After seven months at the helm, Dusko Ivanovic leaves Baskonia for the fourth time, “by mutual agreement”, according to the club’s statement, after a season in which he took charge of the team after the dismissal of Joan Peñarroya, and without the objectives fully met. The Vitorian team managed to get into the Euroleague play off, where they lost to Real Madrid on the fast track, but they were not present in either the Copa del Rey or the playoffs for the Endesa League title, an unprecedented circumstance. since the ACB tournament has been held.
The Baskonia bench continues to be an electric chair in which ten coaches have sat in the last ten seasons, some of them, like Ivanovic himself, on two different occasions. None has lasted more than a season and a half directing a team in which stability in management is not its most striking characteristic. Josean Querejeta, the entity’s top leader, always cuts to the chase when the results are not good. Mario Crespi, Velimir Perasovic, Sito Alonso, Pablo Prigioni, Neven Spahija, Joan Peñarroya and Dusko Ivanovic have experienced it firsthand in the last decade. Others did it before, because it is one of the house brands.
Ivanovic leaves Vitoria for the first time without leaving a title in the showcases, although seven months are few to straighten out the situation of a team, and with the feeling that he never worked comfortably with the squad he had, too tight for the game attack, but less consistent in defense, which is the game situation that the Montenegrin coach has always valued most and for which he begins to build his teams. But the fact that Baskonia has been the team that has conceded the most points on average in the ACB (88.3) has hampered the chances of achieving any goal. It is the worst mark in its history, and the eighth in the ACB since 1996.
The previous coach, Joan Peñarroya, dismissed in October, claimed that he preferred to win 100-99 than 70-69, so he assembled a group focused on attack, and that is the legacy that Ivanovic found. Baskonia has received one hundred or more points in nine games, and has only managed to win one of them. The coach had to settle for what he had, but he did not find the right formula to stop the bleeding on defense.
Despite the good words in the farewell statement, which states that, “Baskonia wants to thank Dusko Ivanovic, the most important and award-winning coach in the club’s history, for his professionalism and commitment during this season and all the time. who has been commanding the Vitorian team throughout Baskonista history”, the terms of the conversations between the two parties are not clarified. According to the club, “he is a coach who has left a legacy in the entity and will always be part of the Barça family.” It may be, because no one rules out that he returns at another time. He’s already done it three times.
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