He was newly elected the head coach of Croatia U20. In the interview he talked about topics such as – upcoming season, Croatian representation and how often he is in contact with his father.
Dino, you were the coach of USK Prague for three years. How were these years for you?
For sure I need to thank the club for gaving me this opportunity, back then I was only 25 years old and of course it was not easy for me, although I was high level assistant in euroleague, eurocup and aba league, it was a big challenge for me. In terms of results it was definitely successful since we made it to playoffs every year plus the Cup Finals after 19 years. However, the thing that pleased me the most is that a club like USK had 4 national team members during the Fiba Window (Samoura, Sehnal, Mares and Sterba).
How did these three years move you forward in your coaching work?
Definitely I am a better coach. There’s a huge difference between being an assistant and a head coach, such as access to the players, things you can do on the court etc… The reason why I’m saying this is because as a coach I have so many ideas but then it would become overcoaching and players are not robots, the main thing is to learn what works the best for each player and situation, that was definitely the biggest lesson and improvement I made throughout these 3 seasons in USK.
What is the quality of the Czech league like?
Quality is good, there are good foreign players and some talented Czech guys too. In comparison with the rest of the Europe I would definitely put it in the middle – somewhere behind the top 6-7 European Leagues. League has been raising in past years, finances are better and better as well as coaching. I feel sad, because more and more teams don’t play European Competitions, I think that would increase the level even more.
Why did you decide to stay in the Czech league?
I decided to stay because Pardubice gave me the best program, which enables me to continue in my coaching development and from my stand of point a very ambitious project. Honestly, I was tired of losing in quarter finals again and I really came to a point where I want to try something bigger. Pardubice is the place to do this, we have a thing in common, in past years we finished the season too soon and definitely we need to change this trend.
What are your goals with the Pardubice team?
Firstly, we need to make a competitive roster, chemistry needs to be at the top level and each of player needs to be motivated and hungry every play. If we achieve these things, we’ll have a great base to achieve big things. We’ll see if it is enough at the end of the season. Another goal is to bring Pardubice back to a place they deserve, for example some European Competitions. Last but not least to note is a big number of young rotation players, there are many talented players in the youth category.
At the same time, you became the head coach of Croatia U20. Are you looking forward to the new challenge? What do you expect from it?
Yes, actually everything happened pretty fast. Croatian representative of Hall of Fame Dino Radja called me after game in Brno asking me if I want to be the coach of U20. I had a contract with Czech Federation since I’ve been also involved with Czech youth NT programs. I would like to thank Lubos Barton and Jiri Welsch. They did not cause me any problems with leaving the contract and becoming the coach of Croatian U20 NT. I really had a great time with Czech Federation but when your own country calls you to be the head coach, you simply cannot say no, it’s a question of pride.
What potential do you see in the Croatian U20 national team?
Definitely there is huge potential, many talented players have future in NBA or European Competitions. I don’t want to make names now but for sure these guys have bright future in front of them. That’s why I am very sorry we won’t play a regular U20 championship, we had a really nice opportunity to do something big this summer, but in the end, we will just have 5 games and 6 team tournaments.
How often are you in contact with your father? How often do you talk about your work?
What kind of things do you consult together?
We speak to each other 2-3 times per week, most of our conversations are about family things like my wife Ivana and my son Maro, he really cares a lot about them. I ask him the same things. I ask about mum, that’s our priority number one. After that, we discuss work things – who had played, how someone had played, some tactical things. Throughout my career I think we have already discussed all technical tactical options in offense and defense, so we mainly talk about the players.
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