101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
earned so much respect due to his professionalism,
sacrifice, desire to win, character, charisma, leadership
or indisputable authority. At “only” 2.04 meters, he
was not a pure center, not even during his time, but he
always played close to the boards and battled against
men bigger than him. His body was like the statue of a
Greek god: broad shoulders, long hands and a natural
strength that allowed him to fight and prevail over bigger
rivals.
The long list of records
If I remember correctly, I saw Meneghin for the first
time in the 1969 EuroBasket, played in Caserta and
Naples. He was younger than team-mates Aldo Ossola,
Carlo Recalcati, Enzo Bariviera, Massimo Masini, Marino
Zanatta, Giuseppe Brumatti and Ivan Bisson. But the
first game I vividly remember with him was between
Italy and Yugoslavia at the World Cup 1970 in Ljubljana.
It was the first game, very tense, and only decided on
the final plays thanks to the genius Kresimir Cosic, who
authored 27 points and 22 rebounds. Meneghin finished
with 10 points in his first duel with Cosic, who was
two years older. Their rivalry would last for another 13
years, until the final of the 1983 EuroBasket in Nantes,
France, with a win for Italy, 91-76. But above everything,
there was always the maximum respect between the
two big men, the best of their era. It’s not by chance
that Meneghin remembers with respect and love his
biggest rival, Kresimir Cosic.
In the same year of 1970, Dino Meneghin also became
the first Europe-an player to be selected in the
NBA draft. Yes, he was chosen in the 11th and final
round by the Atlanta Hawks, but he never played in the
NBA because, at the time, that meant giving up playing
for the national team. Dino’s world was Europe and
for many years he played in his first club, Ignis Varese.
From his debut in 1966 until 1980, he played there
and won seven Italian Leagues, four Italian Cups and
five EuroLeagues while reaching an unprecedented 10
consecutive finals in the top European competition.
There were also three Intercontinental Cup and a pair of
Saporta Cup titles, too. Truth be told, Meneghin did not
play the 1975 final against Real Madrid, a 79-66 win for
Varese, because he broke his hand one week before the
big game, but the win was also his. In the nine EuroLeague
finals he played with Varese, he scored more than
20 points six times.
When Dino decided to sign for Olimpia Milano in the
1980-81 season, he was already a veteran. However, in
the following nine years he would extend his résumé by
winning five more Italian Leagues, two Italian Cups, two
EuroLeagues, another Intercontinental Cup, and his
first Korac Cup. In 1990, at age 40, he accepted the call
from Bogdan Tanjevic, then the coach of Stefanel Trieste,
who was starting to build a great team by signing
future stars like Gregor Fucka, Claudio Pilutti and Alessandro
de Pol. All that was missing was an expert hand,
and Dino Meneghin, despite his age, was the perfect
solution. The following year Tanjevic would also have
Dejan Bodiroga on the team, and a great team finally
jelled to win the double crown in Italy – the league and
the cup – in 1995-96. Dino did not play on that team,
having retired at the end of the 1994-95 season, but
the triumph had a lot to do with him, too.
Behind him were 28 Italian League seasons spanning
836 games, 8,560 points (10.3 per game) and
5,588 rebounds (6.7 per game). For the Italian national
team, he played 271 and scored 2,947 points. Only the
great shooter Antonello Riva scored more. I was lucky to
see Meneghin’s biggest successes with Italy: a bronze
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