In 1980 the Olympic Games were held in Moscow, where the United States was boycotted. After the previous phases to the fight for the medals, in the fight for the Bronze they faced the local Soviet Union against Spain, with victory for the first by (117-94). In the final Yugoslavia defeated Italy (86-77). A unique Olympic Gold in history for the «plavi»
In 1978 the World Cup was held in the Philippines, with the tournament taking place in Manila. After passing the previous stages, the medals were played between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union for Gold, and Brazil and Italy for Bronze. Both matches were decided by a point. In the final the plavi won by (82-81), led by a Dalipagic chosen as the MVP of the tournament
In 1977 the EuroBasket was held in Belgium, with the Grand Final in Liege. After the preliminary stages, medals were played between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union for Gold, and Czechoslovakia and Italy for Bronze. In the final, the Balkans won (74-61) thanks to the offensive inspiration of Dalipagic (19 points) and Kicanovic (16 points)
In 1976, the Montreal Olympics were held in Canada, where the United States, who wanted to regain their Olympic scepter after what had happened four years earlier in Munich, took gold with absolute superiority. In the grand final, the Americans beat Yugoslavia by a clear margin (95-74). This was a key moment in the whole tournament, where the USA, led by a great Dantley, won all the matches with great confidence
In 1975 the EuroBasket was held in Yugoslavia, with the grand final being held in Belgrade. After passing the previous rounds, the fight for the medals was, for Gold, between the local Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, and for Bronze, between Italy and Bulgaria. The final was won by the Yugoslavs by a tight score (90-84), with Kikanovic (22 points) and Belov (29 points) as the best players on each side
In 1974 the World Cup was held in Puerto Rico. It was a competition full of competitive tension, where after passing through the various group stages we had a triple final draw between the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and the United States, with a balance of (9-1). Everything was decided by the different averages, which gave the gold for the Soviets, silver for the Balkans and bronze for the USA
In 1973 the EuroBasket was held in Spain, with the final being held in Barcelona. After passing the previous rounds the battles for the medals were, for Gold, between the local Spain and Yugoslavia, and for Bronze, between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. The final was won by the Yugoslavs over the Spanish (67-78), where Cosic’s inner power was worth more than Brabender’s goalscoring inspiration, and the Bronze went to the Soviet Union, after beating Czechoslovakia by a clear-cut (90-58)
In 1971 the EuroBasket was held in the Federal Republic of Germany. After passing the previous rounds and doing so in an unquestionable manner, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia competed for Gold, with the Soviets winning by a tight score (69-64), thus recording their eighth consecutive Gold
After five editions in Latin America, the World Cup landed in Europe, with Yugoslavia being the chosen host, a country with a basketball in full swing, as the tournament would show. The hosts, led on the court by the centre of the park by Cosic, had one day left to win the tournament. They did so after beating the United States (70-63) in a boiling Tivoli Palace in Ljubljana with 14,000 spectators in the stands
In 1969 the EuroBasket was held in Italy, specifically in Naples in its final phase. After passing the previous rounds and doing so in an unquestionable way, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia fought for Gold, with victory for the Soviets by (81-72), showing again, unbeatable with Paulauskas and Belov as stars
In 1968, the Olympic Games were held in Mexico, where the United States maintained its Olympic dominance with its seventh consecutive gold medal. In the grand final they had little trouble beating Yugoslavia (65-50), even though the Plavi were in the game until halftime, only to go down to the USA defence
