Košarkarski klub Krka (English: Basketball Club Krka), commonly referred to as KK Krka or simply Krka, is a professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
team based in
Novo Mesto
Novo Mesto (; sl, Novo mesto; also known by other alternative names) is a city on a bend of the Krka River in the City Municipality of Novo Mesto in southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The town is traditionally considered ...
, Slovenia. The team competes in the
Premier A Slovenian Basketball League
The Premier A Slovenian Basketball League ( sl, 1. slovenska košarkarska liga), abbreviated as 1. SKL and known as the Liga Nova KBM due to sponsorship reasons, is the top-level professional men's basketball league in Slovenia. The league, oper ...
and the
ABA League Second Division
The ABA League Second Division, also ABA League 2, is the 2nd-tier men's basketball division of the ABA League system. It is run by the ABA League JTD. It is a regional competition between men's professional clubs from six countries: Bosnia and H ...
. Krka play their home games at Leon Štukelj Hall. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the
Adriatic Basketball Association.
History
1948–2002
The first basketball club in
Novo Mesto
Novo Mesto (; sl, Novo mesto; also known by other alternative names) is a city on a bend of the Krka River in the City Municipality of Novo Mesto in southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The town is traditionally considered ...
was founded in 1948. In 1983, the club won its first Slovenian national championship.
After that, however, basketball saw a decline in Novo Mesto that lasted until the Slovenian independence in 1991. Soon, the team was climbing through the lower divisions and earned a promotion to the
Slovenian First League
The Slovenian PrvaLiga ( sl, Prva slovenska nogometna liga, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten club ...
in 1997, when it also took the name of its sponsor,
Krka. A fourth-place finish in the national league allowed the club to qualify for the
Korać Cup for the 1998–99 season. The big breakthrough came a year later, however, as Krka defeated historical rival
Olimpija in the Slovenian championship finals to win the national title. That year, the team also played in the
Saporta Cup
The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the European professional club basketball system, second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each o ...
. In 2000–01, Krka lost to Olimpija in the national league finals. In 2001–02, Krka qualified for the
EuroLeague. Though Krka missed the Top 16, it was able to defeat all its opponents once, including
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
,
Panathinaikos,
CSKA Moscow, and
Skipper Bologna
Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna 103, commonly known as Fortitudo Bologna and currently known as Fortitudo Kiğılı Bologna for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball club based in Bologna, Italy and currently plays in the second division.
Histo ...
. At home, Krka finished as the runners-up in the
Adriatic League
The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North M ...
, in the Slovenian Championship, and the
national cup, losing to Olimpija on all three occasions.
2002–2010
Krka zoomed to the
2003 ULEB Cup double finals, narrowly losing to
Pamesa Valencia
Valencia Basket Club S.A.D., commonly known as Valencia Basket (), is a professional basketball team based in Valencia, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague, with home games played at the Fuente de San Luis. The club is spons ...
despite being the only ULEB Cup team to win in Valencia. Krka won their second Slovenian championship, beating Olimpija in the finals.
Zoran Martić resigned during the 2003–04 season after poor results in the Euroleague, and was replaced by Petar Skansi. Krka finished the Euroleague with only two wins. In the Adriatic League and the Slovenian League, Krka finished in 7th place. A loss against
Helios Domžale in the quarterfinals meant relegation from the Adriatic League. The 2005–06 season was one of the worst in the club's history after Krka finished in last place after the regular season. In the relegation group, Krka finished 9th and avoided the drop. In the 2007–08 season, Krka finished third in the domestic league and replaced
Geoplin Slovan in the Adriatic League. Krka was one of three Slovenian clubs representing Slovenia in the regional Adriatic League in the 2008–09 season, finishing in 11th place. In 1. SKL Krka finished third.
Aleksandar Džikić became head coach of the club for the 2009–10 season. Finishing first after the regular part of the season and second in the championship group, the team qualified for the semifinals. They then defeated Helios 2–1 in the series, reaching the finals for the first time since 2003. Krka defeated Olimpija 3–2 in the final and won the national title.
2010–11 season: National and Eurochallenge champions
Aleksandar Džikić was confirmed as head coach for the 2010–11 season. He got a new assistant coach for help,
Aleksander Sekulić. Krka qualified for Adriatic League and decided to compete in the third-rank European league called
FIBA EuroChallenge. The season started with a win in the
Slovenian Supercup
The Slovenian Supercup ( sl, Superpokal Slovenije) was a football match played between the Slovenian PrvaLiga champions and the Slovenian Cup winners. Prior 2007, the match was held only twice, in 1995 and 1996. The competition was resurrected ...
