Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Basketball contests at the 1972 Summer Olympics was the eighth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place at Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle in Munich, Germany from August 27 to September 9. The Soviet Union controversially won the gold medal game against the United States.[1][2] This was the first time that the USA did not win a gold medal since the sport's introduction into the Olympics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics. The bronze was won by Cuba, the only Olympic medal they have won in basketball.[3] Another controversy was suspension of Mickey Coll after a positive drug test.

8th Olympic Basketball Tournament
Munich 1972
Tournament details
Olympics1972 Summer Olympics
Host nationWest Germany
CityMunich
DurationAugust 27 – September 9
Men's tournament
Teams16
Medals
1 Gold medalists  Soviet Union
2 Silver medalists United States
3 Bronze medalists  Cuba
Tournaments
← Mexico City 1968  Montreal 1976 →

Medal summary edit

Games Gold Silver Bronze
Men's basketball   Soviet Union
Anatoli Polivoda
Modestas Paulauskas
Zurab Sakandelidze
Alzhan Zharmukhamedov
Aleksandr Boloshev
Ivan Edeshko
Sergei Belov
Mikheil Korkia
Ivan Dvorny
Gennadi Volnov
Aleksandr Belov
Sergei Kovalenko
  United States
Kenneth Davis
Doug Collins
Tom Henderson
Mike Bantom
Robert Jones
Dwight Jones
James Forbes
Jim Brewer
Tommy Burleson
Tom McMillen
Kevin Joyce
Ed Ratleff
  Cuba
Juan Carlos Domecq Fortuondo
Ruperto Herrera Tabio
Juan Roca Brunet
Pedro Chappe Garcia
Miguel Álvarez Pozo
Rafael Cañizares Poey
Conrado Perez Armenteros
Miguel Calderon Gomez
Tomas Herrera Martinez
Oscar Varona Varona
Alejandro Urgelles Guibot
Franklin Standard Johnson

Note: The U.S. refused their silver medals and didn't attend the medal ceremony due to the controversy surrounding the final.

Qualification edit

Automatic qualifications were granted to the host country and the first four places at the previous tournament. Additional spots were decided by various continental tournaments held by FIBA plus an additional pre-Olympic tournament that granted two extra berths.

Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania Automatic qualifiers
  Egypt[a]
  Senegal
  Cuba
  Puerto Rico
  Japan
  Philippines
  Italy
  Czechoslovakia
  Poland
  Spain
  Australia   United StatesGold medal in 1968
  YugoslaviaSilver medal in 1968
  Soviet UnionBronze medal in 1968
  Brazil – 4th place in 1968
  West Germany – Olympic hosts
  • a Egypt withdrew from the tournament following the events of the Munich massacre.

Format edit

  • Two groups of eight teams are formed, where the top two from each group compete for the medals in a knockout round.
  • The remaining places are defined as follows:
    • Fifth through eighth places are decided in a separate bracket between the third and fourth places from each group in a separate bracket.
    • Ninth through sixteenth places are decided between the fifth through eighth places from each group in separate brackets.

Tie-breaking criteria:

  1. Head to head results
  2. Goal average (not the goal difference) between the tied teams

Squads edit

For the team rosters see: Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's team rosters.

Preliminary round edit

The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals, while the remaining teams compete for 5th through 16th places in separate brackets.

Group A edit

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   United States 7 7 0 542 312 +230 14 Semifinals
2   Cuba 7 6 1 560 445 +115 13
3   Brazil 7 4 3 561 490 +71 11[a] 5th–8th classification round
4   Czechoslovakia 7 4 3 493 489 +4 11[a]
5   Spain 7 3 4 486 500 −14 10[b] 9th–12th classification round
6   Australia 7 3 4 523 524 −1 10[b]
7   Japan 7 1 6 442 643 −201 8 13th–16th classification round
8   Egypt 7 0 7 440 644 −204 7
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head record: Brazil 1–0 Czechoslovakia
  2. ^ a b Head-to-head record: Spain 1–0 Australia
August 27
10:30
Cuba   105–64   Egypt
August 27
12:00
United States   66–35   Czechoslovakia
August 27
14:30
Japan   55–110   Brazil
August 27
20:00
Spain   79–74   Australia
August 28
9:00
Brazil   110–84   Egypt
August 28
14:30
United States   81–55   Australia
August 28
16:00
Cuba   74–53   Spain
August 28
20:00
Japan   61–74   Czechoslovakia
August 29
9:00
Brazil   72–69   Spain
August 29
14:30
Japan   78–73   Egypt
August 29
20:00
Czechoslovakia   69–68   Australia
August 29
21:30
United States   67–48   Cuba
August 30
10:30
Egypt   58–72   Spain
August 30
14:30
Japan   76–92   Australia
August 30
16:00
Czechoslovakia   65–77   Cuba
August 30
21:30
Brazil   54–61   United States
September 1
21:30
Japan   76–87   Spain
September 1
21:30
Australia   70–84   Cuba
September 1
21:30
Egypt   31–96   United States
September 1
21:30
Czechoslovakia   82–83   Brazil
September 2
9:00
Australia   75–69   Brazil
September 2
12:00
Egypt   64–94   Czechoslovakia
September 2
14:30
Japan   63–108   Cuba
September 2
18:30
Spain   56–72   United States
September 3
9:00
Japan   33–99   United States
September 3
10:30
Spain   70–74   Czechoslovakia
September 3
18:30
Australia   89–66   Egypt
September 3
21:30
Cuba   64–63   Brazil

