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 27 August to 9 September. The Soviet Union controversially won the gold medal game against the United States.[1][2] This was the first time that the United States did not win a gold medal since the sport's introduction into the Olympics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games. 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.

Medal summary

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

Qualification

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.

Means of qualificationDateVenueBerthsQualified
Host nation1 West Germany
1968 Olympic Tournament13–25 October 1968Mexico Mexico City4 United States
 Yugoslavia
 Soviet Union
 Brazil
FIBA Africa Championship 19709 –15 March 1970Egypt Alexandria2 Egypt[a]
 Senegal
1971 Pan American Games31 July–12 August 1971Colombia Cali2 Puerto Rico
 Cuba
1971 FIBA Oceania Championship7–13 August 1971New Zealand New Zealand1 Australia
1971 ABC Championship30 October – 10 November 1971Japan Tokyo2 Japan
 Philippines
European Pre-Olympic TournamentVariousVarious2 Italy
 Czechoslovakia
Pan-Continental Pre-Olympic Tournament10–19 August 1972West Germany Augsburg2 Poland
 Spain
Total16
  • a Egypt withdrew from the tournament following the events of the Munich massacre.

Format

  • 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

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

Preliminary round

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

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. 1 2 Head-to-head record: Brazil 1–0 Czechoslovakia
  2. 1 2 Head-to-head record: Spain 1–0 Australia
27 August
10:30
Cuba  105–64  Egypt
27 August
14:30
Japan  55–110  Brazil
27 August
20:00
Spain  79–74  Australia
28 August
9:00
Brazil  110–84  Egypt
28 August
14:30
United States  81–55  Australia
28 August
16:00
Cuba  74–53  Spain
28 August
20:00
Japan  61–74  Czechoslovakia
29 August
9:00
Brazil  72–69  Spain
29 August
14:30
Japan  78–73  Egypt
29 August
20:00
Czechoslovakia  69–68  Australia
29 August
21:30
United States  67–48  Cuba
30 August
10:30
Egypt  58–72  Spain
30 August
14:30
Japan  76–92  Australia
30 August
16:00
Czechoslovakia  65–77  Cuba
30 August
21:30
Brazil  54–61  United States
1 September
21:30
Japan  76–87  Spain
1 September
21:30
Australia  70–84  Cuba
1 September
21:30
Egypt  31–96  United States
1 September
21:30
Czechoslovakia  82–83  Brazil
2 September
9:00
Australia  75–69  Brazil
2 September
12:00
Egypt  64–94  Czechoslovakia
2 September
14:30
Japan  63–108  Cuba
2 September
18:30
Spain  56–72  United States
3 September
9:00
Japan  33–99  United States
3 September
10:30
Spain  70–74  Czechoslovakia
3 September
18:30
Australia  89–66  Egypt
3 September
21:30
Cuba  64–63  Brazil

Group B

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. 1 2 3 Head-to-head record: Italy 1–1 (1.072 GAvg), Yugoslavia 1–1 (1.013), Puerto Rico 1–1 (0.917)
27 August
9:00
Poland  90–75  Philippines
27 August
16:00
Yugoslavia  85–78  Italy
27 August
18:30
Senegal  52–94  Soviet Union
27 August
21:30
West Germany  74–81  Puerto Rico
28 August
12:00
West Germany  63–87  Soviet Union
28 August
16:30
Senegal  56–92  Italy
28 August
18:30
Puerto Rico  92–72  Philippines
28 August
21:30
Poland  64–85  Yugoslavia
29 August
10:30
Senegal  59–95  Poland
29 August
12:00
Soviet Union  79–66  Italy
29 August
16:00
Puerto Rico  79–74  Yugoslavia
29 August
18:30
West Germany  93–74  Philippines
30 August
9:00
Soviet Union  94–64  Poland
30 August
12:00
West Germany  57–68  Italy
30 August
18:30
Philippines  76–117  Yugoslavia
30 August
20:00
Puerto Rico  92–57  Senegal
1 September
9:00
Senegal  62–68  Philippines
1 September
12:00
West Germany  56–81  Yugoslavia
1 September
20:00
Italy  71–59  Poland
1 September
21:30
Soviet Union  100–87  Puerto Rico
2 September
12:00
Yugoslavia  73–57  Senegal
2 September
14:30
West Germany  67–65  Poland
2 September
16:00
Philippines  80–111  Soviet Union
2 September
20:00
Italy  71–54  Puerto Rico
3 September
12:00
Italy  101–81  Philippines
3 September
14:30
Poland  83–85  Puerto Rico
3 September
16:00
Yugoslavia  67–74  Soviet Union
3 September
20:00
West Germany  72–62  Senegal

Knockout stage

Medal bracket

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

Classification brackets

5th–8th place

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

9th–12th place

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

13th–16th place

Semifinals (5 September) 13th place (7 September)
      
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

9 September
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

1972 Olympic Basketball Champions
Soviet Union
Soviet Union
First title

Final standings

RankTeamPldWL
1st place, gold medalist(s) Soviet Union990
2nd place, silver medalist(s) United States981
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Cuba972
4th Italy954
5th Yugoslavia972
6th Puerto Rico963
7th Brazil954
8th Czechoslovakia945
9th Australia954
10th Poland936
11th Spain945
12th West Germany936
13th Philippines936
14th Japan927
15th Senegal918
16th Egypt909

References

Citations

allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_at_the_1972_Summer_Olympics