For some, it may be shocking, but it’s something that has been brewing for quite some time – Dimitris Itoudis is no longer Fenerbahce’s head coach.
The project that aimed to conquer the EuroLeague ended in complete contrast, without any trophies. Let’s start from the beginning…
Fenerbahce doesn’t have a history that stands out, but fans only remember the results from Zeljko Obradovic’s era. During that time, Fenerbahce consecutively made it to the EuroLeague Final Four five times, even reaching the pinnacle once. However, with the departure of the nine-time European champion, the future of the team from Istanbul didn’t look bright. Primarily because replacing such a coach is impossible, and also because Fenerbahce doesn’t have a budget that matches the biggest European teams.
Igor Kokoskov was chosen as the solution, but his unfamiliarity with the atmosphere in the EuroLeague quickly swallowed him up. That season was very poor, the adaptation period was slow, but his team managed to reach the playoffs, largely thanks to Marko Guduric, who joined during the season. There, they were defeated by CSKA and precisely by Dimitris Itoudis. The season was characterized as a huge failure, sealing Kokoskov’s fate. Board management and general manager Maurizio Gherardini decided to give another chance to another Serbian coach – Aleksandar Djordjevic.
It seemed like they were desperately trying to replicate the successes under Obradovic, and when the experiment with Djordjevic turned out to be a failure, unworthy of a club of such prestige, they opted for the most ambitious undertaking.
The Greek expert on the way out from Moscow. Dimitris Itoudis quickly reached an agreement with the Turkish club, and for many, a new era in Istanbul was supposed to begin, with Obradovic’s pupil continuing where two Serbian coaches couldn’t. In June of the previous year, a three-year collaboration was agreed upon, a serious budget was prepared, and everything was supposed to be the prelude to the Turkish club’s revival. Instead, fans got a kind of nightmare.
To be fair, Fenerbahce did have problems with injuries, but a coach of such renown, with such logistics, should not have allowed the team to struggle for a playoff spot until the last round last season. Itoudis and his team barely finished the regular season in eighth place, with just one more win than Baskonia. Fans hoped for a remake of Obradovic’s seasons when the team would play its best basketball in the playoffs, but…
The quarterfinals was the maximum for Fenerbahce, considering that Olympiacos, a serious contender at that moment, stood on the other side of the court. Kostas Sloukas decided against his former club and left them without a place in the Final Four for another year. The gloomy season ended on that note. The Turkish Super League went to the arch-rival Anadolu Efes, who eliminated them by 3-1 in the semifinals.
If any other name had been on the bench of the Istanbul team at that time, dismissal would have been inevitable. Still, the decision was made to give Itoudis another chance. During the summer, it was mostly calm in Istanbul, with Sertac Sanli, Georgios Papagiannis and Yam Madar arriving as key reinforcements, excluding Raul Neto, who didn’t debut due to injury. However, despite the fact that the core of the team remained, it didn’t show in Fenerbahce’s performance.
Injuries once again shaped the team at certain moments, but as mentioned at the beginning, Dimitris Itoudis should not have allowed the team to look the way it did. After seven defeats in 13 rounds and a loss in the domestic championship to a depleted Anadolu Efes, the only logical decision was made – the termination of the three-year contract after just a year and a half. It had been hinted at for a long time, but as we said, the loss to Anadolu Efes, a team in such trouble, was unforgivable. Before that, Fenerbahce also experienced defeats against Besiktas and Pinar Karsiyaka in domestic league.
Now, a year and a half later, what can we say about Itoudis’s tenure, but perhaps more importantly, what can we say about Maurizio Gherardini?
Itoudis has shown that he is a coach who primarily needs continuity and does not thrive under pressure and strong competition. Winning trophies in the VTB League became irrelevant with the loss of all possible trophies in Turkey, and fans are starting to question the EuroLeague successes.
Is Itoudis a coach exclusively for a team like CSKA from those years, and is modern basketball a place where the Greek expert doesn’t excel? It’s hard to say, at least until his next job in this competition. Also, it should be noted that during this period at Fenerbahce, he also held the position of the head coach for the Greek national team, but in September of this year, the collaboration was terminated to focus on club duties. The outcome is evident.