Aleksandar Đorđević

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Saša Đorđević" redirects here. For the footballer, see Saša Đorđević (footballer). For the former footballer and current coach, see Aleksandar Đorđević (footballer, born 1968). For the Austrian footballer, see Aleksandar Đorđević (footballer, born 1981).

Aleksandar Đorđević
China
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As head coach:

Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Yugoslavia /  Yugoslavia
Summer Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta
FIBA World Cup
Gold medal – first place 1998 Greece
EuroBasket
Gold medal – first place 1991 Italy
Gold medal – first place 1995 Greece
Gold medal – first place 1997 Spain
Bronze medal – third place 1987 Greece
FIBA U-19 World Cup
Gold medal – first place 1987 Italy Under-19
FIBA U-18 European Championship
Gold medal – first place 1986 Austria Under-18
Head Coach for  Serbia
Summer Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro
FIBA World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2014 Spain
EuroBasket
Silver medal – second place 2017 Turkey
Team
Head Coach for  China
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Hangzhou

Aleksandar "Saša" Đorđević or Sale Đorđević (

Anglicized: Sasha Djordjevic; Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Саша Ђорђевић, pronounced [aleksǎːndar sâʃa dʑǒːrdʑeʋitɕ]; born 26 August 1967) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as a head coach for the senior China. During his playing career, he was listed as a 1.88 m (6'2") 90 kg (198 lb.)[1][2] point guard
.

During his pro

FR Yugoslavia
.

As a player, he won gold medals at the

FR Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav Olympic Committee declared him the Sportsman of the Year.[3] In 2008, Đorđević was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors
.

Đorđević is most well-known for two famous game-winning shots that he hit during his playing career. He hit the game-winning shot of the

FIBA EuroBasket, as both a player and as a head coach
.

Early life

Born in 1967 into a sporting family, both of Aleksandar's parents—retired basketball player father Bratislav a.k.a. Bata and mother Milijana—worked as primary school physical education teachers.[7] His father simultaneously pursued basketball coaching, an activity that would eventually turn into a notable professional career after the summer 1971 marquee appointment as KK Crvena zvezda's head coach and immediate success leading the team to the Yugoslav League title, won in a dramatic neutral-venue, single-game playoff versus Jugoplastika Split that went into overtime.[8]

The family lived in New Belgrade where young Aleksandar a.k.a. Saša was immersed in basketball from an early age.[9][7] Following in young Saša's footsteps, his younger brother Miloš would also end up pursuing basketball, getting as far as youth categories within the KK Partizan system.[7]

Playing career

Partizan Belgrade (1983–1992)

Nashua Den Bosch in the European Champions Cup
in February 1988.

Following his father's advice, sixteen-year-old Đorđević joined Partizan Belgrade during the summer of 1983. Arriving at the club coached by Bora Džaković with a roster featuring Nebojša Zorkić, Milenko Savović, Goran Grbović, Danko Cvjetićanin, Boban Petrović, Arsenije Pešić, and Miško Marić, the youngster got sporadic minutes at point guard during the league season as Partizan finished in the seventh spot, good for a play-in single-game showdown against lower-tier club Sloga Kraljevo for a chance to qualify for the playoffs quarterfinal. Partizan managed to defeat Sloga but then got swept by eternal rivals Red Star Belgrade in the best-of-three playoff quarterfinal series.[citation needed]

Ahead of the next season, 1984-85, Partizan underwent a front-office shakeup that saw freshly-retired Yugoslav and club legend Dragan Kićanović appointed to the club vice-president post. The club also hired another Yugoslav basketball legend Moka Slavnić to be the new head coach thus giving him a chance to coach right after ending his illustrious playing career.[citation needed]

In summer 1990, after being away from competitive basketball for a year due to serving his mandatory

scout Mišo Oštarčević [hr], making it to the very end of the selection process before getting cut shortly before the season began due to Brian Shaw's return to the club from Virtus Roma.[citation needed
]

Đorđević's pro club career is most remembered for his game-winning,

Yugoslav First Federal League championships (1986–87 and 1991–92), and two Yugoslav Cups (1989 and 1992) while with the club.[citation needed
]

Olimpia Milano (1992–1994)

Đorđević moved from

top scorer of the finals
.

Fortitudo Bologna (1994–1996)

Đorđević moved to the

Fortitudo Bologna
, in 1994. He played with the club during the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons.

