101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
(2000 and 2005) and a Saporta Cup. The Saporta Cup
final was played in Nicosia, Cyprus, on April 15, 1997.
The opponent was Scaligera Basket Verona. Real
Madrid, coached by Zeljko Obradovic, and with Dejan
Bodiroga as the best scorer in the competition (20.2
points), won 78-64. Herreros scored 19 points with
great numbers: 5 of 5 two-pointers, 2 of 3 triples and
3 of 3 from the stripe. It was his only European title at
the club level. Real Madrid had a powerful team, with
Bodiroga, Herreros, Joe Arlauckas, Alberto Angulo
and Juan Antonio Orenga. But it had failed to make the
EuroLeague that year.
In the EuroLeague, the closest Hererros came to a
title was in the1991-92 season. Estudiantes took part
in the Final Four in Istanbul that year but fell in the semis
to Joventut Badalona in an all-Spanish game. Joventut
was led by Jordi Villacampa with 28 points and the final
score was 69-91. Curiously, Estudiantes had defeated
Partizan Belgrade twice in the group stage, 75-95 and
75-72, as the Serbian team had to play its home games
in Fuenlabrada, Spain – near Madrid – under FIBA orders
due to the war in the former Yugoslavia. However,
Partizan would win the final against Joventut thanks
to the famous three-pointer by Sasha Djordjevic in the
last seconds. Such is basketball.
Estudiantes had a great team in its first participation
in the EuroLeague that year, under a new format,
with three representatives from the most powerful
countries in the sport. We must not forget that FIBA
applied this formula one year before UEFA did it with
the Champions League in 1992-93. The averages for
Winslow were 18.5 points, Herreros had 18.0, Pinone
had 14.3 and Orenga 11.2. Estudiantes was the first
team to debut in the competition and make the Final
Four the same season.
Even without winning titles, Alberto Herreros left
his imprint on European competitions. His personal
record of 42 points was achieved on December 7,
1993, in a 97-81 loss against Reggio Emilia. He was
almost perfect: 10 of 11 two-pointers, 5 of 7 threes,
7 of 7 from the line. His thing was scoring. A lot. But
once, against Bayer Leverkusen in the Korac Cup, he
pulled down 10 rebounds. Not bad for a player just
1.99 meters tall!
EuroBasket, World Cup top scorer
Alberto Herreros made his debut for the Spanish
national team in 1990 against Czechoslovakia, scoring
his first 11 points. Until 2003 he would be a major
factor on the team, an important scorer in all competitions.
His average in FIBA events was 12.5 points, from
the 10.5 at the 1990 World Cup in Argentina to the 3.3
at the 2003 EuroBasket in Sweden. His best moments
with the team were, without a doubt, silver-medal finishes
at the 1999 and 2003 EuroBaskets. In the latter,
in Paris, his average was 19.2 points. He was the best
scorer and a member of the all-tournament team with
Carlton Myers, Andrea Meneghin, Dejan Bodiroga and
Gregor Fucka.
Herreros’s best average in a World Cup had happened
a year before in Athens. Spain finished fifth in
1998, but Herreros, with 17.9 points, was the top scorer
over Mohamed Acha of Nigeria (17.5), Arturas Karnisovas
of Lithuania (17.1), Shane Heal of Australia (17.0),
Andrew Gaze of Australia (16.9) and Puerto Rico’s Jose
“Piculin” Ortiz (16.5).
Herreros was a born scorer with a great wrist, a fast
man who could score a lot on the break, but his best
weapon was his shot. He didn’t care if he launched
two- or three-pointers. Whenever he had the minimum
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