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Beyond the Association => Global Basketball => Topic started by: JSD on December 25, 2016, 06:57:08 AM

Title: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: JSD on December 25, 2016, 06:57:08 AM
Dražen Petrović, Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoč, Dino Rađa,


Talk about stacked.
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: JSD on December 25, 2016, 06:59:05 AM
Watching this 30/30 on ESPN

Never realized how stacked that team was.
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: JSD on December 25, 2016, 07:18:50 AM
IF that team wasn't broken up because of the Yugoslavian civil war, could they have given the Dream Team a game?
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: hpantazo on December 25, 2016, 08:50:04 AM
Wow, never realized that! Definitely a stacked international team, but as for giving the original Dream Team a tough matchup, I doubt it. That is 4 great players vs 12 great players, that US team was the most stacked ever, even if Yugoslavia could somehow keep up with their starters, the bench would get crushed.
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: Redz on December 25, 2016, 09:30:47 AM
Not exactly a defensive juggernaut, but those guys could sure abd create.
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: Eja117 on December 25, 2016, 10:04:04 AM
Toni K's team alone gave the Dream Team a respectable game.

Here's another one just for fun....The Lithuanian team came in 3rd...what if the Soviet Union had broken up in 1993 instead of 1991? Just to note the Unified Team's women won gold. The men's came in 4th. Add the Baltics to the rest of the SSR and it's hard to say how that turns out.

I suppose an objection is that this is like having the US compete against 15 different countries trying to gang up, but our population is more than double theirs. Right?
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: rickyfan3.0... on December 25, 2016, 11:05:56 AM
Nice Team, but don't get carried away, Dream Team beats them by a LOT.

Merry Xmas!
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: KGs Knee on December 25, 2016, 11:29:30 AM
Yeah, that would have been a good team. But still no comparison to the Dream Team.

A better question would be, how good would Yugoslavia now if they were still a country. Dragic, Bogdanovic, Mirotic, Jokic, Nurkic. That would be a strong starting five.
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: Eja117 on December 25, 2016, 11:37:23 AM
In hindsight looking at the box scores the dream team beat Lithuania by 50ish and Croatia by 30ish and they used their entire team.

Still.

I guess you're not really trying to get a team that could beat the Dream Team. You're trying to find a team that could lose by less than 12, and I'm not sure that could happen.

Except for the college all stars that beat the Dream Team. I woulda liked to see how they woulda done in the Olympics. I think they coulda won. And those college all stars didn't even have Laetner. It also didn't have Shaq and they beat the Dream Team by 20.
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: vgulab on December 25, 2016, 12:14:40 PM
That Yugoslavia team wasn't just 4 players. Yes Drazen, Vlade, Toni, Dino were the stars but that team was deeper.  And i believ that in USA most people didn't knew all the players and how good they were. Probably dream team would still win but that would be a game to watch.

Zarko Paspalj - played for Spurs in 89, euroleuge finals mvp in 94

Zoran Savić- played for Barcelona and Real Madrid, 3 time euroleague champion, euroleague best scorer in 91, euroleague mvp in 98

Predrag Danilović - maybe the best SG in europe in the 90ties, 2 time euroleague champion, euroleague mvp 92, euroleague top scorer 95, player in nba for Heat and Mavs

Aleksandar Đorđević - part of top 50 players od all time in europe, played for Barcelona, Real Madrid, and in nba for Trail Blazers, 2 time bese european player

Velimir Perasović- 5 time best scorer in spanish league, 3 time euroleague champion

Radisav Ćurčić - played for Mavs in 92

Stojko Vranković - played in NBA 5 seasons for Celtics, Clipers and Wolves


Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: JSD on December 25, 2016, 02:10:46 PM
Quote from: eja117 on December 25, 2016, 11:37:23 AM
I guess you're not really trying to get a team that could beat the Dream Team. You're trying to find a team that could lose by less than 12, and I'm not sure that could happen.

That's it. That's pretty much what I meant. This Yugoslavia team could have possibly kept it under 20.
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: JSD on December 25, 2016, 02:11:33 PM
Quote from: vgulab on December 25, 2016, 12:14:40 PM
That Yugoslavia team wasn't just 4 players. Yes Drazen, Vlade, Toni, Dino were the stars but that team was deeper.  And i believ that in USA most people didn't knew all the players and how good they were. Probably dream team would still win but that would be a game to watch.

