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 →
Basketball at the
1972 Summer Olympics
Tournament
men
Squads
men
Qualification
men

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.

AfricaAmericasAsiaEuropeOceaniaAutomatic qualifiers
 Egypt[a]
 Senegal		 Cuba
 Puerto Rico		 Japan
 Philippines		 Italy
 Czechoslovakia
 Poland
 Spain		 Australia United States – Gold medal in 1968
 Yugoslavia – Silver medal in 1968
 Soviet Union – Bronze 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
  • 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[lower-alpha 1] 5th–8th classification round
4  Czechoslovakia 7 4 3 493 489 +4 11[lower-alpha 1]
5  Spain 7 3 4 486 500 −14 10[lower-alpha 2] 9th–12th classification round
6  Australia 7 3 4 523 524 −1 10[lower-alpha 2]
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. Head-to-head record: Brazil 1–0 Czechoslovakia
  2. Head-to-head record: Spain 1–0 Australia
August 27
10:30
Cuba  105–64  Egypt
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
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[lower-alpha 1]
3  Yugoslavia 7 5 2 582 484 +98 12[lower-alpha 1] 5th–8th classification round
4  Puerto Rico 7 5 2 570 531 +39 12[lower-alpha 1]
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. 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

Medal bracket
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

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
Main article: 1972 Olympic Men's Basketball Final
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
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
  • 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
  1. "Biggest Olympic scandals: The most controversial basketball game of all-time".
  2. "10 Things You May Not Know About U.S. Basketball's Shocking 1972 Olympics Loss".
  3. "3 Seconds from Gold: 'Stolen Glory' Recalls Epic 1972 Olympic Basketball Final". August 2012.
  4. "Forbes Leads U.S. Romp". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Associated Press. September 8, 1972. p. B4. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
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