Trifunović was the head coach of the Serbian club Red Star Belgrade during the 2002-03 season and during the month of December during the 2004-05 season. He firmly established his head coaching career in Lithuania with the Lithuanian League club Lietuvos Rytas in the years 2006-2008. Rytas club reached the ULEB Cup finals in the 2006-07 season and the Euroleague Top 16 stage in the 2007-2008 season. He also won the Baltic League championship in 2007 with Rytas. In 2009, he became the head coach of the Russian Super League club Spartak Saint Petersburg. He resigned from the club on November 10, 2009. On December 27, 2009, Trifunovic signed a new one and a half year contract with Red Star Belgrade, before returning to Lietuvos Rytas for the 2010-2011 season. This season Trifunovic took the role of Head coach of BC Zalgiris.
Aleskandar Trifunovic has made the Top 16 almost every season he has been in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. Aleskandar Trifunovic, who did so twice with Lietuvos Rytas, in 2007-08 and 2010-11. Last season, his was the last Euroleague team to beat champion Panathinaikos, in Athens, during the Top 16. Altogether, including a season with Panionios, Trifunovic has a 23-23 record in the Euroleague, 5-7 in the Top 16.
Listen to an interview or Future Stars as Trifunovic answers the following questions;
1) How do you assess your season so far? You didn’t have a chance to go through pre-season with your team but you still managed to reach Top 16 in a quite dramatic fashion.
2) Many so called experts voice an opinion that Group H is least competitive with two clear favourites Maccabi and Barcelona. Surely you don’t subscribe to this opinion. Teams coached by you know how to compete as underdogs and surely you must be fancying your chances to progress to play off stage?
3) You had a tremendous record in Euroleague with Lietuvos Rytas being able to maximise their potential. Now you seem to be doing the same with Zalgiris. What is your recipe for success?
4) We are an organisation which is dealing with high profile events for young players. Please explain why there is a very few young players who play an important role in Euroleague or even Euro Cup teams. In the 80’s or 90’s teams like Jugoplastica and Partizan were able to dominate the European scene being based on a very young players.
5) Which young players impress you mostly this season in Euroleague?
Click on the play icon below to listen to Almantas Kiveris speaking to Aleskandar Trifunovic for Future Stars and hear his answers to the above questions.
18.01.2012