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Dragan Šakota
Dragan Šakota (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Шакота, Greek: Ντράγκαν Σάκοτα; born June 16, 1952) is a Serbian and Greek professional basketball coach, currently coaching AEK Athens of the Greek Basketball League (GBL).
Šakota spent the entire playing career with the Belgrade-based team IMT. He played there from 1972 to 1983 and won the Yugoslav Federal B League in the 1982/83 season.
After spending his entire career in IMT, Šakota became head coach of the same team right after retiring as a player. His first season as head coach ended very impressive. Finishing in 9th place, he secured the participation of his team in the Yugoslav First Basketball League for the next season. However, the following season didn't end well for the team, as they finished in 12th place and got relegated back to Yugoslav Federal B League, where they stayed for the following 2 seasons. 1986/87 season was a true underdog story for the club, as coach Šakota brought some well-known names such as Milan Mladjan and Srećko Jarić (father of Marko Jarić) and under guidance of the young coach, the team won the Yugoslav Cup at the national cup tournament in Niš. In the semi-finals, they faced an absolute favorite Partizan and won 86-80, with Mladjan scoring 34 points, and in the finals they won against another surprise of the cup Smelt Olimpija that had beaten Jugoplastika Split prior. The final result was 76-73 for IMT and Mladjan was yet again the top scorer of the game, only this time with 25 points, making a comeback for his team. It was the only time in the history of Yugoslav basketball that the cup competition was won by a club not playing in the top-tier First Federal League. The same season IMT achieved promotion to the First Federal League. 1987–88 season was also successful for both Šakota and the club, as the team finished 7th in the league, earning its place for the playoff, but was eliminated by Cibona in the quarter-finals. IMT also participated in the FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup the same season, where they were also stopped in the quarter-finals group, among others by the eventual champion Limoges CSP.
After a very successful period in IMT, Šakota went to coach Zadar in the 1988–89 season. The team improved its results from the previous season under the new coach, reaching the semi-finals of the FIBA Korać Cup, losing both games to Partizan that later won in the finals. However, Zadar failed to do the same in the domestic league, being eliminated to Olimpija in the quarter finals. Nevertheless, Šakota had a huge influence on a promising Arijan Komazec who would become one of the best players in Europe throughout the upcoming years.
After finishing the 1988-89 season with Zadar, Šakota moved to Cibona where he coached until the end of the 1989–90 season. There he also improved the club's results. After being 7th in the previous season, Cibona finished 4th and even went on to play 3 games with the European champion Jugoplastika in the playoff semifinal. Šakota's team also managed to reach the cup semifinal where it was eliminated by Crvena zvezda.
Šakota came to PAOK where was head coach during the 1990-91 season. The season turned out to be one of the most successful in PAOKs history, where the team won the FIBA Saporta Cup, which was the first European trophy in club's history. They were also runners-up in the Greek league as well as the Greek Cup. PAOK faced Aris that had dominated the domestic league 6 consecutive years in the finals and even took a 2-0 lead in the series, but failed to maintain it, losing 2 games in a row and PAOK evened the score. Game 5 is considered as the decisive, as the black and white team had the lead till the last few seconds when Ken Barlow made an in-bound turnover, giving the opportunity to Panagiotis Giannakis to score a long distance buzzer-beater three for the 86-85 win. After that, game 6 ended with Aris defending the title as the final result was 81-80. PAOK lost the cup final against Panionios B.C. 73-70.
Šakota signed with Apollon Patras. With Apollon Patras, he finished in 10th place at the end of the 1992-93 season.
Another Greek club that the Serbian coach signed contract with was Iraklis. Although Šakota and his team were outsiders, the team, along with Slovenian point guard Jure Zdovc, reached the national cup finals in which they lost to Olympiacos. Šakota left the club when the season was finished.
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Dragan Šakota
Dragan Šakota (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Шакота, Greek: Ντράγκαν Σάκοτα; born June 16, 1952) is a Serbian and Greek professional basketball coach, currently coaching AEK Athens of the Greek Basketball League (GBL).
Šakota spent the entire playing career with the Belgrade-based team IMT. He played there from 1972 to 1983 and won the Yugoslav Federal B League in the 1982/83 season.
After spending his entire career in IMT, Šakota became head coach of the same team right after retiring as a player. His first season as head coach ended very impressive. Finishing in 9th place, he secured the participation of his team in the Yugoslav First Basketball League for the next season. However, the following season didn't end well for the team, as they finished in 12th place and got relegated back to Yugoslav Federal B League, where they stayed for the following 2 seasons. 1986/87 season was a true underdog story for the club, as coach Šakota brought some well-known names such as Milan Mladjan and Srećko Jarić (father of Marko Jarić) and under guidance of the young coach, the team won the Yugoslav Cup at the national cup tournament in Niš. In the semi-finals, they faced an absolute favorite Partizan and won 86-80, with Mladjan scoring 34 points, and in the finals they won against another surprise of the cup Smelt Olimpija that had beaten Jugoplastika Split prior. The final result was 76-73 for IMT and Mladjan was yet again the top scorer of the game, only this time with 25 points, making a comeback for his team. It was the only time in the history of Yugoslav basketball that the cup competition was won by a club not playing in the top-tier First Federal League. The same season IMT achieved promotion to the First Federal League. 1987–88 season was also successful for both Šakota and the club, as the team finished 7th in the league, earning its place for the playoff, but was eliminated by Cibona in the quarter-finals. IMT also participated in the FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup the same season, where they were also stopped in the quarter-finals group, among others by the eventual champion Limoges CSP.
After a very successful period in IMT, Šakota went to coach Zadar in the 1988–89 season. The team improved its results from the previous season under the new coach, reaching the semi-finals of the FIBA Korać Cup, losing both games to Partizan that later won in the finals. However, Zadar failed to do the same in the domestic league, being eliminated to Olimpija in the quarter finals. Nevertheless, Šakota had a huge influence on a promising Arijan Komazec who would become one of the best players in Europe throughout the upcoming years.
After finishing the 1988-89 season with Zadar, Šakota moved to Cibona where he coached until the end of the 1989–90 season. There he also improved the club's results. After being 7th in the previous season, Cibona finished 4th and even went on to play 3 games with the European champion Jugoplastika in the playoff semifinal. Šakota's team also managed to reach the cup semifinal where it was eliminated by Crvena zvezda.
Šakota came to PAOK where was head coach during the 1990-91 season. The season turned out to be one of the most successful in PAOKs history, where the team won the FIBA Saporta Cup, which was the first European trophy in club's history. They were also runners-up in the Greek league as well as the Greek Cup. PAOK faced Aris that had dominated the domestic league 6 consecutive years in the finals and even took a 2-0 lead in the series, but failed to maintain it, losing 2 games in a row and PAOK evened the score. Game 5 is considered as the decisive, as the black and white team had the lead till the last few seconds when Ken Barlow made an in-bound turnover, giving the opportunity to Panagiotis Giannakis to score a long distance buzzer-beater three for the 86-85 win. After that, game 6 ended with Aris defending the title as the final result was 81-80. PAOK lost the cup final against Panionios B.C. 73-70.
Šakota signed with Apollon Patras. With Apollon Patras, he finished in 10th place at the end of the 1992-93 season.
Another Greek club that the Serbian coach signed contract with was Iraklis. Although Šakota and his team were outsiders, the team, along with Slovenian point guard Jure Zdovc, reached the national cup finals in which they lost to Olympiacos. Šakota left the club when the season was finished.
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