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Drazen Petrovic: The last melody of Mozart of basketball

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  • Drazen Petrovic: The last melody of Mozart of basketball

    I don't have a link to this, but this was an article, translated by Sashikas, that I was able to recover from IBN 1.0

    Stuart

    Drazen Petrovic. The last melody of Mozart of basketball
    Croatian basketball player never thought of a farewell game. He was just 28, when on June 7th, 1993 he died on a Nurnberg-Munich highway. Along with his fiancee behind the wheel and her friend, the leader of the Croatian national team was heading to the first training camp before the European championship. It was raining, the road was slippery. Their car has crushed to a truck, who unexpectedly got to the opposite line and stopped in the middle of the road. Drazen died. Both girls got serious injuries, but survived.

    That was the tragic end of the one of the brightest players in all time basketball history. A son of a serbian officer, who turned into the Croatian national hero.

    “Sibenka” will always stay in my heart

    Drazen was born on October 22, 1964 in Sibenka – small town on a seaside of Adriatics. Drazen was a very clever and matured child. Along with the elder brother Aleksander, young Drazen got interested with basketball. “He took ball, which was almost bigger than himself, and was rolling it over the court for hours, almost for whole day, - later Aleksander remembered. - I had to pay constant attention to him, that older guys wouldn't trample him”.

    Several years have passed. Aleksander Petrovic turned to one of the most promising players in the country, went to the strongest Croatian club - “Cibona” Zagreb. Meanwhile Drazen took his first steps in the professional basketball. In the age of 13 he joined the local club “Sibenka”, and two years later was promoted to the main squad. The talent and incalculable hours of work on himself let him be called the most promissing players in former Yugoslavia, when he was 16 years old. In that period he won his first medal – bronze at the European youth championship. One year later – gold in the balkan championship.

    Aleksander Petrovic: “Fifty – sixty points in the game of youth teams was like a unwritten rule for Drazen. He turned into a real leader both among his coevals and the older guys.”

    Drazen became a leader of “Sibenka” at age of 17, neverminding that his partners were 10-15 years older. In 1982 Petrovic brought his club to the final of the Korac cup, where his team couldn't beat “Limoges”. One year later with “Sibenka” he won national championship and was elected as the best Yugoslav player.

    This success in such young age wasn't a surprise. Drazen fanaticaly loved basketball, he trained for 7-8 hours a day. As a result of that, at the age of 18 he was superior to his opponents in dribbling, basketball inteligence, throwing. He was noticed. Many European powerhouses were dreaming to have him in their roster.He got a proposal from the famous american coach “Digger” Phelps to the university of Notre Dam. “Sibenka” turned to be too small for him.

    “The first team – is like the first love. “Sibenka” will remain in my heart forever. Everything began here, and years spent in this team are impossible to forget. I remember, how I was visiting the practices of my brother, my first practice, all those hours, which I spent alone on the court, when only ball and the basket existed for me. But this is just a beginning. I hope, that “Sibenka” will understand me. To reach the things, which I want from basketball, I have to leave. I close this stage to open another one”, - these words were said before leaving his first professional club.




    Showtime for four seasons
    After serving one year in the army, Drazen decided to move to Cibona – the club, where his brother played. Acoording to the words of the coach of the Zagreb side of that time, Mirko Novosel, Drazen was the man, who had to help the team to turn the best team in the continent.

    During four seasons “Cibona” won practicaly everything, what they could. Two Champions cups are among them. And Petrovic brothers Aleksander and Drazen were the strongest defender couple in Europe. Aleksander remembers: “Those were the easiest years in my basketball career.. What did he was creating in Zagreb! That was a real showtime for four seasons”. Drazen: “I feel that I owe to the fans. I love them. That is the reason, why I have no day-offs. I am playing for the fans, and only then for myself and the club”.

    He was driving fans crazy with his phenomenal scoring. In the game of national championship in season 1985-86 vs. Olimpia Liubliana Drazen scored 112 points, what made Italian sports daily “Gazetta dello sport” call Petrovic “the Mozart of basketball”. It is impossible to forget his 62 points against finnish team “Katkan” in the Korac cup, and 8 tripples a row in the huge match against “Limoges”.

