Josip "Pino" Gjergja (also transliterated Đerđa, Djerdja or Giergia; born 24 November 1937), also credited as Giuseppe Giergia, is a retired Croatian
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
player and coach. He represented the
Yugoslavia national basketball team
The Yugoslavia men's national basketball team ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Košarkaška reprezentacija Jugoslavije, Кошаркашка репрезентација Југославије; sl, Jugoslovanska košarkarska reprezentanca; mk, ...
internationally. He was nominated for the
EuroLeague's 50 Greatest Contributors list in 2008. He was born in
Zadar
Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...
, to an
Arbanasi family, hence the variously transcribed name. At a height of 1.76 m (5'9") tall, he played at the
point guard position.
Playing career
Gjergja wore
KK Zadar
Košarkaški klub Zadar ( en, Zadar Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Zadar or simply Zadar, is a men's professional basketball club based in Zadar, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Ass ...
's jersey for 18 consecutive seasons, thus becoming one of the club's legends, alongside
Krešimir Ćosić
Krešimir "Krešo" Ćosić (; 26 November 1948 – 25 May 1995) was a Croatian-Yugoslavian professional basketball player and coach. He was a collegiate All-American at Brigham Young University. He revolutionized basketball in Yugoslavia and w ...
. He was a three time
Yugoslav Basketball League
The First Federal Basketball League () was the highest tier level men's professional club basketball competition in SFR Yugoslavia. Founded in 1945 and folded in 1992 (1991-92 Winer Broker YUBA League), it was run by the Basketball Federation ...
champion, from 1965 to 1968, and won another two Yugoslav championships, back-to back, in 1974 and 1975. He also won the
Yugoslav Cup
The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...
in 1970.
National team career
Gjergja was a member of the
Yugoslav national team. With Yugoslavia, he won two
FIBA World Cup silver medals, in
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...
and
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
, as well as a EuroBasket silver medal in EuroBasket 1965, 1965. He also participated in two Basketball at the Summer Olympics, Summer Olympic Games, in Basketball at the 1960 Summer Olympics, 1960 and Basketball at the 1964 Summer Olympics, 1964.
Coaching career
Gjergja began a coaching career after his retirement from playing. As a head coach, he led the senior Croatian national basketball team, Croatian national team to the
FIBA World Cup bronze medal, at the 1994 FIBA World Championship. In 2003, he coached the sports club, club team,
Sigal Prishtina, Prishtina, in Kosovo.
See also
*Yugoslav First Federal Basketball League career stats leaders
Notes and references
;Notes
;References
External links
Josip Djerdja at FIBAeurope.com*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gjergja, Josip
Living people
1937 births
Arbanasi people
Basketball players at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics
Croatian basketball coaches
Croatian men's basketball players
Franjo Bučar Award winners
KK Zadar players
KK Zadar coaches
Olympic basketball players of Yugoslavia
P.A.O.K. BC coaches
Point guards
Basketball players from Zadar
Yugoslav basketball coaches
Yugoslav men's basketball players
1963 FIBA World Championship players
1967 FIBA World Championship players