Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics

International basketball tournament

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 who decided to refuse their silver medals.^[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 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

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.

• 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

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

Group B

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)

Knockout stage

Medal bracket

Classification brackets

5th–8th place

9th–12th place

13th–16th place

• a Forfeited match.

Final

Awards

Final standings

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:
  • "1972 Olympic Games: Tournament for Men". Results Archive. FIBA. 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  • "1972 Pre-Olympic Basketball Tournament". Results Archive. FIBA. 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  • "1972 European Olympic Qualifying Tournament". Results Archive. FIBA. 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2015.

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.

External links

• ESPN Classic account of the gold medal game