101 Greats of European Basketball

having just lifted its third Italian League trophy, Cantu
managed to win the EuroLeague in 1982 by beating
Maccabi Tel Aviv in the final 86-80 on March 25 of that
year. Charles Kupec and Bruce Flowers were the best
scorers, with 23 and 21 points, respectively, but the
man of the game was Marzorati, who scored 18 points
and won his particular duel with Maccabi playmaker
Motti Aroesti.
In the 1982-83 season, Ford Cantu played the EuroLeague
as the defending champion. Milano had won
the Italian League that year, so two Italian teams were
in the competition and they happened to meet in the title
game. After a 40-minute drama, Cantu escaped with
a 69-68 victory after a missed shot by Franco Boselli
with 3 seconds to go and a legendary block by Jim
Brewer on Vittorio Gallinari after his own offensive rebound.
Cantu was the back-to-back continental champion.
Cantu’s list of trophies was completed with two
Intercontinental Cups, in1975 and 1982. The pictures
of the great captain Marzorati with the trophy have a
privileged spot in the club offices nowadays.
Comeback at 54 years old
Pierluigi Marzorati played with Pallacanestro Cantu
from 1969 to 1991. He won 12 trophies, played 692
games and scored 8,659 points. He also scored 2,209
points in 278 Italian national team games. Looking at
the calendar, he played for the club of his life during
four different decades. In October of 2006, for the 70th
anniversary of the club, Marzorati came back to play
against Benetton Treviso at the age of 54. He spent less
than 2 minutes on the court, but Cantu won 70-69 and
its gesture to the great captain remains as a curiosity
for the history books.
After his retirement, Cantu had suffered a lot and
even descended into second division in 1994. The recovery
was slow, but eventually, Bennet Cantu managed
to reach two finals in Italy and earned the right to return
to the EuroLeague. Marzorati blamed the problems of
Cantu on the Bosman ruling and the excessive number
of foreign players, which closed the door for many
national talents. When I spoke to him not long ago, he
had no doubt that the best players of his era could have
played in the NBA with no problems. He didn’t want to
give me any names, but he highlighted his great rivals
Dragan Kicanovic and Juan Antonio Corbalan. While he
was still playing, Marzorati finished his degree in engineering.
Upon retirement, he formed his own company.
He did not have any role in the club, but he never misses
a Cantu game, if he can help it.
Perluigi Marzorati, a Cantu legend.
101 greats of european basketball
Pierluigi Marzorati
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