KK Krka
| Krka | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Leagues | Liga Nova KBM Adriatic League | ||
| Founded | 1948 | ||
| History | KK Novo mesto Partizan (1948–1963) KK Novoteks (1963–1992) KK Novo mesto 1992 (1992–1997) KK Krka (1997–present) | ||
| Arena | Leon Štukelj Hall | ||
| Capacity | 2,500 | ||
| Location | Novo Mesto, Slovenia | ||
| Team colors | Green, White | ||
| Main sponsor | Krka d. d. | ||
| President | Brane Kastelec | ||
| Head coach | Vladimir Anzulović | ||
| Championships | 7 National Championships 3 National Cup 4 Slovenian Supercups 1 EuroChallenge | ||
| Website | basket.krka.si | ||
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Košarkarski Klub Krka (English: Basketball Club Krka), commonly referred to as KK Krka or simply Krka, is a professional basketball team that is based in Novo Mesto, Slovenia. The team currently competes in the Liga Nova KBM and the Adriatic League. The team's home arena is Leon Štukelj Hall.
History
1948–2002
The first basketball club in Novo Mesto was founded in 1948, but not until 1983, the year of its 35th anniversary, was the city able to celebrate the conquer of the Slovenian national championship. After that triumph, however, basketball saw a decline in Novo Mesto that lasted until after the separation of the Slovenian Republic from the former Yugoslavia. Soon the team was climbing through the second division to rejoin the Slovenian First League in 1997, when it also took the name of its sponsor, Krka. A fourth-place finish in the national league and third in the Slovenian Cup allowed the club to qualify for the Korać Cup for 1998–99. The big breakthrough came a year later, however, as Krka defeated historical rival Olimpija Ljubljana in the Slovenian playoff finals to win the national title. That year, the team also played the Saporta Cup and reached third place in the Slovenian Cup. In 2000–01, Krka consolidated its strength, but nonetheless fell to Olimpija in the finals. In 2001–02, Krka qualified for the Euroleague in a pre-season tournament and made its mark in a group of superpowers. Though Krka missed the Top 16, it was able to defeat all its opponents once, including names like Real Madrid, Panathinaikos, CSKA Moscow and Skipper Bologna. At home, Krka finished second in the Goodyear league, in the Slovenian Championship and in the national cup, losing all three times to Olimpija Ljubljana. Last season changed that trend, however.
2002–03 season; National champion, Eurocup runner-up
Krka zoomed to the 2003 ULEB Cup double finals, narrowly losing to Pamesa Valencia despite being the only ULEB Cup team to win in Valencia. Krka then flexed its muscles, upsetting Olimpija for its second Slovenian crown.
2003–04 season; Troubles on the horizon
Season started with coach Zoran Martić that resigned after bad results in Euroleague, Petar Skansi came as replacement. Krka finished Euroleague with only two wins, 7th place in Adriatic league was solid achievement, but 7th place in national competition was not. Loss against Helios Domžale in quarterfinals implied drop from Adriatic league.
2004–05 season; Club nearly dead
Season 04/05 was very difficult for Krka fans and supporters since voting about dissolution was held, but luckily failed. New head coach, Predrag Milović was introduced, Krka finished 6th.
2005–06 season; On the bottom
Season 2005–06 was by far the worst. After finished last after 1st part of Slovenian league Krka lost only three times in relegation league, elevating this team to 9th place. Club was under 'rehab' in financial as well in competition terms, new club leadership under Marjan Erpe managed to save the club.
2006–07 season; Slowly climbing up
Krka finished 7th, coming into champion league.
2007–08 season; qualified for ABA
This season Krka finished third in domestic league and replaced Geoplin Slovan in Adriatic League.
2008–09 season
Krka was one of three Slovenian clubs that represented Slovenia in regional ABA league. 11th place was solid achievement for rookie after some years in league. In 1. SKL Krka finished third, after many injuries finished after 2nd Helios and could not compete in regional league.
2009–10 season; National champion, qualified for ABA
Aleksandar Džikić became fist coach of Krka squad in 2009–10 bringing great results to the club. Finished first after 1st part of 1. SKl and 2nd in champions league, brought semi-finals to Krka. Beating 2–1 Helios from Domžale Krka achieved finals after 7 long years. Beating Union Olimpija 3–2 in last game in Tivoli Krka finished very successful becoming Slovenian champion.
2010–11 season; National champion, Eurochallenge champion
Aleksandar Džikić was confirmed as head coach for the 2010–11 season. He got a new assistant coach for help, Aleksander Sekulić (confirmed on 21 June). Krka qualified for ABA league and decided to compete in the 3rd rank European league called FIBA EuroChallenge. Season started great after winning Slovenian Supercup, beating Olimpija in Maribor. Krka played well and qualified for Adriatic League Final 4, where they lost against Olimpija in the semifinals. They also made it to the EuroChallenge Final 4 where they won club's first European trophy, beating Oostende in semifinal and Lokomotiv-Kuban in the final. They finished Slovenian league in the 1st place with one loss. In the semifinals Krka defeated Zlatorog 2–0. Great season ended on 11 June, after winning Slovenian league, beating Olimpija 3–2. This was the fourth national trophy and second in the row.
