BIH/CRO - Petrovic returns to Cedevita helm

ZAGREB (Euroleague/EuroBasket) - Bosnia and Herzegovina boss Aleksandar Petrovic will have something else to occupy his time before he leads the national team at next year’s EuroBasket in Slovenia.

Petrovic has been put back in charge of Cedevita Zagreb, a club he coached in the 2010-11 campaign.

He takes over from Bozidar Maljkovic following his surprise decision to step down last week.

The club’s sporting director, former Croatia international Matej Mamic, introduced the 43-year-old Petrovic at a press conference on Monday afternoon.

"It took us three-and-a-half minutes to reach an agreement," Petrovic said.

"Cedevita was interested, I was available and we did not bother with the length of the contract.

"Rather than that, results speak about every coach, so we will sit down and talk at the end of this season again."

Petrovic is the brother of a European basketball legend, the late Drazen Petrovic.

He takes over a Cedevita side that is 2-5 in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague and 6-4 in the Adriatic League.

The club has lost twice since Maljkovic’s departure, falling at Milano (75-60) in the Euroleague and then Partizan Belgrade (58-55).

This past summer, Petrovic guided Bosnia and Herzegovina through a successful Qualification Round for EuroBasket 2013.

His squad finished top of Group D with six wins from eight games, ahead of Georgia (6-2) and Latvia (5-3), two other sides that reached the Final Round.

Bosnia and Herzegovina have been drawn in what appears to be the toughest of pools at the EuroBasket, Group B, with Serbia, Montenegro, Lithuania, The Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (MKD) and Latvia.

The EuroBasket will serve as a qualifying tournament for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Maljkovic, meanwhile, is still at the helm of the host nation for the EuroBasket, Slovenia.

FIBA