Croatia is currently looking for a new man to head their basketball team.
As of today, Aleksandar Petrović, more commonly known as ‘Aco’, is no longer the coach of the Croatian men’s basketball team, reports Gol.hr on September 15, 2017.
The Croatian Basketball Association commented on the leadership of the now former coach and explained the reasoning for his departure.
“It was concluded that the round of 16 of game for EuroBasket 2017 against Russia caused a negative impact on both the Croatian Basketball Association and for the coach, and an agreement to terminate the coach’s contract has been reached,” said the Croatian Basketball Association.
If you recall, Croatia lost in the round of 16 of Eurobasket this year after being defeated by Russia 101:78. In the tournament, Croatia otherwise lost to Spain in the group stage.
The Croatian Basketball Association also announced that they would be holding a press conference this Saturday at 13:30 on their premises. It is assumed that more information about Petrović’s replacement will be known then.
It has been speculated that the successor to Petrović will be the current coach of Split Ivica Skelin. Skelin was Petrović’s assistant at the Olympics and this year’s EuroBasket, and last season he led KK Split to the semifinals of the Croatian championship.
Petrović became the Croatian coach in early 2016 ahead of the qualifications for the Olympic Games. While Croatia defeated Spain in the Olympic Games under Aco, they were defeated in the quarterfinals against Serbia. Because he held a good record last summer, the Croatian Basketball Association decided to keep Petrović for this year’s EuroBasket.
More information will be known soon.
