The FIBA World Cup 1974 was held in Puerto Rico, and the tournament marked the Soviet Union return to the top step of the podium.
The seventh World Cup was played from July 3 to 14, and the host cities were San Juan, Caguas and Ponce. Unlike the previous four tournaments, this time the basketball public had the opportunity to watch the 14 best national teams on stage.
In addition to tournament host Puerto Rico and Yugoslavia (reigning champions), the World Cup also included the United States, Cuba, Spain, Brazil, the Soviet Union, Canada, Mexico, Czechoslovakia, Argentina, Australia, the Philippines and the Central African Republic.
In the end, the most interesting thing was that the world champion was decided in a tiebreaker considering that Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and United States had the same record at the end of the championship (6-1).
Tiebreaker that decided the champion
Puerto Rico (host) and Yugoslavia (reigning champion) had the advantage of starting their participation in the FIBA World Cup from the final round. Soviet Union, Brazil, United States, Spain, Cuba and Canada qualified also from the group stage.
Yugoslavia looked like a real “unstoppable force”, which is supported by the triumph over the later winner the Soviet Union (82:79). However, the defeat against United States (91:88) cost Mirko Novosel‘s team the gold medal. The situation would not have been so painful for Yugoslavia if they had not led 50:41 after the first half.
The FIBA World Cup 1974 winner was decided in the game played between Soviet Union and United States. Vladimir Kondrashin‘s team celebrated by 105:94 and the Soviets won their second world title.
Alexander Salnikov played the game of his life, scoring 38 points, including a cold hand from the free throw, where he shot 14 of 14. United States got into foul trouble early and it was reflected in the final score. Soviet Union had 14 more free throws, as well as better percentages.
After the final round, three teams (Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and United States) had 6-1 record, so a tiebreaker had to be applied. The Soviet Union had +8 (an 11-point win against the USA and a three-point loss to Yugoslavia), the “Blues” were at 0 (the same margin beat Soviet Union and lost to United States), while the USA finished at -8.
A game for records directed by Soviet Union
One of Soviet Union opponents in group A was Central African Republic, which really had the role of an absolute outsider. They finished the group stage with a -156 point difference, and it should be noted that Soviet Union set two hard-to-break records against them.
In the FIBA World Cup 1970 first round, Soviet Union defeated Central African Republic by 140:48, thus achieving a win with the largest margin in the competition history. Also, they set a record for the most points scored in one game (140).
Mexico was better than the Central African Republic by “only” 24 points (106:82), while Brazil had a performance (94:54) similar to that shown by the Soviet Union in the first round.
Spain’s return to the big stage
“La Roja” returned to the big stage after 24 years, and took fifth place at the end of the 1970 FIBA World Cup (4-5 record). Wayne Brabender, Clifford Luyk, Juan Antonio Corbalan, Vicente Ramos, Carmelo Cabrera and Rafael Rullan were just some of the players who “struck the foundations” of Spanish national team cult.
Spain qualified for the second stage from Group B (2-1), thanks primarily to their win over Argentina by 96:89. The final round did not bring much luck, as they only managed to win over Puerto Rico and Brazil until the end.
The contribution of Brabender, Corbalan and Luyk is best illustrated by the fact that in 1991 they were included among the 50 best players in the history of basketball according to FIBA criteria.
Incredible Mexicans – Arturo Guerrero and Manuel Raga
Despite the fact that Mexico did not make it to the FIBA World Cup 1970 final round, the killer duo “Arturo Guerrero – Manuel Raga” left an incredible impression.
Guerrero finished the competition with an average of 27 points, which made him the best scorer of the tournament. Raga had a slightly weaker performance, whose average of 25.8 points brought him second place on the list of the best scorers.
The Mexicans ended their participation in group A with a win and two losses, while in the fight for 9th place they achieved five triumphs (5-0).
It is also interesting that Guerrero was Mexico national team head coach in the period from 1990 to 1994, and from 2009 to 2013. On the other hand, Raga played successfully for Varese and Lugano, but after the end of his playing career, he did not decide to become a coach.
John Lucas MVP
As a young superstar and future first pick in the NBA draft, John Lucas stood out. The American point guard was the Most Valuable Player of the tournament and the player most responsible for the fact that United States won a medal.
Lucas averaged 20.2 points tying him with the legendary Ticky Burden. This earned him the MVP award! Already after the first game when he scored 30 points against the Philippines, it was clear that Lucas would be the first violin of the USA in the tournament.
Lucas’ 16 points condemned Yugoslavia in a game that could have brought Mirko Novosel‘s team a gold medal. On the other hand, 18 points against Soviet Union were not enough for a title-worthy triumph.
John Lucas played only one FIBA World Cup in the USA jersey, and the fact that he scored at least 15 points in every game spoke about the potential that he justified throughout his further NBA career.
Former USA national team point guard has been working as a coach in the best basketball league in the world for 30 years, and his last engagement was with the Houston Rockets.
In addition to Lucas, Alexander Belov and Alexander Salnikov from Soviet Union, Dragan Kicanovic as a representative of Yugoslavia, and Wayne Brabender from Spain were also in the All-Tournament team.