101 Greats of European Basketball

A Bob Cousy clone
In this series of the best players from the past in European
basketball we normally see men who have
won at least one European title. But, since every rule
has an exception, for this entry I want to write about
a basketball maestro who never won the crown, but
who was, indeed, a great player: Giuseppe Gjergja
– better known as “Pino” to his friends and all the
basketball family. About the spelling of his name, it is
something difficult to solve. In the official page of his
life-long club, KK Zadar, they spell it Giuseppe Giergia.
But some other sources spell it as Gjergja. The spelling
problem exists because his family is of Albanian origin
and his ancestors moved to Zadar, the city on the Dalmatian
coast, where they settled an area called Arbanasi,
currently a suburb of the city.
Giuseppe Gjergja was born on November 24, 1937,
when Zadar belonged to Italy. That’s where the Italian version
of his name – Giuseppe – comes from. After World War
II, when Zadar joined Yugoslavia, he was re-named Josip. In
the FIBA webpage, his entry goes under Josip Djerdja. I saw
him play and later knew him as Josip Djerdja, so I will stick to
this one, which is surely more phonetic than orthographic.
However you choose to spell his first or last names, one
thing remains true: he was a great player.
A gift from the USA
Basketball arrived in Zadar in 1929, but its true development
occurred after the war. Djerdja had an aunt in the
United States who in 1955 sent him a very original gift: a
16mm film about the Boston Celtics and, especially, their
leader Bob Cousy. Djerdja was already a basketball player,
but when he managed to see the film by getting time in a
local cinema during the morning, when nobody was there,
he realized that he hardly knew how to play the game. He
fell in love with Cousy, his technique, his way of handling
the ball, his passes, his dribbling, his court vision. He
decided that he would “play like Cousy” and dedicated
months and months to individual work. Whenever he
could, he saw the film again to study Cousy’s technique,
and he discovered that the secret was “the extended
hand”. That technique let Cousy avoid the ball coming in
contact with the legs or the body. Little by little, Djerdja
became a master with the ball. Even though he was rather
short, at 1.76 meters, he was a good rebounder. That,
matched with his fighting character, turned him into an
attractive option for any team.
Radivoj Korac of OKK Belgrade was a great scorer,
Ivo Daneu of Union Olimpija Ljubljana a very complete
player, but I agree with those who saw that a third man
should be included in a “Trio of Saints”. And that man
was Djerdja. Already in 1958, Djerdja made the Yugoslav
national team for the 1960 Olympics in Rome and was
an important piece in the first success of the team (sixth
place). In Rome he got a chance to see Oscar Robertson,
another American basketball magician. His style was different
and attractive. He was a showman who did almost
everything in the air. He was always there for rebounds;
hardly ever shot with his legs on the floor; his penetrations
were unstoppable; and his solutions against much
bigger men were unbelievable. With a strong character,
Robertson was always ready to fight with rivals, referees
or even the crowds. He was a player hated by many fans
but respected because of his enormous talent.
Waiting for Cosic
In the late 1950s and early ‘60s, the Yugoslav League
101 greats of european basketball
Giuseppe-Pino Gjergja
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