Portland Trail Blazers (1996)

After the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Đorđević had a stint with the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), during the 1996–97 season.[11] He made his NBA debut on November 29, 1996, recording 2 points and a rebound, in a 119–93 win over the Golden State Warriors.[12] His last NBA game was on December 15. Unhappy with lack of playing time,[13] he was placed on waivers in end of December 1996[14] after appearing in 8 games where he averaged 3.1 points per game.[15][16]

FC Barcelona Bàsquet (1996–1999)

After his

final's top scorer. He also won two Spanish ACB League championships with the club, in the 1996–97 and 1998–99
seasons.

Real Madrid (1999–2002)

In 1999, Đorđević joined the Spanish ACB League club Real Madrid.[17] With Real Madrid, he won the championship of the 1999–00 Spanish League season in FC Barcelona's arena. As he celebrated the title in the court he was pushed by his former teammate Nacho Rodríguez,[18] who claimed that "Sasha has to know that you can't do that in an opponent's grounds".[19]

He also spent the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons with the club.

Scavolini Pesaro (2003–2004)

After a season off, Đorđević returned to Italy and he signed with Scavolini Pesaro for the 2003–04 season. With Scavolini, Djordjevic reached the finals of the 2004 Italian Cup, where his team lost to Benetton Treviso. He also played with Pesaro in the beginning of the 2004–05 season.

Return to Olimpia Milano (2005)

On 25 February 2005, Đorđević signed with

Fortitudo Bologna
, 3 games to 1. The 2004–05 season was the last season of Đorđević's pro club career.

Retirement game

Đorđević officially retired from playing professional club basketball on 3 July 2005, after an exhibition game, which was held in his honor. The game was held in front of the Serbian fans in Belgrade. Many of his former teammates and toughest opponents played in that game.

National team career

SFR Yugoslav junior national team

Đorđević was a member of SFR Yugoslavia's junior national teams. With the

1987 FIBA Under-19 World Cup
.

SFR Yugoslav national team

Đorđević was also a member of the senior

1991 EuroBasket
.

FR Yugoslav national team

Đorđević was also a member of the senior

three-point shot attempts. He also won the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics
.

Đorđević won another gold medal at the

1998 FIBA World Cup.[20]

Coaching career

Olimpia Milano (2006–2007)

Đorđević retired from playing pro basketball in 2005. On 25 January 2006, he began a new career, working as a

Armani Jeans Milano, of Italy's Lega Basket Serie A and Europe's premier competition, the EuroLeague.[21] He left that position at the end of the 2006–07 Italian League season
.

Benetton Treviso (2011–2012)

Đorđević's next head coaching job was with the

2011–12 EuroCup
.

Panathinaikos Athens (2015–2016)

On 20 June 2015, Đorđević signed a two-year contract to be the head coach of

Panathinaikos, a club competing in the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague.[22] With Panathinaikos, he won the 2016 edition of the Greek Cup. On 20 April 2016, Panathinaikos announced the termination of Đorđević's contract.[23]

Bayern Munich (2016–2018)

On 1 August 2016, Đorđević signed a two-year contract with the German

Brose Bamberg in their semifinal playoff series, with a 3–0 series score. Bayern also finished as the runner-up of the 2017 German Cup
for the second season in a row, after losing in the Cup's Final to Brose Bamberg, by a score of 74–71.

Over the summer of 2017, Maik Zirbes, a prominent center, joined the team. Bayern Munich started the 2017–18 German League season in a dominant fashion, leading the league's standings table. In February 2018, Bayern Munich won the 2018 German Cup, after an 80–75 win over Alba Berlin, and the club thus won the German Cup trophy for the first time in 50 years.[25]

On 29 March 2018, Đorđević was sacked by Bayern, after the club's elimination in the semifinals of the 2017–18 EuroCup.[26] During that season, Bayern Munich held the first position in the 2017–18 Basketball Bundesliga regular season standings, with a record of 23–2, before he was sacked.[26] A few days after his dismissal, Đorđević stated that his firing was an "insult for common sense", especially since the 2017–18 season was one of the most successful in the team's history.[27] He also added that there was an apparent disagreement between the team's management (in particular general manager Marko Pešić), and his coaching staff, as he had not allowed the team's management to have a bigger role in coaching decisions.[27]

Virtus Bologna (2019–2021)

Coach Đorđević and the team, after winning the 2018–19 Basketball Champions League in Antwerp

On 11 March 2019, Đorđević signed to be the head coach of

BCL Final Four MVP.[34] The 2019 BCL championship was the fifth European-wide title in the team's history, and the first one it had won in ten years.[35]

On 13 July, Virtus signed a three-year deal with Miloš Teodosić, 2016 EuroLeague champion and former NBA player,[36] who was widely considered one of the best European point guard of all time.[37] Among others, the team signed also Vince Hunter, Frank Gaines, Kyle Weems, Julian Gamble, Stefan Marković and Giampaolo Ricci.[38] On 7 April 2020, after more than a month of suspension, the Italian Basketball Federation officially ended the 2019–20 season, due to the coronavirus pandemic that severely hit Italy.[39] Virtus ended the season first, with 18 wins and only 2 defeats, but the title was not assigned.[40]