Zarko Paspalj - played for Spurs in 89, euroleuge finals mvp in 94

Zoran Savić- played for Barcelona and Real Madrid, 3 time euroleague champion, euroleague best scorer in 91, euroleague mvp in 98

Predrag Danilović - maybe the best SG in europe in the 90ties, 2 time euroleague champion, euroleague mvp 92, euroleague top scorer 95, player in nba for Heat and Mavs

Aleksandar Đorđević - part of top 50 players od all time in europe, played for Barcelona, Real Madrid, and in nba for Trail Blazers, 2 time bese european player

Velimir Perasović- 5 time best scorer in spanish league, 3 time euroleague champion

Radisav Ćurčić - played for Mavs in 92

Stojko Vranković - played in NBA 5 seasons for Celtics, Clipers and Wolves

Some good stuff here. How do you know all this information?
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: Eddie20 on December 25, 2016, 02:20:23 PM
Quote from: vgulab on December 25, 2016, 12:14:40 PM
That Yugoslavia team wasn't just 4 players. Yes Drazen, Vlade, Toni, Dino were the stars but that team was deeper.  And i believ that in USA most people didn't knew all the players and how good they were. Probably dream team would still win but that would be a game to watch.

Zarko Paspalj - played for Spurs in 89, euroleuge finals mvp in 94

Zoran Savić- played for Barcelona and Real Madrid, 3 time euroleague champion, euroleague best scorer in 91, euroleague mvp in 98

Predrag Danilović - maybe the best SG in europe in the 90ties, 2 time euroleague champion, euroleague mvp 92, euroleague top scorer 95, player in nba for Heat and Mavs

Aleksandar Đorđević - part of top 50 players od all time in europe, played for Barcelona, Real Madrid, and in nba for Trail Blazers, 2 time bese european player

Velimir Perasović- 5 time best scorer in spanish league, 3 time euroleague champion

Radisav Ćurčić - played for Mavs in 92

Stojko Vranković - played in NBA 5 seasons for Celtics, Clipers and Wolves

Sasha was a really good shooter.
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: moiso on December 25, 2016, 02:41:08 PM
Quote from: JSD on December 25, 2016, 07:18:50 AM
IF that team wasn't broken up because of the Yugoslavian civil war, could they have given the Dream Team a game?
How many all star games between all of those players?  Not as many all out together as any individual dream teamer not named Laettner.
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: JSD on December 25, 2016, 02:51:18 PM
Quote from: moiso on December 25, 2016, 02:41:08 PM
Quote from: JSD on December 25, 2016, 07:18:50 AM
IF that team wasn't broken up because of the Yugoslavian civil war, could they have given the Dream Team a game?
How many all star games between all of those players?  Not as many all out together as any individual dream teamer not named Laettner.

Okay... But that Yugoslavia team destroyed the USA team in 1990, a team that had Zo and Kenny Anderson. 2 players that individually had more all-star appearances than that entire Yugoslavia team combined. So that isn't a valid argument.

Like I said earlier in the thread, eja117 had it right. The discussion is more, "Could they have avoided being blown out" and I agree with that. Dream team obviously would have won.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VbiIgXMDJo
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: JSD on December 25, 2016, 02:56:39 PM
Also, players on that Yugoslavia team didn't play in the NBA until their mid 20s.

Dino - 27 years old his rookie year.
Kukoc - 26 Years old.
Drazen - 26 Years old.

Vlade at 22, was the only player to come into the NBA at a typical rookie age.
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: vgulab on December 28, 2016, 08:21:56 AM
Quote from: JSD on December 25, 2016, 02:11:33 PM
Quote from: vgulab on December 25, 2016, 12:14:40 PM
That Yugoslavia team wasn't just 4 players. Yes Drazen, Vlade, Toni, Dino were the stars but that team was deeper.  And i believ that in USA most people didn't knew all the players and how good they were. Probably dream team would still win but that would be a game to watch.

