.
With Ivanovic in charge, Baskonia also rediscovered its ability to win tough games in the face of adversity. Howard netted a game-winning triple against Fenerbahce with 7 seconds left on the clock and Baskonia then forced Zvezda into submission after the visitors had nearly forced a spectacular final twist.
Ivanovic conceded there was an element of luck involved in the win over Zvezda, as a last-gasp three-point attempt by Baksonia’s former captain Rokas Giedraitits trickled out of the rim.
“We’d have lost the game if Rokas had made the last shot,” Ivanoic said as he walked off the floor. “But at the end of the day, these guys have shown that if they fight and demonstrate patience, they can play against anybody. You can win or lose, but we’re always going to be in it and that’s the most important thing.
“A lot of games in the EuroLeague will come down to one possession as there are so many good teams and all of them are capable of beating each other. What matters is getting yourself into a position to win the game when the chips are down.“