Iran names Luka Pavićević as new basketball coach
Former Yugoslavian player, Luka Pavićević, has been named as the new coach of the Iran’s national basketball team.
Pavićević is scheduled to arrive in Tehran by the end of next week to finalize his contract with Iran’s Basketball Federation, Masoud Ammari, an official of the body, told IRIB News on Monday.
Ammari said Pavićević's appointment to the job was finalized after Iran’s Ministry of Sports officially approved his qualifications.
“Compared to the other three candidates, Pavićević was younger, more motivated and closer to the situation and condition of Iran from the cultural point of view,” Ammari said, saying that the Montenegrin possesses high qualities in terms of team management and technical issues.
Since 2013, Iran has been the dominant force in Asian basketball with the Iranian national outfit winning three out of the last four of FIBA Asia Championship tournament. All this was made under Memi Bečirovič, the Slovenian predecessor of Pavićević, who also led Iran to 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.
Pavićević, 47, won three continental titles with Yugoslavian national basketball team between 1989 and 1991. He has also won four national championships inside Yugoslavia and one in Finland.
In his coaching career, Pavićević led Alba Berlin to the German title in 2008. He also reached the final of the prestigious Eurocup competitions once during his stint with the club.
After he left the German outfit in 2011, he was selected as the head coach of the Serbian national student team where he celebrated the Universiade championship in 2011. Shortly after his appointment to the French club Chorale Roanne in November that year, Pavićević also took over as the head coach of the Montenegrin national basketball team. With them, Pavićević advanced through the group stage of the Euro 2013 games.
His last season as head coach of Chorale Roanne, however, saw the team relegated to the LNB Pro B, the France’s second class basketball competition for clubs.
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