Aleš Pipan (born 24 May 1959) is a Slovenian

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 ...

coach and former basketball player, who is currently coach of

Šentjur Šentjur ( or ; german: Sankt Georgen) is a town in eastern Slovenia. It is the seat, and largest settlement, of the Municipality of Šentjur. The town lies on the Voglajna River east southeast of Celje. The settlement, and the entire municipal ...

in the Liga Nova KBM.

Coaching career

Pipan coached Slovenia at the

EuroBasket 2005 The 2005 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2005, was the 34th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. It also served as Europe qualifier for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, giving a berth ...

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

and

EuroBasket 2007 The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to th ...

until resignation in 2008, when Slovenia didn't make through additional qualifications for

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. Before that, he was present in Slovenian national team as coach assistant since 1998. Pipan came to

Zlatorog Laško In Slovene folklore, Goldhorn or Goldenhorn ( sl, Zlatorog) is a legendary white chamois buck, or alternatively, an Alpine ibex, that had his realm in the heights of Mount Triglav. The legend is well known throughout Slovenia (specifically Cari ...

in 1996 and established the club as one of Slovenian best, especially known as one that works very well with young players. He led the club to the

Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...

in 1997 and 1998. In 1999 he took them to the quarterfinals where they lost to

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...

, but earned them the right to play the EuroLeague next year. In those two seasons in the Saporta Cup he helped develop two national team players to the international scene,

Sani Bečirovič Sani Bečirovič ( sh, Sani Bečirović, born 19 May 1981) is a Slovenian professional basketball coach, executive and former player, who is currently a sporting director for Cedevita Olimpija of the Slovenian League, ABA League and the EuroCup ...

and

Goran Jurak Goran Jurak (born 3. April 1977 in Celje, SFR Yugoslavia (present-day Slovenia)) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player. He plays the position of Power forward. He played in the Slovenian All Star Game 1999 through 2002. He was ...

. The next season (1999–2000) was the first year that two Slovenian clubs played in the Euroleague. However, in domestic competition Pipan reached two finals but failed to collect any trophy, as some key players, including

Boštjan Nachbar Boštjan "Boki" Nachbar (born July 3, 1980) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player. A 2.06 m forward, he spent most of his career between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the EuroLeague. Nachbar helped lead the Slovenian ...

and

Mileta Lisica Mileta Lisica ( sr-cyr, Милета Лисица; 7 October 1966 – 11 November 2020) was a Serbian-Slovenian professional basketball player. Playing career Lisica had played for the Poliester from Priboj and the KK Sloboda Tuzla, Sloboda fr ...

were struggling with injuries. In 2000, he took over Krka and led them in Suproleague, EuroLeague in 2001/02, domestic competitions and first edition of

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 Mace ...

until he was replaced with

Neven Spahija Neven Spahija (born 6 November 1962) is a Croatian professional basketball coach who was most recently the head coach for Bitci Baskonia of the Liga ACB. He spent four years in the NBA as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Gri ...

in December 2001. He was first Slovenian coach to beat teams like

Panathinaikos B.C. Panathinaikos B.C. ( el, ΚΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός), also known simply as Panathinaikos, is the professional basketball team of the major Athens-based multi- sport club Panathinaikos A.O. It is owned by the billionaire Giannakopoulos f ...

and

Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club ( he, מועדון כדורסל מכבי תל אביב), known for sponsorship reasons as Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (), is a professional basketball club based in Tel Aviv, Israel. The team plays in the Israe ...

After brief episode in small club Zagorje he returned to Pivovarna Laško in 2003–04 season, where he won Slovenian cup and lost in final of domestic league to Olimpija. After another year with Pivovarna Laško he took over Slovan from Ljubljana in season 2005–06, where he lost another final of domestic league to Olimpija in best of five series in 2006, but impress with affirmation of some young players in the

(especially

Goran Dragić Goran Dragić (born 6 May 1986) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Dragon", he had played professional basketball in Slovenia and Spain before entering ...

) and better result than his everlasting opponent Olimpija in that competition. One season later he resigned in the middle of season. Pipan took over Anwil in January 2007. After two months of working with the team he won with

Anwil Włocławek Anwil is a municipality in the district of Sissach in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. History Anwil is first mentioned in 1276. Geography Anwil has an area, , of . Of this area, or 63.6% is used for agricultural purposes, whil ...

