The 1972 OI-1972 champion in the USSR national basketball team Ivan Edeshko on called the main factor in the team’s victory over the US team in the tournament final.
Edeshko made basketball history by making a “golden pass” to Alexander Belov three seconds before the end of the final with the American team at the Munich Olympics. This meeting took place exactly 50 years ago and ended with a score of 51:50.
– When asked about the heroes of this game, many said that Belov scored 20 points, Edeshko gave an assist, Belov again scored the last two points. Few recognized it, but the hero of the match was the team. It really was a team, because there was no better or worse. It was created from six republics: Ukraine, Lithuania, Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus… It was a team of the best players.
You are real heroes. How were you welcomed at home?
– Again, the hero is not me, but the team. We were given a certain amount of money there, so we were afraid of customs. When we got off the plane, a large pedestal was waiting for us, but there was no customs. We were brought everything and told we were free. All of us boldly from the pedestal – they ran after things.
– Can we say that the outrageous part of the final started with the head coach not being allowed to take a time out before the first and second pitches.
– Why didn’t Paulauskas join the main team? He took out all the matches, like me. We were sitting on a bench, two Georgians came out. I consider this as one of the parts of our team’s victory. The Americans were preparing for Paulaskas and me, they weren’t expecting it. The team has just changed the game, it was a surprise effect. The Americans never lost, they came out confident. The second moment of our victory was that Kondrashin changed the game: he put me on that last pass. The third point is that the coach has not lost hope that we can win. He said, “The train hasn’t left.”
Edeshko also won the World Championship (1974) and the European Championship twice (1971, 1979).
Source : MatchTV
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
