The Americans did not go to St. Petersburg “for family reasons”

St. Petersburg basketball team “Spartak” has decided on its head coach for the new season. The team that took fourth place in the last Russian championship will be led by 42-year-old Serbian specialist Aleksandar Trifunovic. He signed a contract for a period of one year.

Spartak was looking for a new coach for almost two months. The search began after Evgeniy Pashutin unexpectedly left the team, who in the first year of work led the red-and-whites to the playoffs of the Russian championship, where they lost in four matches to Khimki near Moscow. This was a tremendous success for the St. Petersburg club, since before that it had not advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs for many years.

But Evgeny Pashutin, who received a basketball education in the city on the Neva, was urgently “recalled” to CSKA, which, as it turned out, continued to belong to him after leaving last summer for Spartak. The leaders of the army club stated that Pashutin was loaned to Spartak. Previously, Evgeniy helped the Italian Ettore Messina at CSKA, under whose leadership CSKA repeatedly won the Euroleague. But Messina left Moscow in the spring, and Pashutin was urgently called to replace him.

As Spartak's sports director Alexei Karvanen told Kommersant, the club's management went through a lot of specialists while looking for a candidate for head coach. Moreover, proposals for cooperation came both from the club itself and from agents of potential mentors. Among the candidates were two American coaches who had experience working with National Basketball Association (NBA) clubs. Last weekend it was even announced that Spartak will be led in the upcoming season by 44-year-old Eric Musselman, who coached such clubs as the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies. But at the last moment the deal fell through. Spartak also invited Tim Floyd, ex-coach of the Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Hornets. It was also not possible to come to an agreement with him. According to Mr. Karvanen, both overseas specialists were prevented from coming to St. Petersburg by “family circumstances,” but the parties agreed on financial terms. This says one thing: for the sake of a good coach, Spartak was ready to spend money.

As Kommersant found out, Alexander Trifunovich cost the red and white a much more modest amount. The leaders of Spartak were attracted by the achievements of the Serbian coach in the international arena. For example, with the Lithuanian club Lietuvos Rytas, Trifunovic reached the final of the ULEB Cup in 2007, which he lost to Real Madrid. In the same year, Rytas became the winner of the Baltic League. A year later, the Serb led the Lithuanian team to the TOP 16 of the Euroleague, which is very difficult and prestigious in our times. In the 2008/2009 season, Trifunovic coached the Greek Panionios, and began his coaching career in the Serbian Red Star.

Negotiations with the Balkan coach did not last long; he enthusiastically responded to Spartak’s offer and agreed to all the conditions. The contract with the specialist was concluded on Monday. “We need to take a closer look at each other, and then we’ll decide what to do next,” Alexey Karvanen explained the reason that the agreement was signed for only a year.

The red-and-white management plans to strengthen the team with new players in order to at least consolidate the achievements of last season. This summer, for example, American point guard Levans Fields, a bright star of US college basketball, was signed. The candidacies of other potential newcomers will be discussed with the new head coach, who is expected to arrive in St. Petersburg in mid-August, when Spartak returns from vacation.

Yuri Baletov

Spartak found a coach in Serbia