    A year in Madrid
    A year later Drazen was picked in the third round of NBA draft by Portland Trail Blazers, but the management of American club couldn't make him move away from Europe. After the Olympics in Seoul, where Drazen helped Yugoslavian team win silver medals, he moved to Real Madrid – a dream come true for most of the basketball players, the richiest and the most famous team in Europe. With a coming of “Petro” the Royal club became a champion in Spain and Europe at once. In the final of the National Cup he scored 42 points against “Barcelona”, and in the final of European – 62 against Snaidero Udine.

    In one of the semifinal games in Zagreb against Cibona (this time Petrovic brothers were on the oposite sides) an interesting episode took place. Later on Aleksander remembered it: “When Drazen came on court, all the hall was congradulating him with standing ovation. At the end of the game, Drazen had to score both free throws, to win the game. This victory meant almost nothing to them, and we, Cibona players, would get bonuses, if we would beat Real. So I came to my brother, and almost begged him to miss both throws. He smiled at me and score both of them – he didn't know how to loose”.

    In the same year Drazen won European championship in the squad of Yugoslavian team and was elected for MVP of the tournament.

    After that he understood, that he won everything in Europe, and decided to conquer USA. In a daynight period Drazen has left Madrid. He wasn't stopped even by the necessity to pay Madrid a compensation of more than a million dollars for the contract cancelation. “Petro” was 25 years old, and he didn't want to wait anymore.




    Hard path in NBA
    Drazen Petrovic arguably was the first european, who managed to win a recognition in NBA. He was coming to that for four years, and that path was spinny. USA met European star far from arms wide open. His first over-atlantic club – Portland Trail Blazers did not become a next peak of success. Moreover, he didn't come along with the head coach Rick Adelman. Adelman did not trusted in Petrovic, did not believe in his basketball abilities. Drazen himself was shocked at the first time – he never met a problem with a time on court. His first season in the league he finished with average scoring of less than 8 points per game, appearing on court mostly in the end of the game, when the winner is already decided.

    The second year began even worse, but in winter Drazen got him traded to New Jersey. 18 months in Portland was a hell for him: “I have to leave, so I can prove, that I have the abilities for more. I never sat on the bench for the whole game, and I am not planning to do that in Portland. If I have to leave to the weakest NBA team – I will leave, if I just get a guarantee of a playing time”. That's how the move was commented by Clyde Drexler, the main Portland star at that moment: “I am sure, that Drazen will have a perfect career in NBA. Such guys, as him, always reach for more. He wasn't successful here, but in “Nets” everything will change. He will show, that he deserved to play in the league, and, possibly will be among the stars of NBA”.

    In the new team he did not become a leader at once, but in the remaining games of the season 1990-91 he significantly improved his statistical numbers. His talent revealed in the next year. He became the best in his team in many columns and hugely improved his defence. After the season he was elected the best shooting guard in the league and the most improved man. He was collecting an average 20 points per game and with 51% of his three point shots was second in the league.

    In the summer he came back to the homeland – the country, which he left three years ago, existed nomore, and in the Olympics of 1992 Petrovic was defending the colours of the young independent Croatia. The rookie of the Olympics took second place. In the final Croatia lost to the american “Dream Team”, which is considering as the strongest team ever in the history of basketball.

    In his fourth and the last season in NBA “Petro” again overcame Michael Jordan, and was voted for the best shooting guard in the league, also was included in the third team of the season. He was best scoring man in his team (22.3 points per game - 11th result in the league), field goal percentage (52% - the best result among the guards) and the free throws (87%). The fans fell in love with him because his emotionality and energy, the coaches were in awe of him, because he kept practicing even after the season.

    But not everything was smooth. Petrovic was the only man from the top-15 scorers of the league, who wasn't invited to the All Star game. Moreover, you could constantly hear, that Petrovic is making too many shooting attempts. And these complaints were dedicated to the player with one of the highest shooting percentage in the league! After the season Drazen became a free agent, but the “Nets” management wasn't in a hurry to offer a new contract. So Petrovic decided to switch the team: at first he seriously considered the offer from one of the greek teams, and later on he got a proposal from Pat Riley to join “Knicks”.

