Igor Kokoskov, the assistant coach of the Utah Jazz team in the NBA, bagged the most coveted championship award in the FIBA Eurobasket tournament on September 17, the Sun Sentinel reported. He was the coach of the Slovenia team that beat Serbia 93-85 in an exciting match-up held in Istanbul, Turkey.
As the head coach of the Slovenian national team, Kokoskov guided his group to victory over all the other countries who entered the 18-day FIBA Eurobasket tournament. According to the FIBA official website, during his stint with the NBA which started in 2001, he earned the reputation of being able to train point guards such as Goran Dragic, George Hill, and Steve Nash.
Slovenia national team
The Slovenia national team has proven to be a tough group to beat during the tournament. One of the players that Kokoskov coached on the team was a player he was already familiar with in Miami Heat point guard Goran Dragic.
During Sunday’s game, Dragic scored 35 points and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 FIBA Eurobasket season. The team won because of major contributions on the court by Dragic and Luke Doncic, who plays in the EuroLeague.
Despite having to deal with several injuries along the way, the combination of players Kokoskov put together was able to lead the Slovenia national team to the championship over Serbia, who came in second place, while Spain won the third-place game against Russia, 93-85.
FIBA Asia qualifiers for 2019 championship
Meanwhile, the schedule for the first round of FIBA Asian qualifiers for 2019 has also been released. According to the official website of the federation, the first games will begin on November 23 among Group A and Group C.
Group A has matches between China and Hong Kong, and a game between New Zealand and Korea.
Meanwhile, Group C will have Syria going against Jordan, and Lebanon in a head-to-head match-up against India.
Japan is set to play against the Philippines for Group B on November 24. This group will also have Taipei going against Australia. Iraq is also set to battle Iran, and Qatar is playing the game against Kazakhstan. The last qualifying match will be held in February 2019.
The teams that participated in the recently held FIBA Asia Cup 2017 – won by Australia – will meet again a few months from now. The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup will take six winning teams from Asia and Oceania to battle it out during the championship matches to be held in China.
