101 Greats of European Basketball

The Great Captain
In the long and successful history of a great club
like Real Madrid, with so many stars and historic
players, it’s impossible to choose one over the
others to say who was the best. However, if we
were to limit ourselves to choosing just Spanish
players, I think that most observers – those with
long enough memories, that is – would probably
choose Emiliano Rodriguez as the best. After a brilliant
career as a player for Real Madrid from 1960 to
1973, he remains part of the club as the president of
the association of former players and the honorific
president of the basketball section. His service to
Real Madrid has lasted for more than half a century.
He is one of the biggest legends at a legendary club.
Born on June 10, 1938, in San Feliz, Leon, Rodriguez
started playing in the humble Escolarios Bilbao,
and his first pro team was Aismalibar Barcelona from
1958 to 1960. Rodriguez was already an international
player (he made his debut with the national team in
1958) when he signed for Real Madrid. He immediately
became the new hero for the Madrid fans. He had a
great ability to score thanks to an extensive repertoire:
a good jump shot; something he learned at the start
of his career; good ability to penetrate; and his specialty,
running fastbreaks. Rodriguez was super fast
and always the first in line to convert a pass from a
teammate into an easy basket. Above all, he displayed
a charming character. He was very enthusiastic and
always optimistic, which are all valuable traits on any
sports team.
On January 18, 1961, Emiliano made his debut in
the EuroLeague against EK Engelmann of Vienna and in
two sizeable Real Madrid wins he contributed 20 and
24 points. The next victim was Antwerp of Belgium,
against whom he nailed 37 and 15 points. Madrid’s
path was stopped at neutral courts in Paris and Prague,
in the semifinals against the dominant ASK Riga, the
team that took the first three European titles in a row.
Historic win in 1964
Rodriguez’s second attempt at the European crown,
in 1962, was also cut short, this time in the title game
against Dynamo Tbilisi in Geneva, a 90-83 defeat in
which Emiliano scored 21 points. The following year
Madrid was in the title game once again, but this time
lost to CSKA Moscow in the tiebreaking game, played
in Moscow like the second one. In three those three
games, Rodriguez scored 24, 18 and 21 points, respectively.
Eventually, in 1964, Real Madrid became the first
team from western Europe to win the title and break
the domination of the Soviet teams. Spartak Brno won
in Prague 110-99 despite Rodriguez’s 31 points, but
at home, Madrid won handily, 84-64, and Rodriguez
shined again with 28 points.
I believe that I saw Emiliano Rodriguez for the first
time in Belgrade in March 1965, in a never-ending
game against OKK Belgrade. Madrid had won the first
game at home 84-61 with 18 points from Rodriguez,
but the Yugoslav champ thought that it would be able
to come back in the second game. To do so, they used
all the tricks in the book, especially manipulating the
clock to make each minute last for two full minutes.
Radivoj Korac scored 56 points, but it was not enough.
After 113 minutes – 47 minutes in the first half and 66
in the second – OKK Belgrade had to admit it was an
impossible mission, despite winning 113-96. The best
101 greats of european basketball
Emiliano Rodriguez
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