On 7 December 2020, just 10 games after the starting of the season, Đorđević was unexpectedly and suddenly relieved from Bologna and, with him, his coaching assistant Goran Bjedov.[41] However, on the following day, after a long confrontation with the ownership, Đorđević was confirmed as coach.[42] In April 2021, despite a winning record of 19–2, Virtus was defeated in the EuroCup's semifinals by UNICS Kazan.[43] However, the season ended with a great success. In fact, after having knocked out 3–0 both Basket Treviso in the quarterfinals and New Basket Brindisi in the semifinals, on 11 June Virtus defeated 4–0 its historic rival Olimpia Milano in the national finals, winning its 16th national title and the first one after twenty years.[44] With a winning record of 10–0, Đorđević became the coach with the best playoffs winning percentage in the history of the club.

On 15 June, after a few days from the victory, Đorđević was not renewed as head coach at the end of his two-year contract, due to tensions with the club's ownership which occurred during the season.[45]

Fenerbahçe Beko (2021–2022)

On July 31, 2021, Đorđević has signed with

Basketball Super League.[46] He left the club on 17 June 2022, following a championship in the 2021–22 Turkish League against 2022 Euroleague Champion Anadolu Efes.[47]

Coaching record

Legend
G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win-loss %

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the team played during the season. He also coached in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

Domestic Leagues

Team Year G W L W–L% Result
FC Bayern Munich 2016–17 39 31 8 .795 Lost 2017 German League Semifinals Round
FC Bayern Munich 2017–18 25 23 2 .920 Fired
Virtus Bologna 2019–20 20 18 2 .900 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
Virtus Bologna 2020–21 38 29 9 .763 Won 2021 Italian League Finals
Fenerbahçe Beko 2021–22 41 32 9 .780 Won 2022 Turkish Super League Finals
Career 211 173 38 .820

EuroLeague

Team Year G W L W–L% Result
Olimpia Milano
 2005–06 3 2 1 .667 Eliminated in group stage
Panathinaikos 2015–16 27 15 12 .556 Lost in Quarterfinal Playoffs
Fenerbahçe Beko 2021–22 28 10 18 .357 Eliminated in group stage
Career 58 27 31 .466

National team coaching

Serbia national team (2013–2019)

Đorđević with Željko Obradović in 2015. For seven seasons at KK Partizan from 1984 until 1991, the two shared minutes at point guard.

On 25 December 2013, Đorđević was officially named the head coach of the Serbian national basketball team.[48] With Serbia, he took the silver medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup. In June 2015, he signed an extension with the Basketball Federation of Serbia, to be the team's head coach until 2019.[49]

His second major tournament in which he led the Serbian national team was the

France, in the bronze-medal game, by a score of 81–68.[51]

On 21 August 2016, he led Serbia's national team to the silver medal at the

Slovenia.[52]

At the

Argentina in their quarterfinals game. In the classification games, Serbia defeated the United States and Czech Republic, and thus finished the tournament in 5th place.[53] After the game versus the Czech Republic, Đorđević announced that he would no longer be the head coach of Serbia's senior national team.[54]

China national team (2022–present)

On 16 November 2022, Đorđević was named the head coach of the China national basketball team.[55]

Đorđević will take the Chinese National Team for the FIBA World Cup in August 2023.

Awards and accomplishments

Đorđević on a 2022 stamp of Serbia

Club titles that Đorđević won as a senior level player:

Club titles that Đorđević won as a head coach:

Personal life

Đorđević is one of UNICEF's National Ambassadors for Serbia, alongside Emir Kusturica, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Janković and Novak Djokovic. He is also one of the founders of the humanitarian organization Group Seven, as well as the President of the Belgrade Marathon. Đorđević has also worked as a sports commentator for EuroLeague TV.