Polish Cup (2007) beating the Euroleague team Prokom Trefl Sopot in the final. He finished 2006–07 season at the fourth place, losing 3-4 in the semi-final against Prokom Trefl Sopot. In revenge he beat Prokom Trefl Sopot again in the Super-Cup game that opened 2007–08 season in Poland. In the 2009, he returned to his former club, now known under new name Zlatorog (formerly Pivovarna laško). After two years he took over

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 Asso ...

in Croatian league and qualify with them for Adriatic basketball league. In October 2012 he took over

MZT Skopje MZT Skopje Aerodrom ( mk, МЗТ Скопје Аеродром) is a basketball club based in Skopje, North Macedonia. The club competes in the Macedonian League and ABA League. The club's home ground is Jane Sandanski Arena, but due to small capa ...

and won the Macedonian championship. Pipan has become well known for promoting, developing and coaching young players like

, Nebojša Joksimović, Aleksander Ćapin,

Jaka Lakovič Jaka Lakovič (born 9 July 1978) is a Slovenian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as a head coach for Gran Canaria of the Liga ACB, as well as an assistant coach of the Slovenia national team. Standing at , a ...

, Hasan Rizvić,

Emir Preldžič Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremo ...

Mirza Begić Mirza Begić (born 9 July 1985) is a retired Bosnian-born Slovenian professional basketball player. The Center (basketball), center, he represented the Slovenia national basketball team, Slovenian national team in the international competitions. ...

Gašper Vidmar Gašper Vidmar (born 14 September 1987) is a retired Slovenian professional basketball player. He is 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) tall and plays the center position. Professional career Vidmar played in youth categories of Geoplin Slovan in Slovenia. He m ...

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 ...

, and

Damjan Stojanovski Damjan Stojanovski ( mk, Дамјан Стојановски; born December 9, 1987) is a Macedonian professional basketball player who currently plays for MZT Skopje Aerodrom. He also represents the Macedonian national basketball team. He is 1.98 ...

. On 28 June 2018 he was named the head coach of

of the Croatian League and

, but after just four months, he was sacked on 23 October 2018 because of poor results.

Clubs

Head coach

* 1993–1996: Maribor: Slovenian League * 1997–2000:

: Slovenian League * 2000–2002: Krka: Slovenian League * 2002–2003: Zagorje: Slovenian League * 2003–2005:

: Slovenian League * 2005–2007: Slovan: Slovenian League * 2007–2008:

: Polish League * 2008–2011:

: Slovenian League * 2011–2012:

: Croatian League * 2012–2013:

: Macedonian League * 2013–2015: Olimpija: Slovenian League * 2015:

: Macedonian League * 2015–2018:

: Slovenian League * 2018:

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 serv ...

: Croatian League * 2019: TF Budapest:

Hungarian league Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the assignme ...

* 2019–present:

: Slovenian League

Head coaching career with national teams

* 1998–2003:

Slovenia national basketball team The Slovenia men's national basketball team ( sl, Slovenska košarkarska reprezentanca) represents Slovenia in international basketball competitions, and is managed by the Basketball Federation of Slovenia. Since the independence of Slovenia in ...

(assistant) * 2004–2008:

* 2010–2013:

Polish national basketball team The Poland men's national basketball team ( pl, Reprezentacja Polski w koszykówce) represents Poland in international basketball competitions. They are controlled by the Polish Basketball Federation (PZKosz). Poland has competed at the EuroBa ...

* 2013:

Macedonia national basketball team The North Macedonia men's national basketball team ( mk, Кошаркарска репрезентација на Северна Македонија, Košarkarska reprezentacija na Severna Makedonija) represents North Macedonia in internationa ...

References

Pivovarna Laško in Saporta cup 1997/98 seasonBasketball association of Slovenia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pipan, Ales 1959 births Living people KK Zadar coaches KK Olimpija coaches KK Krka coaches Slovenian men's basketball players Slovenian basketball coaches Yugoslav men's basketball players Basketball players from Ljubljana Slovenia national basketball team coaches