Aleksandar Đorđević
Aleksandar "Saša" Đorđević (Anglicized: Sasha Djordjevic, Serbian Cyrillic: Александар "Саша" Ђорђевић, pronounced [alě̞ksaːndar sâʃa d͡ʑɔ̝̌ːrd͡ʑe̞vit͡ɕ]; born 26 August 1967) is a Serbian former professional basketball player and a current coach of the Serbian national basketball team and Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League. He was a 1.88 m (6'2") point guard, and played 108 games for the Yugoslavian national basketball team. Đorđević started his basketball career while attending secondary school in Belgrade, where he was a part of the school basketball team that won the city basketball tournament in 1986. His father, Bratislav Đorđević, was the coach of the Belgrade team Crvena zvezda.[1]
In 1995, Đorđević received a Golden Badge award for Best Athlete of Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav Olympic Committee declared him the Sportsman of the Year.[2]
Club playing career
KK Partizan
Đorđević, who was about to turn 17 years of age, joined Partizan during summer 1984. The youngster's arrival at the club coincided with a front office shakeup that saw Yugoslav and club legend Dragan Kićanović, who had just retired from playing, assume the club vice-president role. The club also appointed Moka Slavnić, another freshly retired Yugoslav legend, to be the new head coach.
Professionally, Đorđević played for: KK Partizan (1984–1992), Philips Milano a.k.a. Recoaro Milano (1992–1994), Filodoro Bologna a.k.a. Teamsystem Bologna (1994–1996), the Portland Trail Blazers (September–December 1996, 8 games, 25 points scored), FC Barcelona (January 1997 – 1999), Real Madrid (1999–2002), Scavolini Pesaro (2003–2005), and Armani Jeans Milano (February–June 2005).
He is remembered for his buzzer-beating three-pointer in the 1992 Euroleague final, while he was with Partizan.
Đorđević retired from playing professional basketball on 3 July 2005, after an exhibition game in front of the home crowd in Belgrade, in which many of his former teammates and fierce opponents took part.
National team
Đorđević is remembered for his performance against Croatia in the 1997 EuroBasket. In the EuroBasket 1995, he put on one of the best individual performances ever in a EuroBasket final game against Lithuania, scoring 41 points, and shooting 9 of 12 on three pointers.
Coaching career
On 25 January 2006 Đorđević was named the head coach of one of his former teams, Armani Jeans Milano,[3] a position he left at the end of the 2006–07 season.
Serbia national team
In 2013, Đorđević was named the coach of the Serbian national basketball team.[4] He took the silver medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
His second major tournament to lead the Serbian national team was the 2015 EuroBasket. In the first phase of the tournament, Serbia dominated in the toughest Group B with 5-0 record, and then eliminated Finland and Czech Republic in the round of 16 and quarterfinal game, respectively. However, they were stopped in the semifinal game by Lithuania with 67–64,[5] and eventually lost to the host team France in the bronze-medal game with 81–68.[6]
Panathinaikos
On June 30, 2015, Đorđević signed a two-year contract with the Greek team Panathinaikos.[7] Days later, he signed an extension with the Basketball Federation of Serbia to be the team selector until 2019.[8]
Personal
Đorđević is one of the Goodwill Ambassadors in Serbia, along with Emir Kusturica, Ana Ivanovic, and Jelena Janković, one of the founders of the humanitarian organization Group Seven, as well as the president of the Belgrade Marathon.
Awards and accomplishments
Some of the honors Đorđević won as a senior player are:
- Euroleague:
- 1992
- Korać Cup:
- 1989, 1993, 1999
- National Championship of Yugoslavia:
- 1987, 1992
- National Cup of Yugoslavia:
- 1989, 1992
- Spanish League:
- 1997, 1999, 2000
References
- ^ Euroleague – Vladimir Stanković: The excitement starts here
- ^ http://www.oks.org.rs/?page_id=462&lang=sr-latn
- ^ Aleksandar Djordjevic named coach of Milano
- ^ http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/14/wcm/news/p/nid/70951/article.html
- ^ "LITHUANIA END SERBIAN STREAK, RETURN TO FINAL". eurobasket2015.org. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ "FRANCE REWARD HOME SUPPORT WITH BRONZE". eurobasket2015.org. 20 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ "Αλεξάντερ Τζόρτζεβιτς: Τιμή και προνόμιο να βρίσκομαι στον Παναθηναϊκό". paobc.gr (in Greek). 30 June 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
- ^ "Đilas: Đorđević i Maljkovićeva selektori do 2019". novosti.rs (in Serbian). Tanjug. 4 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
External links
- Aleksandar Đorđević at acb.com
- Aleksandar Đorđević at euroleague.net (as a player)
- Aleksandar Đorđević at fibaeurope.com
- Aleksandar Đorđević at legabasket.it
Template:Serbia Squad EuroBasket 2015
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- 1967 births
- Living people
- Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Expatriate basketball people in Italy
- FC Barcelona Bàsquet players
- FIBA EuroBasket-winning players
- Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna players
- KK Partizan players
- Lega Basket Serie A players
- Liga ACB players
- National Basketball Association players from Serbia
- Olimpia Milano coaches
- Olimpia Milano players
- Olympic basketball players of Yugoslavia
- Olympic medalists in basketball
- Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia
- Pallacanestro Treviso coaches
- Panathinaikos B.C. coaches
- Point guards
- Portland Trail Blazers players
- Real Madrid Baloncesto players
- Serbian basketball coaches
- Serbian basketball players
- Serbian expatriate basketball people in the United States
- Serbian expatriates in Italy
- Serbian expatriates in Spain
- Sportspeople from Belgrade
- Undrafted National Basketball Association players
- Victoria Libertas Pesaro players
- Yugoslav basketball players