KK Union Olimpija

**KK Union Olimpija**
	KK Union Olimpija
Leagues	UPC Telemach League; Euroleague; Adriatic League
Founded	1946
Arena	Dvorana Tivoli; (capacity: 6,000)
Location	Ljubljana, Slovenia
Team colors	Green and White;
President	Dušan Mitič
Head coach	Jure Zdovc
Championships	see "Notable successes"
Website	Olimpija.com
	Uniforms
Home	Away

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For other uses, see Olimpija Ljubljana.

KK Union Olimpija is a professional basketball team that is based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The team currently competes in the Premier A Slovenian League, the Adriatic League, and the Euroleague.

[edit] History

When a country of 2 million people generates as many great players as Slovenia, there has to be some magic at work. In the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, the magicians wear the green of Union Olimpija, a club that has become known as something of a talent farm. The basketball club today is called Union Olimpija, was founded in 1946 as a section of the Svoboda Physical Culture Society. The first basketball game was played the same year against Udarnik and Olimpija came out on top with the score of 37-14. Late in 1946, the club was renamed Enotnost and was known by that name until 1954 when it assumed the name ASK Olimpia. Since 1997, the club has been called by it current name, Union Olimpija. Olimpija conquered its first national title of then Yugoslavia in 1957. In one of the world's best emerging leagues, Olimpija went on to dominate the next 15 years, winning the Yugoslav title five more times, in 1959, 1961, 1962, 1966 and 1970. A new era for the club began with Slovenia's independence, when dominance took on another meaning, namely 10 consecutive years of winning both the league and cup trophies in Slovenia. In the international arena, 1993–1994 was the club's best season as they took home the European Cup against Spain's Tau Ceramica under the direction of coach Zmago Sagadin. Over the past few seasons, Olimpija has stood out as one of the most ambitious clubs in Europe, competing in three or four separate competitions. In 2001–2002, the Slovenian team won the triple crown, taking the Slovenian League championship, Slovenian National Cup and the Adriatic League. Last season, Olimpija fielded a team composed mainly of home grown talent and young players. The results in the Euroleague were amazing and inspirational to smaller clubs in Europe: Olimpija secured a spot in the Top 16 after just 11 games despite being grouped with the likes of Barcelona, Maccabi, and Panathinaikos. They proved disbelievers wrong again in the Top 16, as they won three of the first four games and held hopes of making the Final Four up until the final day, when they were stopped in Barcelona by the champs-to-be. The amazing Euroleague run may have drained the team of its energy, as it failed to repeat as champions in the Slovenian League and Adriatic League. The club did add to its trophy collection in 2002–2003, though, winning both the Slovenian Cup. Lesson: don't ever count out this homegrown superpower.

[edit] Naming

The club was established in 1946 as the basketball department of the larger sports club Svoboda (in English Freedom). Later it changed names quite a few times, from Enotnost (1947–1954) (Unity) to AŠK Olimpija (1955–1976), to Brest Olimpija (1977–1978), to Iskra Olimpija (1979–1982), to Smelt Olimpija (1984, 1986–1996), and finally, to Union Olimpija (1997-now). The last four names of the team have all included names of the main sponsors of the team.

[edit] Arena

The team played in Tabor Gymnasium first, but moved to Dvorana Tivoli sports arena in 1965. The arena has 6,000 seats. The club is expected to move to a new arena Športni Park Stožice in 2010.

[edit] Roster

Union Olimpija roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Nat.	Name	Ht.
4.0 PF	-	BIH	Bavčić, Edin	2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)
1.5 G	-	Serbia	Djordjević, Dušan	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
2.5 G/F	4	USA	Greene, Brian	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
5.0 C	7	Montenegro	Golubović, Vladimir	2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)
2.5 G/F	8	Slovenia	Klobučar, Jaka	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
3.0 SF	9	Croatia	Rudež, Damjan	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)
1.0 PG	10	USA	Harrington, Lorinza	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
3.0 SF	13	BIH	Hukić, Jasmin	2.04 m (6 ft 8 in)
5.0 C	15	Slovenia	Begić, Mirza	2.20 m (7 ft 3 in)
1.0 PG	16	Slovenia	Sarajlija, Mirza	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
3.0 SF	23	Slovenia	Sirnik, Matic	1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)
4.0 PF	24	Slovenia	Zupan, Miha	2.04 m (6 ft 8 in)
4.0 PF	26	Serbia	Radojević, Dejan	2.09 m (6 ft 10 in)
2.0 SG	31	Slovenia	Ožbolt, Sašo (C)	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
1.0 PG	33	BIH	Nešović, Aleksej	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
4.0 PF	42	SLO	Maravič, Marko	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)

Head coach

Jurij Zdovc

Assistant coach(es)

Zoran Martič
Gašper Potočnik
Miha Fajon (conditioning coach)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(*) Playing only in Euroleague
Injured

Roster • updated 2009-11-1

[edit] Depth Chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Bench	Reserve
C	Mirza Begić	Vladimir Golubović		Dejan Radojević
PF	Miha Zupan	Marko Maravič
SF	Jasmin Hukić	Damjan Rudež		Matic Sirnik
SG	Sašo Ožbolt	Jaka Klobučar	Brian Greene
PG	Lorinza Harrington	Aleksej Nešović	Mirza Sarajlija

[edit] Notable successes

SFR Yugoslavia

Champions of former Yugoslavian Basketball League (6): 1957, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1970

Slovenia

Champions of Slovenian League (13): 1992–1999, 2001–2002, 2004–2006, 2008
Champions of Slovenian National Cup (15): 1992–1995, 1997–2003, 2005–2006, 2008, 2009
Champions of Slovenian SuperCup (3): 2003, 2004, 2007

International competition