Radivoje Korać

Radivoje Korać
Player information
Nickname	Žućko
birthday	November 5, 1938
place of birth	Sombor , Yugoslavia
date of death	2nd June 1969
Place of death	Sarajevo , Yugoslavia
size	196 cm
position	Power forward
Clubs as active
1954–1967 OKK Belgrade 1967–1968 Liège Basket 1968–1969 Pallacanestro Petrarca Padova
National team
1958-1969	Yugoslavia	157 games

Radivoje Korać , Cyrillic : Радивој Кораћ, (born November 5, 1938 in Sombor , † June 2, 1969 near Sarajevo ) was a Yugoslav basketball player . He is a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame as well as the EuroLeague's 50 Greatest Contributors and is considered one of the best European basketball players of all time.

Career

Korać with the Yugoslav national basketball team, 1968

Korać discovered basketball at the age of 16 and started his career at OKK Belgrade . He quickly acquired the nickname “Žućko” ( English : Blondie) from fellow players and fans because of his reddish hair . In the 1955/56 season, at the age of 17, he was already one of the best players in the Yugoslav league. The following season he finished as the best scorer in the entire league. Korać was left-handed and held the position of power forward . When he again scored the most points in 1958 and was thus top scorer again, but this time even led his team to the championship, he was considered one of the best Yugoslav basketball players of all time. In 1958 he was also appointed to the Yugoslav national basketball team for the first time , with which he took part in three European championships.

In 1960 Korać was again the top scorer of the league and won the double with OKK Belgrade, consisting of championship and cup. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, he was also the tournament's top scorer, but was only sixth with the national team. At the European Championships the following year, he led his team to the final with an average of 24 points - which was the best of all players. In this he and his team met the Soviet Union . Korać scored 12 points, the game was lost 53:60. Nevertheless, he was voted Most Valuable Player , so the best player of the tournament.

In the club he continued to deliver consistently strong performances, was top scorer four times in a row between 1962 and 1965 and won the championship twice and the cup with OKK Belgrade during this time. With the national team he took part in a world championship for the first time in 1963 , where he continued the outstanding performances of the previous European championships and was runner-up with his team. Four years later he was runner-up again. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, he won the silver medal with the national team.

In the 1964/65 season Korać scored 99 points in the European Cup , in which he was represented with OKK several times and reached the semi-finals three times, in the game against Alvik Stockholm , which is still the record in the most important European Cup of basketball, which is now known as the Euroleague is named. He scored all points with lay-ups , close range and free throws . FIBA did not introduce three-point litters until 1980.

After a total of 13 years, four championship wins and two cup wins, Radivoje Korać moved to Belgium to Liège Basket , where he promptly became champion. He was not happy in Liège, however, and after only one season he moved to Pallacanestro Petrarca Padova in Italy , where he was top scorer in a basketball competition for the twelfth and final time.

Radivoje Korać scored a total of 5,281 points for the club and a further 3,153 points for the Yugoslav national team, which gives an average of 20.1 per international match. He scored his last points on June 1, 1969 when the national team played against the selection of the Yugoslav republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Korać contributed 35 points to 131: 93.

death

On June 2, 1969, the day after the game against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Korać made his way back to Belgrade and drove uphill in his car near Sarajevo . When he tried to overtake another vehicle, he collided with an oncoming truck and died a few hours later from his serious injuries. Radivoje Korać was only 30 years old.

Aftermath

Korać Cup trophy "Žućkova levica": The left hand on the ball symbolizes Radivoje Korać

The basketball world was affected after the sudden death of the young and talented Korać. The Yugoslav Basketball Federation decided never again to play a basketball game on June 2nd.

The dictatorial head of state of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito , said of Korać's death: “Bury him under the Olympic flag. It was bigger than the country it represented. ”Korać was the first athlete to be buried in the alley of eminent citizens .

