Edi Dželalija (; born November 28, 1969) 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 (appro ...
coach.
Coaching career
First years
Born in
Å ibenik
Å ibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Å ibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...
, Dželalija graduated from the
Rijeka Faculty od Kinesiology and the Faculty of Economics. In 1991, he started his professional
basketball coaching
Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...
career with
Šibenka, where he worked as an assistant coach to Anđelko Matov. Later, he worked five years as junior team head coach and five years as assistant coach of Rijeka-based team
Triglav Osiguranje.
Svjetlost Brod and Croatia (2003–2006)
In 2003, Dželalija was appointed head coach of
Svjetlost Brod, which he led to the Final Four of the
Croatian Championship.
After he worked as an assistant coach to
Neven Spahija at the
2003 EuroBasket
The 2003 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2003, was the 33rd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as the Europe qualifier for the 2004 Summer Olympics, giving a berth ...
, Dželalija took over
Croatia national under-18 team in 2004 and led them at the
2005 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
The 2005 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball competition held in Serbia and Montenegro in 2005.
Final ranking
1.
2. Turkey
3. Italy
4. Spain
5. Russia
6. France
7. Israel
8. Latvia
9. Lithuania
10. ...
, winning eleventh place, and at the
2006 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
The 2006 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball competition held in Greece in 2006.
Final ranking
1. France
2. Lithuania
3. Spain
4. Turkey
5.
6. Greece
7. Italy
8. Bulgaria
9. Russia
10. Croatia
1 ...
, winning tenth place.
Jolly JBS Šibenik (2011–2013)
In 2011, he was appointed head coach for
Jolly Å ibenik, a women's club from his hometown. In inaugural season, the club reached semifinals of the
Croatian Championship and Dželalija won the Croatian Coach of the Year award in 2012. Later, he led
Tajfun Å entjur from Slovenia,
Amal Essaouira from Morocco, BC Razmi from Georgia, while from 2018 to 2019, he worked as head coach of the
Kuwait national team.
Šibenka (2019–2020)
On 4 November 2019, Dželalija was appointed head coach of
Šibenka. In his debut, he led the club to a 74–81 loss to
Zadar
Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...
.
On 24 June 2020, after the expiration of the contract, Dželalija did not renew it and left Šibenka.
Peja, Kosovo (2020–2021)
Style of coaching
During his presentation as new head coach at Å ibenka, he emphasized that he wants and prefers fast, modern and, for spectators, attractive basketball. With his ability and experience, he has particularly distinguished himself as head coach of the Kuwait national team between 2018 and 2019.
References
External links
Edi Dželalija - Head coach - GKK Šibenka at hr.linkedin.com
Living people
1969 births
Croatian basketball coaches
KB Peja coaches
Sportspeople from Å ibenik
{{Croatia-basketball-bio-stub