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Hoops
By Jd Black
Hoops Not too many people could tell you any more who Kresimir Cosic was, though in 1980, when Yugoslavia took the Olympic gold in basketball, half the people of the world could have told you.
Cosic (“chose-itch”) grew up outside of Zagreb, Croatia, Yugoslavia in the 60s, a tall, incredibly skinny, but muscular kid from an early age. He loved basketball, but the Soviet school system of the time didn’t know what to do with a child that did not fit their parameters. “You are too tall to play basketball,” they tried at first, and when he wouldn’t leave the court, “Okay, you play over there. Stay out of the way.” And that is how 6’11” Kres grew up playing on the perimeter, a point-guard location, we would say.
Kres wanted to go to college, and play ball in the USA, but under communist dictator, Tito, that was highly unlikely. Still, Yugoslavia was the least repressive of the communist east block, and Kres eventually found his way to BYU. Twice he led his team to the NCAA tournament, and once to the NIT. A big, lanky, gangling, goose of a man, dark-eyed, dark-haired, dark-voiced, he was known as “the tallest guard in the country.” Always a crowd-pleaser, Kres could dribble—an ungainly, dis-coordinated, confusing, six-foot dribble that flustered opposing guards, and especially so their coaches, who thought it should have been so easy to steal the ball. He could also shoot from anywhere on the court. His foul-line sky-hooks, and his half-court swishes, which made the coach cringe, and the crowd scream, were nothing, however, to his behind-the-back, behind-the-head, in-heavy-traffic passes. Kres could get the most blasé crowd on their feet, whooping.
After breaking a number of college records, including 3-point shots for a center, the NBA drafted him (of course), but Kres went home, to coach, and, as it turns out, to be there to help a fledgling nation become independent. Oh yeah, and to win a gold medal.
When communism fell in 1989, Croatia was the first Balkan republic to declare its independence and have it internationally recognized. Kres, who had always stood for Christianity and independence in a communist state, was chosen to be Croatia’s new Ambassador to the USA. And then he returned to his beloved Zagreb, and to coaching a few more years, to preaching Christianity, to spend a little time with his family before dying way too young, at 47, of cancer.
But the story is told too quickly, because there is a game that isn’t in the films, but is very vivid in my memory. Cosic and his roomies often played ball in their free time, on one of the open, fieldhouse courts, and one Saturday, I happened over there looking to join some strangers for a pick-up game. Though I didn’t play well, I was 6’4”, and thought someone might say, “Come on. Join us.” Someone did. Our opponents were Kres and friends. You can guess the rest. My job was to guard Kres.
Never in history has 6’4” been so short. When I leaped to defend against Kres’s shots, my fingertips rose almost to his knee. When he bumped me in a regulation block, I got my first flying lessons. When, later, on a church-league team, I came up against 6’10” Phil, he was nothing. I had played, just one day, just one game, against the great Cosic, and there is a memory for a lifetime.
May we meet again, Kres, where there is no darkness.
Joel
JDBlack, aka Mr. Education, tour guide, outdoorsman, educator, grandpa, gardener, and bookworm.
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Wow, talk about experiencing a "moment". It's an experience of a lifetime.
The copyright for this content entitled "Hoops" has been specified by the contributor as:
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This intel was contributed by jdblack
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May, 2012
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