By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Khimki will not continue with Bartzokas on their bench and now the Russian team becomes the 7th in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague to change coaches during the season.
With Round 20 coming up (24-25/1), already almost half of the clubs (7 out of 16) have gone ahead with the replacement of their head coach, Panathinaikos OPAP Athens among them, with Xavi Pascual leaving the Greens on 20/12/18 and Rick Pitino replacing him.
It’s worth noting that, right now, out of these teams, only KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz are in the Top 8 of the EuroLeague.
The 7 cases, in detail:
1. Pedro Martinez (KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, 27/10/17-16/11/18)
The first sacking was that of Pedro Martinez, with the Spanish coach remaining on Baskonia’s bench until 16/11/18, and his replacement, Velimir Perasovic, being announced just a few minutes later.
Martinez departed when his team had a 2-5 record, and after the heavy 99-84 defeat to Buducnost VOLI Podgorica on 15/11.
2. Neven Spahija (Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv, 26/6/17-18/11/18)
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv’s termination of their collaboration with Neven Spahija followed almost immediately. On 18/11, the Israeli team announced the hiring of Ioannis Sfairopoulos, at the same time making official the divorce with Spahija.
Up to that point, Maccabi wasn’t doing well at all in the EuroLeague as they had only 1 win in 7 games.
3. Salva Maldonado (Herbalife Gran Canaria, 26/6/18-4/12/18)
The first firing of December came on the 4th of the month, with Herbalife Gran Canaria deciding not to continue with Salva Maldonado. The Spaniard didn’t even last 6 months on the team’s bench, mainly because of the poor performances in the ACB. But the team wasn’t doing much better in the EuroLeague either, as they had a 3-7 record by the time Victor Garcia took over.
4. Ahmet Caki (Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul, 20/6/18-7/12/18)
Not many days went by until another EuroLeague team announced the departure of their head coach. Ahmet Caki also didn’t last more than 6 months on Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul’s bench, with the winners of the 7DAYS EuroCup hiring Selcuk Ernak shortly before Round 12. The tally was only one win, and what followed is well known.
5. Xavi Pascual (Panathinaikos OPAP Athens, 22/10/16-20/12/18)
Pascual is a special case since he’s the longest lasting coach on this list. He spent 26 months on Panathinaikos’s bench, with the Greens’ management suddenly announcing the termination of their collaboration on 20/12.
He won two domestic championships and a Cup with Panathinaikos, but it was their course in the EuroLeague that put an end to their common path. The Greens had a good start to the season and up to Pascual’s last day on the bench they counted 6 wins and 7 defeats.
His replacement was found right way, and it was none other than Pitino, a legend of college basketball.
6. Aleksandar Dzikic (Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, 22/6/17-29/12/18)
The man who led Buducnost to the top of the Adriatic league and, by extension, to the EuroLeague, probably wasn’t appreciated accordingly. The Montenegrins’ management, mainly because of the results in the ABA, showed little patience and announced they wouldn’t be continuing their collaboration with the Serb. All this, 3 days before we said goodbye to 2018.
Jasmin Repesa replaced him, taking over the team with a 3-12 record.
7. Georgios Bartzokas (Khimki Moscow Region, 30/6/2017-21/1/2019)
And this is how we arrive at today. Khimki surprised everyone by announcing that Bartzokas will no longer be the team’s head coach. The Greek coach combined his stay on the Russian bench with the team’s first-ever appearance in the EuroLeague playoffs, though this season things are different.
The injuries of Alexey Shved and Anthony Gill were more than crucial for the Muscovites and a 7-12 record seemed inevitable.