WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ATHENS 1998
The final was between Yugoslavia and Russia, two teams that had started he championship in the
same group. The result of the first meeting had been a Yugoslav victory after overtime, ten days
later Obradovic's men won again in a very slow, tactical match with a score line unworthy of a
major final, 64-62.. In addition to the lack of quality there was also a lack of emotion. It was not
that there were no talented players on the court, there were, the problem was that they cancelled
each other out. Obradovic and Belov were playing chess instead of basketball. Moreover the king
of the final wasn't Bodiroga as one might have imagined after his performance in the semi-final,
nor was it Djordjevic but Rebraca, the long-armed centre with the serious face who, with four
blocks, 16 points and 11 rebounds blocked the route to the hoop for the Russians who had come
out with a team prepared to take more risks than the Yugoslavs, but it wasn't their day. Their main
shooters, Karassev and Babkov were held to 9 and four points respectively. It's true that the
former missed a lot of shots (3 from 11 in field shots) but Yugoslavia didn't even give the latter the
chance to shoot (3 shots in 18 minutes). The runner-up lacked a dominant centre to play inside-
outside which would have given rise to more varied play. As it was the Russian play in Athens was
excessively based on the long shot.
Yugoslavia were champions, just as in Yugoslavia '70, Philippines '78 and Argentina '90. They had
won with a foundation of a strong defence and a great deal of power. There was no comparison
with the brilliant, vibrant team of eight years earlier. Maybe because of the absences or maybe to
cover up the deficiencies and the state of form of those who came, Obradovic concentrated on
slow, deliberate play in attack and strength in defence. Although they suffered the tactic served
them well: their opponents only scored over 70 points in two of the nine matches they played, this
was achieved by Russia ana Greece, but only after overtime. There can be no reproach for the
defensive framework set up by the Yugoslavs but what could be thrown in their face is that with so
much talent in heir ranks they did not give free reign to their imaginations in attack but preferred
greater security to attacking flair. Perhaps this was because Djordjevic was not on top form, or
maybe because the coach did not put much faith in interior rotation. Obradovic based his team's
attacking play around Bodiroga and Rebraca. Between these two and the rest of their team mates
there was a world of difference in minutes but, above all, in efficiency.
In the end they were the best. They owed this to their defence but the fans were unable to enjoy a
spectacle worthy of a World Championship final.
ALBERTO HERREROS, TOP SCORER
Collectively the Spanish performance could be described as excellent as only two defeats
deserved a higher finish than fifth, and on an individual basis they supplied the tournament's top
scorer, the forward Alberto Herreros beat Artuars Karnisovas to the title by seven points (161-
154). Four years earlier in Argentina 90 had been more prolific, certainly the scores had been
much higher. In Argentina the Australian Andrew Gaze scored an average of 23.9 and the Croat
Dino Raja 22.4 but in Athens Herreros was held to a mere 17.8 and Gaze himself could only reach
16.8. The physiognomy of basketball had changed.
Herreros also shone in other facets: he was the second highest in free-throws (94%) behind Myers
(97%) and also second in fouls provoked (5.4 per match) behind the 7.1 provoked by Karnisovas.
Spain was also represented in he field of assists: Nacho Rodriguez was the third highest passer
(3.2) behind the American Michael Hawkins (4.1) and the Australian Shane Heal (4.0). Alfonso
Reyes shone below the boards he was fifth best in rebounds (7.2), the Argentinean Fabricio
Oberto dominated in the aspect with 10.4.
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FUNDACIÓN PEDRO FERRÁNDIZ