BIH - Ivanovic takes over national team

SARAJEVO (EuroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Dusko Ivanovic and Mirza Teletovic helped make Baskonia (Laboral Kutxa) one of the most feared clubs in both Spain and the Euroleague.

The two are to join forces again but this time with the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The country's basketball federation (KSBIH) on Wednesday announced the appointment of Ivanovic, who has not been at the helm of a team since parting ways with Laboral Kutxa last season.

It will be Ivanovic's second foray into international basketball.

He led Switzerland's national team from 1997 to 2000, when he was at the start of his coaching career.

At the time, he also coached Fribourg to three Swiss league crowns and a couple of Swiss Cup titles.

In 1999, Ivanovic left for France to coach Limoges and enjoyed immediate success, capturing a league and Korac cup double.

He then became a huge name in the coaching world by turning Baskonia into one of the best outfits in Europe.

Some of the biggest names in international basketball like Luis Scola and Andres Nocioni of Argentina, Jose Calderon of Spain, Tiago Splitter of Brazil and Teletovic played for Ivanovic at Baskonia.

After a stint with Barcelona, Ivanovic returned to Baskonia before parting with the club in the 2012-13 campaign.

“The Basketball Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is proud to inform all of our fans and friends that the new coach of our national team is Dusko Ivanovic!” the KSBIH said on its website.

Ivanovic is taking over a national side that played very well the last couple of summers under coach Aco Petrovic.

The team made it through a difficult qualification campaign for EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia.

They impressed in the Final Round last year in Jesenice, where they competed in Group B - the so-called 'group of death' - and won their final three games against Montenegro, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD) and Lithuania but failed to advance to the second phase of the competition on a tie-breaker.

Serbia, Latvia and Lithuania also had three 3-2 records in Group B and progressed instead.

Teletovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina team's best-known player, overcame a difficult rookie campaign in the NBA to lead the side with an average of 21 points and 7.6 rebounds.

Petrovic recently replaced Dirk Bauermann as coach of Lietuvos Rytas in Lithuania.

While Ivanovic is an accomplished coach, he was also a very good player.

With the all-conquering club of KK Split from 1987-90, he was a teammate of Toni Kukoc, Dino Radja and Velimir Perasovic.

Bosnia and Herzegovina are one of 15 candidates to have applied for the four wild cards for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Should they not be in the 24-team field at Spain 2014, they will play in the EuroBasket 2015 Qualifying Round.

FIBA