, beating Olimpija in
Maribor
Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava sta ...
. Krka qualified for Adriatic League Final 4, where they lost against Olimpija in the semifinals. They also made it to the EuroChallenge Final 4 where they won the club's first European trophy, beating
Oostende in the semifinal and
Lokomotiv-Kuban in the final. They finished the Slovenian League in first place with one loss. In the semifinals Krka defeated
Zlatorog Laško 2–0. The successful season ended on 11 June when Krka won the Slovenian League after beating Olimpija 3–2 in the final, thus winning their fourth national title and the second in a row.
2011–12 season: back to EuroCup, national champions
Krka competed in the
ABA league,
Eurocup, Slovenian Cup, and
Slovenian Telemach League. Coach Aleksandar Džikić was replaced with
Nenad Trajković
Nenad Trajković ( sr-cyr, Ненад Трајковић; born Naser Trajković; 10 February 1961), is a Serbian basketball coach.
Early life
Naser Trajković ( sr-cyr, Насер Трајковић) was born in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugo ...
.
Dušan Đorđević
Dušan Đorđević (; born 29 March 1983) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Oostende of the BNXT League.
Đorđević plays the point guard and is well known for his play making and leadership abilities. During his career he has wo ...
,
Goran Ikonić
Goran Ikonić (born March 23, 1980) is a Bosnian former professional basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with ...
,
Dragiša Drobnjak and
Chris Booker has left the club. Their replacements were
Jaka Klobučar
Jaka Klobučar (born August 19, 1987) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for Kecskemét of the Nemzeti Bajnokság. He also represented the Slovenian national basketball team. Standing at , he plays the point guard, shooting guard and ...
,
Curtis Stinson
Curtis Stinson (born February 15, 1983) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball at Iowa State University.
College career
Stinson is a former Iowa State Cyclones college basketball player. In his three years as ...
, Marko Đurković,
Jimmy Baxter, and
Jerome Jordan
Jerome Adolphus Jordan (born September 29, 1986) is a Jamaican professional basketball player for Peñarol Mar del Plata of the Liga Nacional de Básquet (LNB). He played college basketball for the University of Tulsa and represents the Jamaic ...
. The club had two players on the Slovenian national team,
Edo Murić and
Zoran Dragić
Zoran Dragić (born June 22, 1989) is a Slovenian professional basketball player who plays for Cedevita Olimpija of the Slovenian League and the ABA League. He also represents the Slovenian national basketball team internationally. Standing at ...
. Krka had successfully started a season in October, winning Slovenian Supercup over Olimpija. In November, Jaka Klobučar and Curtis Stinson left the club. Klobučar's wish was to play in a foreign country, while Stinson went to surgery (broken ankle). Krka bought Allan Ray who played only three games. After an excellent performance against Le Mans, he moved to France. His replacement was
Mustafa Abdul-Hamid
Mustafa Abdul-Hamid (born June 2, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player.
Abdul-Hamid played for the UCLA Bruins from 2006–2010.
Professional career
In August 2010, Abdul-Hamid signed a one-year contract with Hemofarm from ...
.
On 1 December, coach Trajković moved to the
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...
and was replaced with his assistant Sekulić. Also,
Jerome Jordan
Jerome Adolphus Jordan (born September 29, 1986) is a Jamaican professional basketball player for Peñarol Mar del Plata of the Liga Nacional de Básquet (LNB). He played college basketball for the University of Tulsa and represents the Jamaic ...
left the club (NBA-out clause), along with
Jimmy Baxter (denied documents) and Marko Đurković (poor performances). On 29 December Krka announced three new players,
Ben Hansbrough
Ben Hansbrough (born December 23, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player and a former assistant coach for Western Kentucky University. He resigned from WKU on October 16, 2017. He is the younger brother of former NBA player ...
from
Bayern München,
Uroš Lučić
Uroš Lučić (born March 12, 1983) is a Serbian professional basketball player who last played for Radnički Beograd of the Second Basketball League of Serbia.
He is the older brother of Vladimir Lučić, who is currently playing for Bayern Mu ...
from
Radnički Kragujevac, who already played for Krka in the 2009–10 season and
Jure Lalić, who came from
Cibona
Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association, and compete ...
