101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
two Saporta Cups, one Korac Cup and one Intercontinental
Cup. What we cannot see in the numbers was
his role on the court, that of a natural leader who gave
confidence to his teammates, his coaches and the fans,
who regarded him as a true idol.
A historic three-pointer
Not long ago the Spanish media celebrated the
25th anniversary of a historic three-point shot made
by Solozabal. It happened on December 22, 1987, in
Valladolid during the Spanish King’s Cup final. Barcelona’s
eternal archrival, Real Madrid, was winning by
two points, 83-81, with just a few seconds left, but
Barça had the ball. Real Madrid committed two fouls
but Barça coach Aito Garcia Reneses, making use of
the rule at that time that allowed him to choose between
free throws or inbounding the ball from the
sideline, chose the latter. In the last timeout, Aito
crafted a play for Sibilio to take the last three. However,
great defense on that great shooter change the
plan: the ball reached the hands of Solozabal, who
was on the right side, looking at the rim. Jose Luis
Llorente, Madrid’s guard, got there late and Nacho
threw up a bomb that hit nothing but net on the buzzer
making it 84-83 for Barcelona. Epi and Norris were
the first to hug the new Barcelona hero. Epi finished
the game with 18 points, Solozabal 17 (including 2 of
4 triples), Audie Norris 11 and Andres Jimenez 10. On
Madrid’s side, Wendell Alexis had 22 points, Chechu
Biriukov 20 and Fernando Martin 19. It was a great
final and one of the most exciting in the history of
the competition. Solozabal did other great things in
his career, but that three-pointer marked his career
forever.
Solozabal made his debut with the Spanish national
team on April 22, 1980, against the USSR in
Girona, Spain, in a 90-89 defeat. That same year, in
Moscow, he took part in the first of the three Olympics
he played in. His biggest success happened in 1984 in
Los Angeles, where Spain defeated Yugoslavia in the
semifinal and lost the gold medal game against a great
USA Team led by Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and
Chris Mullin, among others who would go on to great
NBA careers.
Seven finals, four titles
If there were sour memories for Nacho Solozabal,
there’s no doubt that those are the three finals lost
in the EuroLeague, a cursed title for that generation
of Barcelona players. The team made the final for the
first time in 1984 but lost to Banco di Roma in Geneva,
79-73. Solozabal scored 6 points and dished 2 assists.
Six years later, almost at home in Zaragoza, Barça was
bested by Jugoplastika Split, coached by Boza Maljkovic.
With a roster full of talent like Toni Kukoc, Dino Radja,
Dusko Ivanovic, Zoran Savic, Velimir Perasovic, Zoran
Sretenovic and Luka Pavicevic, Split won by the score of
72-67. Solozabal scored 5 points. His last chance came
in 1991 in Paris, but Jugoplastika defeated Barcelona
once again 70-65.
However, Barcelona won the other three finals it
played in the other two European competitions. On
March 19, 1985, Barcelona defeated Zalgiris and Arvydas
Sabonis in Grenoble, France 77-73 to claim the
Saporta Cup. Solozabal scored 11 points, grabbed 3
boards and dished 3 assists. That same year, in the
Intercontinental Cup, played in Barcelona, the team
defeated Brazil’s Monte Libano 93-89 as Epi hit 39
points. Solozabal contributed 6 points and 1 assist.
The following year, in Caserta, Italy, Barcelona defend-
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