    But before the making a decision about his further career, Drazen flew to Poland to help his native Croatia in the European championship qualifiers. Shortly after a shocking news came from Germany.

    “It might be, that it is hard to understand for you here in America the measure of this loss, you have many great players here, - Aleksander Petrovic told to “Daily News”. - But we are a four-million people country. With his loss our basketball went three years back”.

    “In my memory he is remaining, as a happy boy, smiling, dreaming about the victories, playing basketball, a game he loved more than everything, becoming the guy he was always trying to become, as a sportsman and as a human”, - Chuck Daily, “Nets” coach of that time, said, after learning about the tragedy.

    The first game of the 1993 NBA finals between Phoenix and Chicago started from a minute of silence. At the beginning of the next season at the homecourt of New Jersey a Drazen Petrovic's jersey with #3 was hang near the ceiling. Some time later near the olympic museum in Lausanne a monument to Drazen was opened, the trophy of the best player at the McDonalds tournament has a name of Drazen, and the president of International Olimpic Comitee Juan Antonio Samaranch has awarded him with an medal for the accomplishments to the Olympic movement. In the summer of 2002 Drazen was included to the museum of honour of NBA. Drazen Petrovic has made a huge effort to the development of world basketball, he opened the door to the european basketball players to NBA, he proved, that not only americans can shine in the best league in the world.

    “Mozart of basketball” hasn't played a lot of melodies. His life stopped on a tragic tune...
    http://www.facebook.com/interbasket
    http://www.twitter.com/interbasket
    http://www.interbasket.net

  • #2
    The Drazen Petrovic Memorial Museum is now open in Zagreb. Great news... he deserved it.

    2008... Beijing, China
    2010... Vancouver, Canada
    2012... London, United Kingdom
    2014... Shoci, Russian Federation
    2016... Madrid, Chicago, Tokyo???

    Comment


    • #3
      More love for Petrovic, one of the greatest players in history, even though his life was so short.
      Petrovic's Legacy Still Touches Area -- Sacramento Bee, January 22, 2008, by Scott Howard-Cooper

      Fifteen years have passed since that day on a rain-slicked German autobahn, when the Volkswagen Golf slammed into the tractor-trailer and crumpled into awkward shapes and the legend of Drazen Petrovic turned again.

      All these basketball seasons later, he [Petrovic] remains connected to Sacramento, because Beno Udrih grew up a fan and Wayne Cooper became one; because Reggie Theus and Vlade Divac were his teammates and Rick Adelman was his coach. Petrovic, dead since 1993, is attached to the Kings without ever playing for them.

      He was a Trail Blazer and a Net and, most of all, a European hero briefly loaned to fans in the United States. Four seasons in the NBA, starting barely half that time, was more than long enough to build a legacy as a gifted scorer and a tireless young guard with a historical level of dedication.

      "I don't know if there's anybody that loved the game more than Drazen," said Cooper, a teammate in Portland and now the No. 2 man in the Kings' personnel department as vice president of basketball operations.

      "I never, ever had a player who worked as hard as him," said Adelman, who coached Petrovic in Portland and is now the Houston Rockets' coach.

      Udrih, the Kings point guard, grew up in Slovenia without any real geographic or national connection – Petrovic was from Yugoslavia, before civil war broke the country apart, about a six-hour drive from Udrih's home. But every basketball fan in the Balkans was emotionally vested in Petrovic somehow, through home-team pride or opponent's disdain, and Udrih would come to see some of Petrovic's style as his own game developed, combining ballhandling skill with a desire to shoot.

      Udrih was 6 when Petrovic helped Yugoslavia to the silver medal at the 1988 Olympics, 7 when the same national team captured the prestigious European Championships and a month shy of turning 11 when Petrovic was killed in the Bavarian countryside. He later watched videos of Petrovic playing, though, and read the eventual biography.

