Jure Zdovc is the new head coach of Cedevita

It is official! Jure Zdovc has signed a contract with Cedevita and he will be the team head coach in the 2017/18 season.

Zdovc held his first press conference as Cedevita's head coach and stated that his ambitions in the upcoming season are the highest possible.

"I am glad that I came to this club. I did not need much time to make the final decision. For me, it is very important in this job that someone really wants to hire you. When you see that someone shows a great desire to sign a contract with you, then everything is much easier and I appreciate it. I am happy because I am here now. Cedevita is a club which has been in the top of the European basketball community lately. I would even say that Cedevita is more appreciated abroad then in our region. The second reason why I decided to come here is the motive to reach the Euroleague. Cedevita can qualify for Euroleague throughout ABA League or Eurocup, and that challenge might have been the decisive factor for me to accept the offer," said Zdovc.

Can Cedevita win the ABA League for the first time with you at their helm?

"It is not a question if Cedevita can win the ABA League. Cedevita have to win the ABA League. That is why they brought me here. I am an ambitious coach, sometimes perhaps too ambitious, but that is who I am. And that is what I want from the players. I think it is clear that our goals will be to win the ABA League, Croatian Championship and Croatian Cup, and we will do everything to fulfill all of them. Only the highest goals can put the positive pressure on the team. As far as Eurocup is considered, our goal is to qualify among the top four," concluded Zdovc.

Jure Zdovc is a well familiar basketball name in our region. After a stunning player's career, he started his coaching career in Split, back in 2004. After that he coached Geoplin Slovan, Iraklis, Union Olimpija, Bosna, Spartak Saint Petersburg and Gaziantep, while in the previous two seasons he was the head coach of AEK Athens.

During his coaching career, he has won the Croatian Cup with Split, as well as the Bosnia & Herzegovina Championship with Bosna, while with Union Olimpija he won the Slovenian Championship and 3 Slovenian Cups.

He was also named the best coach of Eurocup in 2012.

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Jure Zdovc predstavljen kao novi trener Cedevite

Danas je potvrđeno i službeno. Novi trener Cedevite je Jure Zdovc, koji se posle potpisivanja ugovora obratio novinarima u klupskim prostorijama. 

"Drago mi je da sam došao u ovaj klub. Nije mi trebalo dugo da se odlučim. Meni je u ovom poslu jako bitno da te netko želi. Kad vidiš da te netko hoće dovesti u svoju sredinu onda je to puno lakše i ja to cijenim. Zadovoljan sam što sam tu. Cedevita je klub koji je u zadnje vrijeme u samom vrhu europske košarke. Čak bih rekao da je taj klub mnogo više cijenjen u inozemstvu, gdje sam ja bio zadnjih godina, nego u regiji. Druga stvar koja me je motivirala u dolasku je želja i sportski motiv da se dođe do Eurolige. Cedevita može izboriti Euroligu kroz Eurokup ili ABA ligu i to je možda čak na kraju i presudilo."

Može li Cedevita sa Zdovcem po prvi put osvojiti ABA ligu?

"Ne da može, mora. Zbog toga su me i doveli. Ja sam ambiciozan trener, ponekad i previše, ali tako je. To tražim i od igrača. Sigurno da ćemo napraviti sve što možemo. Mislim da je jasno da su ciljevi osvojiti Prvenstvo Hrvatske, Kup Hrvatske i ABA ligu. To moraju biti naši ciljevi jer samo visoki ciljevi vrše pritisak na sve nas. Nisam spomenuo još i Eurokup, a tu cilj mora biti plasman među najbolja četiri, tako da neće biti lako."

Jure Zdovc na ovim je prostorima prepoznatljivo košarkaško ime. Nakon sjajne igračke karijere, prvi put je poziciju glavnog trenera preuzeo u Splitu, gdje je 2004. godine osvojio Kup Hrvatske. Kasnije je vodio Geoplin Slovan i Iraklis, nakon čega je postao sportski trener u Union Olimpiji, a onda se vratio u trenerske vode u Bosni Sarajevo. S Bosnom je 2008. osvojio naslov prvaka BiH, a onda je od 2009. do 2011. bio trener Union Olimpije. S Olimpijom, koju je vodio i u Euroligi, je osvojio Prvenstvo Slovenije 2009., a Kup Slovenije osvajao je 2009., 2010. i 2011. godine.

Od 2011. do 2013. godine bio je trener Spartak Sankt Petersburga i 2012. godine proglašen je trenerom godine u Eurokupu. Poslije Rusije preuzeo je momčad Royal Hali Gaziantepa, a od 2015. godine do ožujka ove godine vodio je atenski AEK.