ALEXANDER BELOV - 101 Greats of European Basketball

Alexander
Belov
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The “three-second”
man
There are great players and great careers
marked by a single basket, a single game,
a single detail. Sometimes that’s unfair,
but it’s just inevitable. A man who belongs
to this club of the world elite is Alexander
“Sasha” Belov, the late Russian
player who died on October 3, 1978, at age 27. That’s
too short for a single life, but more than enough to
leave a mark on basketball.
His basket against the USA in the Munich Olympics
title game in 1972, which the Soviet Union won 51-50,
is part of the history of the Olympic Games and this
sport. It’s an immortal play, unique in the last century, a
basket that was worth a gold medal under strange circumstances:
the repetition of a play; the famous three
fingers in the air by FIBA secretary general William
Jones, meaning that the last three seconds had to be
repeated; the anger of the Americans who later refused
to accept the silver medals.
Born on November 9, 1951, in Leningrad (currently
St. Petersburg), Sasha Belov started playing basketball
in his native city. He stepped onto the international
stage at age 17, when he played in the European junior
championships in Vigo, Spain in 1968. His average of 7
points didn’t hint at a future star, but he won his first gold
medal. In the final, the USSR defeated a powerful Yugoslavia
with Slavnic, Jelovac and Simonovic by 82-73. A
year later, he was already playing with the senior team
at EuroBasket in Italy. He also had discreet numbers
(4 points) but he was not yet 18 years old. In 1970, he
played another junior European junior championships,
this time in Athens, and he won a new gold medal. His
average rose to 8.5 points, but his best moments were
yet to come. Before that, he lost his first final at club
level. His team, Spartak, had reached the Saporta Cup
final, but after two games, Simmenthal Milan was the
better of the two. Belov scored 16 in his team’s home
win, 66-56, but the Italians won the second game by
71-52 despite his 14 points.
Unforgettable Munich
National team coach Vladimir Kondrashin, his coach
also in Spartak, trusted Belov. He was a modern forward
despite standing just 2.01 meters. He had long
hands, broad shoulders and great rebounding skills.
He was a nightmare for players guarding him. He was
fast and agile, had good technique, and scored with
ease. In Munich, on a star-filled team (Sergei Belov,
Modestas Paulauskas, Anatoli Polivoda...) he was the
best scorer with 14.4 points per game. Truth be told,
however, that high average was due to his 37 points
against Puerto Rico (100-87). Against Senegal, Yugoslavia
and Cuba he scored 14 points each game, but
his best moment was in the big final against the United
States. He scored 8 points and pulled 8 rebounds,
but his last basket made history. Curiously enough,
it was a basket that made him as popular in the USA
as in the USSR. Some fan clubs emerged and a young
American woman traveled to Leningrad to ask Belov
to marry her. But the love of his life was Aleksandra
Ovchinikova.
At the Saporta Cup final in 1973 in Thessaloniki,
Spartak defeated Jugoplastika by 77-62 as Belov was
the MVP with 18 points. Two years later, in Nantes, he
101 greats of european basketball
Alexander Belov
B

Vladimir Stankovic
repeated the feat in a 63-62 win against Crvena Zvezda.
He scored 10 points but his title collection was already
impressive. I saw on TV the two games that the USSR
played against Yugoslavia in the 1969 EuroBasket, with
a Yugoslavia win in the group phase (the first one in an
official game against the USSR) and a USSR win in the
final, but I admit that I do not remember Belov. He didn’t
shine in the World Championship of Ljubljana in 1970
(6 points) but in the Essen EuroBasket (8.5) he was already
one of the pillars of the Soviet team. Then came
Munich and his life would change.
At the World Championships in San Juan in 1974,
he won another gold medal, achieving the triple crown:
Olympics, World Championships and EuroBasket. Aleksandr
Salnikov was the best scorer in the USSR with
17.6 points, especially thanks to his 38 points against
the Americans and 32 against the Cubans. Belov’s average
was 14.6 points.
I saw Belov live for the first time in 1975 at the Belgrade
EuroBasket. He was not in his best shape, but
his talent and potential were unquestionable. In the
title game, his fight with Cosic and Vinko Jelovac, the
Yugoslav centers that were way bigger than him, was
impressive. That same year, he was drafted in the NBA
by Utah with pick number 161 in the 10th round. The following
year, at the Montreal Olympics, he played again
at an elevated level, with 15.7 points, 5.2 boards and
4.7 assists, but he suffered one of the few disappointments
in his career: the USSR ended up third, but he
still won one more medal. He also had a triple-double in
that tournament against Canada (100-72) as he scored
23 points, pulled 14 rebounds and dished 10 assists.
Only he and LeBron James, who would match the feat
many years later, hold the distinction of recording triple-doubles
in the Olympics.
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In January of 1977, I had the chance to see Belov
in his native city, with the jersey of his team, Spartak.
Radnicki Belgrade was playing the Saporta Cup there in
the same group as Spartak. At home, the Soviets won
easy, 99-84. I don’t remember how many points Belov
scored, but I do remember he was the best man on the
court. I have a picture with Coach Kondrashin, who talked
to me about the importance of Belov for the games
of Spartak and the national team. Alexander Gomelskiy
also said that Belov was “the pearl of Soviet, but also
European, basketball.”
Accused of smuggling
Some days later, on January 23 of 1977, before a
Spartak trip to Italy, Belov was accused of smuggling
orthodox icons, which were highly valued antiques in
the West. He lost all his acknowledgments and medals
and was expelled from the national team. There are
several versions about what happened, from his own
mistake to a setup to avoid his signing for CSKA. Some
even said it was a trap to make Spartak a weaker team.
This change turned him upside down. Some say that
even before this incident, he complained about chest
pains, but that doctors never found anything. In August
of 1978, he was called to the national team again by
Alexander Gomelskiy, who wanted him to help defend
in Manila the golden medal from San Juan. Belov made
it to the national team camp, but after just a few days,
he had to leave because he didn’t feel well. Two months
later, he died of cardiac sarcoma. He wasn’t even 27
years old and he still had a good career in front of him.
However, he had also accomplished a lot of things for
us to remember him as a great player, a humble and
calm man off the court, but a lion on it.
DATE | Sunday, November 2, 2014
Some days later, on January
23 of 1977, before a Spartak
trip to Italy, Belov was
accused of smuggling
orthodox icons, which were
highly valued antiques in
the West. He lost all his
acknowledgments and
medals and was expelled
from the national team.
There are several versions
about what happened, from
his own mistake to a setup to
avoid his signing for CSKA.
Alexander Belov
101 greats of european basketball
B