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ZORAN SLAVNIC - 101 Greats of European Basketball

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Vladimir Stankovic<br />

Slavnic made his <strong>of</strong>ficial debut with the Yugoslav<br />

first team in 1970 in some exhibition games, but Zeravica<br />

didn’t trust him and he didn’t play in the 1971 Euro-<br />

Basket or the 1972 Olympics in Munich. With his special<br />

sense <strong>of</strong> humor, Slavnic accepted the situation, saying<br />

<strong>of</strong> Zeravica, “Even the best are also wrong sometimes.”<br />

He added with irony that Zeravica “made my career longer<br />

because I started to damage myself later.”<br />

At the 1973 EuroBasket in Barcelona, where Yugoslavia<br />

won its first medal, Slavnic finished the tournament<br />

with 8.1 points per game. He made the national<br />

team and did not leave it until he retired in 1983 after<br />

EuroBasket in Nantes. His career average was 8.3<br />

points per game, with his highest being 12.5 points at<br />

the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. It was there that Slavnic<br />

scored one <strong>of</strong> the most important baskets <strong>of</strong> his career.<br />

In the game against Italy to decide the second semifinalist,<br />

the Italians were ahead at the break, 57-41. It<br />

looked like a desperate situation, but little by little the<br />

Yugoslavs trimmed the deficit. On the game’s last possession,<br />

with the ball in their hands, the Blues were only<br />

one point down. After good ball circulation, Slavnic was<br />

left open, and from about 7 meters out, he scored at<br />

the buzzer the basket that would take Yugoslavia to the<br />

semis and later to the final.<br />

During those 10 years, Slavnic was the starting<br />

point guard <strong>of</strong> a great Yugoslav team. In the end, he<br />

played 179 games (150 wins, 29 losses) and scored<br />

1,465 points. Scoring was not his thing, but he is still<br />

one <strong>of</strong> the best scorers in the history <strong>of</strong> the national<br />

team. The ball in his hands was like it had been inside<br />

a safe. He turned over very few balls and he had many<br />

more steals. He was good at shooting and especially<br />

had great court vision for unbelievable assists. Usually,<br />

the starting five on the team was Slavnic, Kicanovic,<br />

Dalipagic, Jelovac (or Zeljko Jerkov) and Cosic. Even<br />

though he had the ball in his hands most <strong>of</strong> the time,<br />

Slavnic himself acknowledged that Kreso Cosic was the<br />

leader <strong>of</strong> that team. For Slavnic, and many others, Cosic<br />

was the best Yugoslav player ever.<br />

If Cosic was the basketball leader, Slavnic surely was<br />

the main attraction. He was also willing to joke or find<br />

a way to motivate his teammates. At the 1978 World<br />

Cup in Manila, in a crucial moment during a tough game<br />

against Brazil, the team was in a timeout just before<br />

Mirza Delibasic was to take free throws. Slavnic <strong>of</strong>fered<br />

a bet to Mirza: “I bet you 100 dollars that you do not<br />

score both attempts.”<br />

Delibasic took the bet and calmly scored both free<br />

throws, which was what Moka wanted.<br />

With Crvena Zvezda, Slavnic won two Yugoslav<br />

League titles, in 1962 and 1972. He played twice in<br />

the EuroLeague, but without remarkable results. He<br />

would not be empty-handed at the club level, however.<br />

After losing the 1972 Saporta Cup final in Thessaloniki<br />

against Simmenthal Milano 74-70, despite Slavnic’s 12<br />

points, Crvena Zvezda won the same competition in<br />

1974 in Udine, Italy. The team beat Spartak Brno 86-<br />

75 with 20 points by Slavnic, 19 by Simonovic and 23<br />

by Kapicic. The following year, in the final <strong>of</strong> the same<br />

competition in Nantes, Zvezda lost to Spartak Saint<br />

Petersburg, led by Aleksandar Belov, 63-62. Slavnic<br />

scored 21 points, but Simonovic (5) and Kapicic (3)<br />

were not at their expected level. Slavnic made his debut<br />

in the Crvena Zvezda first team in 1968-69 under coach<br />

Milan Bjegojevic and stayed through 1977, playing 222<br />

games and scoring 2,829 points (12.7 ppg.) for the club.<br />

Champion with Joventut<br />

After the 1977 EuroBasket in Belgium, Slavnic<br />

336<br />

337

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