Svjetlost Slavonski Brod - young Croatian team enters BIBL

KK Svjetlost Slavonski Brod is the first Croatian team to ever play in the EUROHOLD Balkan League. The team from the town of Slavonski Brod is one of the "rookie" clubs in the BIBL for 2010/2011 season along with HKK Zrinjski Mostar, Balkan Botevgrad and Mures Targu Mures.   Svjetlost Slavonski Brod was found in 1946. The team competes in the top division in Croatia - A1. Last season, the team finished sixth in Group A of the league, where the top 8 teams play in the second phase of the championship, while in the first phase they finished second with a balance of 12-6. The teams that play in the Euroleague and Eurocup dont play in the first phase, like the championship in serbia.   The teams head coach Igor Kovacevic relies mainly on young players from the area, as almost all of the teams foreign players are from the Balkan region. The team had two Serbian players and one Czech last year.   Fran Pilepic, a 193-cm shooting guard, born in 1989 was among the teams leaders, averagint 15.9 points in 32 games in Croatia. Another shooting guard, born in 1989 - 200-cm tall Matej Karlovic was following him with 15.5 points per game, while the 203-cm tall power forward Jurica Spahija had the impressive 17.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.   Last season, the squads average age was 24, as the oldest player was 28, and the youngest was 16.