WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP COLOMBIA 1982
BRAZILIAN FAILURE
Brazil had been the most consistent team in the history of the world championships. In addition to
their two titles (in 1959 and 1963) they had also won two silvers and two bronze medals, but in
Colombia they failed for the first time. The group started on Sunday 15 August with a comfortable
Soviet victory over the Ivory Coast (129-80), Brazil and Australia met in the match that was
expected to decide second place. Australia demonstrated that they were still improving and took
the game by a narrow margin (75-73) to qualify for the next round. Brazil attempted the
impossible in their final game against USSR but succumbed to the Soviet height advantage (99-
92). For the first time in their history, Brazil had failed to qualify for the final round.
There were also a few surprises in group C in Bucaramanga. These did not affect Yugoslavia who
won their three matches, but it was Canada who finished second in the group after beating
Czechoslovakia (104-99). In common with Panama, Canada had a lot of players who had been
formed in US universities. Jay Triano, Greg Wiltjer, Leo Rautins, Gerald Kazanowski and Tony
Simms formed a group that would keep Canada in the basketball elite for years to come. In
addition, in Colombia they had the inestimable help of the centre Bill Wennington. He was a
strong shooter who would carve out a long career in the NBA in various teams including the
Chicago Bulls of Michael Jordan.
After the first round Yugoslavia and the USSR went into the next phase with the advantage of
being undefeated. The valid scores brought forward gave the USA problems because they started
with a defeat (against Spain).
A POOR COLOMBIA
The host team was waiting in Cali with few hopes of success. Colombia had never been a
basketball power and the organisation of the competition did nothing to change the situation. On
the contrary, it showed the country at its worst.
The Colombian team was coached by the American Jim McGregor, but in the days leading up to
the competition he had more work in the offices than on the court. The Colombian players were
upset about the lack of support from their federation and called a strike while the preliminary
phase was being played demanding greater moral and financial support. Only the intervention of
the coach persuaded them to return to their training.
The truth is that the Colombians would have been better off staying on strike. Their lack of ability
was evident right from the start of their first match against Spain in the “Auditorio del Pueblo”
arena. The score at half time (75-34) and at full time (137-84) gave a true reflection of a team
who quickly lost the support of the 20,000 crowd.
This thrashing was only the beginning of their woes. Their suffering continued against the USSR
(143-76) and the USA took pity on them (100-83). They showed a slight improvement against
Australia (72-63) but were unable to chalk up a single victory. To make things worse they were
without their coach for the final game against Canada (107-79). He had been arrested by the
police. The official reason was that there were problems with his visa but it was widely believed
that he had refused to lead the team as he had not been paid the $12,000 he had been
promised.
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FUNDACIÓN PEDRO FERRÁNDIZ