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Basketball, Men

Date27 August – 9 September 1972
StatusOlympic
LocationBasketballhalle, Siegenburger Straße, München
Participants190 from 16 countries
FormatRound-robin pools advance teams to single-elimination tournament.

The United States entered the Munich Olympic basketball tournament with its 54-game winning streak intact. Although the international level of basketball was improving, the USA was still considered a heavy favorite. The US team included future NBA players Doug Collins, Kevin Joyce, Tom McMillen, Tommy Burleson, Bobby Jones, and Tom Henderson. Thru eight games, the United States extended its unbeaten streak and reached the final game against the Soviet Union. But US coach Hank Iba played somewhat of an old-style slowdown-type offense, emphasizing defense and never really released his horses.

The final between the Soviet Union and the United States produced the greatest controversy in Olympic basketball history. Trailing with less 10 seconds left, Doug Collins stole a pass and headed for an “almost” uncontested lay-up. But he was intentionally fouled by the Soviet player Sako Sak’andelidze, which was necessary to prevent the automatic two points. When Collins sank two free throws with three seconds left, it gave the US a 50-49 lead, its first of the game. The Soviets attempted to inbound the ball. After the inbounds pass, referee Renato Righetto stopped play, as the Soviet coach claimed a time-out had been called. The Soviets were allowed to attempt another inbound play, and the clock was set back to one second. An inbound pass was thrown but time quickly ran out, and the American players began to celebrate wildly.

However, William Jones, the Secretary-General of FIBA then intervened and ordered the shot clock re-set at three seconds and allowed the final inbounds pass to be re-played again. Ivan Yedeshko threw a perfect pass to Aleksandr Belov who scored a lay-up over Joyce and McMillan. The US protested but to no avail. US dominance in Olympic basketball was officially over. The US players refused to accept the silver medals, leaving the second step of the podium empty, and continue to do so to this day. In fact, one US player, Kenneth Davis, has had it written into his last will and testament that no member of his family is ever to accept a silver medal for basketball from the 1972 Olympics, even after his death.

PosNrTeamNOCWLPtsPoints
1Soviet UnionURS9018757–590Gold
2United StatesUSA8116660–401Silver
3CubaCUB7214687–577Bronze
4ItalyITA5410650–605
5YugoslaviaYUG7214734–617
6Puerto RicoPUR6312727–700
7BrazilBRA5410731–646
8CzechoslovakiaTCH458625–642
9AustraliaAUS5410684–676
10PolandPOL366690–703
11SpainESP458646–670
12West GermanyFRG366634–672
13PhilippinesPHI366610–739
14JapanJPN274585–792
15SenegalSEN182474–656
16EgyptEGY090440–648

Preliminary Round (27 August – 3 September 1972)

Group A (27 August – 3 September 1972)

Round-robin pools.

PosNOCWLPtsPoints
1USA7014542–312
2CUB6112560–445
3BRA438561–490
4TCH438493–489
5ESP346486–500
6AUS346523–524
7JPN162442–643
8EGY070440–644

Match #127 Aug 9:00CUB 105 – 64EGY
Match #227 Aug 9:00USA 66 – 35TCH
Match #327 Aug 14:30BRA 110 – 55JPN
Match #427 Aug 14:30ESP 79 – 74AUS
Match #528 Aug 9:00BRA 110 – 84EGY
Match #628 Aug 14:30USA 81 – 55AUS
Match #728 Aug 14:30CUB 74 – 53ESP
Match #828 Aug 18:30TCH 74 – 61JPN
Match #929 Aug 9:00BRA 72 – 69ESP
Match #1029 Aug 14:30JPN 78 – 73EGY
Match #1129 Aug 18:30TCH 69 – 68AUS
Match #1229 Aug 18:30USA 67 – 48CUB
Match #1330 Aug 9:00ESP 72 – 58EGY
Match #1430 Aug 14:30AUS 92 – 76JPN
Match #1530 Aug 14:30CUB 77 – 65TCH
Match #1630 Aug 18:30USA 61 – 54BRA
Match #1701 Sep 9:00CUB 84 – 70AUS
Match #1801 Sep 14:30USA 96 – 31EGY
Match #1901 Sep 14:30BRA 83 – 82TCH
Match #2001 Sep 18:30ESP 87 – 76JPN
Match #2102 Sep 9:00AUS 75 – 69BRA
Match #2202 Sep 9:00TCH 94 – 64EGY
Match #2302 Sep 14:30CUB 108 – 63JPN
Match #2402 Sep 18:30USA 72 – 56ESP
Match #2503 Sep 9:00USA 99 – 33JPN
Match #2603 Sep 9:00TCH 74 – 70ESP
Match #2703 Sep 18:30AUS 89 – 66EGY
Match #2803 Sep 18:30CUB 64 – 63BRA

