Vilmos Lóczi
Vilmos Lóczi (Serbian Cyrillic: Вилмош Лоци; 19 January 1925 – 12 July 1991), also credited as Vilmoš Loci, was a Yugoslav basketball coach and player. He represented the Yugoslavia national basketball team internationally.
Vilmos Lóczi bust in Zrenjanin | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 January 1925 Veliki Bečkerek, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes |
| Died | 12 July 1991 (aged 66) Zrenjanin, Yugoslavia |
| Nationality | Yugoslav |
| Career information | |
| NBA draft | 1947 / Undrafted |
| Playing career | 1946–1960 |
| Number | 6, 13 |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1946–1947 | Proleter Zrenjanin |
| 1948–1950 | Partizan |
| 1951–1960 | Proleter Zrenjanin |
| 1951 | → Crvena zvezda |
| As coach: | |
| Proleter Zrenjanin | |
| 1974–1975 | Central African Republic |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Lóczi was one of the best Yugoslav players from the 1940s and the 1950s according to Nebojša Popović, Aleksandar Nikolić, Ranko Žeravica and Mirko Novosel.[1]
Early life
Lóczi was born in Veliki Bečkerek to Hungarian parents from Pest. His father was a construction worker who died in Albania.[2]
Playing career
Lóczi started to play basketball for his hometown team Proleter of the Yugoslav Basketball League. In 1948, he moved to Belgrade-based team Partizan where he played until 1950. Over three seasons with Partizan, he averaged 11.7 points per game.[3]
In 1951, Lóczi moved back to Proleter. On 19 June 1951, Lóczi played one game for Crvena zvezda at an international cup tournament in Milan, Italy. He recorded game-high 19 points in a 54–24 win over Ginnastica Roma.[4] During his second stint with Proleter, he won the National Championships in the 1956 season.[5] Lóczi was a part of the group of players known as the Proleter's Five, which included himself, Milutin Minja, Ljubomir Katić, Dušan Radojčić, and Lajos Engler.[6][7]
In 1960, Lóczi announced his retirement from playing after Proleter got relegated from the First League.[3]
National team career
Lóczi was a member of the Yugoslavia national team that participated at the 1950 FIBA World Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Over four tournament games, he averaged 7.8 points per game.[8] The World Championship in Argentina was the inaugural tournament. At the 1953 FIBA European Championship in Moscow, the Soviet Union, he averaged 6.7 points per game over eleven tournament games.[9]
At the 1954 FIBA World Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Lóczi averaged 7.0 points per game over five tournament games.[10] At the 1955 FIBA European Championship in Budapest, Hungary, he averaged 8.2 points per game over nine tournament games.[11] On June 10, 1955, he scored a national team-high 16 points in a win over England.[12] At the 1957 FIBA European Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria, he averaged 2.8 points per game over eight tournament games.[13]
Lóczi is the first player who appeared in 100 games for the Yugoslavia national team.[14][15] He averaged 6.7 points per game over 101 career games for the national team.[3] Lóczi was the national team captain from 1953 to 1957.
Coaching career
Lóczi began his coaching career in Proleter. Also, he coached teams in Saudi Arabia.[2]
Lóczi was the head coach of the Central African Republic national team for two years. He led the national team at the 1974 FIBA World Championship in Puerto Rico.[2] He also coached the United Arab Emirates national team.[3]
Career achievements and awards
- Yugoslav League champion: 1 (with Proleter Zrenjanin: 1956).
- Plaque of the Basketball Federation of Serbia (2016, posthumous)[16]
In popular culture
- In the 2015 Serbian sports drama We Will Be the World Champions Lóczi is portrayed by Ivan Zablaćanski.[17]
- The 2016 Serbian documentary, Šampioni iz pedeset i šeste (transl. The 1956 Champions), portrays Lóczi and the achievements of the Proleter basketball team in the mid 1950s and how they won the Yugoslav Championship in 1956.[18][19][20]
See also
References
- ^ "Četiri selektora izabrala najboljeg jugoslovenskog košarkaša". yugopapir.com. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ a b c "ON JE ZASLUŽAN ZA USPON KOŠARKE U EVROPI: Vilmoš Loci (1925-1991), virtuoz igre pod obručima i legenda zrenjaninskog Proletera". novosti.rs. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- ^ a b c d Miletković, Duško (2018). Stojadin (First ed.). Souly. pp. 113–115. ISBN 9780359306060.
- ^ "Daba: Kad je Zvezda osvajala Milano…". kosmagazin.com. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ^ "Košarkaška prvenstva Jugoslavije (1945-91) – treći deo". strategija.org. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ "DISKRETNI ŠARM ŠAMPIONA I VIRTUOZA POD OBRUČIMA". sportinfo.rs. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ "Košarkaško prisećanje: Proleter Zrenjanin 1956". utakmica.rs. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ "1950 Yugoslavia 13 - Lotci Vilmos". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ "1953 Yugoslavia 13 - Vilmos Loci". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ "1954 Yugoslavia 13 - Vilmos Loci". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ "1955 Yugoslavia 13 - Vilmos Loci". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ "1955 - YUGOSLAVIA - ENGLAND: 98-53". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ "1957 Yugoslavia 13 - Vilmos Loci". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ "OD A(rgentine) DO Š(panije): (Ne) živi se od stare slave". mvp.rs. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ "Istorija košarke - Period 1945–1959". kss.rs. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ "Zrenjanin u znaku košarke". kss.rs. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ "We Will Be the World Champions (2015) Full Cast & Crew". imdb.com. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ "Šampioni iz pedeset i šeste". kss.rs. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ "Film Šampioni iz pedeset šeste prikazan u Ljubljani". zrenjanin.org.rs. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ "ŠAMPIONI IZ PEDESET I ŠESTE". on YouTube. Retrieved 13 January 2019.