101 Greats of European Basketball

The professional
scorer
In the history of European cups, there are few players
who can say that they played in six finals and
won four of them. One such player is Velimir Perasovic,
who was born on February 9, 1965, in Stobrec,
Croatia. He was a triple EuroLeague champ
with Jugoplastika (1989, 1990, 1991), a Saporta
Cup champ in 1996 with Taugres Vitoria, and also a
finalist in the latter competition in 1994 and 1995. If
we add his titles with the Yugoslav and Croatian national
teams, and his individual marks with his teams
in Yugoslavia and Spain, we have the story of one of
the most-crowned players in the history of European
basketball.
In a brilliant career that lasted for 24 years, Perasovic
was always an outstanding scorer, a killer in whom
his coaches always showed the utmost confidence. He
played alongside other great scorers, like Toni Kukoc
and Dusko Ivanovic in Split, or Drazen Petrovic, Zarko
Paspalj, Sasha Djordjevic, Predrag Danilovic and Danko
Cvjeticanin on the national teams. But many times, the
last shot was for Perasovic. He had an excellent shot, a
wonderful touch. Curiously enough, of the hundreds
of baskets by him that I saw live or on TV, the one that
I remember the most is a triple that beat the buzzer...in
the first half. In the 1990 EuroLeague final in Zaragoza,
Jugoplastika was always ahead but the difference was
slim, and it always looked like FC Barcelona could come
back at any given moment. With seconds left in the first
half, Jugoplastika was winning 37-36, but Barcelona had
the ball and the chance to hit the locker rooms ahead on
the scoreboard. But they missed their shot, and the ball
made it to Perasovic’s hands. He ran a few meters and,
from mid-court, shot and hit the three-pointer for a 40-
36 lead at the break. It was one of those shots that affect
opponents psychologically. In the second half, Barcelona
was always behind and, in the end, lost 70-65.
Alongside Drazen
The great Drazen Petrovic was only three months
older than Perasovic. Drazen was born in October of
1964 and Peras, as almost everybody calls him, in the
winter of 1965. They belonged to the same generation.
In some ways, this worked against Perasovic because
Petrovic was a true star on the court and also a media
reference point. But, while they played together for 11
years on the national teams of Yugoslavia and Croatia,
Peras earned his place in the basketball history of both
countries.
If I remember correctly, we heard the name Perasovic
for the first time when the Yugoslav federation
announced the list of players for the 1981 European
Championship for Cadets in Athens. The names were
Drazen Petrovic, Stojko Vrankovic, Zoran Sretenovic,
Sasa Radunovic and Velimir Perasovic, among others.
Drazen wowed everyone by averaging 32.4 points, and
he surpassed 40 points three times. But Perasovic averaged
13 points and he caught everyone’s attention, too.
Despite being a great team, Yugoslavia finished fifth.
In the 1981-82 season, Perasovic made his debut with
Jugoplastika’s first team, but in the Yugoslavian second
division. In 1982, the same generation of players plus
Cvjeticanin and Goran Sobin won the silver medal at the
1983 European Championship for Junior Men. Perasovic
took part in the 1983 World Championship for Junior
Velimir Perasovic
101 greats of european basketball
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