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By Stathis Trapezanlidis/ info@eurohoops.net
Who are the top 12 players that have ever appeared in a EuroBasket? Which players would comprise the ideal team? Eurohoops attempts to select the best ones! Players- legends that made history, achieved great records and won titles. The fact that even big names of European basketball have been left out makes sense since even if we chose 50 people there still wouldn’t be enough room for everyone. The main criteria for the selections are the following:
– Irrespective of the overall career and value of the players we ONLY take into account their contributions in the EuroBasket.
– For the list we chose 6 backcourt players (‘1’, ‘2’, ‘3’) and 6 big men (‘4’, ‘5’). The order of presentation is random.
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[lptitle title=”12. Sergei Belov (Soviet Union)“]
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Sergei Belov is without a doubt one of the best players – in 1991 FIBA proclaimed him the best in its history – that has ever played on European courts. The “czar” of Russian basketball competed with the Soviet Union from 1966 until 1980. He participated in 7 EuroBasket competitions, winning 4 gold medals (1967, 1969, 1971, 1979), two silver medals (1975, 1977) and a bronze (1973). The onetime CSKA Moscow player could play as a shooting guard as well as a small forward with equal ease. Actually, he could play in every position except center. He was the leader of the greatest European national team, the Soviet Union, leading them to winning 7 medals. In 1969 he made his best appearances in a EuroBakset and he was voted the MVP of the tournament.
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[lptitle title=”11. Drazen Dalipagic (Republic of Yugoslavia)“]
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Drazen Dalipagic was one of the greatest scorers in the history of the EuroBasket. Together with Cosic, Kicanovic and Delibasic he led Yugoslavia to the top, putting a stop to the domination of the then almighty Soviet Union. He won 3 consecutive gold medals (1973, 1975, 1977), a silver (1981) and a bronze (1979). In 1977 in the EuroBasket in Belgium he even emerged as the MVP of the tournament. That same year he was voted the best European player. He played in the national team for 13 years (1973-1986).
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