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Diario Euskadi

Jaka Lakovic, former Surne Bilbao coach, dismissed from Dreamland Gran Canaria bench

Slovenian coach Jaka Lakovic, who previously coached Surne Bilbao, has been sacked by Dreamland Gran Canaria following a string of poor results, leaving the team close to relegation.

Generic image of a basketball net with a ball going through it, with blurred players in the background.
IA

Generic image of a basketball net with a ball going through it, with blurred players in the background.

Slovenian coach Jaka Lakovic, who previously coached Surne Bilbao, has been sacked by Dreamland Gran Canaria following a string of poor results, leaving the team close to relegation.

While Surne Bilbao has been observing the always arduous fight for permanence in the Liga Endesa from afar for many weeks, and enjoys much more attractive challenges such as the assault on the eighth league spot and the possibility of revalidating its crown in the FIBA Europe Cup, a team not expected to be fighting for survival, with a former coach of the 'men in black' at the helm until this Wednesday, is going through a very complicated present.
This refers to Dreamland Gran Canaria, which this Wednesday made official the dismissal of Jaka Lakovic, who was the coach of the Biscayan team in the final stretch of the 2017-18 season, which ended in relegation to the LEB Oro. The island team has accumulated six consecutive defeats, including the one suffered at home in overtime against Surne Bilbao itself, with Justin Jaworski's decisive three-pointer. They have lost ten of their last eleven games and are now only one victory clear of the relegation zone after losing at home last matchday against a direct rival like San Pablo Burgos.
The situation is very turbulent within the Canarian entity, and the board decided to terminate Lakovic's contract, despite it running until 2027. The club stated that the Slovenian "leaves an indelible mark on the club's history." With only seven victories, one more than second-to-last Morabanc Andorra, the situation is extremely tight for a club unaccustomed to such circumstances, which has also been in the news this season due to financial problems and disagreements between the coach and some of his players, the latest being with Chimezie Metu.
Lakovic arrived at the island team in the summer of 2022. At that time, Surne Bilbao also wanted to secure his services after the good impression he left during his time at the club and his excellent work at Ratiopharm Ulm, but the Slovenian opted for a more ambitious project. His first three seasons were notable, with a Eurocup title and another final played, always present in the play-offs and Copa, but the outlook for the current season has changed radically and has ended in dismissal.

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