Mieczysław Edwin Łopatka (born 10 October 1939) is a Polish former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and coach. At a height of tall, and a weight of , he played at the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

position.

Club career

Łopatka was a member of the FIBA European Selection, in 1969. He won 2 Polish League championships (1965, 1970), and the

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

(1972). He led the Polish League in scoring 4 times (1961, 1963, 1966, 1967), and he was a two time Polish League Player of the Year (1965, 1969).

National team career

As a member of the senior

Polish national basketball team The Poland men's national basketball team () represents Poland in international basketball competitions. They are controlled by the Polish Basketball Federation (PZKosz). Poland has competed at the EuroBasket on 28 occasions, with their best ...

, Łopatka competed at four

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

(

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

). He won a silver medal at

EuroBasket 1963 The 1963 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1963, was the thirteenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Sixteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation ...

, and bronze medals at

EuroBasket 1965 The 1965 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1965, was the fourteenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Venues Results First round Group A – Moscow Group B – Tbilisi ...

, and EuroBasket 1967. He was a member of the FIBA World Cup All-Tournament Team, at the

1967 FIBA World Championship The 1967 FIBA World Championship was the 5th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. It was hosted by Montevideo, Uruguay from 27 May to 11 June 1967. Venues Competing nations Compet ...

, and he also led the tournament in scoring.

Coaching career

In his

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

career, Łopatka won 8 Polish League championships (1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994), and 3 Polish Cups (1977, 1980, 1992).

External links

FIBA Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopatka, Mieczyslaw 1939 births Living people 1967 FIBA World Championship players Basketball players at the 1960 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Élan Chalon coaches Élan Chalon players FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Lech Poznań (basketball) players Olympic basketball players for Poland Polish men's basketball players Polish basketball coaches People from Gniezno County Śląsk Wrocław basketball coaches Śląsk Wrocław basketball players Small forwards Basketball players from Greater Poland Voivodeship Standard BC Liège coaches 20th-century Polish sportsmen