Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics was the second appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. A total number of 23 nations entered the competition.
2nd Olympic Basketball Tournament | |||||||||
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London 1948 | |||||||||
Tournament details | |||||||||
Olympics | 1948 Summer Olympics | ||||||||
Host nation | United Kingdom | ||||||||
City | London | ||||||||
Men's tournament | |||||||||
Teams | 23 | ||||||||
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Tournaments | |||||||||
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Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics | |
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Tournament | |
men | |
Squads | |
men | |
Olympic basketball returned to indoor competition in Harringay Arena, after the disastrous weather conditions of the final game in the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Format
- In the preliminary rounds, teams were divided into 3 groups of 6 squads and a group with 5 squads.
- The preliminary round was played in a single round-robin format
- The Group tournament ranking system was observed as follows:
Team Result | Point Equivalent |
---|---|
Game Win | 2 |
Game loss via ordinary circumstances | 1 |
Game loss via default | 0 |
- Ties were broken by the ratio of points scored to points allowed.
- After the preliminaries, the top 2 teams in each group will advance to the final round.
- The 4 remaining teams went to their respective classification playoffs.
Medalists
Participating teams
Defending Olympic Champion | |
Olympic Runner-up | |
Third placers | |
Host nation |
Americas | Europe | Asia | Africa | |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | Great Britain | Philippines | Egypt | |
Brazil | Italy | South Korea | — | |
Mexico | France | Republic of China | ||
Uruguay | Hungary | Iran | ||
Canada | Belgium | Iraq | ||
Chile | Czechoslovakia | |||
Peru | Switzerland | |||
Argentina | Ireland | |||
Cuba |
Playoff berths for the Tournament
Continental Zones | Automatic Qualifier | Additional berths from the previous Games | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Host Nation | 1 | — | 1 |
Defending Olympic Champions | 1 | — | 1 |
Americas Region | 5 | 3 | 8 |
Asian Region | 5 | — | 5 |
European Region | 7 | — | 7 |
Africa Region | 1 | — | 1 |
Total | 20 | 3 | 23 |
Results
Group A
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Brazil | 5 | 5 | 0 | 261 | 150 | +111 | 10 | Advance to the quarterfinals |
2 | Uruguay | 5 | 3 | 2 | 246 | 170 | +76 | 8 | |
3 | Hungary | 5 | 3 | 2 | 201 | 172 | +29 | 8 | Qualified for 9–16th Classification |
4 | Canada | 5 | 3 | 2 | 222 | 205 | +17 | 8 | |
5 | Italy | 5 | 1 | 4 | 170 | 208 | −38 | 6 | Qualified for 17th–21st Classification |
6 | Great Britain | 5 | 0 | 5 | 103 | 298 | −195 | 5 |
- Uruguay def. Great Britain, 69–17
- Brazil def. Hungary, 45–41
- Canada def. Italy, 55–37
- Brazil def. Uruguay, 36–32
- Canada def. Great Britain, 44–24
- Hungary def. Italy, 32–19
- Brazil def. Great Britain, 76–11
- Hungary def. Canada, 37–36
- Uruguay def. Italy, 46–34
- Italy def. Great Britain, 49–28
- Uruguay def. Hungary, 49–31
- Brazil def. Canada, 57–35
- Hungary def. Great Britain, 60–23
