Dragan Šakota

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Dragan Šakota
Trabzonspor
2011–2012Antalya BB
2014–2016,
2017–2018		AEK
2019–2020Crvena zvezda
2022Zaragoza
2022–2023Reggiana
2023–presentBrindisi
Career highlights and awards
As head coach:

Dragan Šakota (

coach.[4][5]

Playing career

Šakota spent the entire playing career with the Belgrade-based team IMT. He played there from 1972 to 1983 and won the

Yugoslav Federal B League
in the 1982/83 season.

Coaching career

IMT (1983–1988)

After spending his entire career in IMT, Šakota became head coach of the same team right after retiring as a player. His first season as head coach ended very impressive. Finishing in 9th place, he secured the participation of his team in the

FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup the same season, where they were also stopped in the quarter-finals group, among others by the eventual champion Limoges CSP
.

Zadar (1988–89)

After a very successful period in IMT, Šakota went to coach

1988–89 season. The team improved its results from the previous season under the new coach, reaching the semi-finals of the FIBA Korać Cup, losing both games to Partizan that later won in the finals. However, Zadar failed to do the same in the domestic league, being eliminated to Olimpija in the quarter finals. Nevertheless, Šakota had a huge influence on a promising Arijan Komazec
who would become one of the best players in Europe throughout the upcoming years.

Cibona (1989–90)

After finishing the 1988-89 season with Zadar, Šakota moved to Cibona where he coached until the end of the 1989–90 season. There he also improved the club's results. After being 7th in the previous season, Cibona finished 4th and even went on to play 3 games with the European champion Jugoplastika in the playoff semifinal. Šakota's team also managed to reach the cup semifinal where it was eliminated by Crvena zvezda.

PAOK (1990-91)

Šakota came to

FIBA Saporta Cup, which was the first European trophy in club's history. They were also runners-up in the Greek league as well as the Greek Cup. PAOK faced Aris that had dominated the domestic league 6 consecutive years in the finals and even took a 2-0 lead in the series, but failed to maintain it, losing 2 games in a row and PAOK evened the score. Game 5 is considered as the decisive, as the black and white team had the lead till the last few seconds when Ken Barlow made an in-bound turnover, giving the opportunity to Panagiotis Giannakis to score a long distance buzzer-beater three for the 86-85 win. After that, game 6 ended with Aris defending the title as the final result was 81-80. PAOK lost the cup final against Panionios B.C.
73-70.

Apollon Patras (1992–93)

Šakota signed with Apollon Patras. With Apollon Patras, he finished in 10th place at the end of the 1992-93 season.

Iraklis (1993–94)

Another Greek club that the Serbian coach signed contract with was

Olympiacos
. Šakota left the club when the season was finished.

Return to PAOK (1994–95)

Šakota crossed his paths with PAOK for the second time. In the meantime, circumstances for the Thessaloniki club changed a bit since Šakota's last presence, with PAOK playing

Predrag Stojaković
.

Peristeri (1995–97)

Although he didn't bring any trophies to the club, Šakota's work in

1996-97 FIBA Korać Cup
. The following season was even better, as Peristeri finished 3rd in the Greek league and made it to the quarter-finals of the Korać Cup.

Iraklis again (1998–00)

After a job well done in Peristeri, Šakota came back to Iraklis where he stayed for 2 seasons. During that period, Iraklis had success in the domestic league, qualifying for the

1999-00 FIBA Saporta Cup by finishing 6th after Šakota's first season as a returner. They didn't stop there, as they found their way to the quarter-finals of the competition, losing to that season's champion AEK. Besides that, Iraklis qualified for the 2000–01 FIBA SuproLeague, finishing 7th in the domestic championship. Šakota and his team were also 3rd in the national cup in the 1998-99 season and 4th in the 1999-00 season. The results from those 2 seasons were more or less in a shadow because Šakota introduced a new name to the Greek league, point guard Dimitris Diamantidis
.

Aris (2000–01)

Šakota signed with Aris B.C. He left the club at the end of the season, as he didn't manage something important, finishing 10th in the league.

AEK (2001–03)

Golden Year (2001–02)

The Serbian coach was ready for new challenges as he signed with AEK in the summer of 2001. Right after joining the club, Šakota brought a 19 year old

Olympiacos
that took a convincing 2-0 lead in the final series, but AEK compensated the deficit and won 3-2, thus winning their first national title since 1970. Šakota immediately became an AEK legend, making history as the only coach since 1992 that has won a national title, but not with Olympiacos or Panathinaikos.

