Željko Pavličević

Željko Pavličević

Pavličević with Shimane Susanoo Magic in 2012
Personal information
Born	(1951-03-26) 26 March 1951 (age 73) Zagreb, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Croatian
Career information
Playing career	1969–1975
Position	Head coach
Coaching career	1975–present
Career history
As player:
1969–1975	Lokomotiva
As coach:
1975–1984	Cibona (assistant)
1985–1986	Cibona
1986–1987	OAR Ferrol
1989–1990	TAU Vitoria
1990–1991	Pop 84
1991–1993	Panathinaikos
1996–1997	Split CO
2003–2006	Japan
2007–2008	Zagreb
2010–2013	Shimane Susanoo Magic
2013–2014	Wakayama Trians
2015–2016	Chiba Jets
2017–2018	Bambitious Nara
2019–2020	Al-Muharraq
2021–2023	Eastern
Career highlights and awards
As head coach 2× EuroLeague champion (1986, 1991) 2× Yugoslav League champion (1985, 1991) 3× Yugoslav Cup winner (1985, 1986, 1991) Greek Cup winner (1993) Croatian Cup winner (2008) ABL champion (2023) ABL Coach of the Year (2023)

Željko Pavličević (born 26 March 1951) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as the head coach for Eastern in ASEAN Basketball League. ^[1]

Early life

Pavličević began playing basketball in 1969 for the junior team of Lokomotiva in the city of Zagreb. He was studying at the Faculty of Chemical Technology at the basketball school.

Coaching career

Cibona

Having passed all the categories in the club, (cadets, juniors etc.) in 1975, Pavličević became Mirko Novosel's assistant coach in the senior team of Cibona (until then WIT). In 1984–85 he was promoted to head coach, but only in domestic competitions (in EuroLeague led Mirko Novosel).

In his first season as head coach with Cibona, won the Yugoslav Cup and the Yugoslav League (against Jugoplastika & Crvena zvezda ). As assistant coach he took part in the winning of the first title of European Champions Cup (the predecessor of today's EuroLeague) with Cibona in Athens Peace and Friendship Stadium against Real Madrid. The following season, (1985–86) as head coach of Cibona both in domestic and European competitions and with the roster weakened by the loss of Andro Knego in Cajamadrid, but refreshed with newcomer Dražen Petrović, won the Yugoslav Cup and became back to back European champion in Budapest against the Soviet champions Žalgiris. This match was marked by the participation of the two best European players, Petrović and the Lithuanian center Arvydas Sabonis.

Spain

After the three seasons with Cibona, Pavličević accepted his first international bid and coached the Spanish club OAR Ferrol, later becoming the club's sports director. During the 1989–90 season, he was hired by the Spanish first league club of Taugrés Vitoria.

Pop 84

In the summer of 1990, Pavličević accepted the offer from back-to-back European champions of Pop 84 the former Jugoplastika to lead the team following the exodus of Dino Rađa (il Messaggero Roma), Duško Ivanović (Girona) and Goran Sobin (Aris). Despite the changes, Pop 84 dominated and won all three trophies. Yugoslav Cup (finals with Cibona), the Yugoslav League (final playoffs against the rising power of Partizan) and third European title for the club and other personal title against FC Barcelona in Paris. He was awarded coach of the year. Players included Toni Kukoč, Zoran Savić, Velimir Perasović, Zoran Sretenović, Žan Tabak, Petar Naumoski and Luka Pavićević. Božidar Maljković led Barcelona, which is connected to Split by winning the previous two league titles in Europe.

Panathinaikos

For the 1991–92 season, Pavličević joined Panathinaikos and created the backbone of the club's future success. In 1992–93 with the arrival of Nikos Galis, Stojan Vranković, Arijan Komazec and Tiit Sokk the team won only the Greek Cup against Aris. The Championship final against arch-rival Olympiacos was controversial, given the club's decision not to play a third decisive game. The next season (1993–94) despite the coming of Alexander Volkov and participation in the Final Four of Tel Aviv, he was fired in late 1993.

Decline

Pavličević was sports director of selection for the Basketball Association of Croatia from 1996 to 1998. At the invitation of Croatia Osiguranje during the 1996–97 season he coached the team again. In early 2003 Japanese Basketball Federation offered him a position coaching the Japanese national basketball team. It was a cycle of four years as a preparation for the World Basketball Championship in Japan in 2006. The national team progressed significantly, and held the largest seminar for coaches in the history of Japan with over 900 participants. In 2007–08 he coached Zagreb, with which he won the Krešimir Ćosić Cup, the first trophy in the club's history.

At the invitation of Shimane Susanoo Club Magica, member BJL (Japanese professional league) in summer 2010, he became head coach and remained for three seasons, reaching the playoffs each season. He coached Wakayama Trians NBL National basketball L. Japan in 2013–14.

Coaching record

Legend

Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win–loss %
Playoffs	PG	Playoff games	PW	Playoff wins	PL	Playoff losses	PW–L %	Playoff win–loss %

Team	Year	G	W	L	W–L%	Finish	PG	PW	PL	PW–L%	Result
Shimane Susanoo Magic	2010–11	50	24	26	.480	6th in Western	2	0	2	.000	Lost in 1st round
Shimane Susanoo Magic	2011–12	52	28	24	.538	6th in Western	3	1	2	.333	Lost in 1st round
Shimane Susanoo Magic	2012–13	52	33	19	.635	3rd in Western	4	2	2	.500	Lost in 2nd round
Wakayama Trians	2013–14	54	41	13	.759	1st in Western	6	2	4	.333	Runners-up in NBL
Chiba Jets	2015–16	34	13	21	.382	Fired	-	-	-	–	-
Bambitious Nara	2017–18	34	7	27	.206	Fired	-	-	-	–	-

Career achievements

Club competitions

• FIBA European Champions Cup: 2 (with Cibona: 1985–86 and Pop 84: 1990–91)
• Yugoslav League: 2 (with Cibona: 1984–85 and Pop 84: 1990–91)
• Yugoslav Cup: 3 (with Cibona: 1984–85, 1985–86 and Pop 84: 1990–91)
• Greek Cup: 1 (with Panathinaikos: 1992–93)
• Croatian Cup: 1 (with Zagreb: 2007–08)
• ABL: 1 (with Eastern: 2023)

See also

• List of EuroLeague-winning head coaches

References

1. "Pokorio je Europu s Draženom i Kukočem, a sada uživa u novom poslu: Puno sam toga vidio, ali ovo je za mene veliko iznenađenje!". tportal.hr. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.

External links

• FIBA profile
• Zeljko Pavlicevic making an impact with new coaching role in Libya