      "People just knew him and the way he played, the way he reacted in every basket he scored," Udrih said. "It was like (the score was) 2-0, and he was like" – Udrih punches a clenched hand into the air – "to the crowd. Even on the road. The people that he was playing against, the fans hated it. But every basket he made, he celebrated with the fist up."

      Those were the groundbreaking days for the Yugoslavians, with Divac, Petrovic, Toni Kukoc, Dino Radja and Sasha Danilovic starring on the national team and either already driving the revolutionary NBA invasion or close to coming over. Petrovic, a third-round pick by Portland in 1986, made the move before the 1989-90 season.

      "At that time, the European players – Vlade had come over – they weren't looked at as superstars or whatever," Adelman said. "When Drazen came, we knew he was a very good player. But when we got him, I started to realize that he was the Michael Jordan of Europe. I mean, he was the guy. He was the superstar of all of them."

      In Portland, where Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter were firmly entrenched as starters, he was the third guard. He played 77 games that first season, but at just 12.6 minutes per, and then the Trail Blazers got another veteran guard, Danny Ainge, and Petrovic dropped even further. He was down to 7.4 minutes in 18 appearances when the trade to New Jersey was made Jan. 23, 1991.

      Petrovic went from being very popular in the Portland locker room – players were crushed when the deal was announced – to the backbiting Nets. Theus was on that team, and finished as New Jersey's leading scorer before being waived in the offseason and finishing his career in Italy, as Petrovic continued to play off the bench. Beginning in 1991-92, though, Petrovic became a starter and developed into a star while some players claimed he monopolized the ball and resentment grew.

      He jumped from 7.6 points a game as a rookie to 10.2 in the season split between the Trail Blazers and Nets to 20.6 in 1991-92 while working exclusively from the opening lineup, finally getting the role he had envisioned. That climbed to 22.3 in 1992-93 as Petrovic was voted third-team All-NBA.

      "People knew he was good, but they don't have an idea of how good he was," Cooper said. "I hear stories when I travel to Europe and I mention Drazen's name. He was an idol there. He was a rock star."

      Petrovic was a free agent when the 1992-93 season ended, and he seemed poised to return to play in Europe, probably Greece. He left the Nets after a first-round playoff loss, joined what had become the Croatian national team for a qualifying tournament in Poland for the European Championships and scored 30 points on June 6, 1993, in a loss to Slovenia.

      The next morning, the Croats flew home to Zagreb with a connection in Frankfurt. Petrovic's girlfriend was able to meet him in Germany. They would drive to Munich, her home, and he would catch up to the team the next day. Petrovic was in the passenger seat and another friend was in back.

      On the highway in southeastern Germany on June 7, with rainy conditions and low visibility, the driver of an 18-wheeler traveling in the opposite direction lost control when he tried to avoid another car on the wet pavement, police said at the time. The truck smashed through the center divider and skidded to a halt.

      The driver reportedly jumped from the cab in hopes of warning oncoming motorists who would have little time to see or react to the collapsed rig. The Golf crashed into the truck at approximately 5:20 p.m.

      The two women suffered serious injuries but survived. Petrovic, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected through the windshield and died on the scene. He was 28.

      His funeral was in Zagreb, and an estimated half-million people waited outside the church. An NBA delegation attended the service. Back in the United States, a moment of silence was observed before the Bulls and Suns played Game 1 of the Finals.

      "It's hard for you to imagine here in America, because you have so many great players," Aleksandar Petrovic, Drazen's older brother, once told the New York Daily News, trying to put the tragedy into a national perspective. "But we are a country of 4 million. Without him, basketball takes three steps back."

      Radja, a Celtics big man for four seasons, later recalled hearing the news while in bed and being unable to stand. Willis Reed, then New Jersey's general manager, said for days he could not mention Petrovic's name without breaking down.

      Divac was uniquely wounded: The shocking loss cost him a chance to reclaim a friendship ruined by the war that put the Croatian Petrovic and the Serbian Divac on opposite sides as their country splintered. Damning the fighting on all levels and leading efforts to help the youth of the former Yugoslavia, no matter their ethnicity, Divac spent years lamenting with obvious hurt the loss of any chance to reconcile.