- Brazil def. Italy, 47–31
- Canada def. Uruguay, 52–50
Group B
Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
South Korea | 5 | 3 | 2 | 258 | 152 | +106 | 8 |
Chile | 5 | 3 | 2 | 269 | 162 | +107 | 8 |
Belgium | 5 | 3 | 2 | 232 | 155 | +77 | 8 |
Philippines | 5 | 3 | 2 | 261 | 198 | +63 | 8 |
Republic of China | 5 | 3 | 2 | 281 | 202 | +79 | 8 |
Iraq | 5 | 0 | 5 | 113 | 545 | −432 | 5 |
- Philippines def. Iraq, 102–30
- Korea def. Belgium, 29–27
- Chile def. China, 44–39
- Chile def. Iraq, 100–18
- Philippines def. Korea, 35–33
- China def. Belgium, 36–34
- Chile def. Philippines, 68–39
- Belgium def. Iraq, 98–20
- China def. Korea, 49–48
- Belgium def. Chile, 38–36
- Korea def. Iraq, 120–20
- Philippines def. China, 51–32
- Belgium def. Philippines, 35–34
- China def. Iraq, 125–25
- Korea def. Chile, 28–21
Group C
Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | 5 | 5 | 0 | 325 | 167 | +158 | 10 |
Czechoslovakia | 5 | 4 | 1 | 217 | 190 | +27 | 9 |
Argentina | 5 | 3 | 2 | 246 | 199 | +47 | 8 |
Peru | 5 | 2 | 3 | 198 | 187 | +11 | 7 |
Egypt | 5 | 1 | 4 | 162 | 256 | −94 | 6 |
Switzerland | 5 | 0 | 5 | 120 | 269 | −149 | 5 |
- United States def. Switzerland, 86–21
- Czechoslovakia def. Peru, 38–30
- Argentina def. Egypt, 57–38
- Peru def. Egypt, 52–27
- Argentina def. Switzerland, 49–23
- United States def. Czechoslovakia, 53–28
- Peru def. Switzerland, 49–19
- United States def. Argentina, 59–57
- Czechoslovakia def. Egypt, 52–38
- United States def. Egypt, 66–28
- Czechoslovakia def. Switzerland, 54–28
- Argentina def. Peru, 42–34
- Egypt def. Switzerland, 31–29
- United States def. Peru, 61–33
- Czechoslovakia def. Argentina, 45–41
Group D
Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mexico | 4 | 4 | 0 | 234 | 109 | +125 | 8 |
France | 4 | 3 | 1 | 214 | 131 | +83 | 7 |
Cuba | 4 | 2 | 2 | 213 | 131 | +82 | 6 |
Iran | 4 | 1 | 3 | 136 | 215 | −79 | 5 |
Ireland | 4 | 0 | 4 | 70 | 281 | −211 | 4 |
- France def. Iran, 62–30
- Mexico def. Cuba, 39–31
- Mexico def. Ireland, 71–9
- France def. Cuba, 37–31
- Mexico def. France, 56–42
- Iran def. Ireland, 49–22
- Mexico def. Iran, 68–27
- Cuba def. Ireland, 88–25
- Cuba def. Iran, 63–30
- France def. Ireland, 73–14
17th-23rd place classification playoffs
17th-23rd place quarter-finals | 17th-20th place semifinals | 17th place match | ||||||||
(B4) Republic of China | 42 | |||||||||
(C6) Switzerland | 34 | |||||||||
(B4) Republic of China | 54 | |||||||||
(A6) Great Britain | 25 | |||||||||
(A6) Great Britain | 46 | |||||||||
(D5) Ireland | 21 | |||||||||
(B4) Republic of China | 38 | |||||||||
(A5) Italy | 54 | |||||||||
(A5) Italy | 77 | |||||||||
(B6) Iraq | 28 | |||||||||
(A5) Italy | 35 | |||||||||
(C5) Egypt | 33 | 19th place match | ||||||||
(A6) Great Britain | 18 | |||||||||
(C5) Egypt | 50 | |||||||||
Classification 21st-23rd
Classification Semifinals | 21st place match | |||||
(C6) Switzerland | 55 | |||||
(D5) Ireland | 12 | |||||
(C6) Switzerland (W/O) | 2 | |||||
(B6) Iraq | 0 | |||||
- Since the total number of competitors of the tournament was not a power of 2, a bye was given to Egypt, meaning they advanced to the classification semifinals. Also, Ireland was deemed to have finished last, due to the loss to Switzerland and a bye they earned from Iraq.
