Baskets Oldenburg part ways with coach Calles

Pedro Calles is no longer the coach of the Bundesliga basketball team EWE Baskets Oldenburg. One day after the clear 77:92 defeat at SYNTAINICS MBC in Weißenfels, the club placed the 41-year-old Spaniard on leave. He came from Hamburg Towers in 2022 and signed a contract until 2025. Calles’ successor is Mladen Drijencic. The 59-year-old was head coach in Oldenburg from 2015 to January 2022 and has been working in the Baskets’ youth program again since this summer.

“Our goal is and remains to not only keep the EWE Baskets in the top third of the table at the end of a main round, but also to have a say in the playoffs,” said Hermann Schüller, managing partner of EWE Baskets, according to the announcement as the reason for this the separation from Calles. “In the long term, despite the start to the season so far, which has shown some good results, we see this goal at risk,” he continued. The season is still young and a lot can still be achieved “because the team has the corresponding potential”. After six games, Lower Saxony is in tenth place with three wins and three draws each.