The trio of Yugoslavia (Dalipagic-Kicanovic-Cosic) led this national team to the gold medal at the 1978 FIBA World Cup, and the debut of Oscar Schmidt was also significant.
By winning the title, Yugoslavia became only the third national team to have won two Mundobaskets. Brazil and Soviet Union had previously succeeded in doing so.
In 1978, Mundobasket was played on the Asian continent for the first time in its history. The Philippines was host. They were the main candidate for organizing the tournament in 1963 as well, but FIBA took that away from them.
The reason is that they did not want to issue visas to socialist countries. Another interesting thing is reflected in the fact that of all the European national teams, Yugoslavia was the only one that had a direct broadcast. None of the other national teams from the Old Continent wanted to agree to it because of the huge prices.
Something else marked the FIBA World Cup 1978 when it comes to broadcasting. The game between Yugoslavia and Brazil could not be watched live by spectators from Yugoslavia. According to reports, the satellite was unavailable, so the footage of the match was released two hours after the end.
New competition format
Before this Mundobasket, every previous time the champion would become the team with the most points won in a second round group where everyone played against everyone. In Manila, it was decided to play the final match and the game for third place based on the positions in the second round.
In this way, apart from the final match as the “icing on the cake” of the whole event, the game for third place and the battle for bronze medal was seen for the first time.
For the second time in a row, 14 teams arrived at the World Cup. Apart from Manila, the tournament was also played in Quezon City. The Soviet Union as reigning champion and the Philippines as the host were the first to secure their spots. They “skipped” group stage (first round) as privileged ones. From Europe, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Italy qualified. Central America was represented by Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and Senegal arrived from Africa as the champion of the “dark continent”.
The best two teams from Asia were China and South Korea, while South America was represented by one of the favorites for the title, Brazil. Australia arrived as a representative of Oceania, and the “wild card” from North America was given to the United States and Canada.
Typhoon “Jenny”
The story ended with a “happy ending”, but it was not far from taking the shape of “Sophocles’ Antigone”. Manila was threatened by a typhoon called “Jenny”. Although the name doesn’t sound so dangerous, the FIBA World Cup 1978 almost didn’t take place at all.
In the end, everything went well. The typhoon bypassed the capital of the Philippines, and Yugoslavia won the second gold medal in an impressive way with ten wins in the same number of games played.
Sad News from Moscow
Alexander Alexandrovich Belov died on October 3, 1978. It was the third day of Mundobasket in Manila. The sad news from Moscow arrived after the 26-year-old basketball player passed away due to a rare disease of some kind of tumor on the heart.
He was remembered in his country mostly because winning basket in the 1972 Olympic Games finals. The Soviet Union then beat the United States in the battle for gold by 51:50. Belov was hero at that time.
In 1991, he was ranked among the 50 best players in the history of FIBA. It is worth emphasizing that Alexander was not related to another famous Belov, Sergey.
“Mirza, listen to your mother…”
The legendary Yugoslav Mirza Delibasic had big problems with back pain throughout the tournament. All this is caused by the ossification of the spine. Even the injections didn’t help. That put a big question mark over his performance in the final. Until his mother called.
Mrs. Delibasic sent a telegram to the Philippines with a clear message. She asked her son to contact the medical staff of the Chinese national team. Acupuncture was her idea, and considering the fact that Mirza played in the final, he obviously listened to his mother and managed to be ready for the duel with the help of ancient Chinese medicine.
Final for history – Yugoslavia vs Soviet Union
The battle for the gold medal was fought by Yugoslavia and Soviet Union. These two teams played one game even before the final. In front of the 18,000 spectators, the TV reporters were amazed by the incredible support for Aleksandar Nikolic‘s team. Yugoslavia then outplayed its big rival by 105:92 for first place in the group. Everyone knew that they would play again in the final, which is what happened in the end.
