101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
4. Radovanovic 2,906, 5. Boro Vucevic (Orlando Magic
star Nikola Vucevic’s father) 2,331 points.
With those three pillars and several good players
(Benacek, Bosko Bosiocic, Svetislav Pesic, Ante Djogic
and Sabit Hadzic) Tanjevic lived a fairy tale, taking his
team from the second division to the top of Europe in
just seven years – with the same group of players and
with the same enthusiasm. Radovanovic’s progress
was obvious. In the 1974-75 season, his scoring average
increased to 5.8 points. In July of 1975, he made his
debut with the senior national team, against Canada
(97-87) at the Intercontinental Cup. I was at that game,
played at Pinki Arena in Zemun (a part of Belgrade), but I
had to go to my notes to see that Radovanovic netted 7
points including 3 of 4 free throws. He played alongside
Dragan Kicanovic, Zoran Slavnic, Drazen Dalipagic, Delibasic,
Zeljko Jerkov and Varajic.
In the 1975-76 season, Radovanovic’s scoring went
up to 13.3 points per game. I don’t have the data for
rebounds, but he was already an important center who
played at the same level as Olimpija’s Vinko Jelovac,
Jugoplastika’s Zeljko Jerkov, Cibona’s Andro Knego,
OKK’s Rajko Zizic or Radnicki’s Milun Marovic. Despite
playing a great season, Radovanovic missed the Montreal
Olympics in 1976 and that, thinking about it today,
feels like an injustice. Despite being disappointed by
that, he never lost his desire to work hard – just the opposite.
After another great 1976-77 season with 14.6
points per game, his inclusion among the 12 chosen
for the 1977 EuroBasket in Belgium was unavoidable.
Coach Aleksandar Nikolic had two great centers, Kresimir
Cosic and Jelovac, but the help of Radovanovic, especially
in the title game against Vladimir Tkachenko of
the USSR, was very important. Radovanovic averaged
7.3 points per game.
Radovanovic’s second golden year was 1978. Bosna,
finally, won the Yugoslav League and also the national
cup, while the national team won the gold medal
at the 1978 World Cup in the Philippines. Radovanovic
was one of the main players on the team. The duo of
Dalipagic (22.4) and Kicanovic (18.0) was unstoppable,
but the third-best scorer was Radovanovic at 12.3
points per game. He even started improving his free
throw percentage, a weak spot of his for many years. In
Manila, he reached 69% and some years later he would
even reach 80% – more proof that desire and hard work
can overcome any weaknesses.
Bosna, European champion
The best was yet to come. In the 1978-79 season,
Bosna started its first adventure in the EuroLeague –
and won it! As the first Yugoslav team to do so, as well.
It was a huge, but well-deserved, surprise. In the title
game, the opponent was a Varese team playing its 10th
straight continental final! A great game by Varajic (45
points, still the record in a title game) and Delibasic (30
points) is in the history books. But the unsung hero of
the game was Radovanovic.
“On the eve of the final, the team doctor told me that
Rasha had a fever, more than 39 degrees. I knew that
without him we could not win,” Tanjevic remembers.
“Varese had Dino Meneghin and Radovanovic was
the man who would have to stop him. Not even I could
imagine the game that Varajic and Delibasic would play,
but Radovanovic appeared and added 10 points, the
same as Meneghin. His sacrifice was huge, but he was
just that way. He was a great fighter, a very smart man
who tricked his opponents with technique and speed,
scoring with both hands and running the breaks. It was
a pleasure to work with him, to help him grow and be-
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