WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CANADA 1994
The Russians upset the odds, no-one apart from themselves had much faith in their chances.
Their brilliant start contrasted with that of their rivals. The Croatians were over confident from the
very beginning but the expected genius of Kukov failed to show. However Radja and Komazec
were on top form. Belov's men finished the first half with a nine-point lead and in the second half
the Croatian attempts to pull them back were met by ferocious resistance by the well-organised
Russians who held on for a very tight victory (66-64) to guarantee the silver medal which seemed
like gold. Babkov summed up the match, and indeed their entire tournament in the following
words, “Our greatest asset is our humility. No-one has given us anything. We have always had faith
in ourselves. To us this silver medal is like high carat gold”.
Although the Russians were celebrating their victory, they still had a game to play. Never before
had two teams prepared so little for the final, the Americans because they were supremely
confident; “We're not watching videos or anything like that. We'll say hello to Kukov and Radja and
then we'll beat them”, boasted Shawn Kemp who was not even aware that he would not be playing
against Croatia but Russia. The Russians did not prepare due to lack of time and fatigue after the
semi final.
Croatia won the bronze medal against Greece (78-60) in the curtain opener for the most one-
sided final in the history of the World Championship. Don Nelson shared the minutes evenly
between all his players. He was fed up of all the team problems and wanted to finish as soon as
possible. The game followed the same line as the previous match. The huge difference (137-91)
did nothing to change the image of the champions, as good on the court as it was unbearable off
court.
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FUNDACIÓN PEDRO FERRÁNDIZ