CHICHO SIBILIO - 101 Greats of European Basketball

Chicho
Sibilio
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The Dominican
shooter
At the end of a recent Spanish League
regular season, some breaking news
emerged: Alberto Corbacho of Blusens
Monbus had established a new record
with an average of 3.21 three-pointers
made per game. Corbacho put an end
to the reign of Chicho Sibilio and his record from 1986-
87 of 3.14 threes per contest – a record that lasted 26
years. I am sure that some of the younger fans are
wondering who Chicho Sibilio is.
This is the story of a great player who arrived from a
small country in the Caribbean that did not have a powerful
national team but featured some interesting players
and a great star: Cándido Antonio Sibilio Hughes,
who was born on October 3, 1958 in San Cristobal,
Dominican Republic, and is simply known as “Chicho”
by the basketball world.
In a great story about him in “Informe Robinson”,
a show on Spanish TV hosted by Mike Robinson, the
player himself said that the great Serbian coach Ranko
Zeravica “fell in love” with him in the mid-1970s. I talked
to Zeravica and he told me an interesting story about
Chicho:
“Through several sources, we got word that in the
Dominican Republic there was a very interesting player.
A shooting guard with NBA potential, whose name
I don’t remember now. So, with Eduardo Portela, then
with FC Barcelona, we set up a tour of the Dominican
national team with the idea of watching that other player
and signing him if he convinced us. It so happened
that I saw a slim small forward who had the touch of
the very best shooters. I told Portela right away that
I wanted this forward and that we had to sign him no
matter what. That’s how we signed Chicho Sibilio at 17
years old.”
That was the start of a brilliant career that ended
in 1993, after 13 years in Barcelona and four more in
Taugres Baskonia of Vitoria. Sibilio played 348 Spanish
League games in which he averaged 28 minutes, 17.3
points on 42% three-point shooting, 58% accuracy on
two-pointers and 79% on free throws. But behind the
numbers we find a versatile player whose 2.00-meter
height allowed him to play every position except point
guard and center. “He was a smart player and he learned
fast, he was willing to work,” explained Zeravica. “However,
his main weapon was always his shooting. Too
bad that triples arrived only in 1984. He spent almost
half of his career without three-pointers.”.
With the arrival of Sibilio, Barcelona formed a lethal
duo of forwards completed by legend Juan Antonio
“Epi” San Epifanio. With a great floor general in Nacho
Solozabal, Barcelona had the core of a great team for
many years. With that team, Sibilio won five Spanish
Leagues (1981, 1983, 1987, 1988 and 1989), eight
Spanish King’s Cups (1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982,
1983, 1987 and 1988), two Saporta Cups (1985, 1986),
one Korac Cup (1987) and one Intercontinental Cup
(1985). In 1992, Sibilio scored his 650th triple and on
April 4, 1993, he became the first Spanish League player
with 6,000 career points.
No EuroLeague crown
Realizing the rough diamond that it held in its
hands, FC Barcelona managed to get a quick nation-
101 greats of european basketball
Chicho Sibilio
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Vladimir Stankovic
alization for Sibilio, which also benefitted the Spanish
national team. Sibilio made his debut at the 1980
Olympics in Moscow. He played 87 games with the red
jersey, scoring 1,324 points and winning a silver medal
at EuroBasket 1983 in Nantes. His last big tourney
with Spain was the 1987 EuroBasket in Athens. Over
the course of those years, Sibilio averaged 16.7 points
per game in FIBA competitions, from the 21.6 at those
Moscow Olympics in 1980 to 10.0 at the 1987 Euro-
Basket.
I think I saw Sibilio live for the first time in Moscow in
1980. After that, our paths crossed at several EuroBaskets
and other competitions. I still remember how the
ease with which he shot caught everyone’s attention.
He needed minimal space to create his shots, which
were true bombs that formed a high arc and almost
always went in! His moves and sixth sense to choose
the best spot for a shot would be a valuable lesson
nowadays in any school for shooters.
Sibilio was also a fast player who was able to run
the break and was a good rebounder. As sometimes
happens with shooters, he was often called out for not
caring much about defending his man, but I always say
it is easier to find or create a defensive specialist than a
great shooter.
Ultimately, throughout his great career, there was
something missing, as has happened with other greats of
European basketball: a EuroLeague title. Sibilio was close
two times, but on both occasions the trophy slipped away.
Barcelona played the 1984 final against Banco di Roma
and lost 79-73 despite Epi’s 31 points. Chicho was not at
his best with only 4 points and poor 2-for-10 shooting that
night. His second chance came in 1989 in Munich, but in
semifinals, Jugoplastika Split, the eventual champ, won
87-77 with the great trio formed by Toni Kukoc (24 points),
Dusko Ivanovic (21) and Dino Radja (18) outdueling Epi
(16), Audie Norris (15) and Chicho (15). In the aftermath of
that defeat in Munich, Sibilio left the team. He then signed
for Baskonia where, with less pressure, he played four
good seasons before retiring at age 35.
There were also other European competitions, of
course. In 1981, Barca lost the Saporta Cup final against
Squib Cantu with just a symbolic contribution by Sibilio
of 3 points. In 1985, in the same competition, Barcelona
defeated Zalgiris Kaunas with Arvydas Sabonis (14
points, 16 rebounds), Rimas Kurtinaitis (36 points) and
Valdemaras Chomicius in the final. Sibilio scored 29
points on great shooting: 8 of 16 twos, 3 of 3 threes
and 4 of 4 free throws. That same year, Barcelona won
the Intercontinental Cup against Monte Libano of Brazil
(93-89) with 39 points by Epi and 27 by Sibilio. Marcel
de Souza had 38 for the opponents. It was a celebration
of three great shooters.
One year later, Barcelona repeated the Saporta
Cup title, this time beating Scavolini Pesaro 101-86 as
Chicho scored 25 points and Epi 20. Sibilio’s trophy
case was completed with the 1987 Korac Cup after a
double win over Limoges as Sibilio totaled 33 points in
the two-game series.
Natural talent
Sibilio’s teammates in Barcelona and with the
Spanish national team described him as a “natural
talent” (Juanma Lopez Iturriaga); “the first pure forward”
(Fernando Romay); “excellent, even without
practicing a lot” (Solozabal). He had something that
great shooters have: it looked like everything he did
was easy, natural, effortless. Of course, it was not like
that, and it was his talent that made so many shots go
in as if it were second nature. He was the top scorer
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Centrobasket Championship. The Dominican Republic,
the host of the event, finished fourth behind Mexico,
Puerto Rico and Cuba. Sibilio never lost his connection
with his home country, where he currently lives. He
coached several local teams and was also a member
of the technical staff of the federation. However, his
biggest job was in his academy, given his desire to produce
a player with the same talent as him. It is a difficult
challenge because Chicho was very good. For me – if we
exclude big powers with long traditions like Argentina,
Brazil and Puerto Rico – he’s the best Latino player ever,
together with Manuel Raga.
Chicho Sibilio
in the Spanish League twice (1986-87 and 1987-88)
and he was chosen MVP of the all-star game in 1990
in Zaragoza.
Even though Sibilio was internationally recognized
as a Spanish player, prior to signing with Barcelona in
1975, he already caught everyone’s attention at the
101 greats of european basketball
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