Zarko Paspalj - played for Spurs in 89, euroleuge finals mvp in 94

Zoran Savić- played for Barcelona and Real Madrid, 3 time euroleague champion, euroleague best scorer in 91, euroleague mvp in 98

Predrag Danilović - maybe the best SG in europe in the 90ties, 2 time euroleague champion, euroleague mvp 92, euroleague top scorer 95, player in nba for Heat and Mavs

Aleksandar Đorđević - part of top 50 players od all time in europe, played for Barcelona, Real Madrid, and in nba for Trail Blazers, 2 time bese european player

Velimir Perasović- 5 time best scorer in spanish league, 3 time euroleague champion

Radisav Ćurčić - played for Mavs in 92

Stojko Vranković - played in NBA 5 seasons for Celtics, Clipers and Wolves

Some good stuff here. How do you know all this information?

I'm from Macedonia, which was part of Yugoslavia until 1991
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: Androslav on December 28, 2016, 08:43:04 AM
I remember a couple of years ago, one Croatian daily newspaper wrote a nice piece about this team.
I went something like:
...They had youth and experience, they had great big men, they had great creators, deep bench, they had a unique chemistry from all the years of playing together, world gold around their necks...
The only thing they didn't have, was a national team to defend that gold for.

As a Croatian, I like the way it played out. Silver in Barca is for the ages.
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: Moranis on December 28, 2016, 09:40:30 AM
Quote from: JSD on December 25, 2016, 02:51:18 PM
Quote from: moiso on December 25, 2016, 02:41:08 PM
Quote from: JSD on December 25, 2016, 07:18:50 AM
IF that team wasn't broken up because of the Yugoslavian civil war, could they have given the Dream Team a game?
How many all star games between all of those players?  Not as many all out together as any individual dream teamer not named Laettner.

Okay... But that Yugoslavia team destroyed the USA team in 1990, a team that had Zo and Kenny Anderson. 2 players that individually had more all-star appearances than that entire Yugoslavia team combined. So that isn't a valid argument.

Like I said earlier in the thread, eja117 had it right. The discussion is more, "Could they have avoided being blown out" and I agree with that. Dream team obviously would have won.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VbiIgXMDJo
a bunch of college kids though (many of which did nothing in the NBA), not NBA Hall of Famers mostly in their prime. 

here is the Team USA roster

http://archive.usab.com/mens/national/mwc_1990.html
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: Androslav on December 28, 2016, 11:08:10 AM
Just to add some context to the story.

Yu-league was the 2nd best basketball league in the world at the time (with 0 foreign talent). It remained at that level for about 15 years, through 70's and 80's. So this world gold was a product of a longterm program. The Greek, Turkish and Spanish clubs were deficient in overall talent to compete. Even though they had some influx of cash to help them import some American or Euro talent. Russian clubs (red army's CSKA) and Lithuanian Žalgiris (part of USSR at the time) were probably the biggest obstacles fo Yu-clubs to overcome. Along with USSR Nat team.
This longterm Euro dominance was made possible by one Socialistic sport policy. Players can go international after they are 28 years old and have served some sort of army service. Imagine that guys, some HOFers in their primes staying home. The age limit was less rigorous as the years from Tito's death passed. Dražen Petrović went to Real Madrid with I believe 23 or 24 years, for a record sum.
That army service I mentioned usualy became 6 months of preparation for the big international competitions. The coaches could drill every single thing, like a specific lineup (usualy anti-Soviet) or zone defense (for Americans) for months and months. Also, since almost no one went to play for foreign teams, the whole national squad was home, free from club activities. Available at all times. The chemistry was amazing on some teams. They were partialy isolated. On some mountains without much (and chosen) press to bother them. Guys like Divac and Rađa would go together to a local village to buy some cheese and cream from a granny. That sounds like it happened such a long time ago.

So compare a talented generation of full grown men, playing in the 2nd best league, with months of preparation and have been playing for years against 19/20 year olds.
They never stood a chance.
Title: Re: Yugoslavia Basketball 1990
Post by: greece66 on January 24, 2017, 03:50:40 PM
@Androslav

that was a fantastic comment!

I'd like to add that the Italians had pretty strong teams too

I copy-paste here Wikipedia's table of the winners of the Champions' Cup (the precursor to the Euroleague) between 1973 and 2001

(https://i.gyazo.com/10595954ce1c794cf7f8b488f49083f9.png)