What they could not predict was an impressive game and the second triumph of the “Blues” in just a few days. We all know how difficult it is to outplay the same opponent twice in the same competition.
That is why Mirza Delibasic presence in the starting five was an even bigger surprise, given the anecdote about his back injury. After the first half, the teams went to the locker room with a score of 41:41.
Interestingly, in the second half, none of the teams managed to achieve an advantage of more than four points. When Dragan Kicanovic scored for 73:71 in the very finish, it seemed that the gold would go to Yugoslavia. However, with 13 seconds left, Anatoly Myskhyn brought things back to the beginning for 73:73 and overtime.
Wisdom, sportsmanship and intelligence
After Ratko Radovanovic overpowered the center of the Soviet Union and drew his fifth personal foul during tip-off for the start of overtime the Russian giant Vladimir Tkachenko (221 cm tall and weighing 140 k)g, had to leave the game.
That was definitely the key factor in this game. In the remaining part of the overtime, the already mentioned tandem Kicanovic – Drazen Dalipagic secured a three-point advantage for Yugoslavia. In the end, that was enough for a minimal triumph and world gold! The two of them scored 38 points combined in this final. On the other side, the “Russian giant” led the way with 14.
With this win, Yugoslavia equalized with Brazil and the Soviet Union, as the only three teams in the world to win the FIBA World Cup twice. In addition, they obviously prevented the dominance of the reigning champions.
Revelation of the tournament: The incredible Oscar Schmidt
Brazilian basket machine, Oscar Schmidt played his first World Cup in Manila. Even though he turned 20 only a few months before the tournament, he lived up to expectations and paved the way for everything he later achieved in his career.
Already in the first game against China, he scored 21 points, to maintain the average against Italy (23) and against Puerto Rico (20), which pushed Brazil to the semi-final round. Then he scored 19 points against Canada 19, stopped at a modest 14 against Australia, and overwhelmed the hosts (the Philippines) with 27 points.
Interestingly, he played the best game of the tournament against Yugoslavia when he scored 31 points in the Brazil narrow defeat (91:87). In the end, he led his national team to bronze medak, with a crucial triumph over Italy and his 18 points.
By the end of his career, Oscar Schmidt played three more World Cup, and he performed at five Olympic Games.
MVP – Drazen Daligapic
Drazen Dalipagic broke the tradition that lasted for the previous three tournaments. He became a player from the winning team who received the MVP award, after three times before that when winner was always one from the losing teams.
During the group stage and the opening games, he had little playing time. He scored only five points against Senegal, and then 13 and 18 against Canada and South Korea. He raised his form when it was most needed. First, he head 31 points versus the host Philippines, and he kept his average against Italy (28) and the United States (29).
Then, in the first game between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, he demolished the team of Alexander Gomelsky. He scored an impressive 37 points. Number against Brazil was 20 after that. He had enough time to rest in the scoreless game against Australia in order to take responsibility again in the final. In addition to leading the team with 21 points. Dalipagic hit key free throws in overtime for a minimal triumph.
Fantastic trio of Yugoslavia in the All FIBA First Team
- Drazen Dalipagic
- Dragan Kicanovic
- Kresimir Cosic
- Oscar Schmidt
- Vladimir Tkachenko
Czechoslovak machine gun – New record holder Kamil Brabenec
The member of the Czechoslovak national team, Kamil Brabenec, played an impressive World Cup where he set a new Mundobasket record. In seven games played, he averaged a great 26.7 points.
In the first part of the tournament Brabenec punished rivals with 11 points against Australia, 27 against the United States and 14 in the victory over the Dominican Republic.
Then he exploded against Puerto Rico for a new World Cup record. Kamil Brabenec scored an impressive 44 points, which was a new record. Previously, Peruvian Ricardo Duarte scored 42 points in 1963 against Japan, and Arturo Guerrero did the same in 1974.
By the end of the tournament, he buried China with 41 points, while he was “weaker” against South Korea (26) and Senegal (25).