9th-16th place classification playoffs
9-16th place quarter-finals | 9-12th place semi-finals | 9th place match | ||||||||
(B3) Belgium (W/O) | 2 | |||||||||
(A3) Hungary | 0 | |||||||||
(B3) Belgium | 40 | |||||||||
(A4) Canada | 45 | |||||||||
(A4) Canada | 81 | |||||||||
(D4) Iran | 25 | |||||||||
(A4) Canada | 49 | |||||||||
(C4) Peru | 43 | |||||||||
(C4) Peru | 45 | |||||||||
(D3) Cuba | 40 | |||||||||
(C4) Peru | 40 | |||||||||
(B5) Philippines | 29 | 11th place match | ||||||||
(B5) Philippines | 45 | |||||||||
(C3) Argentina | 43 | |||||||||
(B3) Belgium | 38 | |||||||||
(B5) Philippines | 34 | |||||||||
Classification 13th-16th
13-16th place semi-finals | 13th place match | |||||
(A3) Hungary | 0 | |||||
(D4) Iran (W/O) | 2 | |||||
(D4) Iran | 36 | |||||
(D3) Cuba | 70 | |||||
(D3) Cuba | 35 | |||||
(C3) Argentina | 34 | |||||
15th place match | ||||||
(A3) Hungary | 0 | |||||
(C3) Argentina (W/O) | 2 |
- Hungary forfeited all of the matches in this round as indicated above.
Final round
Quarterfinals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
(C1) United States | 63 | |||||||||
(A2) Uruguay | 28 | |||||||||
(C1) United States | 71 | |||||||||
(D1) Mexico | 40 | |||||||||
(D1) Mexico | 43 | |||||||||
(B1) South Korea | 32 | |||||||||
(C1) United States | 65 | |||||||||
(D2) France | 21 | |||||||||
(A1) Brazil | 28 | |||||||||
(C2) Czechoslovakia | 23 | |||||||||
(A1) Brazil | 33 | |||||||||
(D2) France | 43 | Third place match | ||||||||
(D2) France | 53 | |||||||||
(B2) Chile | 52 | |||||||||
(A1) Brazil | 52 | |||||||||
(D1) Mexico | 47 | |||||||||
Classification 5th-8th
Classification semifinals | Fifth place match | |||||
(A2) Uruguay | 45 | |||||
(B1) South Korea | 36 | |||||
(A2) Uruguay | 50 | |||||
(B2) Chile | 32 | |||||
(C2) Czechoslovakia | 36 | |||||
(B2) Chile | 38 | |||||
Seventh place match | ||||||
(B1) South Korea | 38 | |||||
(C2) Czechoslovakia | 39 |
Boxscores
17th–23rd place quarterfinals
21st–23rd place semifinal
17th–20th place semifinals
9th–16th place quarterfinals
13th–16th place semifinals
9th–12th place semifinals
Quarterfinals
5th–8th place semifinals
Semifinals
Final classification matches
21st place match
19th place match
17th place match
15th place match
13th place match
11th place match
9th place match
7th place match
5th place match
Bronze medal match
Gold medal match
Awards
1948 Olympic Basketball Champions |
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United States Second title |
Participating nations
For the team rosters see: Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads.
Each country was allowed to enter one team of up to 14 players and they all were eligible for participation (with a maximum of five on the court at any given moment). A total of 298(*) basketball players from 23 nations competed at the London Games:
- Argentina (14)
- Belgium (14)
- Brazil (12)
- Canada (14)
- Chile (14)
- Republic of China (10)
- Cuba (14)
- Czechoslovakia (14)
- Egypt (14)
- France (14)
- Great Britain (13)
- Hungary (14)(**)
- Ireland (14)
- Iran (13)
- Iraq (10)
- Italy (14)
- South Korea (9)
- Mexico (14)
- Peru (11)
- Philippines (10)
- Switzerland (14)
- United States (14)
- Uruguay (14)
(*) NOTE: There are only players counted, which participated in one game at least, according to the official report, because the rosters for the matches are unknown. It is also unknown up to now, if there were more reserve players.
(*) and (**) It is uncertain if P. Benedek and J. Verbenyi played for Hungary in this tournament. The official report shows them, but Hungarian sources did not, however they are counted.
Summary
References
- Finkelman, Paul, ed. (2009). Encyclopedia of African American History 1896 To The Present. Vol. 4. Oxford University: Oxford University Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-19-516779-5.