See also

References

  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Saša Đorđević". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Aleksandar Djordjevic Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Trofej OKS – Najuspešniji sportisti | Olimpijski komitet Srbije". Archived from the original on 20 August 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  4. ^ 1992: Partizan's miracle year.
  5. ^ Sasha Djordjevic, "Alexander the Great".
  6. ^ "History made by Sale: Olympic medal both as coach and player". 20 August 2016.
  7. ^ a b c Julius, Dina (May 1987). "Obitelj među koševima". Start. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  8. ^ "The excitement starts here". Euroleague.net. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  9. ^ Jevtović, Ivan (30 June 2005). "Novobeogradski pobednik". Vreme. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  10. ^ May, Peter (14 October 2010). "Erden brings new dimension to C's". ESPN.com. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Aleksandar Saša Đorđević at Biografija.org". biografija.org. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  12. ^ "Golden State Warriors at Portland Trail Blazers Box Score, November 29, 1996". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  13. ^ Capi Lynn (18 December 1996). "Quest for playing time may lead to Europe". Statesman Journal. p. D1. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  14. ^ "Blazers make roster moves". Statesman Journal. 28 December 1996. p. 5C. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Aleksandar Đorđević 1996-97 Game Log". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  16. New York Times
    . Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  17. ^ "KAD SALE PODUČAVA NAVARA: Srpski igrači i treneri najzaslužniji za strelovit uspon španske košarke". novosti.rs. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  18. ^ Se cumplen 20 años de la Liga del Madrid en el Palau... que no le dejaron celebrar. Marca, 6 June 2020
  19. ^ Aíto: "Perder esta Liga ha sido una injusticia" Mundo Deportivo, 6 Juny 2020
  20. ^ Aleksander DJORDJEVIC (SRB).
  21. ^ "Aleksandar Djordjevic Named Coach of Milano - European Cup Radivoj Korac (1996) - FIBA Europe". Fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  22. ^ Αλεξάντερ Τζόρτζεβιτς: Τιμή και προνόμιο να βρίσκομαι στον Παναθηναϊκό. paobc.gr (in Greek). 30 June 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
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  25. ^ ""Srpski" Bajern osvojio Kup posle 50 godina". b92.net (in Serbian). 18 February 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  26. ^ a b Nikolić, Darko (29 March 2018). "Bajern smenio Sašu Đorđevića!". sport.blic.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  27. ^ a b "Uvreda za zdrav razum – Pešić nije napao samo mene, već instituciju trenera". b92.net (in Serbian). Tanjug. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
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  29. ^ "Djordjević è il nuovo allenatore della Virtus Bologna, esonerato Sacripanti". Gazzettadibologna.it. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  30. ^ "Đorđević se vratio u Italiju i preuzeo Virtus!". B92.net. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  31. ^ "Round of 16: Segafredo Virtus Bologna 81-58 Le Mans". Championsleague.basketball. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  32. ^ "Đorđević debitovao sa +23 u Ligi šampiona". B92.net (in Serbian). 13 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  33. ^ Basket, Champions League: Virtus Bologna qualificata alle Final Four
  34. ^ Finale a suon di triple: Kevin Punter vince il premio di MVP
  35. ^ La Virtus Bologna conquista la Champions League: Tenerife ko in finale 73-61.
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  37. ^ irtus Bologna, colpo da Eurolega: arriva Teodosic!
  38. ^ Serie A, i roster completi della stagione 2019/2020
  39. ^ Italian Basketball Federation officially ends LBA 2019-20 season, Sportando
  40. ^ Italian Basketball president Petrucci announces that LBA title won't be assigned, Sportando
  41. ^ "Aleksandar Djordjevic sollevato dall'incarico di responsabile tecnico della prima squadra" (in Italian). virtus.it. 7 December 2019.
  42. ^ Avanti Insieme!, Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna
  43. ^ Virtus, la notte più nera. In Eurolega vanno i russi, la Repubblica
  44. ^ Virtus, sei magnifica! Bologna, scudetto dopo 20 anni, Milano schiacciata 4-0, Gazzetta dello Sport
  45. ^ Grazie Sasha, Virtus Segafredo Bologna
  46. ^ "Aleksandar Djordjevic Fenerbahçe Beko'da" (in Turkish). Fenerbahçe. 31 July 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  47. ^ "Zvanično: Fener se rastao sa Đorđevićem". b92.net. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  48. ^ Radio Television of Serbia (25 December 2013). "Saša Đorđević selektor Srbije!" (in Serbian). Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  49. ^ "Đilas: Đorđević i Maljkovićeva selektori do 2019". Novosti.rs (in Serbian). Tanjug. 4 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
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  51. ^ "FRANCE REWARD HOME SUPPORT WITH BRONZE". eurobasket2015.org. 20 September 2015. Archived from the original on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  52. ^ "Slovenia overcome injuries to claim historic title in Dragic's swansong". FIBA.basketball. 17 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  53. ^ "Serbia v Czech Republic". FIBA.basketball. 14 September 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  54. ^ "Đorđević napušta mesto selektora Srbije!". Sportklub (in Serbian). 14 September 2019.
  55. ^ "官方：中国篮协聘请亚历山大-乔尔杰维奇担任中国男篮主教练". Hupu (in Chinese). 16 November 2022.

External links

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