Group B edit

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Soviet Union 7 7 0 639 479 +160 14 Semifinals
2   Italy 7 5 2 547 471 +76 12[a]
3   Yugoslavia 7 5 2 582 484 +98 12[a] 5th–8th classification round
4   Puerto Rico 7 5 2 570 531 +39 12[a]
5   West Germany (H) 7 3 4 482 518 −36 10 9th–12th classification round
6   Poland 7 2 5 520 536 −16 9
7   Philippines 7 1 6 526 666 −140 8 13th–16th classification round
8   Senegal 7 0 7 405 586 −181 7
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Head-to-head record: Italy 1–1 (1.072 GAvg), Yugoslavia 1–1 (1.013), Puerto Rico 1–1 (0.917)
August 27
9:00
Poland   90–75   Philippines
August 27
16:00
Yugoslavia   85–78   Italy
August 27
18:30
Senegal   52–94   Soviet Union
August 27
21:30
West Germany   74–81   Puerto Rico
August 28
12:00
West Germany   63–87   Soviet Union
August 28
16:30
Senegal   56–92   Italy
August 28
18:30
Puerto Rico   92–72   Philippines
August 28
21:30
Poland   64–85   Yugoslavia
August 29
10:30
Senegal   59–95   Poland
August 29
12:00
Soviet Union   79–66   Italy
August 29
16:00
Puerto Rico   79–74   Yugoslavia
August 29
18:30
West Germany   93–74   Philippines
August 30
9:00
Soviet Union   94–64   Poland
August 30
12:00
West Germany   57–68   Italy
August 30
18:30
Philippines   76–117   Yugoslavia
August 30
20:00
Puerto Rico   92–57   Senegal
September 1
9:00
Senegal   62–68   Philippines
September 1
12:00
West Germany   56–81   Yugoslavia
September 1
20:00
Italy   71–59   Poland
September 1
21:30
Soviet Union   100–87   Puerto Rico
September 2
12:00
SFR Yugoslavia   73–57   Senegal
September 2
14:30
West Germany   67–65   Poland
September 2
16:00
Philippines   80–111   Soviet Union
September 2
20:00
Italy   71–54   Puerto Rico
September 3
12:00
Italy   101–81   Philippines
September 3
14:30
Poland   83–85   Puerto Rico
September 3
16:00
SFR Yugoslavia   67–74   Soviet Union
September 3
20:00
West Germany   72–62   Senegal

Knockout stage edit

Medal bracket edit

Semifinals (September 7)[4]Gold medal (September 9)
      
A1   United States 68
B2   Italy 38
A1   United States 50
B1   Soviet Union 51
B1   Soviet Union 67
A2   Cuba 61 Bronze medal (September 8)
B2   Italy 65
A2   Cuba 66

Classification brackets edit

5th–8th place

Semifinals (September 7[4]) 5th place (September 9)
      
A3   Brazil 83
B4   Puerto Rico 87
B4   Puerto Rico 70
B3   Yugoslavia 86
B3   Yugoslavia 66
A4   Czechoslovakia 63 7th place (September 8)
A3   Brazil 87
A4   Czechoslovakia 69

9th–12th place

Semifinals (September 5) 9th place (September 9)
      
A5   Spain 76
B6   Poland 87
B6   Poland 83
A6   Australia 91
B5   West Germany 69
A6   Australia 70 11th place (September 8)
A5   Spain 84
B5   West Germany 83

13th–16th place

Semifinals (September 5) 13th place (September 7)
      
A7   Japan 70
B8   Senegal 67
A7   Japan 73
B7   Philippines 82
B7   Philippines 2
A8   Egypt 0[a]15th place
B8   Egypt 0[a]
A8   Senegal 2
  • a Forfeited match.

Final edit

September 9
23:30
Soviet Union   51–50   United States
Scoring by half: 26–21, 25–29
Pts: Sergey Belov 20
Rebs: Alexander Belov 8
Pts: Tom Henderson, Jim Brewer 9 each
Rebs: Mike Bantom 9
Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle, Munich
Referees: Renato Righetto (Brazil), Artenik Arabadjian (Bulgaria)

Awards edit

1972 Olympic Basketball Champions
 
Soviet Union
First title

Final standings edit

Rank Team Pld W L
    Soviet Union 9 9 0
    United States 9 8 1
    Cuba 9 7 2
4th   Italy 9 5 4
5th   Yugoslavia 9 7 2
6th   Puerto Rico 9 6 3
7th   Brazil 9 5 4
8th   Czechoslovakia 9 4 5
9th   Australia 9 5 4
10th   Poland 9 3 6
11th   Spain 9 4 5
12th   West Germany 9 3 6
13th   Philippines 9 3 6
14th   Japan 9 2 7
15th   Senegal 9 1 8
16th   Egypt 9 0 9

References edit

  • Official Report (PDF). Vol. 3: the competitions. Munich: Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXth Olympiad. 1973. pp. 418–437. OCLC 829366034. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  • FIBA Results Archive:

Citations edit

External links edit