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top scorers <strong>of</strong> the Yugoslav League averaged below 30<br />
points, and then by a small margin, just three times!<br />
Those three times were all by Radmilo Misovic <strong>of</strong> Borac<br />
Cacak, with 29.5 points in 1967-68, 28.2 points in 1968-<br />
69 and 29.4 points in 1970-71. That league featured<br />
some true scoring aces, ranging from Korac (38.0 ppg.<br />
in 1958) to Misovic, Solman and Plecas and finally to<br />
Dragan Kicanovic and Drazen Dalipagic.<br />
On the eve <strong>of</strong> the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Plecas<br />
was pulled from the national team for a reason that<br />
would seem incomprehensible today. He was kicked out<br />
for “violating the principles <strong>of</strong> amateurism” because he<br />
had featured in a commercial for tea! In the federation,<br />
they were worried about the possible reaction by the<br />
International Olympic Committee with American Avery<br />
Brundage, who was very conservative, at the helm. Plecas<br />
was convinced that it was some sort <strong>of</strong> scheme to<br />
free one place for another player.<br />
Over seven years, Plecas had been a fixture on the<br />
national team, playing 215 games and scoring 1,315<br />
points. After that, his relationship with Mirko Novosel, the<br />
coach <strong>of</strong> the national team and, starting in the fall <strong>of</strong> 1976,<br />
Cibona, got worse. After 10 years, 204 games and 5,404<br />
points (26.5 per game!) in the Yugoslav League, Plecas<br />
decided to leave Cibona. He signed for modest Kvarner Rijeka<br />
and played at his usual level the first season, averaging<br />
28.9 points. But in his second season there, he played<br />
just nine games, and at 30 years old practically vanished<br />
into thin air. With 6,192 points scored, he ranks seventh all<br />
time and his scoring average is sixth all time.<br />
Plecas was a scoring machine. Standing at 1.87 meters,<br />
he was a shooting guard who could also play the<br />
point because <strong>of</strong> his technique. He was a natural scorer<br />
with a privileged touch. His shooting percentages were<br />
always high and his numbers, impressive ... and without<br />
three-pointers! With those, Plecas would have scored<br />
even more. He was also a good rebounder, but his main<br />
weapons were his shot and his penetration. He was able<br />
to drive through the forests <strong>of</strong> arms and legs to find the<br />
spot to score. Also, he was a fighter with strong character.<br />
His special play was what they would call today the<br />
Euro-step. Plecas patented that shot on the third step,<br />
using the backboard a lot. He says that many coaches<br />
tried to correct his “irregular shot” but Marijan Katineli,<br />
his coach at Mladost and later at Lokomotiva, saw it as<br />
an advantage and encouraged him to perfect it.<br />
Ivica Dukan, who was a forward at Jugoplastika<br />
Split for 11 years and has been with the Chicago Bulls<br />
as assistant general manager for the last 20 years, told<br />
me: “I agree with your list <strong>of</strong> best players from Zagreb.<br />
Plecas was number one, a great player. I played against<br />
him and I remember that it was very hard to stop him<br />
because <strong>of</strong> his atypical shot, on the third step, without<br />
any balance and from impossible angles.”<br />
Plecas explained that he never lifted weights and<br />
that his practices were always with the ball. He says<br />
that in his era, <strong>of</strong>fensive plays lasted from 7 to 11<br />
seconds and now they take about 20 seconds. When<br />
teams score 55 points, he says, everybody talks about<br />
“good defense” and not about bad <strong>of</strong>fense. His idols<br />
were Ivo Daneu <strong>of</strong> Olimpija (because <strong>of</strong> his perfection<br />
and vision), Miodrag Nikolic <strong>of</strong> OKK Belgrade (because<br />
<strong>of</strong> his technique) and Pino Djerdja <strong>of</strong> Zadar (because <strong>of</strong><br />
his will, desire, hustle and leadership). Daneu was the<br />
captain <strong>of</strong> the great Yugoslav team with whom Plecas<br />
won the 1970 World Cup. But through his game, his<br />
points and his artful baskets, Nikola Plecas earned a<br />
place forever in the memories <strong>of</strong> those who were fortunate<br />
enough to see him play.<br />
It was a true privilege.<br />
<strong>101</strong> greats <strong>of</strong> european basketball<br />
Nikola Plecas<br />
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