European Champions

"Basketball in Russia begins with Stalin," explained the deadpan manager of the Russian team. "From Vladivostok to Leningrad, everybody plays," said Team Captain Ivan Lissov, who called himself a "master sportsman."** That was about all anyone could get out of the visiting Russians, who were whisked daily from the Soviet Embassy to Paris' Palais des Sports and back, under the watchful eye of a hollow-cheeked cultural attache.

Whatever the reason, the Russian teamwork ("They pass without even looking," said one awed coach), plus a clowning Georgian named Otar Korkija, made the Russians look invincible last week, as they crushed eight straight opponents in the European basketball championships. Korkija, 28, balding and sporting a Cesar Romero mustache, convulsed the crowd by jumping for nonexistent balls, plunging feet-first into the crowd, and faking stomach cramps. But whenever the chips were down, husky (6 ft. 2 in.) Otar Kor-kija dominated the backboards, and his deadly shooting (30 points in one game) gave the Russians a big lift.

It's the Rhythm. By the time they got to the finals against satellite Czechoslovakia, the Russians had gone a long way toward proving their theory that heavy, relentless pressure will, in the long run, always win. "It's not technique," explained Captain Lissov, "so much as physical condition and rhythm." After balletlike warmups, the Russians invariably pounded on to the court and confounded opponents with rifle passes, cat-quick ball handling, and a rough & ready determination to get the ball off the backboards. Best Russian play: a fast U.S.-style break, three or four sleight-of-hand passes under the basket which left the befuddled defense falling all over itself, while one of the Russian outside men dunked the ball into the basket.

But in the final, before 18,000 fans, including Andrei Gromyko, the Russians ran into trouble: a stonewall defense thrown up by the stubborn Czechs (normal defense: man-to-man). And before it was over, as everyone had expected, the Russians got involved in a stirring row with the officials.

Yes & No. The trouble came in the final seconds of the tournament, as the scrappy Czechs tied the score at 44 apiece. Russia sank a foul shot, but the nervous player teetered forward across the line. The Czechs called a footfault. The Russians howled "Niet!" The officials first decided that the foul shot counted, then reversed themselves and called for an overtime period, backtracked again and gave the shot and the game to the Russians, amid the ringing boos of the crowd. Final score: 45-44.

Impressive as the overall Russian performance was, it was greeted with a shrug by one European team coach, familiar with the U.S.'s razzle-dazzle style of play. Said he, lumping the pride of Russia in a class with Slippery Rock Teachers': "Kentucky would take them by 30 points."

**Other players, with a bow to the amateur spirit, were identified as "students" or "cadets," though most European coaches called them "state professionals."

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