Teddy Delač, coach of Crikvenica and assistant coach of the Slovenian U-20 national team, reveals the keys to Slovenian youth basketball success in an interview with Novi list and highlights differences in approach compared to Croatia.
While Croatian basketball in younger age categories has been searching for a medal in the A division for years, Rijeka coach Teddy Delač has been racking up success after success with the Slovenian national team. This summer, as assistant coach to head coach Danijel Radosavljević, he won the U-20 European gold, the third medal in three years with the same generation of players, bronze with the U-18 team at EuroBasket 2024, U-19 World Cup bronze a year later, and finally U-20 European gold in 2026.
The last time Croatia celebrated on the European stage in youth categories was in 2018, when the cadets won gold and the U-20 team took silver under Damir Rajković. Delač was also part of the staff then, alongside Antonio Jordan and Josip Barnjak, winning European silver with the Croatian U-20 team. However, while Croatia remained without a medal in the top tier, he continued his success streak with Slovenia.
Delač's name came onto the Slovenian national team's radar through his work with third-division side Ajdovščina, and in his club career he also coached Kastav, Slovenian side Sežana, and was an assistant at Kvarner. "During that period, I had only one break, in 2023, when the World Cup took place, because I couldn't balance commitments with my job at a school in Rijeka," he said in an interview for Novi list. Since 2022, the same coaching staff has worked with two generations, which, according to him, brought continuity and stability.
Despite high expectations ahead of the home U-20 EuroBasket, preparations were not ideal. "A good result was definitely expected. However, we had problems with player selection. Due to a large number of withdrawals from the senior national team, the three best players were at senior team preparations," Delač explained. An additional blow was the severe wrist injury of Žak Smrekar, a member of the top five at last year's World Championship. "We didn't fully know what to expect," he admitted.
Delač sees the success of youth selections in Slovenia as also a result of a different mentality. "I studied in Slovenia, I've been there for quite a long time, and I think it's partly about a certain culture towards sports," he said, adding that the combination of "Germanic mentality and Southern emotion" is a winning one. Of course, the influence of Luka Dončić and Tadej Pogačar cannot be ignored, nor the European champion titles from 2017, when the current U-20 generation was only ten years old.
It's also interesting how Slovenian media treat failures. "Even some poorer results are not seen as something catastrophic in the media, while in Croatia and further east, it's all different. There's much more media scrutiny, negative things are sought out, while in Slovenia it's generally more positive and it certainly affects the overall result," Delač compared.
Comparing his work with the current Slovenian staff and the one from 2018 with Rajković, Delač highlights a similar principle. "When you have a clear system in play up to a certain point, and then allow creativity in the final part, it's much more effective." He cites Luka Dončić as an example and his ability to find a teammate at a precisely defined position. "That might be part of his genius, but the player who is supposed to be there knows exactly that he'll be there, not a meter away so Dončić throws it out of bounds."
The key to success, according to Delač, lies in stability. "The stability of the system and continuity of the profession are important. I also like to work somewhere for at least two or three years." Radosavljević has been head coach for four years, and before that an assistant for five. Domen Zevnik, now head coach of the U-18 team, was also an assistant for four to five years. "A coach has his system, you know who you're coming to, and Slovenians rarely change that," Delač emphasized.
Besides tactics, great attention is also paid to discipline off the court. "For example, we had a rule that players had to give their phones to the physiotherapist at 11 PM and then got them back at breakfast, but there are no phones during meals either." Every training session is recorded and analyzed, which is not common in all national teams.
Differences between Croatia and Slovenia are also evident in coach education. Delač notes that seminars in Slovenia are better organized, with an electronic attendance system. "You have to come to the seminar and sit for three or four hours. An electronic system has been introduced, so you clock in like at work and it shows whether you were there or not." While Slovenia organizes separate seminars for senior basketball, U-20, and U-18, in Croatia, he says, there's one seminar for all age groups and possibly an additional one for younger categories by region.
Financial investments are also greater, but so is responsibility. "Every coach has his own responsibility and at the end of the month sends a report to the club leadership about his work." Delač also highlights the extremely positive atmosphere among colleagues: "I have never felt envy, which is probably also due to the mentality."
After the national team success, Delač faces a new club season. He has agreed to continue his cooperation with Crikvenica, and preparations begin on August 24, 2026. The league starts on October 10. "I expect it to be easier because some players are already offering themselves to us, given that we achieved a good result last season." The club has become an attractive environment for young players, and loans from Kvarner and Škrljevo have been announced. The primary goal remains staying in the league.
