WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CANADA 1994
In Group B, on the other hand, everything went according to expectations. A downcast Croatia still
recovering from the effects of the civil war and the death of their star player, Drazen Petrovic, in a
car crash won their matches easily, but did not look to be at the same level as in Barcelona where
they won the silver medal. Australia, who had lost Langley but still had Gaze, beat Cuba (93-79) to
take second place in the group. South Korea's contribution was merely to make up the numbers
and add a bit of oriental exoticism.
THE NEW RUSSIA AND THE GERMAN FIASCO
Two teams emerging from the break up of the USSR took part in the Barcelona Olympics.
Lithuania, led by Arvydas Sabonis, won the bronze medal in what was considered an epic
achievement by the young Baltic republic. Russia and the other republics sent a joint team under
the title of the Confederation of Independent States. This was promoted by Russian president
Boris Yeltsin and finished in fourth place. Lithuania failed to qualify for Canada and Russia took
part under their own flag.
The Russian team had rebuilt. Under the orders of the legendary Sergei Belov came to Canada
with high hopes and a group of good players including Mijailov, Babkov, Bazarevich, Kissourin and
Fetissov. The Russians had good centres, accurate shooters and the necessary enthusiasm to
have a good tournament. They had no trouble in winning their three matches, only Canada made
things a bit difficult for them (73-66) but this was resolved by an inspired Babkov.
The hosts, led by their centre Rick Fox, also qualified for the next round in second place in what
was a very weak group. Angola under Conciencao could not repeat their performance in Barcelona
and Argentina was a big disappointment despite the presence of good players such as Nicola,
Espil and Campana.
Germany was considered favourite for the fourth group ahead of Greece and Puerto Rico. They
were the reigning European champions, a title won on home soil the previous year. This surprise
champion came to Canada with the same coach, Dirk Bauermann and the same players, with the
exception of Christian Welp, but they did not have the same attitude and motivation. The absence
of one of their stars, Detlef Schrempf who played for the Seattle Supersonics, did not really count
as he had not played for his country since the Barcelona Olympics.
However, the Germans were to prove one of the biggest disappointments of the tournament. They
had more than enough height and good shooters (especially Michael Koch) but, in the words of
their coach, “not very professional”. This weakness led to their early elimination from the
tournament. They beat Puerto Rico (81-74) and lost to Greece (68-58). As Puerto Rico beat
Greece (72-64) the three-way tie eliminated the Germans on basket difference
CROATIAN FAILURE
At this point in the competition the impression that Croatia could provide an alternative to the USA
was rapidly losing ground. The Russians had given a far better image while the Croatians had
squandered a lot of the credit that they had won in the Barcelona Olympics. The loss of Drazen
Petrovic had left them without a leader and Toni Kokov did not seem able to fill the gap, he
appeared to be more worried about negotiating his multi-million dollar contract with the Chicago
Bulls than assuming his responsibilities within the team.
235
FUNDACIÓN PEDRO FERRÁNDIZ