Mieczysław Młynarski

Mietek Młynarski
Player information
Full name	Mieczysław Młynarski
Nickname	Mietek
birthday	17th May 1956
place of birth	Resko, Poland
size	199 cm
position	Small forward / power forward
Clubs as active
1973–1987 Górnik Wałbrzych 1987–1988 Lech Posen 1988–1994 SVD 49 Dortmund
National team
1975-1984	Poland	150
Clubs as coaches
2007–2009 Górnik Wałbrzych

Mieczysław "Mietek" Młynarski (born May 17, 1956 in Resko ) is a former Polish basketball player and coach. Młynarski was one of the most successful point collectors in the top Polish division Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) during his playing days . With 90 points he holds the record for the highest number of points in a game in the PLK and as a national player was also the most successful point collector for an average of points scored per game at the European Championship finals in 1979 and 1981 . At the end of his active career, Młynarski, a participant in the 1980 Olympic Games , played in Germany , where he rose to the basketball league in 1992 with SVD 49 Dortmund . His son Sebastian Młynarski was also a basketball player, among others, in the 2nd basketball league and, like his father, also works as a basketball coach after the end of his active career.

Career

Młynarski grew up in Bogatynia in Upper Lusatia and played football and handball in his youth before he came to basketball. He soon became a youth international and had the offer to move to clubs in the top division. However, he stayed in the region and went with his family to Wałbrzych in Lower Silesia at the age of 17 , where he was promoted to the top division Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) with Górnik in 1974 and was one of the best point collectors from the start. After the Junior European Championship in 1974, Młynarski also counted from 1975 to the squad of the Polish men's national team , where he was initially in the shadow of Edward Jurkiewicz and was only in a final squad at the European Basketball Championship in 1979 . After two initial defeats in the preliminary round against the later medal winners Israel and Yugoslavia , the Polish selection only finished seventh after winning the placement round. Młynarski was the most successful points collector of the tournament with an average of almost 27 points per game, ahead of Miki Berkovich and Wayne Brabender . After the Olympic boycott in 1980 in various western countries, Poland slipped into the field of participants in the Olympic basketball tournament . After two clear opening defeats against the later fourth Spain and the eventual Olympic champion Yugoslavia, the Polish selection finished seventh after winning the placement round. Młynarski was the tournament's third-best average point collector with 26 points per game. At the European Championship final tournament in 1981 , two opening defeats against defending champion Soviet Union and Olympic champion Yugoslavia ultimately prevented participation in the final round, as another preliminary round game was lost against Italy . Poland was again the winner of the placement round and Młynarski for the European Championship seventh with a good 23 points per game again top scorer of the tournament ahead of Berkovich and Nikos Galis .

In the PLK Górnik Wałbrzych counted at the beginning of the 1980s with Młynarski to the top teams. After losing the final in the cup competition in 1979, Młynarski was top scorer in the top division in 1980 and 1981. 1981 it was enough for Górnik to runner-up behind defending champion Śląsk Wrocław . A year later, the team in front of Lech Poznan was able to bring the club's first championship to Lower Silesia. In the 1982/83 season Młynarski had on December 10, 1982 already achieved 44 points at halftime in the game against Pogoń Stettin , whereupon it was decided to attack the twelve-year-old record of Jurkiewicz. In the end, the big winger was able to surpass Jurkiewicz's record from 1970 with 90 points by six points, although at that time there were still no three points for successful throws from behind the later introduced three-point line . At the end of the season, however, Górnik could not defend the title and was runner-up behind Lech Posen. Młynarski took part with the national team again in a European Championship finals tournament in 1983 , in which the Polish selection, however, only won one preliminary round game and was ninth at the end. Młynarski was the team's top scorer with just under 16 points per game, but he was not at the top among the tournament's best scorer. In 1984 Młynarski defended his title as the top scorer of the PLK and won this rating for the fourth time, but his team was no longer one of the top three teams in the league at the end of the season. It was not until 1986 that Górnik was runner-up again behind Zagłębie Sosnowiec . A year later, after 14 years with Górnik, Młynarski went to Lech Poznan, with whom he was third in the PLK in 1988 when Górnik won his second championship title.

Młynarski had already had offers from Spain earlier, for example when he was appointed to a selection of the best players in Europe in 1981. However, because of his family situation, he returned to Poland. In 1988 he stayed in western countries after an approved trip abroad. Since there was no approval from the Polish federation and therefore initially no license to play from FIBA , he continued his career at SV Derne 49 in Dortmund , which was then playing in the fourth-class 2nd regional league. With Młynarski, the club rose three times in a row, with a year break in the 2nd basketball league , on and played in the basketball league 1992/93 in the top German league, in which the club could not hold. They withdrew to the regional league, from which the club rose again in 1994 to the 2nd basketball division. However, Młynarski ended his active career at the age of 38 and only played lower class in Hagen , where he also worked as a youth coach. Finally he returned to his Polish homeland in 1997, where he continued to work as a youth coach in Wałbrzych. As coach of the first men's team led the club back again in 2008 in the top division, in which Górnik but could not hold in the 2008/09 season after only five wins in 24 games and was relegated again. His son Sebastian had stayed in Germany and played as a basketball player for various clubs in the Ruhr area , including BG Hagen , later Phoenix, in the 2nd basketball league. After the end of his active career, Sebastian also became the coach of the first team of SVD 49 in the now fifth-class 2nd regional league.

Web links

• Mieczysław Młynarski in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• archive.fiba.com: Players - Mieczyslaw MLYNARSKI (POL) - Overview of participation in FIBA tournaments (English)
• Z kart historii: Mieczysław Młynarski - Portrait of Marek Cegliński on the PLK website ( Polish ; February 28, 2012)
• Historia: Mieczysław Młynarski - portrait in the Chronicle of Górnik Wałbrzych by Jan Okulicz (Polish; published on the web on November 12, 2012)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Marek Cegliński: Z kart historii: Mieczysław Młynarski. Polska Liga Koszykówki , February 28, 2012, accessed August 10, 2014 (Polish). 
2. ↑ Wojciech Koerber: Polski snajper for Dortmundu? Przed Lewandowskim był Młynarski. Gazeta Wrocławska: GazetaWroclawska.pl, March 25, 2013, accessed August 10, 2014 (Polish). 
3. ↑ 1979 European Championship for Men: Statistics Leaders - Points. FIBA , accessed on August 10, 2014 (English, statistical tournament summary in the archive). 
4. ↑ 1980 Olympic Games: Tournament for Men: Statistics Leaders - Points. FIBA , accessed on August 10, 2014 (English, statistical tournament summary in the archive). 
5. ↑ 1981 European Championship for Men: Statistics Leaders - Points. FIBA , accessed on August 10, 2014 (English, statistical tournament summary in the archive). 
6. ↑ Polska Agencja Prasowa : 30 lat temu Mieczysław Młynarski zdobył w meczu 90 punktów. (No longer available online.) Sportowe Fakty: SportoweFakty.pl, December 30, 2012, archived from the original on August 12, 2014 ; Retrieved August 10, 2014 (Polish). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.