WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP COLOMBIA 1982
A VERY HIGH LEVEL
The presence and misfortunes of the Colombian team was a mere sideshow. The real championship was played out by the other six nations, with special emphasis on the three perennial favourites, USSR, USA and Yugoslavia and Spain who had taken on the mantle vacated by Brazil.
The USSR presented one on the strongest teams in their history, only surpassed by that which won the gold medal in the Seoul Olympics six years later. It had a huge height advantage with Tkachenko, Belostenny and Lopatov joined by a 17-year old Arvydas Sabonis who at 2.18 metres combined the technique of the best forwards with the skill and ball control of an accomplished guard. The Lithuanian element of the Soviet squad was completed by Homicius, Kurtinatis and Iovaisha. They were joined by the accurate Myskhin and Valters and together they comprised a very compact squad with no weak spots at all, not even on the bench as Gomelski had moderated his ways and was acting more coherently. Yugoslavia, the Moscow Olympic champions, were in the twilight of their first great basketball generation. Kikanovic, Dalipagic, Jerkov and Delibasic remained but the new arrivals such as Aleksandar Petrovic could not replace Slavnic. Ranko Zeravica was still at the helm and was quietly preparing the replacement of his fading stars. The US players had recovered from their defeat against Spain in the first round. They realised that it was a setback but they were confident in their abilities and thought they could turn the situation around. A defeat in their first game in Cali against Yugoslavia would leave them with no possibilities of the gold medal. They based their play on the strongest defence in the tournament and, masterfully led by“ Doc” Rivers who scored 20 points, the young US team took advantage of the zone defence set out by Ranko Zeravica to win in the last few minutes( 88-81). The 24 points scored by Kikanovic and the 20 by Dalipagic were not enough for Yugoslavia.
This US victory was beneficial for both Spain and the USSR but Spain then lost virtually all chance after their conclusive defeat against Yugoslavia( 108-91). Diaz Miguel tried everything he could think of from the bench but Martin had a terrible day and not even the 20-point contribution of Sibilio was enough against the shooting of Kikanovic( 26 points) and the inside play of Jerkov and Raduvanovic. Spain could not move up the table and although they beat Canada( 83-80) and Australia( 99-87) their last match was against the USSR. Despite putting up a brave fight against the Soviets the defeat( 106-93) only gave them a chance to play for the bronze medal.
Meanwhile the USA beat Colombia and won a tight match against Canada( 71-69) but the big date in their calendar was 26 August when they were due to play the USSR. The Soviet team remained unbeaten and raised their game against their archrivals Yugoslavia( 99-94). Kikanovic was lethal once again in this match( 28 points) but he could not beat the Soviets by himself. For USSR the match was meaningless as they had already qualified for the gold medal match.
The USA needed to beat the USSR because they still had to play another match against Australia and wanted to avoid any nasty surprises. The Soviets did not take the match very seriously at first but when their rivals started their defensive press and took the lead the USSR reacted, there was nothing at stake but both teams gave a magnificent spectacle. The USA won( 99-93) but the Soviets expected to turn the tables in the match for the gold medal. The 25,000 spectators waited with eager expectation for the spectacle to come.
220 FUNDACIÓN PEDRO FERRÁNDIZ