2011–12 season; Back to EuroCup, national champions
Krka competed in the ABA league, Eurocup, Slovenian Cup and Slovenian Telemach League. Coach Aleksandar Džikić was replaced with Nenad Trajković. Dušan Đorđević, Goran Ikonić, Dragiša Drobnjak and Chris Booker has left the club. Their replacement were Jaka Klobučar, Curtis Stinson, Marko Đurković, Jimmy Baxter and Jerome Jordan. The club had two players in the Slovenian national team, Edo Murić and Zoran Dragić. Krka had successfully started a season in October, winning Slovenian Supercup over Olimpija. In November, Jaka Klobučar and Curtis Stinson left the club. Jaka's wish was playing in a foreign country, while Stinson went to surgery (broken ankle). Krka bought Allan Ray who played only three games. After excellent performance against Le Mans he moved to France. His replacement was Mustafa Abdul-Hamid.
On 1 December, coach Nenad Trajković moved to the Phoenix Suns and it was replaced with his assistant Aleksander Sekulič. Also, Jerome Jordan left the club (NBA-out clause), along with Jimmy Baxter (denied documents) and Marko Đurković (poor performances). On 29 December Krka announced three new players, Ben Hansbrough from Bayern München, Uroš Lučić from Radnički Kragujevac, who already played for Krka in the 2009–10 season and Jure Lalić, who came from Cibona. In January 2012, club released Mustafa Abdul-Hamid, but after one month he came back to club in February 2012. The club also announced a new player on PG position. That became Afik Nissim. Season ended with winning fifth national championship, third in a row.
2012–13 season; Return to Eurochallenge
Club competed in the ABA league, Slovenian Telemach League, EuroChallenge and Slovenian Cup. After winning national trophy in the previous season, Aleksander Sekulič continued as main coach. New assistant coach became Gašper Potočnik and former Krka player Simon Petrov. Club signed Jaka Klobučar, Jakov Vladović and Jurica Golemac and two youngsters, Erjon Kastrati and Tomaž Bolčina. Jure Balažić changed club and went to Turkey while Simon Petrov retired and became an assistant coach. Krka started season with Slovenian Supercup win over Olimpija (84–81) on 25 September in Grosuplje. On 30 December, Matjaž Smodiš and president Brane Kastelec announced his comeback to home club. Due to bad results, especially defeat in the semifinals of national cup against Helios on 11 February, main coach Aleksander Sekulić was released. Gašper Potočnik became a new head coach, who was previously an assistant. In March club signed combo guard Jerime Anderson, that played his first game in national championship against Helios. In the national league, Krka finished regular part in the first place with only one defeat (9–1). In the semifinals, the team won 2–0 against Zlatorog and advanced to the finals against Olimpija, where Krka won the series 3–1, clinching its fourth consecutive title and sixth overall. Last game had huge contribution of Matjaž Smodiš who scored 21 points and successfully ended his career.
2013–14 season; Džikić comeback
On 18 June club signed two-year contract with Aleksandar Džikić. First team addition was Jasmin Hukić, signed on June 25. Club added Croatian power forward Zvonko Buljan and Slovenian guard Luka Lapornik on July 12.[1]
On July 24, the club announced the signing of Derrick Nix to a 3-year contract, but because of his improper behavior they break the contract and signed Chris Booker. American PG Malcolm Armstead joined club on July 30.[2] In the middle of the season, Sani Bečirović, well known Slovenian international with rich career joined to the team, that faced many problems lacking injured Armstead. This was the first season Krka won national cup and after winning national championship on May 31 it was its first double crown season. Jaka Klobučar was awarded with Slovenian League MVP title. Team achieved good position in Adriatic league, finishing 7th just a spot away from directly qualifying to EuroCup.
2014–15 season Cup winners, semifinals of national championship
On June 14, two new players were confirmed, Cameroonian Alexis Wangmene and Mirko Mulalić, while Pavić, Klobučar, Bečirović, Buljan, Pajić, Murić has left the club. Aleksandar Džikić kept his place as head coach and became coach with most seasons in the club (four). On June 26 ULEB decided that Krka can not play in its hall, resulting that this was the first season after four years without European competitions. Krka eventually played in the Slovenian and ABA league. On July 9, Krka signed one-year contract with former Slovenian national team player Nebojša Joksimović. In July, Krka announced that Christopher Booker decided to come back to Novo Mesto and extended contract. Before the start of the season, Krka won Slovenian Supercup against Olimpija. Season in ABA started great with 5–1 record, but it was followed by 1-9 defeat series. In January, new five win streak started and in February, the team won its second national cup against Zlatorog Laško. After eight defeats in first round of the Slovenian league, Krka finished first in the league for champion (8–2). After quarterfinal win against Portorož in the playoffs (2–0), the team was eliminated in the semifinals against Šentjur.