. In January 2012, the club released
Mustafa Abdul-Hamid
Mustafa Abdul-Hamid (born June 2, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player.
Abdul-Hamid played for the UCLA Bruins from 2006–2010.
Professional career
In August 2010, Abdul-Hamid signed a one-year contract with Hemofarm from ...
, but after one month he came back to the club in February 2012. The club also announced a new player on PG position. That became
Afik Nissim. The season ended with winning their fifth national championship, the third in a row.
2012–13 season: return to Eurochallenge
The club competed in the
ABA league,
Slovenian Telemach League,
EuroChallenge and Slovenian Cup. After winning the national trophy in the previous season, Sekulić continued as the main coach. New assistant coach became Gašper Potočnik and former Krka player
Simon Petrov
Simon Petrov (born 27 January 1976) is a Slovenian professional basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with th ...
. Club signed Jaka Klobučar,
Jakov Vladović and
Jurica Golemac and two youngsters, Erjon Kastrati and Tomaž Bolčina. Jure Balažić changed clubs and went to Turkey while Simon Petrov retired and became an assistant coach. Krka started the season with a Slovenian Supercup win over Olimpija (84–81) on 25 September in Grosuplje. On 30 December,
Matjaž Smodiš
Matjaž Smodiš (born December 13, 1979) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player. Standing at a height of 2.05 m (6'8 ") tall, he played at the power forward and center positions. During his pro club playing career, he played in se ...
and president Brane Kastelec announced his comeback to his home club. Due to bad results, especially defeat in the semifinals of the national cup against Helios on 11 February, main coach Sekulić was released. Gašper Potočnik became a new head coach, who was previously an assistant. In March, Krka signed combo guard
Jerime Anderson, who played his first game in the national championship against Helios. In the championship, Krka finished the regular season in first place with only one defeat (9–1). In the semifinals, the team won 2–0 against Zlatorog Laško and advanced to the finals against Olimpija, where Krka won the series 3–1, clinching its fourth consecutive title and sixth overall. The last game had a huge contribution from Matjaž Smodiš who scored 21 points and successfully ended his career.
2013–14 season: Džikić comeback
On 18 June 2013, Krka signed a two-year contract with Aleksandar Džikić. The first team addition was Jasmin Hukić, signed on 25 June. Club added Croatian power forward
Zvonko Buljan
Zvonko Buljan (born 6 February 1987) is a Croatian professional basketball power forward. A well traveled player, he has played in over ten countries, including in the Greek Basket League and the German Basketball Bundesliga. In 2014, he won both ...
and Slovenian guard Luka Lapornik on 12 July.
On 24 July, the club announced the signing of Derrick Nix on a three-year contract, but because of his improper behavior, they terminated his contract and signed Chris Booker instead. American PG
Malcolm Armstead
Malcolm Ray Armstead (born 1 August 1989) is an American-born naturalized Kosovan-Romanian professional basketball player for Golden Eagle Ylli of the Kosovo Basketball Superleague. After playing college basketball for Chipola College, Universit ...
joined the club on 30 July. In the middle of the season,
Sani Bečirović, a Slovenian international, joined the team. 2013–14 was the first season in which Krka won the national cup and after winning the national championship in May 2014, Krka won their first "double crown" in the history of the club. Jaka Klobučar was awarded the Slovenian League MVP title. Krka finished in seventh place in the Adriatic League, just a spot away from directly qualifying for EuroCup.
2014–15 season: Cup winners, semifinals of the national championship
On 14 June, two new players were confirmed, Cameroonian
Alexis Wangmene and
Mirko Mulalić, while
Smiljan Pavič, Jaka Klobučar, Sani Bečirović, Zvonko Buljan, Marko Pajić, and Edo Murić have left the club. Aleksandar Džikić kept his place as head coach. On 26 June 2014, ULEB decided that Krka can not play in its hall, resulting in an absence from the European competitions for the first time in four years. Krka eventually played in the Slovenian and ABA league. On 9 July, Krka signed a one-year contract with former Slovenian national team player
Nebojša Joksimović. In July, Krka announced that Christopher Booker decided to come back to Novo Mesto and extended his contract. Before the start of the season, Krka won the Slovenian Supercup against Olimpija. The ABA League season started with a 5–1 record, but it was followed by nine defeats in the next ten games. In January, a new five-win streak started and in February, the team won its second national cup against Zlatorog Laško. After eight defeats in the regular season of the Slovenian League, Krka finished first in the championship round (8–2). After the quarterfinal win against
Portorož in the playoffs (2–0), the team was eliminated in the semifinals by
Tajfun.
