Dubai Basketball fires coach Jurica Golemac just before final EuroLeague game
Jurica Golemac was fired by Dubai just before the end of the season Photo Credit: Igokea / Marija Vuruna
Dubai Basketball has made a shocking decision just 24 hours before their final EuroLeague regular season game. The club officially announced the departure of Jurica Golemac, ending the Slovenian coach’s tenure at a critical moment in the season. This dramatic move illustrates the immense pressure surrounding this new-generation club as they fight for European playoff qualification.
A mixed record in his debut season
Appointed in June 2024, the 47-year-old Slovenian had become the very first head coach in the club’s history. A historic page for an ambitious project that quickly displayed its European aspirations. Golemac had initially led Dubai Basketball to an impressive third place in the Adriatic League during their inaugural season, reaching the semifinals.
This season presents a more contrasted picture. In EuroLeague, Dubai shows a record of 19 wins and 18 losses, placing them in 11th position, right on the edge of play-in qualification. In the Adriatic League, however, the club is having a remarkable season with 19 wins and only 3 losses, sharing first place with Partizan Belgrade.
Pressure mounts as European dreams hang in balance
It was in this tense context, following a defeat deemed problematic for the club’s European ambitions, that management decided to make the change. Assistant Jan Šentjurc inherits the interim head coach role for the final regular season match on Monday against Budućnost.
Before joining the Emirates adventure, Jurica Golemac had built a solid reputation on European benches. Starting as an assistant at Cibona Zagreb in 2013, he then took charge of KK Sentjur in 2016, followed by Koper Primorska in 2017, before experiencing his finest hours at Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana starting in 2020. More recently, he had coached Hapoel Eilat. A former player who spent time at Paris-Levallois during the 2007-2008 season, he had even been approached by Limoges during the 2023-2024 season before choosing the Dubai project.
His departure with 24 hours remaining before the season’s final game perfectly captures the pressure surrounding this ambitious club, which hasn’t given up hope in the European play-in race.
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