The former basketball champions and cup winners EWE Baskets Oldenburg pulled the emergency brake because of the ongoing downturn and released coach Mladen Drijencic from his duties.
The previous assistant coach Alen Abaz takes over from the bottom of the table, Drijencic should remain with the club in another function.
“Our situation has gotten worse in the last few weeks. We are in a relegation battle,” said managing director Hermann Schüller: “We have to face this situation together in order to improve our position in the table as quickly as possible.”
Oldenburg lost at Syntainics MBC Weißenfels on Tuesday (82:87), it was the eighth competitive defeat in a row. In the league so far two wins in 13 games.
Drijencic celebrated cup victory with EWE Baskets in 2015 just a few weeks after taking office. In 2017 Oldenburg was runner-up, in 2020 the club failed in the final of the BBL Cup.
“Mladen has done a great job and has contributed here in a way that goes beyond the norm. He has played an enormous part in the successes that we have celebrated in recent years,” said Schüller. The long-time coach didn’t deserve “to wear himself out completely”.
Abaz was born in Sarajevo and came to Oldenburg in 2019.
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