2015–present
On 21 June 2015,
Ivan Velić
Ivan Velić (born 19 October 1972) is a Bosnian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for Široki of the Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina and ABA League Second Division.
Coaching career
Velić spent most o ...
was hired as a new head coach.
Vladimir Anzulović became a new assistant coach, previously head coach of KK Kolpa Črnomelj.
In the next few seasons, Krka struggled in the Slovenian League, getting eliminated in the semifinals in 2016 and 2017. Krka made the finals in 2018 but lost to Olimpija. In 2016, Krka also won the Slovenian Cup and Slovenian Supercup. Krka also struggled in the Adriatic League, and were relegated to the newly established
ABA League Second Division
The ABA League Second Division, also ABA League 2, is the 2nd-tier men's basketball division of the ABA League system. It is run by the ABA League JTD. It is a regional competition between men's professional clubs from six countries: Bosnia and H ...
for the 2017–18 season. In their first ABA Second Division season, Krka qualified for the
2018 ABA League Second Division Final Four, which they won by beating
Borac Čačak
Borac may refer to:
* FK Borac Banja Luka, a football club from Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
** RK Borac Banja Luka, an affiliated team handball club
** OK Borac, an affiliated volleyball club
* FK Borac Čačak, a football club from Čač ...
in the semifinals and
Primorska
The Slovene Littoral ( sl, Primorska, ; it, Litorale; german: Küstenland) is one of the five traditional regions of Slovenia. Its name recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg possessions on the upper Adri ...
in the final.
Marko Jošilo
Marko Jošilo ( sr-cyr, Марко Јошило, born 16 October 1992) is a Serbian-Bosnian professional basketball player for Igokea of the Bosnian League and the Adriatic League
The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in ...
was named the MVP of the finals, and Krka was promoted back to the first Adriatic League division.
Arena
The first ground of the club was an outdoor asphalt playground called Loka, near the river
Krka. In the 1970s, Krka moved to the first indoor arena in
Novo Mesto
Novo Mesto (; sl, Novo mesto; also known by other alternative names) is a city on a bend of the Krka River in the City Municipality of Novo Mesto in southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The town is traditionally considered ...
, named Marof. It has a capacity of 1,500 spectators. Marof was the home court of Krka for over 30 years and is still being used as a training court. The 2009–10 season playoff finals were also played in Marof.
Today, Krka play their home games at Leon Štukelj Hall with a capacity of 2,500 seats, located in the school center in the southwestern part of Novo Mesto. It is the town's primary sports gym and is the venue for many events, as it is the largest hall in Novo Mesto and
Lower Carniola.
A new arena with around 5,000 seats was planned for
EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia, but the project was canceled as well as Novo Mesto's bid for EuroBasket.
Current roster
Squad information
Depth chart
Season-by-season records
Key
*3R = Third round
*R32 = Round of 32
*GS = Group stage
*RS = Regular season
*RU = Runners-up
*C = Champions
*L16 = Last 16
Honours
Domestic competitions
* Slovenian League
: Chamions (7): 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14
: Runners-up (4): 2000–01, 2001–02, 2017–18, 2020–21
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
* Slovenian Cup
: Winners (4): 2014, 2015, 2016, 2021
: Runners-up (4): 2001, 2002, 2012, 2017
*Slovenian Supercup
The Slovenian Supercup ( sl, Superpokal Slovenije) was a football match played between the Slovenian PrvaLiga champions and the Slovenian Cup winners. Prior 2007, the match was held only twice, in 1995 and 1996. The competition was resurrected ...
: Winners (5): 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016
: Runners-up (6): 2003, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2021
European competitions
* ULEB Cup
: Runners-up: 2002–03
* FIBA EuroChallenge
: Winners: 2010–11
Regional competitions
*Adriatic League
The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North M ...
: Runners-up: 2001–02
*ABA League Second Division
The ABA League Second Division, also ABA League 2, is the 2nd-tier men's basketball division of the ABA League system. It is run by the ABA League JTD. It is a regional competition between men's professional clubs from six countries: Bosnia and H ...
: Winners: 2017–18
References
External links
Official website
Eurobasket.com Team Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krka, KK
Basketball teams established in 1948
Basketball teams in Slovenia
1948 establishments in Slovenia
Sport in Novo Mesto
Basketball teams in Yugoslavia