101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
NBA, Messina had formed a potent team that included
Alessandro Abbio, Augusto Binelli, Alessandro Frosini,
Hugo Sconochini, Zoran Savic and Radoslav Nesterovic.
They lost just three of 16 games in the EuroLeague’s
first two phases. In the eighth-finals, Kinder eliminated
Estudiantes of Spain 2-0 and in the quarterfinals topped
its archrival Teamsystem Bologna 2-0, as well. As such,
Kinder arrived at the 1998 Final Four in Barcelona as the
favorite. And it met those expectations. In the semifinal,
Kinder beat Partizan Belgrade 83-61 with Rigaudeau
scoring 12 points. In the final, Kinder topped AEK Athens
58-44. Rigaudeau had 14 points, not only the most in the
game but double anyone on the losing team. Two dreams
had come true, Rigaudeau’s and Kinder Bologna’s.
The team went on to win the Italian League in 1998
and the Italian Cup the next year. Rigaudeau averaged
15.5 points in the 1999 EuroBasket in Paris and in 2000
he won the Italian league-cup double before contributing
12.2 points per game to the French silver-medal
team at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
In those years, the best of his career, Rigaudeau
was nicknamed “Le Roi” (The King), much like the soccer
legend Pele was called “O Rei” in his day. In sports,
there are lots of nicknames for great stars, but few are
called kings. Antoine Rigaudeau was one of them. And
in 2000, he received the highest recognition from his
country, the Legion of Honour.
In the 2000-01 season, Kinder was a protagonist
in the new EuroLeague, organized by the clubs themselves.
Kinder finished the first phase with a 9-1 record
and in the eighth-finals again eliminated Estudiantes
2-0. In the quarterfinals, the victim was Union Olimpija,
also with a 2-0 sweep. In the semifinals, another bestof-three
series, Kinder again beat its archrival Teamsystem
2-0. As such, Kinder qualified for the first final of
the new era of the EuroLeague. Its opponent was Tau
Ceramica of Vitoria, Spain. In this first year of the new
EuroLeague, there was no Final Four, but rather a bestof-five
final series played in Bologna and Vitoria.
In Game 1, Kinder lost at home 78-65 to Tau.
Rigaudeau, who was held to just 4 points, stayed in the
shadow of Tau’s own Frenchman, Laurent Foirest, who
scored 20. In the second game, the tables were turned:
Kinder won 94-73 at home with 23 from Rigaudeau,
while Foirest had 2 points. In Game 3 in Vitoria, Kinder
showed all its potential, winning 80-60 with Manu
Ginobili as its star (27 points), while Rigaudeau (15),
Matjaz Smodis (13), Abbio (11 points) and Marko Jaric
(7 points, 7 rebounds) all made solid contributions. Tau
tied the series at two wins each with a 96-79 victory in
Game 4, with Rigaudeau scoring 14 points. So the series
returned to Bologna for a fifth game to decide the title.
Kinder won 82-74 behind 18 points from Rigaudeau.
The MVP was Ginobili, but Rigaudeau was a major part
of the championship victory after leading Kinder that
season with 56% shooting from the three-point line
and 88.1% on free throws.
Ettore Messina, his coach at Kinder, once described
his ex-student to me this way:
“Antoine was a very serious person about his work,
with a maniacal attention to detail and a strong sense
of team. At the same time, he gave importance to the
need for all players to win their individual duels with
their direct rivals so that the team could win the game.
The year we won the EuroLeague, Italian League and
Italian Cup with Kinder, in 2001, he was very intelligent,
because while we left the role of starting point guard
to Jaric, so that he would gain confidence, at the same
time Rigaudeau played ‘point forward’ – which is to say
that from his small forward spot, he helped with his
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