Žan Tabak new head coach of Caja Laboral

Žan Tabak is the new head coach of Spanish ACB team Caja Laboral. He signed a two year contract and replaces Dusko Ivanovic. This was reported by Tabak’s manager Zoran Savic.

What does Croatian Žan Tabak, Montenegrin Dusko Ivanovic, and Bosnian Serb Zoran Savic have in common? Yes, they are all from ex-Yugoslavia, speak the same language, and know each other very well, but their relationship is a little deeper than that. They were all team mates at Jugoplastika Split in the eighties. That team is regarded as one of the best ever outside of the NBA and won the Euroleague three teams in a row with a new revolutionary style of basketball.

In a way, Caja Laboral surprised many people by hiring Tabak because he doesn’t yet have the reputation of coaches like Neven Spahija and Svetislav Pesic who were also candidates for this job. Tabak was a scout and assistant coach for many years and got his very first head coaching job during last season with Spanish LEB-Gold team Girona. This season he was leading the Polish Trefl Sopot that made no problem in letting him leave in the middle of the season for Spain.