By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Buducnost announced that the club fired head coach Aleksandar Dzikic. The announcement came less than 24 hours following the EuroLeague defeat to Bayern Munich that arrived after Buducnost blew a 17-point lead. A few days ago, the Montenegrin team had suffered an ABA League home loss to bottom-placed Krka Novo Mesto.
Dzikic becomes the sixth EuroLeague head coach that gets fired this season after Pedro Martinez (Baskonia), Neven Spahija (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Salva Maldonado (Gran Canaria), Ahmet Caki (Darussafaka Tekfen) and Xavi Pascual (Panathinaikos).
Per Buducnost’s announcement, the decision to part ways with Dzikic was taken because of a “turbulent period due to the lack of expected results“. The club also mentions that Dzikic’s sacking is a part of a “cycle of changes that started by bringing new players and serious reinforcement.”
While Buducnost has beaten such powerhouses as CSKA Moscow and Barcelona in EuroLeague they are second to last in the standings with 3 – 12. Furthermore, the team’s record in the ABA League is 8 – 4.
In the previous season, Dzikic led Buducnost to the ABA League championship title for the first time in the history of the club, an accomplishment that granted them a return to EuroLeague for the first time since 2003. Buducnost beat defending champion Crvena Zvezda 3-1 in the Finals despite lacking homecourt advantage.