FIBA World Cup 1990 was played in Argentina, the second time in history, and the first since 1950.
This championship was marked by several things. First of all, this was the last tournament for two countries that dominated world and European basketball. Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union will perform under this name for the last time in history. Almost poetically, these two basketball powers will meet in the final where the “Blues” triumphed.
NBA players could also participate in this tournament. Borislav Stankovic and FIBA introduced a rule that professionals from the best league in the world can play in FIBA competitions. This clearly also applied to players who were not born in the USA but played in the NBA. The best examples are Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac.
After 40 years, basketball returned to Argentina. In addition to the famous “Luna Park”, it was also played in Cordoba, Santa Fe, Rozario, Salta and Villa Belester. The tournament lasted for only 11 days, from August 8 to 19.
The number of participants reduced to 16
After the experiment in Spain where 24 teams participated in 1986, this time only 16 teams traveled to Argentina. FIBA saw that the quality of basketball had declined in the previous tournament. Teams like Malaysia lost games by 90 and 70 points.
Only the host (Argentina) was guaranteed a place at the tournament. Everyone else, including defending champion USA, had to qualify. Europe was represented by Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union, Greece, Italy and Spain. Alnog with the USA, Puerto Rico, Canada, Brazil and Venezuela went to the tournament through the AmeriCup. Asia was represented by China and South Korea, while Angola and Egypt came from the African continent. Australia also competed.
The teams were divided into four groups of four teams each, the two best qualified for the second round. The tournament ended with two semi-finals, final and a match for third place.
“Dream Team” of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia national team was perhaps the most talented in history. The team was full of European club champions, and the previous year they won Eurobasket. Already at that moment, the “Blues” had players who were part of NBA franchises. Petrovic and Divac played for teams that were extremely competitive at that time. Divac was part of the “showtime” Los Angeles Lakers, while Petrovic played for the Portland Trail Blazers.
On the old continent, Jugoplastika dominated. That team was led by Toni Kukoc. It was there that Jerry Krause, general manager of the Chicago Bulls, noticed him. This team was also adorned by Jurij Zdovc, Zoran Savic, Zarko Paspalj and a future coach named Zeljko Obradovic. The head coach was the legendary Dusan Ivkovic.
After the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988, where they won silver, Yugoslavia managed to win two Eurobaskets and one world championship title. Unfortunately, they did not have the opportunity to meet the American “Dream Team” that performed in Barcelona in 1992.
Road to the title
Yugoslavia did not have an easy way to the title. They were defeated by Puerto Rico in the group stage, but triumphs over Angola and Venezuela guaranteed a place in the second phase, where coach Ivkovic’s team was impressive.
Yugoslavia was in a group with the Soviet Union, Brazil and Greece. All three opponents were beaten easily. In every game, Yugoslavia triumphed by a margin of ten or more. In the previous years, Soviet Union were better than “Blues” on multiple occasions. Finally, things has changed at this tournament as Yugoslavia celebrated by 100:77 in their first meeting in Argentina.
Toni Kukoc excelled in that game, scoring 21 points. An equally convincing win was recorded against Brazil. Although the legendary Oscar Schmidt scored 34 points, Yugoslavia triumphed by 105:86. Next was Greece and again a triumph! This time by 77:67.
Although college players still represented the United States in this tournament, their team was very talented. Kenny Anderson, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner are just some of the names.
In the clash with the United States in the semi-finals, Petrovic led Yugoslavia to victory. He scored 31 points. With this, the “Basketball Mozart” led the “Blues” to the first final in 12 years.
In the final, they met with the Soviet Union for the second time in Argentina. Players from the Baltic countries like Arvydas Sabonis did not play in this tournament, but again the Soviets had a good enough team to reach the finals.
There, they ran into someone better than themselves. Yugoslavia defeated them for the second time in the tournament (92:75) and thus became world champions for the third time.
A fairy tale of Puerto Rico with a sad ending
Puerto Rico was the biggest surprise at Mundobasket. They beat Yugoslavia in the group stage, and in the next phase they were better than United States. The historic medal was in sight, but unfortunately for Puerto Rico, it not finished around thir necks..
In the semi-finals, they were defeated by the Soviet Union, but they had a wonderful opportunity to win bronze against the USA. For many, it was the best game of the tournament. 90 seconds before the end, Puerto Rico led by eight points (96:88).
Then, Kenny Anderson scored four consecutive points and Todd Day tipped-in for 96:94. It seemed all over. With just six seconds left, Puerto Rico center Jose Ortiz was throwing the ball from sideline, but he was careless and made turnover.
Anderson was fouled a second before the end of the match and with both free-throws scored, he sent the game into overtime where the United States triumphed by103:98.
“Once Brothers”
Unfortunately, after this tournament, the great Yugoslav team disbanded due to well-known events. After the match, Divac was provoked by a fan who was carrying the Croatian flag. He took it and threw on the floor. In the past, Petrovic and Divac were very close friends. After that event, relations between the two cooled down.
“We played so many championships together and we were great friends. I’m very sad about that. I’m a Serb, but I feel Yugoslav. It really doesn’t matter. We’re the same people, Serbs and Croats.
“I was not naive, more innocent because I was telling the truth. The war was created by all sides. It was not the time to blame each other. I really tried to repair our relationship.” – said Divac.
The film “Once Brothers” tells about the relationship between two legends. The tragic premature death of the “Basketball Mozart” is also mentioned in the film.
Oscar Schmidt and All-Tournament Team
The legendary Oscar Schmidt was the best scorer of the championship. In this tournament, he recorded 34.6 points per match, and cumulatively Schmidt is the third best average scorer in the history of the World Cup. Nobody has recorded more points on average in one tournament than the legendary Brazilian.
MVP was Toni Kukoc. In addition to his excellent scoring abilities, he was also a great distributor of the ball. Kukoc was drafted that same year by the Chicago Bulls, where he will be part of the team that won the NBA ring three times in a row.
Along with Kukoc and Schmidt, members of the All-Tournament Team were: Vlade Divac (Yugoslavia), Kenny Anderson (USA) and Fico Lopez (Puerto Rico).