101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
out any concerns. I also put in the ‘L’ play (Pick & Roll)
to use his great dribbling-passing skills. Finally, I put in
our ‘3’ defense, the 1-3-1 half-court zone trap, which
became Mike’s ‘signature’. Mike led us to a historic era
of success and I conferred with him often, off the court,
during timeouts or at halftime.”
As Peterson mentions, Mike D’Antoni was always
an extension of his coaches on the floor. He was one of
those players with a natural gift for seeing the game,
reading the plays, improvising, and getting the best out
of his teammates because he always fed them the ball at
the right moment or ran plays that made it easier for his
team to score. He was not a natural scorer, but if points
were what the team needed, he was there to score 20
or more. In 1990, he was chosen as the starting point
guard on a hypothetical all-time Italian League team.
Two-time European champ
As a player, D’Antoni won five Italian Leagues (1982,
1985, 1986, 1987 and 1989), two Italian Cups (1987,
1988), one Korac Cup in 1985 and one Intercontinental
Cup against Barcelona (102-91) in 1989. However, his
biggest moments were the two European titles he won:
in 1987 against Maccabi in Lausanne (71-69) and one
year later in Ghent, Belgium in the first Final Four of the
new era, once again against Maccabi, 90-84.
In Lausanne, Peterson was coaching the team. In 36
minutes on the floor, D’Antoni contributed 7 points, 6
rebounds, 4 steals and 1 assist. In charge of scoring
were Roberto Premier (23), Bob McAdoo (21 plus 9 rebounds)
and Ken Barlow (18). A super team. In Ghent,
D’Antoni played all 40 minutes. He scored 17 points
with no two-point shots, making 4 of 11 threes and 5
of 6 free throws. He added 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 2
assists. He formed a great duo, again, with McAdoo (25
points).
“The big thing was it being the first Final Four,” D’Antoni
told Euroleague.net on occasion of the 50 Years of
European Club Competitions celebration in 2008. Of
course, he was among the 35 best players of all time in
Europe, as chosen by a panel of experts put together by
Euroleague Basketball. “There was a lot of excitement.
We played the Greeks from Aris in the first game, and
they had been our rivals for a long time. That was an
exciting game, as was the final with Maccabi. The new
format made it exciting and a good atmosphere. The
kinks still had to be worked out. The floor was bad, the
dressing rooms horrible. But they had it in Belgium, as
I recall, because they wanted to promote basketball
there. Of course, a lot has changed since then.”
I can’t exactly pinpoint the first time I saw Mike D’Antoni,
but I am sure it was on TV. I’d say it was in the EuroLeague
in 1987-88. In Belgrade, Partizan won 92-85.
I also saw D’Antoni in the 1989 EuroBasket in Zagreb.
At some point before that, using his Italian heritage, he
obtained an Italian passport and accepted playing for
the national team. The Zagreb EuroBasket, with only
eight teams, was rather short. In the semis, Yugoslavia
(the eventual champ) beat Italy 97-80 with D’Antoni
being held scoreless. His career in the blue jersey of the
national team didn’t last long. He only played 11 games
and scored 27 points. His numbers in the Italian League
were radically different though: 452 games and 5,573
points. That averaged out to 12.3 points per game to
go with 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He also
had good shooting percentages: 45.7% on two-pointers
and 40.0% on threes.
As a coach, first in Milan (1990 to 1994) and later
in Benetton (1994 to 1997), D’Antoni won two Italian
Leagues, one Italian Cup, a Saporta Cup and a Korac
Cup. He had 212 wins in 306 games (69.2%) to rank
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