2002–03

After winning the title, AEK management had no choice but to decrease the club's budget 50%, limiting the head coach's chances to repeat the success in the next season. The following season didn't end well for AEK, as they won only one game in 2002–03 Euroleague, finishing with a 1-13 score. Still, they managed to reach the playoff finals again, only this time AEK was 2nd with a 20-6 score. After eliminating another Šakota's former team PAOK 2-0 in the quarter-finals and Olympiacos 2-1 in the semi-finals, AEK was defeated by the Athens-based Panathinaikos 3-1 in the series. And as in the previous season, AEK didn't have any success in the cup.

Olympiacos (2003–04)

Šakota signed with another Greek club Olympiacos at the end of November in the 2003-04 season, replacing

previous season
, being eliminated in the Top 16 phase. The bright side, however, was the national cup finals that Šakota was able to reach, but Olympiacos lost to Aris 73-70.

Crvena Zvezda (2005–07)

2005–06

In 2005, Šakota returned to his hometown, where he took over Crvena Zvezda. He instantly brought some of his former players: Milan Gurović, Pero Antić from AEK,

Mega Vizura by Zmago Sagadin
, and the young power forward showed his potential right away. The team also reached the national league finals, eliminating FMP 3-2 in the semi-finals, where they lost to Partizan 3-0.

2006–07

Šakota's second season as Crvena Zvezda's head coach wasn't as good as the first. He made some changes in the roster, bringing

following season's ULEB Cup, resulting critics and anger from red and white fans, he was replaced by his assistant coach Stevan Karadžić
.

Other clubs

Šakota took over at Fortitudo Bologna, from Andrea Mazzone, who got fired due to poor results, in early January 2008, mid-season 2007–08.[6] At the time, the club had a 7–10 record in their Italian national domestic league, and a 3–4 record in the EuroCup.

Šakota finished the 2007–08 season at the club, and also started the 2008–09 season there. In mid-December 2008, he got fired and was replaced by

Turkish Super League club Antalya Büyükşehir Belediyesi, replacing Serdar Apaydın
, but after a few months he was fired again.

In 2014, he returned to AEK Athens.[8] He was AEK's head coach from 2014 to 2016, and from 2016 to 2017, he was the club's sports director. He became AEK's head coach again in 2017, and with them, he won the FIBA Champions League and the Greek Cup titles, in 2018.

On November 23, 2019, he was named the head coach for the Belgrade-based team Crvena zvezda, for the second time in his career.[9][10] On 8 June 2020, Šakota parted ways with the Zvezda.[11]

On December 5, 2022, he signed with Pallacanestro Reggiana of the Lega Basket Serie A.[12]

National team coaching career

Šakota was an assistant coach of the senior

Serbia and Montenegro national basketball team, from 2004 to 2005, working as an assistant at both the 2004 Summer Olympic Games and the EuroBasket 2005
.

In 2006, Šakota was the head coach of the Serbia and Montenegro national basketball team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Serbia and Montenegro finished the World Championship in 11th place, which was the lowest place finish ever for the Serbian national team at the tournament.[13][14]

Personal life

Šakota's son,

basketball coach. Famous Serbian coach Miroslav Nikolić is his brother-in law, former teammate and former player. Šakota hold both Serbian and Greek citizenship.[2][3][15] He speaks Serbian, English, and Greek
fluently.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dragan Sakota". Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Dragan Sakota". bgbasket.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-16. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Dragan Sakota returns to AEK BC". - Ε.Σ.Α.Κ.Ε. Archived from the original on 2015-03-17. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  4. ^ "DRAGAN SAKOTA, NUEVO ENTRENADOR DE CASADEMONT ZARAGOSA". casademontzaragoza.es (in Spanish). Online. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Dragan Sakota officially takes over Zaragoza". eurohoops.net. Online. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  6. ^ Dragan Šakota preuzeo Fortitudo.;Blic, 2 January 2008
  7. ^ Fortitudo signs Cesare Pancotto, replaces Dragan Sakota.;EuroCupBasketball, 10 December 2008
  8. ^ "Dragan Sakota returns to AEK BC". - Ε.Σ.Α.Κ.Ε. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Dragan Šakota novi trener Crvene zvezde". mozzartsport.com (in Serbian). 23 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Zvezda brings back Sakota as head coach". Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Šakota na rastanku sa Zvezdom: Vreme je za mlađeg..." mozzartsport.com. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Pallacanestro Reggiana officially signs Dragan Sakota". Sportando. December 5, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  13. ^ "Arhiva – Pobjeda". archive.vn. 2012-09-07. Archived from the original on 2012-09-07. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  14. ^ "SERBIA & MONTENEGRO's ROSTER". Archived from the original on June 13, 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Dragan Sakota". Triple Double Sports Management. Archived from the original on 2020-02-16. Retrieved 6 February 2021.

External links

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