The 1979 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1979, was the 21st FIBA EuroBasket regional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

championship, held by

FIBA Europe FIBA Europe is the administrative body for basketball in Europe, within the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which includes all 50 national European basketball federations. In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIBA Eur ...

. Twelve national teams affiliated with the

International Basketball Federation The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

entered the competition. The competition was hosted by Italy.

Mestre Mestre () is a borough of the ''comune'' (municipality) of Venice, on the mainland opposite the historical island city in the region of Veneto, Italy. Administratively, Mestre forms (together with the nearby Carpenedo) the ''Municipalità d ...

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label=Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Goritz ...

and

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

were the venues of the event.

Venues

Results

First round

In the preliminary round, the 12 teams were split up into three groups of four teams each. The top two teams in each group advanced to the Final Round (with the score between them counting in the final round as well) while the bottom two were sent to the classification round to play for 7th to 12th Places (with the score between them counting in the classification round as well)

Group A –
Mestre Mestre () is a borough of the ''comune'' (municipality) of Venice, on the mainland opposite the historical island city in the region of Veneto, Italy. Administratively, Mestre forms (together with the nearby Carpenedo) the ''Municipalità d ...

Group B –
Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

Group C –
Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label=Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Goritz ...

Classification Round –
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

In the Classification Round played the teams that finish 3rd and 4th in their Preliminary round Groups. Those teams played for the 7th to 12th Places.

Final Round –
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

The Teams that finish their Preliminary round Groups in the 1st and 2nd places advanced to the Final Round. The first and second in this group will go to the final while the third and fourth places will go to a 3rd place match.

Finals

3rd Place Match

99
92

Final

19 June 1979
98
76

Final standings

Awards

Team rosters

1. Soviet Union: Sergei Belov ( c), Anatoly Myshkin,

Vladimir Tkachenko Vladimir Pyotrovich Tkachenko (alternate spelling: Vladimir Tkatchenko) (russian: Владимир Петрович Ткаченко; born September 20, 1957 in Sochi, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union) is a retired Sovi ...

, Ivan Edeshko, Aleksander Belostenny, Stanislav Eremin, Valdemaras Chomičius, Alzhan Zharmukhamedov, Sergei Tarakanov, Vladimir Zhigili,

Aleksander Salnikov Aleksandr Petrovych Salnikov ( uk, Олександр Петрович Сальников; 3 July 1949 – 17 November 2017) was a Ukrainian basketball player who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1976 Summer Olympics and the 1980 Summer ...

Andrei Lopatov Andrey Vyacheslavovich Lopatov (russian: Андрей Вячеславович Лопатов; 12 March 1957 – 16 February 2022) was a Russian basketball player who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1980 Summer Olympics and won a bronze med ...

(Coach: Alexander Gomelsky) 2. Israel:

Mickey Berkowitz Moshe "Miki" Berkovich (or Mickey Berkowitz; he, משה "מיקי" ברקוביץ'; born 17 February 1954) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. A 193 cm shooting guard, he is considered to be one of the greatest Israeli basket ...

, Lou Silver, Motti Aroesti, Yehoshua "Shuki" Schwartz,

Eric Menkin Eric Minkin (אריק מנקין; born November 28, 1950) is an American-Israeli former basketball player. He played the center position. He played in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, and for the Israeli national basketball team. Biograph ...

, Steve Kaplan, Boaz Yanai, Avigdor Moskowitz,

Barry Leibowitz Barry Leibowitz (born September 10, 1945 in New York, New York) is a retired American-Israeli professional basketball player. He played in the 1966 Pan American Maccabiah Games in Brazil. He played with, among others, Mark Turenshine and future N ...

( c), Pinhas Hozez, ,

Shai Sharf Shai (also spelt Sai, occasionally Shay, and in Greek, Psais) was the deification of the concept of destiny, fate in Egyptian mythology. As a concept, with no particular reason for associating one gender over another, Shai was sometimes consider ...

(Coach:

Ralph Klein Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 20 ...

) 3. Yugoslavia:

Krešimir Ćosić Krešimir "Krešo" Ćosić (; 26 November 1948 – 25 May 1995) was a Croatian-Yugoslavian professional basketball player and coach. He was a collegiate All-American at Brigham Young University. He revolutionized basketball in Yugoslavia and w ...

, Mirza Delibašić, Dražen Dalipagić,

Dragan Kićanović Dragan Kićanović ( sr, Драган Кићановић; born 17 August 1953) is a Serbian and Yugoslav retired professional basketball player. A 1.92m (6 ft 3 in) tall shooting guard, Kićanović played in the 1970s and 1980s, and is cons ...

, Zoran Slavnić, Žarko Varajić,

Željko Jerkov Željko Jerkov (born 6 November 1953, in Pula) is a former Croatian professional basketball player. At a height of 2.08 m (6'10") tall, and a weight of 95 kg (210 lbs.), he played at the center position. Professional career Jerkov was a member ...

, Rajko Žižić, Peter Vilfan,

Mihovil Nakić Mihovil Nakić-Vojnović (born 31 July 1955) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. Standing at , he played as a small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulat ...

, Ratko Radovanović, Duje Krstulović (Coach: Petar Skansi) 4. Czechoslovakia:

Kamil Brabenec Kamil Brabenec (born May 17, 1976) is a Czech professional ice hockey player who currently plays with HC Egna in the Alps Hockey League. Brabenec previously played for HKm Zvolen, HC Kometa Brno, HC České Budějovice, HC Keramika Plze� ...

, Zdenek Kos, Stanislav Kropilak, Jiri Pospisil, Vojtech Petr,

Vlastimil Klimes Vlastimil is a common Slavic origin given name originating from the roots: ''vlast'' (homeland) and ''mil'' (favour). A variant of the name is Vlastislav. The Czech name days are 17 March (Vlastimil) and 28 April (Vlastislav). The Slovak name day ...

Vlastimil Havlik Vlastimil is a common Slavic origin given name originating from the roots: ''vlast'' (homeland) and ''mil'' (favour). A variant of the name is Vlastislav. The Czech name days are 17 March (Vlastimil) and 28 April (Vlastislav). The Slovak name da ...

, Jaroslav Skala, Zdenek Dousa,

Peter Rajniak Peter Rajniak (25 May 1953 – 4 February 2000) was a Slovak basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1980 Summer Olympics. See also *Czechoslovak Basketball League career stats leaders Czechoslovak Basketball League ...

Gustav Hraska Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

, Zdenek Bohm (Coach: Pavel Petera)

References

{{Eurobasket

Euro The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

1979 in Italian sport

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

International basketball competitions hosted by Italy Sports competitions in Turin 1970s in Turin June 1979 sports events in Europe History of Siena Gorizia