Jurica Žuža (born April 4, 1978) is a Croatian basketball coach and former basketball player serving as assistant coach for Lokomotiv Kuban of the VTB United League.
 Žuža with Lietkabelis in 2015 | |||||||||||||||
| PBC Lokomotiv Kuban | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Assistant coach | ||||||||||||||
| League | VTB United League | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | 4 April 1978 Podgradina near Zadar, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Croatian | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 2000: undrafted | ||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1996–2016 | ||||||||||||||
| Position | Center | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| As player: | |||||||||||||||
| 1996–1998 | Zadar | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–1999 | Svjetlost Brod | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Zadar | ||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Šanac Karlovac | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | Iraklio | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Panathinaikos | ||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Ionikos | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Crabs Rimini | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2007 | Cibona | ||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Rethymno | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Cedevita | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Poltava | ||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | Kryvbasbasket | ||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Zadar | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Tofaş | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Trabzonspor | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Al Rayan | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Lietkabelis Panevėžys | ||||||||||||||
| As coach: | |||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Lietkabelis Panevėžys (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2020 | Neptūnas Klaipėda (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Neptūnas Klaipėda | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Nymburk (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–present | Lokomotiv Kuban (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Professional career
editŽuža started his professional career at Zadar under coach Danijel Jusup. After two years spent in the club and winning the 1998 Croatian Cup (first trophy for Zadar in independent Croatia), he played in Svjetlost Brod and then again in Zadar winning another Cup in 2000. After spending a season in Šanac Karlovac Žuža moved abroad to the Greek Iraklio. After that he spent a season in Panathinaikos coached by Željko Obradović during which he won the Greek League and Cup. He later spent a season in the Greek Ionikos and Italian Crabs Rimini before playing two and a half seasons for Cibona during which he became the Croatian League champion twice. After playing for the Greek Rethymno, Croatian Cedevita,[1] Polish Poltava and Ukrainian Kryvbasbasket, during the 2010–11 season Žuža shortly again played for Zadar. Then he went to the Turkish Tofaş from Bursa and then to Trabzonspor, with whom he won the Turkish Second League. From there Žuža went to the Qatari Al Rayan, and in 2014 he made his final transfer to Lietkabelis where he played the last two seasons of his professional career. In the last season of his 20-year professional playing career Žuža helped his club win third place in the 2015–16 Baltic League.[2]
Coaching career
editHe began his coaching career as assistant coach for Lietkabelis, the same club he finished his playing career. Lietkabelis achieved its best result in history, finishing as runners-up in the 2016–17 Lithuanian League. The next season he was assistant coach for Neptūnas who came third in the 2017–18 Lithuanian League.[3][4]
On July 20, 2022, he signed with Lokomotiv Kuban of the VTB United League.[5]
References
edit- ^ "Jurica Žuža u Cedeviti" (in Croatian). 057info.hr. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ "Jurica Žuža nakon 20 godina završio karijeru" (in Croatian). zadarskilist.hr. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ "Jurica Žuža-košarkaško dijete rata" (in Croatian). basketball.hr. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ "Biti treći u zemlji košarke - za to se treba boriti, to je čast!" (in Croatian). basketball.hr. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ "Lokomotiv-Kuban was headed by the reigning European champion, head coach of one of the best national teams in the world". Sportando. December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.