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Alexander Gomelsky

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Alexander Gomelsky
Personal information
Born(1928-01-18)January 18, 1928
Kronstadt, Soviet Union
DiedAugust 16, 2005(2005-08-16) (aged 77)
Moscow, Russia
NationalitySoviet / Russian
Career information
NBA draft1950: undrafted
Playing career1948–1954
Coaching career1949–1991
Career history
As player:
1948–1953ODO LenVO
1953–1954ASK Riga
As coach:
1949–1952Spartak Leningrad (women)
1953–1966ASK Riga
1956–1959Soviet Union (assistant)
1963–1970Soviet Union
1966–1988CSKA Moscow
1976–1988Soviet Union
1988–1989Tenerife
1990–1991CSP Limoges
Basketball Hall of Fame as coach
FIBA Hall of Fame as player
Medals
Men’s Basketball
Representing the  Soviet Union
FIBA World Cup
Bronze medal – third place 1963 Rio de Janeiro National Team
Gold medal – first place 1967 Montevideo National Team
Silver medal – second place 1978 Philippines National Team
Gold medal – first place 1982 Colombia National Team

Alexander Yakovlevich Gomelsky (Russian: Гомельский, Александр Яковлевич; January 18, 1928 – August 16, 2005) was a Soviet and Russian professional basketball coach of Jewish origin.[1]

Coaching career

Gomelsky began his coaching career in 1948, in Leningrad, with LGS Spartak. In 1953, he became the coach of ASK Riga, an army club, leading the team to five Soviet Union League titles, and three consecutive European Champions Cups (Euroleague), from 1958 to 1960.

In 1969, he was appointed the head coach of CSKA Moscow, where he coached until 1980, leading the club to 9 Soviet Union national league championships (1970–1974, 1976–1979), 2 Soviet Union Cups (1972–1973), and one European Champions Cup (Euroleague) title in 1971. He also led the club to two more European Champions Cup (Euroleague) finals, in 1970, and 1973.

He also coached in Spain, France, and the United States.

Soviet Union national team

Gomelsky coached the Soviet Union national team for almost 30 years, leading them to 6 FIBA European Championship titles (1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1979, and 1981), 2 FIBA World Cup titles (1967, and 1982), and the Summer Olympic Games gold medal in 1988.

He was the Soviet national team head coach in 1972, and was expected to coach the team at the 1972 Summer Olympic games, but the KGB confiscated his passport, fearing that, since Gomelsky was Jewish, that he would defect to Israel.[2] The Soviet team, with Vladimir Kondrashin as their coach, won their first Olympic gold medal that year, in a controversial game against the United States national basketball team.

Post coaching career

In his later years, Gomelsky was the president of CSKA Moscow. In 1995, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2007, he was enshrined into the FIBA Hall of Fame. The Euroleague's annual Alexander Gomelsky Euroleague Coach of the Year award is named after him, and so is Alexander Gomelsky Universal Sports Hall CSKA.[3] In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors.

See also

Bibliography

  • A. Ya. Gomelsky (1985). Team Management in Basketball (in Russian). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport.

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Sport/Jews_in_Sport_in_the_USSR
  2. ^ ALEKSANDR "SASCHA" GOMELSKY
  3. ^ Professional Basketball Club CSKA Moscow
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