Velimir Perasović (; born 9 February 1965) is a Croatian 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 ...

coach and former player. He is serving as the head coach for the Russian team

UNICS Kazan BC UNICS (russian: БК УНИКС) is a professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia, that plays in the VTB United League, and formerly played in the EuroLeague. On February 28, 2022, EuroLeague Basketball suspended the team because of the 202 ...

of the

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus an ...

and the EuroLeague.

Early life

Perasović was born in

Stobreč Stobreč ( it, Stobrezio, la, Epetium, el, Εpetion) is a historical village and now a tourist resort on the Adriatic Sea, in central Dalmatia, Croatia. Administratively it is part of the city of Split. Founded as Epetium, Stobreč has been se ...

, at that time in the

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

, to parents Gašpar and Vica Perasović. He started playing basketball at age 14. Perasović was member of the junior men's Yugoslavia national team which won the silver medal at the 1982 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship in Bulgaria, and the bronze medal at the

1984 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 1984 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international 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 o ...

in Sweden.

Professional career

Perasović's club,

KK Split Košarkaški klub Split ( en, Split Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Split or simply Split, is a men's professional basketball club based in Split, Croatia. The club competes in the ABA League and the Croatian League. History The c ...

, went on to win three EuroLeague championships, in 1989 and 1990 as "Jugoplastika", and in 1991 as "Pop 84". In 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1991, they also won the

Yugoslav League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League (Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

championship. In 1990 and 1991, they 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, ...

, and in 1992, the Croatian Cup. In 1992 Perasović moved to the Spanish club

Breogán Breogán (also spelt Breoghan, Bregon or Breachdan) is a character in the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'', a medieval Christian history of Ireland and the Irish (or Gaels). He is supposedly the son of Brath, and is described as an ancestor of the Gael ...

, and spent one season there, before moving to Taugrés, in 1993. He won the 1995 Spanish King's Cup, and in 1996, he won the Saporta Cup. In 1997 he moved to the Spanish club

Fuenlabrada Fuenlabrada () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,586, making it the region's fourth most populated municipality. Placename The etymology of ''Fuenlabrada'' comes from the contra ...

, where he played until 2002. He then moved to the Spanish club

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

, and retired from his basketball playing career in 2003. During his playing career in Spain, he won the Spanish ACB League Top Scorer award five times. He was also once the best scorer of the

Radivoj Korać Cup The Radivoj Korać Cup ( sr, Куп Радивоја Кораћа / Kup Radivoja Koraća) is the men's national basketball cup of Serbia. It is run by the Basketball Federation of Serbia and is named after a Serbian basketball legend and FIBA Ha ...

, and he participated in Liga ACB All Star games.

National team career

Perasović was also a part of the senior men's national team of Yugoslavia, that won the 1990 FIBA World Championship in Argentina, and

EuroBasket 1991 The 1991 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1991, was the 27th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Italy between 24 and 29 June 1991. Eight national teams entered the eve ...

in Italy. He then played with the Croatia national team when they won the silver medal in the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, the bronze medal at the 1994 FIBA World Championship in Canada, and the bronze medal at

EuroBasket 1993 The 1993 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1993, was the 28th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Germany between 22 June and 4 July 1993. Sixteen national teams entered ...

in Germany, and

EuroBasket 1995 The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to ea ...

in Greece.

Coaching career

Perasović became the head coach of Split CO, before moving back to Spain, to become the head coach of

Tau Cerámica Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D., commonly known as Saski Baskonia (), also known as Cazoo Baskonia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the ...

. He led the team to the

EuroLeague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, f ...

. In the 2007–08 season, Perasović was appointed the head coach for Estudiantes, filling in for Mariano de Pablos, who had been fired due to negative results. He then moved to Zagreb, to become the head coach for

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 competes ...

