101 Greats of European Basketball

Hard-working star
I
remember seeing Fabricio Oberto for the first time
at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, but I admit that in a
tournament full of stars, I didn’t pay much attention
to an Argentina squad that finished ninth. It was easy
to miss the talent of a kid on a national team that was
not yet what it would become. However, Oberto, who
was born on March 21, 1975, in Las Varillas, Argentina,
did not need much time to prove that he was worthy of
sharing the stage with the game’s greats.
Only one year later, at the McDonald’s Open in Paris
– in my opinion the best of those events in the 1990s –
the all-tournament team was made up of Michael Jordan
(Chicago Bulls), Eric Struelens (Paris Saint Germain),
Arturas Karnisovas (FC Barcelona), Dragan Tarlac (Olympiacos)
and Oberto (Atenas de Córdoba). Aside from
the aforementioned clubs, the other participant was
Benetton Treviso, with the likes of Riccardo Pittis, Zeljko
Rebraca and Denis Marconato, plus Zeljko Obradovic on
the bench. FC Barcelona had stars such as Sasha Djordjevic,
Rafa Jofresa, Andres Jimenez and Marcelo Nicola;
Olympiacos featured Johnny Rogers and Panagiotis
Fasoulas; PSG had Stephane Risacher, Richard Dacoury
and Alfonso Reyes; and the Bulls had names like Toni
Kukoc, Ron Harper, Steve Kerr and Luc Longley.
The opening game was on October 16, 1997, between
Benetton and Atenas. It proved to be the first upset, 87-
78 for the Argentinians. With veterans like Hector Campana
(33 years old), Marcelo Milanesio (32) and Diego
Osella (28), a 22-year-old Oberto looked like a young kid
on the Atenas team. But his 22 points and 11 rebounds
against Benetton started his road to glory. In an 89-86
loss against Olympiacos, Oberto scored 16 points and
added 6 rebounds and 3 assists, which is probably when
Dusan Ivkovic, then coach of the Reds, decided to sign the
2.08-meter Argentinian big man. Oberto’s game, at first
sight, might have looked simple, but that is a hard thing to
achieve in any sport: doing things as second nature, as if
anyone could do them. If I had to define his game in one
word it would be “efficiency”. When he got the ball, he won
position with ease and played well with his back to the
basket and so hardly ever missed when close. If we add
rebounding, good defense and solid passing, we have a
complete player with simple but efficient solutions.
From Atenas to Athens
In the summer of 1998, after winning the league title
and being elected MVP in Argentina, Oberto changed
addresses from Atenas to Athens, where he joined Olympiacos
in Greece. Before making his Olympiacos debut,
he played for Argentina at the 1998 World Cup in Athens.
I would say that the great Argentina we came to know,
which six years later won the Olympic gold medal in the
same city, started its golden generation that year. You
had the experience of Milanesio – who was Oberto’s idol
during his childhood – Juan Alberto Espil (30), Esteban de
la Fuente (30), Diego Osella (29), Marcelo Nicola (27), Hugo
Sconochini (27), Carlos Simoni (27), Alejandro Montecchia
(26) and Ruben Wolkowyski (25) as well as young players
like Manu Ginobili (21), Pepe Sanchez (21) and Oberto
(23). Yugoslavia won the title, but its most difficult game
was in the quarterfinals against Argentina. On August 7,
1998, Yugoslavia won 70-62, but for some 30 minutes,
Argentina was the better team. This was also the first time
that Dejan Tomasevic (10 points, 11 boards) and Oberto
(6 points, 8 rebounds) – a great duo later at Tau Ceramica
and Valencia – would play against each other.
101 greats of european basketball
Fabricio Oberto
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