KK Hajduk (1945–1949) KK Split (1949–1967) KK Jugoplastika (1967–1990) KK POP 84 (1990–1991) KK Slobodna Dalmacija (1991–1993) KK Croatia Osiguranje (1993–1997) KK Split (1997–present)
Košarkaški klub Split (English: Split Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Split or simply Split, is a men's professional basketballclub based in Split, Croatia. The club competes in the ABA League and the Croatian League.
Under its former name of KK Jugoplastika, the club was one of the most successful of the Yugoslav era, winning several national titles in the 1970s and the 1980s. By winning the FIBA European Champions Cup for three consecutive years, from 1989 to 1991, it is also one of the most successful clubs in the history of European basketball.
History
The club's roots are found in Hajduk sports society's basketball section, which was established in 1945. After three years of mostly sporadic activity, in 1948, the club established its own organizational structure known as KK Hajduk, which was independent of sports society. In the next year, 1949, the club changed its name to KK Split.
After competing in the Yugoslav lower divisions for more than a decade, the club finally made it to the Yugoslav top-tier level Yugoslav First Federal League, for the 1963–64 season, and it stayed there until the breakup of Yugoslavia.
In 1967, the club adopted–for sponsorship reasons–the name Jugoplastika (Jugoplastika was a factory of clothing, accessories, and footwear products, made from thermoplastic materials and fiberglass; the original predecessor of AD Plastik),[1] and kept it until the end of the 1989–90 season. In the next season, the club participated in the worldwide, national domestic, and European competitions, under the sponsorship of POP 84 (an Italian clothes company from Ancona).[2]
KK Split is among the most successful clubs in European basketball history. They are, together with the first champions of the competition, Rīgas ASK, the only team to win the EuroLeague trophy three times in a row. In the years 1989, 1990, and 1991, the team, which was known back then as Jugoplastika and POP 84, with players like Dino Rađa, Toni Kukoč, Žan Tabak, Velimir Perasović and Zoran Savić, won the European top-tier level basketball trophy.
One of the greatest dynasties in European-wide basketball club competition history, came between 1989 and 1991, when Split simply dominated the FIBA European Champions Cup (EuroLeague) like no other team had in decades. Head coach Božidar Maljković, put together arguably one of the most talented young teams ever seen anywhere: featuring Toni Kukoč, Dino Rađa, Žan Tabak, Velimir Perasović, Zoran Sretenović, and Luka Pavićević, who joined forces with veterans like Duško Ivanović. In 1989, Jugoplastika reached the Final Four, along with heavy favorites FC Barcelona, Maccabi Tel Aviv, and the very competitive Aris. Kukoč had 24 points and Ivanović had 21, to lead Split past FC Barcelona, by a score of 89–77, in the semifinals. Once in the final, Jugoplastika edged Maccabi 75–69, behind 20 points from Rađa, and 18 from an unstoppable Kukoč, whose combination of size, speed, and incredible court vision, turned him into a one-of-a-kind player.
Jugoplastika met FC Barcelona again, in the 1990 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four, in Zaragoza, Spain. FC Barcelona was backed by thousands of fans, and managed to get a brief 61–59 lead, late in the second half, but Kukoč buried a couple of critical three-pointers, that sent Jugoplastika on its way to its second straight title. Kukoč finished the game with 20 points, and the EuroLeague Final Four MVP award, in his magic hands.
In most places, one can find that the European champions in 1991, were called POP 84, but that was just the name of the sponsor under which the talented players of KK Split were playing that season. Despite being without Dino Rađa and Duško Ivanović, the team from Split was led by a great Toni Kukoč, and a genius-like Zoran Savić, to their third consecutive title. Since the time when Rīgas ASK of the USSR League, won three straight European titles, in 1958, 1959, and 1960, no other team had won three in a row. And in the Final Four era, only two other teams besides Jugoplastika have been able to win even two consecutively (Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2004 and 2005, and Olympiacos in 2012, and 2013).
In 1991, the competition provided some big surprises, leading up to the Final Four at Paris. English club Kingston Kings of the British Basketball League, eliminated CSKA Moscow, and what is more, with a double victory, 93–77 at home and 72–74 in Moscow. German club Bayer 04 Leverkusen of the Basketball Bundesliga, made its debut in the third round, but the other faces were well known to everyone: FC Barcelona Banca Catalana ended first in that phase (11–3), POP 84 was second (9–5), and the other two Final Four teams would be Scavolini Pesaro and Maccabi Tel Aviv, tied at 8–6. Once again, the first team of the previous round did not get the title. In a rematch of the previous year's final– an occurrence that has not been repeated since– the team from Split won 70–65, almost identical to the 1990 score (72–67). Thanks to a great performance by Savić, who scored 27 points, Jugoplastika had an historic three–peat.
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