Group B (27 August – 3 September 1972)

Round-robin pools.

PosNOCWLPtsPoints
1URS7014639–479
2ITA5210547–471
3YUG5210582–484
4PUR5210570–531
5FRG346482–518
6POL254520–536
7PHI162526–666
8SEN070405–586

Match #127 Aug 9:00POL 90 – 75PHI
Match #227 Aug 14:30YUG 85 – 78ITA
Match #327 Aug 14:30URS 94 – 52SEN
Match #427 Aug 14:30PUR 81 – 74FRG
Match #528 Aug 9:00ITA 92 – 56SEN
Match #628 Aug 9:00URS 87 – 63FRG
Match #728 Aug 18:30PUR 92 – 72PHI
Match #828 Aug 18:30YUG 85 – 64POL
Match #929 Aug 9:00POL 95 – 59SEN
Match #1029 Aug 9:00URS 79 – 66ITA
Match #1129 Aug 14:30PUR 79 – 74YUG
Match #1229 Aug 18:30FRG 93 – 74PHI
Match #1330 Aug 9:00URS 94 – 64POL
Match #1430 Aug 9:00ITA 68 – 57FRG
Match #1530 Aug 18:30YUG 117 – 76PHI
Match #1630 Aug 18:30PUR 92 – 57SEN
Match #1701 Sep 9:00PHI 68 – 62SEN
Match #1801 Sep 9:00YUG 81 – 56FRG
Match #1901 Sep 18:30ITA 71 – 59POL
Match #2001 Sep 18:30URS 100 – 87PUR
Match #2102 Sep 9:00YUG 73 – 57SEN
Match #2202 Sep 14:30FRG 67 – 65POL
Match #2302 Sep 18:30URS 111 – 80PHI
Match #2402 Sep 18:30ITA 71 – 54PUR
Match #2503 Sep 9:00ITA 101 – 81PHI
Match #2603 Sep 14:30PUR 85 – 83POL
Match #2703 Sep 14:30URS 74 – 67YUG
Match #2803 Sep 18:30FRG 72 – 62SEN

Classification Round 5-8 (7 September 1972)

Classification matches.

Match #107 Sep 15:00YUG 66 – 63TCH
Match #207 Sep 20:00PUR 87 – 83BRA

Classification Round 9-12 (5 – 6 September 1972)

Classification matches.

Match #105 Sep 15:00AUS 70 – 69FRG
Match #206 Sep 20:00POL 87 – 76ESP

Classification Round 13-16 (5 – 6 September 1972)

Classification matches.

Match #105 Sep 15:00PHI walkover
Match #206 Sep 20:00JPN 70 – 67SEN

Semi-Finals (7 September 1972)

Single-elimination.

Match #107 Sep 15:00URS 67 – 61CUB
Match #207 Sep 20:00USA 68 – 38ITA

Final Round (8 – 9 September 1972)

Medal round.

Match 1/209 Sep 21:00URS 251 – 50USA 3
Match 3/408 Sep 20:00CUB 66 – 65ITA
Match 5/609 Sep 16:00YUG 86 – 70PUR
Match 7/808 Sep 20:00BRA 87 – 69TCH
Match 9/1009 Sep 16:00AUS 91 – 83POL
Match 11/1208 Sep 15:00ESP 84 – 83FRG
Match 13/1408 Sep 15:00PHI 82 – 73JPN
Match 15/1608 Sep 15:00SEN walkover

Rankings

Points
Scoring Average
Total Field Goals Attempted
Total Field Goals %
Free Throws Made
Free Throws %
Total Rebounds
Turnovers
Blocked Shots
Personal Fouls