      The Nets, meanwhile, retired Petrovic's No. 3 jersey. The award for the MVP of the McDonald's Open, one of the first international competitions to include NBA teams, was named in his honor, and his parents and brother attended the tournament about 5 1/2 months after the crash to participate in ceremonies. It was in Munich, of all places.

      It was Oct. 22, 1993. A New York Times report the next month told of the family visiting the crash site and sobbing at the side of the road and how German police, notified ahead of time, agreed to stop traffic and escort the Petrovics to the scene. His mother left flowers, 29 red and 29 white.

      Because Drazen Petrovic would have been 29 that day.
      "I really like the attitudes of eagles. They never give up. When they grab a fish or something else, they never let it go. It doesn't matter. In a book, they write they find a skeleton of [an] eagle and there is no fish. It means that the fish beat him and killed him, but he didn't let go." -- Donatas Motiejunas

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by mvblair
        When Drazen came, we knew he was a very good player. But when we got him, I started to realize that he was the Michael Jordan of Europe. I mean, he was the guy. He was the superstar of all of them
        Well that pretty much sum it up, as far as his playing abilities go.
        Loss of life is always tragic, but it seems even more so when the person lost is someone of that caliper and of that kind of passion.

        He should be remembered for his contribution to international basketball, and should be held as a role model for excellence resulting from passion for life and living.



        [no ads please]
        Last edited by rikhardur; 04-05-2008, 01:18 PM.

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        • #5
          RIP Drazen even if I've never seen him playing unless in some clips, this guy was made by himself after hours spent daily working hard on his game and shape, no more words because that's enough to explain what kind of person was.
          "It's hard to play against players like Milan Gurovic who is able to change any situation"
          један је Гуровић Милан!
          Хвала богу на Дарку и Милану!

          Comment


          • #6
            Great website dedicated to Dražen. Some excerpts about his wonders:


            Drazen brought ShowTime to Zagreb, as not once did he score 40, 50, 60 points while playing for Cibona.
            Who can forget his 7 three pointer in a row against Limoges (France) when Cibona was down by 16 points at the half-time, or against Simac (Italy) when his team was again down by 9 points, but thanks to Drazen’s 47 points and some 25 assists Cibona pulled out an important win in the European league.
            We remember a great win over Real Madrid and Drazen's 44 points, and 29 points that came in the second half.

            Maybe a second rematch again against Real Madrid at Madrid when Cibona won 108:91 and Drazen scored 49 points and had 20 assists.
            But most of all we all remember the game versus Limoges January 23, 1986 in Zagreb. After 13 minutes of the game, Cibona was down by 16 points: 27-43, and nothing seemed to go right.

            And then Drazen took the matter in his hands. Cibona's defense toughened up and Drazen scored 7 3-pointer in a row, ending the game with 51 points, 10 3-pointers and 10 assists while Cibona pulled out a huge victory 116:106.
            Drazen took his professional habits and enthusiasm to Madrid and overnight become the biggest star of Madrid. Just as in Cibona, Drazen brought to Real Madrid a spectacle and two trophies, Aleksandar recalls, and unforgettable European Cup Finals versus Caserte when Drazen scored 62 points!
            His 42 points in the Spanish National Finals (Game 4.) and 8 three pointers in the Game 2 is the highest by a single player in the Spanish finals history.
            Die Liebe wird eine Krankheit, wenn man sie als eine Heilung sieht
            Artificial Nature

            Comment


            • #7
              In former Yu- we had many of really good players and we also have them now, but Drazen was very very very unique...a whole generation of younger players was watching his games to learn something that was not to be seen anywhere else at that time...

              Good luck to our croatian friends and I hope you'll find another one sometime...

              RIP D!