. In 2009 he led the team to 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 Mac ...

final, winning the award for the best coach in the Adriatic League in that season, and won the Croatian Cup and Croatian League championship, respectively. He again took Cibona to the Adriatic League and Croatian Cup finals in 2010. He also won the Croatian League championship. In January 2012, he came back to Spain to coach

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

. Perasović won the 2013–14 EuroCup, and left the club in January 2015. In March 2015, Perasović took over the senior Croatian men's national team. After a disappointing

EuroBasket 2015 EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 S ...

tournament, in which Croatia was defeated in the round of 16, Perasović and Croatia parted ways. In June 2015, he came back to Spain to coach Laboral Kutxa, while in February 2016, he extended his contract with Baskonia through the 2016–17 season. After being a semifinalist of the three competitions Baskonia played ( EuroLeague,

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

, and

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

), Perasović left the club and went back to coach Anadolu Efes. On 16 December 2017, Anadolu Efes parted ways with him. On 16 November 2018, he came back to Spain to the third time to coach Kirolbet Baskonia until the end of 2019–20 season to replace

Pedro Martínez Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to . At the time o ...

. On 20 December 2019, following a loss to

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 ...

, Perasović was fired from Baskonia. On June 29, 2021, he has signed with

of the

Coaching record

EuroLeague

, - , align="left" rowspan=2, Baskonia , align="left", 2005–06 , 21, , 15, , 6, , , , align="center", Won in 3rd place game , - , align="left", 2006–07 , 24, , 20, , 4, , , , align="center", Lost in 3rd place game , - , align="left" rowspan=2,

, align="left", 2008–09 , 17, , 8, , 9, , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , - , align="left", 2009–10 , 16, , 4, , 12, , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , - , align="left", Efes , align="left", 2010–11 , 16, , 7, , 9, , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2014–15 , 10, , 3, , 7, , , , align="center" , Eliminated in group stage , - , align="left", Baskonia , align="left", 2015–16 , 29, , 18, , 11, , , , align="center" , Lost in 3rd place game , - , align="left" rowspan=2,

Anadolu Efes Anadolu Efes Biracılık ve Malt Sanayii A.Ş.''(lit. Anadolu Efes Brewery and Malt Industries)'' produces and markets beer and malt and non-alcoholic beverages in a wide geographical area comprising Turkey, Russia, the Commonwealth of Independe ...

, align="left", 2016–17 , 35, , 19, , 16, , , , align="center" , Eliminated in quarterfinals , - , align="left", 2017–18 , 12, , 3, , 9, , , , align="center" , ''Fired'' , - , align="left" rowspan=1, Baskonia , align="left", 2018–19 , 30, , 16, , 18, , , , align="center" , Eliminated in quarterfinals , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 214, , 113, , 101, , , ,

Personal life

Perasović married his wife Dubravka in 1991, and the couple have two sons: Vicko and Ivan. His younger son Ivan is also a professional basketball player currently plays with BC Labas Gas, who won the gold medal as a part of the Croatia national under-16 team at the 2018 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in Serbia.

References

External links

Velimir Perasović
at acb.com
Velimir Perasović
at euroleague.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Perasovic, Velimir 1965 births Living people 1990 FIBA World Championship players Anadolu Efes S.K. coaches Baloncesto Fuenlabrada players Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Split, Croatia Basketbol Süper Ligi head coaches CB Breogán players CB Estudiantes coaches CB Lucentum Alicante players Croatian basketball coaches Croatian expatriate basketball people in Spain Croatian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Croatian men's basketball players FIBA EuroBasket-winning players FIBA World Championship-winning players KK Cibona coaches KK Split players Liga ACB head coaches Liga ACB players Medalists at the 1983 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball players of Croatia Olympic medalists in basketball Olympic silver medalists for Croatia Saski Baskonia coaches Saski Baskonia players Shooting guards Universiade medalists in basketball Universiade silver medalists for Yugoslavia Valencia Basket coaches Yugoslav expatriates in Spain Yugoslav men's basketball players