KK Crvena zvezda

Infobox Basketball club
color1 =#000033
color2 =#FFFFFF
name =KK Crvena zvezda
nickname=Red Star
logo =Logo czvezda.gif
imagesize =170px
leagues=ULEB Eurocup
Adriatic League
Sinalco Superleague
founded =1945
arena =Pionir Hall
(capacity: 7,000)
location =Belgrade, Serbia
colors =Red and white
president = "currently vacant"
coach =Svetislav Pešić
championships =1 Saporta Cup
5 National Cups
15 Serbian Championships
website = [http://www.kk-crvenazvezda.net/ www.kk-crvenazvezda.net]
h_body=ffffff|h_pattern_b=|h_shorts=ffffff|h_pattern_s=
a_body=CC0000|a_pattern_b=|a_shorts=CC0000|a_pattern_s=

Košarkaški klub Crvena zvezda (Serbian Cyrillic: "Кошаркашки клуб Црвена звезда"; English: "Basketball Club Red Star") is a professional basketball club based in Belgrade, Serbia. Its name "Crvena zvezda" means Red Star and it's part of the Red Star Belgrade sports society (polideportivo).

KK Crvena Zvezda participates domestically in the Sinalco Superleague which determines which Serbian teams will compete in the Euroleague and which will compete in the Eurocup. Red Star also domestically competes in Serbia's domestic cup tournament, the Radivoj Korać Cup, which is named after a legendary player. KK Crvena zvezda is a part of the Adriatic Basketball Association and competes in the NLB League.

KK Crvena zvezda plays all home matches in the Pionir Hall, built in 1973, with a capacity of 7,000 seats. Zvezda's main rival, KK Partizan is this arena's other tenant.

Crvena zvezda's fans are known as Delije.

History

When the subject of great teams in the cradle of European basketball arises, the name of Red Star Belgrade is always a part of the discussion. As one of the most-crowned teams in the former Yugoslavia, Red Star has always commanded attention wherever it plays.

The club was founded in 1945 and immediately dominated a country that would soon claim basketball as its main sport. For an entire decade, from 1946 to 1955, Red Star won 10 straight titles and assured its place in the history books. With basketball's rise in popularity came plenty of challengers and Red Star fell into a dry spell. Then in 1972 KK Crvena zvezda won another domestic title and finished runners up in the Saporta Cup after losing a fantastic match against Olimpia Milano. Red Star came back in 1974 to take the elusive Saporta Cup beating Spartak Brno. After this achievement Red Star went into a disappointing time. It was not until 1993 that Red Star were able to be crowned champions, but they did manage to still win three Yugoslav Cups.

European Red Star, 2002-present

From the summer 2002 onwards, the project called "evropska Zvezda" (European Red Star) was thought up in order to slowly and methodically return the club on the path of its former glory. To that end, the club (led at the time by president Žika Anđelković) hired Slovenian coach Zmago Sagadin who became the organizational centerpiece at the club. In his first season Sagadin did not actually coach the team (that role was given to Aleksandar Trifunović), but he did make all the important decisions in the role of a sporting director. Under Sagadin's guidance Red Star Belgrade entered Adriatic League at the beginning od 2002/03 season. In August 2003 ahead of the 2003/04 season, Sagadin took over the coaching duties formally as well. [ [http://arhiva.kurir-info.co.yu/Arhiva/2003/avgust/08/SP-03-07082003.shtml Rokada u Zvezdi, "Kurir", August 8, 2003] ] Despite all the efforts, the club did not manage to win any important trophies in this period.

Trivia

Due to its management's constant reminders that they're building for the next season - the club earned a derisive nickname "KK Sledeća sezona" ("Next Season Basketball Club") amnogst rival Partizan fans. [ [http://www.blic.co.yu/sport.php?id=38973 Pošli u Evropu, ostali na parkingu!, "Blic", April 22, 2008] ]

Achievements

*1 European Cup Winner's Cup
**(1974)

*5 National Cups
**(1971, 1973, 1975, 2004, 2006)

*15 National Championships
**(1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953 1954, 1955, 1969, 1972, 1993, 1994, 1998)

The Stars of Red Star

Over the years KK Crvena zvezda has had many superstars wear the red and white jersey. The Red Star clubs each get to select players and give them the label of "Zvezdina Zvezda" meaning "a star of Red Star". The football club also has this title awarded to former greats. It is similar to the American custom of retiring jerseys. This title is seen as the ultimate reward for any great player. KK Crvena Zvezda has selected 8 so far but more players can be added at any time.

*flagicon|Serbia Aleksandar Gec
*flagicon|Serbia Nebojša Popović
*flagicon|Serbia Aleksandar Nikolić
*flagicon|Serbia Bora Stanković
*flagicon|Serbia Vladimir Cvetković
*flagicon|Serbia Moka Slavnić
*flagicon|Serbia Zoran Radović
*flagicon|Serbia Saša Obradović

Other Notable Former Players

*flagicon|Serbia Ratomir Vićentić
*flagicon|Serbia Dragan Kapičić
*flagicon|Serbia Duci Simonović
*flagicon|Serbia Milorad Sokolović
*flagicon|Serbia Goran Rakočević
*flagicon|Serbia Zoran Latifić
*flagicon|Serbia Ivan Sarjanović
*flagicon|Serbia Ljupče Žugić
*flagicon|Serbia Dragiša Vučinić
*flagicon|Serbia Dragoje Jovašević
*flagicon|Serbia Nebojša Ilić
*flagicon|Serbia Boban Janković
*flagicon|Serbia Dejan Tomašević
*flagicon|Serbia Milenko Topić
*flagicon|Serbiaflagicon|Greece Dragan Tarlać
*flagicon|Serbia Predrag Stojaković
*flagicon|Serbia Vlade Divac
*flagicon|Serbia Vladimir Radmanović
*flagicon|Serbia Igor Rakočević
*flagicon|Serbia Miloš Vujanić
*flagicon|Serbia Milan Gurović
*flagicon|USA Billy Thomas

Current roster

Coaching history

See: List of Red Star Belgrade basketball coaches

Some recent coaches:

*flagicon|Serbia Milan Škobalj
*flagicon|Serbia Stevan Karadžić
*flagicon|Serbia Dragan Šakota
*flagicon|Serbia Aleksandar Trifunović
*flagicon|Slovenia Zmago Sagadin

External links

* [http://www.kk-crvenazvezda.net/ KK Crvena zvezda]
* [http://www.adriaticbasket.com/club.php?id=17 Club info at adriaticbasket.com]
* [http://www.sd-crvenazvezda.net/ Crvena Zvezda Sports Association]