2015–16 season
On June 21, 2015, Ivan Velić was hired as a new head coach. Vladimir Anzulović became a new assistant coach, previously head coach of KK Kolpa Črnomelj.
Current roster
Depth Chart
| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 | Bench 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Jure Lalić | Žiga Dimec | Imran Polutak | |
| PF | Ive Ivanov | Dragiša Drobnjak | ||
| SF | Stefan Sinovec | Erjon Kastrati | Nejc Zupan | |
| SG | Luka Lapornik | Mirko Mulalić | ||
| PG | Matic Rebec | Matej Rojc | Boban Tomić | Domen Janc |
Squad changes for the 2015–16 season
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In:
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Out:
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Out on loan
Nejc Zupan (to Lastovka)- Domen Janc (to Portorož)
Arena
Club's first court was Loka outdoor asphalte court, near the river Krka. In the 1970's, Krka moved to first indoor arena in town, named Marof. It has 1,500 seating capacity. Marof was home court for Krka for over 30 years. Marof arena is still being used as a training court and 2009–10 season playoff finals were played in Marof.
Club is currently playing in Leon Štukelj Hall with a capacity of 2,500 seats. Hall is located in the school center in the southwestern part of Novo Mesto. It is town's primarily sports gym and is venue to many events, since it is the largest hall in Novo Mesto and Lower Carniola.
New arena with 5,000+ seats was planned to be built for EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia but was canceled as well as Novo Mesto's candidature for EuroBasket.
As Euroleague Basketball set a minimum capacity for EuroCup at 3,000 seats and for non-contract Euroleague teams for 5,000 seats, Krka is unable to play those competitions at Leon Štukelj Hall.
Season-by-season records
| Season | Tier | Domestic league | Position | Domestic cup | Supercup | Adriatic League | Europe | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992–93 | 4 | 4. League | 1. (promoted) | — | — | — | — | |
| 1993–94 | 3 | 3. League (2. SKL) | 6. | — | — | — | — | |
| 1994–95 | 3 | 3. League (2. SKL) | 1. (promoted) | — | — | — | — | |
| 1995–96 | 2 | 2. League (A2) | 2. | — | — | — | — | |
| 1996–97 | 2 | 2. League (A2) | 1. (promoted) | — | — | — | — | |
| 1997–98 | 1 | 1. A SKL | 4. | — | — | — | — | |
| 1998–99 | 1 | Liga Kolinska | 3. | — | — | — | Korać Cup | Top 16 |
| 1999–00 | 1 | Liga Kolinska | Champions | — | — | — | Saporta Cup | Top 16 |
| 2000–01 | 1 | Liga Kolinska | Runners-up | Runners-up | — | — | Suproleague | Group stage |
| 2001–02 | 1 | HYPO Liga | Runners-up | Runners-up | — | Runners-up | Euroleague | Regular season |
| 2002–03 | 1 | 1. A SKL | Champions | — | — | 7. | Eurocup | Runners-up |
| 2003–04 | 1 | 1. A SKL | 5. | — | Runners-up | — | Euroleague | Regular season |
| 2004–05 | 1 | 1. A SKL | 6. | — | — | — | — | |
| 2005–06 | 1 | 1. A SKL | 9. | — | — | — | — | |
| 2006–07 | 1 | Liga UPC Telemach | 6. | — | — | — | — | |
| 2007–08 | 1 | Liga UPC Telemach | 3. | — | — | — | — | |
| 2008–09 | 1 | Liga UPC Telemach | 3. | Semifinals | — | 11. | — | |
| 2009–10 | 1 | Telemach League | Champions | Semifinals | — | — | — | |
| 2010–11 | 1 | Telemach League | Champions | Quarterfinals | Winners | Semifinals | EuroChallenge | Winners |
| 2011–12 | 1 | Telemach League | Champions | Runners-up | Winners | 11. | Eurocup | Top 16 |
| 2012–13 | 1 | Telemach League | Champions | Semifinals | Winners | 9. | EuroChallenge | Group stage |
| 2013–14 | 1 | Telemach League | Champions | Winners | Runners-up | 7. | EuroChallenge | Top 16 |
| 2014–15 | 1 | Telemach League | Semifinals | Winners | Winners | 9. | — | |
| 2015–16 | 1 | Liga Nova KBM | Winners | Runners-up | 12. | FIBA Europe Cup | Round of 32 | |
Most seasons as of 2015–16 season
Players
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Coaches
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References
External links
