Borce Ilievski (born August 3, 1972) is a Macedonian-Icelandic professional basketball coach. In 2019 he was named the Úrvalsdeild karla Coach of the Year after guiding ÍR to the Úrvalsdeild finals.

Borce Ilievski
Fjölnir
PositionHead coach
League1. deild karla
Personal information
Born (1972-08-03) August 3, 1972 (age 52)
Štip, Macedonia, Yugoslavia
NationalityMacedonian / Icelandic
Career information
Playing career1988–1994
Career history
As player:
1988–1992BC Stip
1992–1993BC Sloga
1993–1994BC Madjari Skopje
As coach:
1998–2003BC Stip
2004–2005BC Polo Trejd
2006KFÍ (assistant)
2006–2010KFÍ
2010–2011Tindastóll
2012Bolungarvík
2012–2014Breiðablik
2015ÍR (assistant)
2015–2021ÍR
2022–presentFjölnir
Career highlights and awards
As coach:

Coaching career

edit

In 2006, Ilievski was hired as an assistant coach to KFÍ's men's team as well as the head coach of the club's youth program.[1] He took over as head coach of the men's team in end of November 2006 after Baldur Ingi Jónasson resigned.[2] After winning the 1. deild karla with the team in 2010, and achieving promotion to the top-tier Úrvalsdeild karla, Ilievski was not retained by the club at the conclusion of his contract despite also being the 1. deild karla Coach of the Year.[3]

In May 2010, Ilievski went on to sign with Úrvalsdeild club Tindastóll.[4] He guided Tindastóll to a 9th-place finish with a 7–14 record during his first season.[5] He resigned as head coach three games into his second season after a disagreement with board about the need to strengthen the roster.[6]

He guided 2. deild karla club Bolungarvík for the final games of the 2011–2012 season, where the team bowed out in the first round of the playoffs.[7][8]

In June 2012, Ilievski was hired as the head coach of Breiðablik.[9] After guiding the team to a 9–9 record, he received a two-year contract extension in April 2013.[10] In December 2014, he was relieved of his duties as head coach by the board of Breiðablik.[11]

After starting the 2015–2016 as an assistant coach to ÍR, Ilievski was promoted to head coach when Bjarni Magnússon resigned as head coach six games into the season.[12][13] He guided the club to the playoffs during his second season where it was swept by Stjarnan in the first round.[14]

In 2018, Ilievski led ÍR to the second best record in the league.[15] They faced Stjarnan in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight year in what turned out to be a heated series. In game three of the series, Stjarnan's Hlynur Bæringsson was fouled hard by ÍR's Ryan Taylor[16] After the game he experienced concussion like symptoms[17] and was ultimately ruled out of game four which Stjarnan eventually lost after Danero Thomas scored the game winning basket at the buzzer.[18] Although Taylor received an unsportsmanlike foul, he was not ejected from the game.[19] After the game he received a three-game suspension from the league.[20] In the semi-finals, ÍR ultimately lost to Tindastóll in four games.[21]

In February 2019, Ilievski led ÍR to the semi-finals of the Icelandic Cup where it faced Stjarnan in a tension filled game were fighting broke out between fans during the game.[22] ÍR ultimately lost the game, 87–73.[23] In the Úrvalsdeild, ÍR finished with the 7th best record and faced second seed Njarðvík in the first round. After losing the first two games in the best-of-five series, ÍR unexpectedly won the next three and knocked out Njarðvík.[24] In the semi-finals, ÍR faced top-seed and heavy title favorites Stjarnan. After losing the first game by 33 points,[25] ÍR bounced back and took the next two games before Stjarnan tying the series with a comfortable 90–75 victory in game four.[26] In game five, ÍR came out on top with an 83–79 victory and advanced to the finals.[27][28] In the finals, ÍR lost 2–3 to KR after leading 2–1. After the season, Ilievski was named as the Úrvalsdeild Coach of the Year.[29]

Ilievski resigned from ÍR following a 0–3 start to the 2021–22 season.[30]

In May 2022, Ilievski was hired as the head coach of Fjölnir men's team.[31]

Head coaching record

edit
Season Team Tier League Pos. W–L Playoffs Icelandic Cup
2006–07 KFÍ 2 1. deild karla 6th 5–9 DNQ N/A1
2007–08 KFÍ 2 1. deild karla 6th 8–10 DNQ 1st Round
2008–09 KFÍ 2 1. deild karla 5th 11–7 Semi-finals 1st Round
2009–10 KFÍ 2 1. deild karla 1st 16–2 N/A 2nd Round
2010–11 Tindastóll 1 Úrvalsdeild karla 9th 7-15 DNQ Semi-finals
2011–12 Tindastóll 1 Úrvalsdeild karla 11th 0-3 N/A N/A
2011–12 Bolungarvík 3 2. deild karla Group B 3rd 1–0 1st Round N/A
2012–13 Breiðablik 2 1. deild karla 6th 9-9 DNQ 1st Round
2013–14 Breiðablik 2 1. deild karla 5th 10-8 1st Round 1st Round
2014–15 Breiðablik 2 1. deild karla N/A 4-5 N/A 1st Round
2015–16 ÍR 1 Úrvalsdeild karla 10th 4-12 DNQ N/A1
2016–17 ÍR 1 Úrvalsdeild karla 7th 11-11 1st Round 2nd Round
2017–18 ÍR 1 Úrvalsdeild karla 2nd 16-6 Semi-finals 3rd Round
2018–19 ÍR 1 Úrvalsdeild karla 7th 10-12 Finals Semi-finals
2019–20 ÍR 1 Úrvalsdeild karla 7th 11-10 Canceled2 1st round
2020–21 ÍR 1 Úrvalsdeild karla 10th 8-14 DNQ Semi-finals
2021–22 ÍR 1 Úrvalsdeild karla 12th 0-3 N/A 2nd round3