              T

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by rikhardur
                Great website dedicated to Dražen.
                How long have you keeped this website a secret from us? This is great. It's got some awesome videos that show Drazen's dynamic style. What a cool tribute.
                Originally posted by Fish
                Good luck to our croatian friends and I hope you'll find another one sometime...
                That is a very lovely thing to say. Thanks for that.
                "I really like the attitudes of eagles. They never give up. When they grab a fish or something else, they never let it go. It doesn't matter. In a book, they write they find a skeleton of [an] eagle and there is no fish. It means that the fish beat him and killed him, but he didn't let go." -- Donatas Motiejunas

                Comment


                • #9
                  Attached Files
                  Last edited by rikhardur; 03-09-2009, 12:05 AM.
                  sigpic
                  ACB league
                  Scola & Ginobili 4 life
                  TAU & Lakers supporter
                  need4sheed.com

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                  • #10
                    Sibenka-Limoges KORAC final 1983

                    Does anybody have the video of the KORAC Final 1983 between Limopges and Sibenka? My father, Maurizio Martolini (www.maurizio-martolini.it) was one of the referees of the match and I really would like to have the oppotunity to see that match. THANKS

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      cheek drazen's you tube videos and reed coments. one guy who's nickname is utakmica leavs posts that he has more than 400 drazen games
                      Jordi Bertomeu sucks!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        More tribute to Petrovic:
                        Weekly Countdown: European influence expanding its NBA reach -- by Ian Thomsen, Sports Illustrated, June 6, 2009

                        ...Drazen Petrovic was a self-made star. Sunday will mark the 16th anniversary of the death of Petrovic, a 28-year-old Croatian coming off an All-NBA season when he was killed in a car accident in Germany.

                        "He was a basketball hermit. He didn't have a lot of social life other than basketball," said Kenny Grant, the American agent who helped Petrovic break ground by entering the NBA in 1989. "He believed he could make it in the NBA and he really wanted the opportunity to do it."

                        There were 75 "internationals" on NBA rosters this season, and many of them follow the example established by the 6-foot-5 Petrovic during the Cold War, when players from the Eastern bloc never dreamed of reaching the NBA. The political ins and outs of his departure from the former Yugoslavia are less relevant today than the story of how he became an NBA-ready talent in so distant and foreign a place. There was no secret to it other than hard work.

                        "He lived across the street from the gym, and even when his team practiced two times a day, he was in there before everyone else taking his 500 shots," Grant said. "Basketball was all he did. He had phenomenal scoring records back then, even though he was facing constant double teams and box-and-ones, and I remember when he was going to the NBA, he said, 'I'll be so happy to never see a box-and-one again.' "

                        In 1988, Petrovic moved from the Yugoslavian club Cibona Zagreb to Spain, where he played one season with Real Madrid. He joined the Trail Blazers a year later, and while he was frustrated by his limited role off the bench, he used his one-and-a-half seasons with Portland to lift weights and develop his body to deal with the physical NBA defenses. After being traded in 1991 to the Nets -- who had a need for backcourt scoring -- he became a revelation. Petrovic averaged 20.6 points in his first full season for New Jersey, followed by a 22.3-point performance in the season of his death.

                        "He was a great shooter, but he wasn't a natural shooter," Grant said. "He was a 'made' shooter because he shot so many times. He wasn't the kind of guy you watched and said, 'What a fluid stroke.' You didn't think it was going in because of the way he looked; it was going in because you knew he played a lot. He was a very tough, very competitive guy who worked for it." ...
                        "I really like the attitudes of eagles. They never give up. When they grab a fish or something else, they never let it go. It doesn't matter. In a book, they write they find a skeleton of [an] eagle and there is no fish. It means that the fish beat him and killed him, but he didn't let go." -- Donatas Motiejunas

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Drazen Petrovic was a basketball God.
                          The best player to walk this Earth.
                          I will miss him and remember him till the day I day.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Delibasic View Post
                            Drazen Petrovic was a basketball God.
                            The best player to walk this Earth.
                            I will miss him and remember him till the day I day.
                            You actually praised a player, amazing!
                            Die Liebe wird eine Krankheit, wenn man sie als eine Heilung sieht
                            Artificial Nature

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by rikhardur View Post
                              You actually praised a player, amazing!
                              apart from delibasic he's the only one really worth praising.

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