101 Greats of European Basketball

man for the Whites was Rodriguez, of course, with 25
points.
Vladimir Stankovic
Rivalry and friendship with Korac
That wasn’t his first duel with Korac, who by then
was the best scorer in Europe. Rodriguez and Korac met
for the first time at the 1959 EuroBasket in Istanbul,
and after that at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, the 1961
EuroBasket in Belgrade and the 1963 EuroBasket in
Wroclaw, Poland. In that 1963 edition in Poland, Korac
was again the best scorer of the tournament, with 26.6
points, but Rodriguez averaged 20.3 and was chosen
as the first MVP of the competition. He received 132
votes from the journalists, 26 more than Aleksandr
Petrov of the USSR, who was second. Rodriguez himself
acknowledged Korac as a great player; while focusing
on Spain, he liked Clifford Luyk and Nino Buscato. At the
1960 Olympics, Rodriguez had the chance to see players
like Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas and Jerry West.
The latter was his favorite.
At the 1965 and 1967 EuroBaskets, Rodriguez also
had high scoring averages – 21.6 and 21.8 points – but
his problem was a mediocre Spain team that finished
11th and 10th, respectively, among 16 participants. At
Real Madrid, Rodriguez had the help of great players
who made it easier to win four EuroLeague crowns and
take part in several more finals. In 1965, Real Madrid
defended the title against old rival CSKA Moscow. Madrid
won 88-81 as Rodriguez had 11 points in Moscow
and 84-64 at home behind his 24 points. The third title
came in 1967 at home against Simental Milano, 91-83,
as the great Rodriguez scored 29 points. The fourth title
followed the next year in Lyon against Spartak Brno, 98-
95. Rodriguez only scored 6 points in that final, but was
an important figure for the team. In 1969, in Barcelona,
one of the most dramatic EuroLeague finals ever took
place. Real Madrid and CSKA Moscow played for 50
minutes and CSKA won thanks to big man Vladimir Andreev,
who played the game of a lifetime with 37 points.
Rodriguez scored 18, Wayne Brabender and Luyk had
20 apiece, and Miles Aiken led Madrid with 24 points,
but it was not enough to stop Andreev and Sergei Belov
(19 points), who played all 50 minutes.
Emiliano Rodriguez played the 1971 EuroBasket in
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