Notes

edit
1 The team was eliminated from the Cup prior to Ilievski's hiring.
2 Playoffs and final regular season game canceled because of the COVID-19 outbreak in Iceland.[32]
1 ÍR had advanced to the 2nd round of the Cup prior to Ilievski's resignation.

Titles and awards

edit

Titles

edit

Awards

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Körfubolti í Makedóníu og á Ísafirði" (PDF). Bæjarins Besta (in Icelandic). 16 November 2006. p. 14. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Baldur hættir sem þjálfari KFÍ". karfan.is (in Icelandic). 28 November 2006. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  3. ^ Sigurður Elvar Þórólfsson (6 October 2010). "Langelstur í liðinu". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Borce Ilievski tekur við liði Tindastóls". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 8 May 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Á þá ósk heitasta að fjölskyldan sameinist á Sauðárkróki". Feykir (in Icelandic). 21 April 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Borce Ilievski vill þjálfa áfram á Íslandi". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 27 October 2011. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Úrslitadraumurinn úti". UMFB Basketball (in Icelandic). 24 March 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2019.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Úr Sarpinum: Bolungarvík Vs. Álftanes". fusijama.tv (in Icelandic). 23 July 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Borce tekur við Blikum – samið við lykilleikmenn". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). 20 June 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  10. ^ Jón Björn Ólafsson (15 April 2013). "Blikar framlengja við Borce til tveggja ára". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  11. ^ Jón Björn Ólafsson (3 December 2014). "Borce hverfur frá meistaraflokki Breiðabliks". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  12. ^ Tómas Þór Þórðarson (18 November 2015). "Bjarni: Liðið getur betur og því varð ég að líta í eigin barm og stíga til hliðar". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  13. ^ Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (18 November 2015). "ÍR-ingar réðu aðstoðarþjálfara Bjarna". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  14. ^ Kristinn G. Friðriksson (22 March 2017). "Leik lokið: Stjarnan - ÍR 75-72 - Stjarnan sópaði ÍR í frí". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  15. ^ Skúli B. Sigurðsson (8 March 2018). "ÍR í öðru sæti og mætir Stjörnunni". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  16. ^ Anton Ingi Leifsson (22 March 2018). "Hlynur steinlá eftir högg Taylor - Verðskuldaði þetta brottvísun?". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  17. ^ Einar Sigurvinsson (23 March 2018). "Hlynur Bærings: Á ekki von á að Ryan Taylor spili meira". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  18. ^ Þór Símon Hafþórsson (25 March 2018). "Umfjöllun og viðtöl: Stjarnan - ÍR 69-71 - Danero Thomas skaut ÍR í undanúrslit". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  19. ^ Kristófer Kristjánsson (22 March 2018). "Stjörnumenn æfir út í olnbogaskot Taylors". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  20. ^ "Ryan Taylor í þriggja leikja bann". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 24 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  21. ^ "Ilievski áfram með ÍR – Sigvaldi kominn í ÍR". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 25 May 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  22. ^ Þorkell Gunnar SIgurbjörnsson (15 February 2019). "Öryggisgæslan efld eftir slagsmál í Höllinni". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  23. ^ Víkingur Goði Sigurðarson (18 April 2019). "Umfjöllun og viðtöl: Stjarnan - ÍR 87-73 - Stjarnan of stór biti fyrir ÍR". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  24. ^ Einar Örn Jónsson (1 April 2019). "ÍR sendi Njarðvík út og komst í undanúrslit". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  25. ^ Víkingur Goði Sigurðarson (4 April 2019). "Umfjöllun og viðtöl: Stjarnan - ÍR 96-63 - Auðvelt hjá Stjörnunni í fyrsta leik". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  26. ^ Jóhann Ingi Hafþórsson (18 April 2019). "Dómararnir stjórnuðu því sem fór fram". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  27. ^ Jóhann Ingi Hafþórsson (18 April 2019). "Höldum áfram að spila með hjartanu". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  28. ^ Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (19 April 2019). "Mesta þjálfaraafrek í sögu úrslitakeppninnar". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  29. ^ Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (10 May 2019). "Helena og Kristófer valin best annað tímabilið í röð". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  30. ^ Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (22 October 2021). "Borce Ilievski hættur með ÍR-liðið". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  31. ^ Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson (26 May 2022). "Borche tekur við Fjölni". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  32. ^ Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (18 March 2020). "Körfuboltatímabilið blásið af - Engir Íslandsmeistarar". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 18 March 2020.