World Cup coaches know what it takes to win

MIES (Switzerland) - When the games are on the line at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019, the players of many of the teams can rest assured their coaches know what they are talking about. For the likes of Sergei Bazarevich, Vincent Collet, Aleksandar Djordjevic, Steve Kerr, Aleksandar Petrovic and Henrik Rodl have been through big games- and come out successful in past World Cups.

The list of coaches who will be patrolling the sidelines in China from August 31 to September 15 is long with playcallers who have won big games - both as a player and/or as a coach. Here a sampling of the coaches who will not shy away from the big moment after having won a medal at the FIBA World Cup.

Sergei Bazarevich, Russia

Bazarevich collected three major medals in his playing career, taking second place with the Soviet Union at the FIBA World Cup 1990 and then grabbing second place at FIBA EuroBasket 1993 for Russia and second place at the FIBA World Cup 1994 as well. Bazarevich has coached Russia's national team since January 2016.

Vincent Collet, France 

France's recent success is not only because of great talent but also the coaching of Collet, under whom the French took third place at the FIBA World Cup 2014, won the FIBA EuroBasket 2013, finished second at EuroBasket 2011 and third at EuroBasket 2015.

Aleksandar Djordjevic, Serbia

Djordjevic is already a legend for his success as a player, a resume that includes the FIBA World Cup title in 1998, the silver medal at the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament 1996 and three FIBA EuroBasket crowns in 1991, 1995 and 1997 - all with Yugoslavia. He also won the 1992 EuroLeague as well as three Korac Cups as a player. And his accolades as a coach have already started to mount impressively, guiding Serbia to second placed finishes at the FIBA World Cup 2014, 2016 Olympics and EuroBasket 2017 as well as leading Segafredo Virtus Bologna to the 2019 Basketball Champions League crown.

Steve Kerr, United States (assistant coach) 

Kerr might not be the head coach of two-time reigning champions United States, but he is a former World Cup champ, having taken the title in 1986 in Spain. Kerr, who will be serving as an assistant to Gregg Popovich, won five NBA crowns as a player and three NBA championships as a head coach.

Yet to make his mark on the national team level but widely regarded as one of the top coaches in the world, Popovich is a five-time NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs and has won the NBA Coach of the Year award three times - in 2003, 2012 and 2014.

Aleksandar Petrovic, Brazil

Petrovic had many highlights as a player, helping Yugoslavia to third placed finishes at the FIBA World Cups in 1982 and 1986 and also grabbing the bronze medal at the Men's Olympic Tournament 1984 and the FIBA EuroBasket 1987, in addition to winning the EuroLeague twice. As a coach, Petrovic, who is the older brother of the legendary Drazen Petrovic, has coached for many clubs throughout Europe. He also guided his native Croatia to third place at EuroBasket 1995 before also serving as head coach for Croatia from 1999 to 2001, Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2012 to 2013 and Croatia again from 2016 to 2017. After that, he took the helm of Brazil and helped them earn qualification to their 18th straight FIBA World Cup.

Henrik Rodl, Germany

Rodl is still young in his national team coaching career, only taking over from Chris Fleming in 2017. But Germany's top young talents need not worry about Rodl's experience in big games. He helped the country to their only FIBA EuroBasket trophy in 1993 as a player and teamed up with Dirk Nowitzki to grab third place at the FIBA World Cup 2002 in the United States - the country's only medal on the global stage.

More with impressive resumes

Those are just a selection of the coaches who have grabbed a World Cup medal either as a player and/or as a coach. Other coaches who will be in China also have impressive resumes.

Nestor Garcia recently took over as Dominican Republic's head coach after a magical run with Venezuela. The Argentina native guided Venezuela to the 2016 Olympics - their first Olympics since 1992 - by winning the FIBA AmeriCup 2015, including a thrilling Semi-Final win over a heavily-favored Canada team laden with NBA players. Garcia then guided Venezuela through the FIBA World Cup qualification back to their first World Cup since 2006 before shifting to the Dominican Republic.

Sergio Hernandez is in his second stint as head coach for Argentina. He guided the South American powers from 2005 to 2010 and then since 2015. His biggest highlight was the bronze medal at the Men's Olympic Tournament 2008 and he also guided the team to the FIBA World Cups in 2006 and 2010, the latter where they finished fifth. In his return to the helm, Hernandez led Argentina to the 2016 Olympics.

Japan head coach Julio Lamas was head coach for Argentina at the FIBA World Cup 1998 and served an assistant coach on the Argentina team that took the bronze at the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament 2008. He returned to the Argentina national team in 2010 and guided the team to the FIBA AmeriCup 2011 title as well as an appearance at the 2012 Olympics and FIBA World Cup 2014. He took over the Japanese national team in 2017.

Nick Nurse was handed the reins to the highly-talented Canada side after guiding the Toronto Raptors to the NBA title - with Spain's senior national team head coach Sergio Scariolo as his assistant coach. But it will not be Nurse's first international experience.  He served as Chris Finch's assistant with the Great Britain national team from 2009 to 2012, including coaching at the FIBA EuroBaskets 2009 and 2011 as well as the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament 2012.

Tunisia head coach Mario Palma will be coaching at his third FIBA World Cup after guiding Angola in 2002 and Jordan in 2010. He helped Angola to four FIBA AfroBasket crowns (1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005) and took the continental crown again in 2017 with Tunisia.

Medals are nothing new to Sergio Scariolo as the Italian coach has an impressive haul for his trophycase. His accolades include the silver medal at the Men's Olympic Tournament 2012, bronze at the 2016 Olympics, three FIBA EuroBaskets golds (2009, 2011 and 2015) to go with a EuroBasket third place in 2017. This will be his third FIBA World Cup with Spain after 2010 and 2014 - but he has yet to guide Spain to the podium after placing sixth in Turkey and fifth at home in the last tournament. And Scariolo will be coming to China after serving as an assistant coach for Toronto Raptors as they won their first-ever NBA title this past season. 

FIBA