WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BRAZIL 1963
In Rio de Janeiro Brazil awaited their rival to start the battle for the medals. The USSR and USA
had shown themselves to be very powerful during the first phase and Yugoslavia was also
considered to be in with a shout. Brazil, however, was the clear favourite but any slip could make
them suffer yet another painful defeat in front of their home crowd.
USA OUT OF THE MEDALS
The beginning of the final round was spectacular. On the first day USA and Yugoslavia fought out
one of the most intense matches ever seen in the World Championships. Yugoslavia, with star
performances from Ivo Daneu and Radivoj, beat USA (75-73) which contained a young Willis Reed
who showed little of the form that would make him MVP and NBA champion with the New York
Knicks in 1970 and 1973. The USA was far from being the team that had enthralled the crowd in
the Rome Olympics three years earlier, nevertheless, in contrast to previous editions they had a
strong squad with the potential to finish in the medals. The match was a wonderful spectacle,
closely fought with some highly talented stars on show. In the end the match was won by
Yugoslavia but the result could have gone either way.
The first-day defeat of the USA affected the posterior development of the tournament as well as
confirming Yugoslavia as a team with possibilities in the competition. Furthermore, the world was
shown that the times of Yugoslavia only appearing in the headlines for off-court affairs was well
and truly over and from then on they would only appear for their outstanding talent and their
manner of understanding and playing basketball. The Yugoslavian basketball factory was starting
to turn out a magnificent product, and in Brazil they gave the world a preview of what was shortly
to astound the basketball world.
This first US defeat put the Americans on the ropes, they had no room for further failure if they
wanted to stay in with a shot at the title or at least a chance of a medal. After an easy victory over
France (81-61) the moment of truth came against the USSR who had also made short thrift of
France in the only game so far in the final phase. As in their match against Yugoslavia, the US
players put up a good show but were unable to finish off their rivals despite leading at half time
(34-40). When the second half began there was an immediate reaction from the Soviet team,
coached by Alexander Gomelski, a coach who was to upset the USA in both the World
Championships and the Olympic Games. A strong defence and great fighting spirit meant that the
USSR went into the final minute of the match with the possibility of victory. In contrast to the USA,
they kept their calm and finally won by a single point (75-74), a result that put USA out of
contention for the gold medal. Once again overconfidence had prevented USA from greater things
in a World Championship.
As the US media paid very little coverage to the World Championships the team's poor
performances had no repercussions among the ever critical US society. The USA saved their best
teams for the Olympics but the fans treated the World Championships with indifference. It would
be a further two decades (in particular after the Olympic disaster suffered in Seoul 1988) before
the USA treated this event with the importance it deserved.
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FUNDACIÓN PEDRO FERRÁNDIZ