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50 YEARS CELEBRATIONS IN BADALONA, SPAIN
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DKV Joventut brings back its legends
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| A must-stop place for the 50 Years of European Club Basketball celebration has to be Badalona, Spain, as Euroleague Basketball honors DKV Joventut for its contribution. If there was a place and a moment that Joventut Badalona reached its highest height, it was was at Yad Eliyahu Sports Palace in Tel Aviv, Israel, on April 21, 1994. Joventut and coach Zeljko Obradovic beat Olympiacos 59-57 in the 1994 Euroleague final to win the club's first top continental title, as the hard work of a traditional basketball club paid off in the most incredible way on a game-winning triple by Corny Thompson. Thompson and Obradovic, along with players Jordi Villacampa, Rafa Jofresa, Josep Maria Margall, Nino Buscato, Lluis Cortes and coaches Aito Garcia Reneses, Pedro Martinez and Manel Comas along with longtime president Lluis Conesa, were honored in a pre-game ceremony before its ULEB Cup Last 16 second leg against Khimki. Joventut has a long tradition in European and Spanish basketball. Founded in 1930, the club's reputation from the start was based on its faith in homegrown players. Joventut soon found success, winning four Spanish Cup titles between 1948 and 1958 and its first league title in 1967. All fans had to wait for more than a decade for a second Spanish League title to arrive, as Moka Slavnic helped Joventut to lift the trophy in 1978. The club won its first European title by lifting the 1981 Korac Cup, downing Carrera Venezia 105-104 in the title game in Badalona. Joe Galvin nailed a nine-meter bomb to take the game to overtime and Joventut took the game in thrilling game. A golden generation of talents featuring Jose Montero, Rafa Jofresa, Jordi Villacampa or Juanan Morales allowed Joventut to win a second Korac Cup title in 1990. Joventut has overcome tougher seasons recently, since coach Aito Garcia Reneses returned to the team. Not only he has turned Ricky Rubio and Rudy Fernandez into worldwide stars, but also helped the team to win the 2006 FIBA EuroCup and the 2008 Spanish King's Cup titles, too. Above all, Joventut is once again a fun-to-watch, competitive team ready to beat anyone, anywhere. |
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INTERVIEW: FERRAN MARTINEZ
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After a tough loss in the 1992 Final, Joventut was back with a vengeance in 1994 taking the title from mighty Olympiakos. A young Zeljko Obradovic led the team from the bench in his first time outside of Partizan, and one of the key pieces in that team was center Ferran Martinez.
"We were a tough team to beat and we all thought that the game wasn't over until the final buzzer. That was the message that Obradovic gave us all the time."
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