When FIBA started a new European Cup in 1972, they named it after him in his honor. His hometown club OKK took part in the first edition and reached the final. The Korać Cup was held until 2002. Immediately after the end of this competition, the Serbian-Montenegrin Basketball Federation carried out its association cup under the name Kup Radivoja Koraća , which was continued as the Serbian Cup from 2006. In 2012, FIBA ​​presented the original trophy to the Serbian Basketball Federation, which has since given it to the winners of their cup competition. This trophy, which bears the name Žućkova levica , symbolizes the left-handed Korać during a game action.

With Radivoj Korac Belgrade , a women's team named Korać was created, which plays in the first Serbian league. Also exist in Rumenka also Serbia , in Banja Luka , Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the Swiss Zurich three basketball teams that bear his name.

In 1991 Radivoje Korać was elected to FIBA's 50 Greatest Players , a list drawn up by FIBA ​​of the 50 best basketball players of all time. On March 1, 2007, Korać was also inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame . A year later he was accepted into the EuroLeague's 50 Greatest Contributors .

Style of play

Korać was considered to be one of the best left-handed shooters in basketball. His free throw technique was unusual: Korać carried out free throws with underhand throws, a type of throw that was already considered obsolete at the beginning of the 20th century and was replaced by the jump throw. Nevertheless, Radivoje Korać was a sure free throw shooter, which he underpinned on the occasion of a television appearance in Belgium. In front of the camera, he converted 100 free throws in a row with his underhand throw.

successes

Title wins

• 4 × Yugoslav champions (1958, 1960, 1963, 1964)
• 2 × Yugoslav Cup winners (1960, 1962)
• 1 × Belgian champion (1968)

Success with the national team

• 1 × Olympic silver medal (1968)
• 2 × vice world champion (1963, 1967)
• 2 × Vice European Champion (1961, 1965)

Awards

Individual awards

• 1 × Most Valuable Player at the 1961 European Championship
• 1 × top scorer of the Summer Olympics (1960)
• 3 × top scorer at European Championships (1959, 1961, 1963)
• 7 × top scorer of the Yugoslav League (record) (1957, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965)
• 1 × top scorer of the Italian league (1969)

Special awards

All awards were made posthumously :

• Admission to EuroLeague's 50 Greatest Contributors (2008)
• Admission to FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991)
• Admission to the FIBA Hall of Fame (2007)

Movie

In the 2011 film, Zlatna levica - Prica o Radivoju Koracu , Radivoje Korać is the focus of the plot. It tells the story of a man for whom basketball was more than just a game, but who is also portrayed as one of the first pop stars of Yugoslavia.

Web links

• Detailed report about Radivoje Korać on the homepage of OKK Belgrade
• Radivoje Korać player profile and statistics on fiba.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Svetislav Pesic remembers Radivoj Korac , on spiegel.de. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Radivoj Korac - The legend that lives on , on euroleague.net. Retrieved July 23, 2013
3. ↑ FIBA Eurobasket 1961 , on fibaeurope.com. Retrieved July 23, 2013
4. ↑ ^{a b} 50 greatest Contributors list: Raivoj Korac ( Memento of the original from October 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , on euroleague.net. Retrieved July 23, 2013 
5. ↑ Radivoj Korac's 99 points , on eorucupbasketball.com. Retrieved July 23, 2013
6. ↑ SuproLeague (C1) , on linguasport.com. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
7. ^ History of the Korac Cup , on fibaeurope.com. Retrieved July 23, 2013
8. ↑ “Žućkova levica” ponovo u Srbiji , on b92.net. Retrieved July 23, 2013
9. ↑ Radivoje Korac Beograd Women on eurobasket.com. Retrieved July 23, 2013
10. ↑ ^{a b} FIBA Hall of Fame - Radijoj Korac (Class 2007) ( Memento of the original dated November 26, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , on halloffame.fiba.com. Retrieved July 23, 2013 
11. ^ Zlatna levica - Prica o Radivoju Koracu , on the Internet Movie Database . Retrieved July 23, 2013