Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics

2nd Olympic Basketball Tournament
London 1948
Tournament details
Olympics1948 Summer Olympics
Host nationUnited Kingdom
CityLondon
Men's tournament
Teams23
Medals
1 Gold medalists  United States
2 Silver medalists France
3 Bronze medalists  Brazil
Tournaments
← Berlin 1936  Helsinki 1952 →

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.

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.
Basketball
Basketball

Medalists

Gold Silver Bronze
 United States (USA)
Cliff Barker
Don Barksdale
Ralph Beard
Lew Beck
Vince Boryla
Gordon Carpenter
Alex Groza
Wah Wah Jones
Bob Kurland
Ray Lumpp
R. C. Pitts
Jesse Renick
Jackie Robinson
Kenny Rollins
 France (FRA)
André Barrais
Michel Bonnevie
André Buffière
René Chocat
René Dérency
Maurice Desaymonnet
André Even
Maurice Girardot
Fernand Guillou
Raymond Offner
Jacques Perrier
Yvan Quénin
Lucien Rebuffic
Pierre Thiolon
 Brazil (BRA)
Zeny de Azevedo
João Francisco Bráz
Ruy de Freitas
Marcus Vinícius Dias
Affonso Évora
Alexandre Gemignani
Alfredo da Motta
Alberto Marson
Nilton Pacheco
Massinet Sorcinelli

[1]

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

Qualification berths for the Tournament

Allocation of Berths
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

Group stage

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 to 9–16th classification round
4  Canada 5 3 2 222 205 +17 8
5  Italy 5 1 4 170 208 −38 6 Qualified to 17th–23rd classification round
6  Great Britain 5 0 5 103 298 −195 5
Source: FIBA archive
  • 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

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Chile 5 3 2 269 162 +107 8[a] Advanced to the quarterfinals
2  South Korea 5 3 2 258 152 +106 8[a]
3  Belgium 5 3 2 232 155 +77 8[a] Qualified for 9–16th classification round
4  Philippines 5 3 2 261 198 +63 8[a]
5  Republic of China 5 3 2 281 202 +79 8[a] Qualified for 17th–23rd classification round
6  Iraq 5 0 5 113 545 −432 5
Source: FIBA Archive
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c d e Chile wins the five-way tiebreaker, with the following point differential in head-to-head matches among tied teams:
    Chile +25, Korea +6, Belgium -1, Philippines -9, and China -21.
  • 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

Scene of the USA v Argentina match
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  United States 5 5 0 325 167 +158 10 Advanced to the quarterfinals
2  Czechoslovakia 5 4 1 217 190 +27 9
3  Argentina 5 3 2 246 199 +47 8 Qualified for 9–16th classification round
4  Peru 5 2 3 198 187 +11 7
5  Egypt 5 1 4 162 256 −94 6 Qualified for 17th–23rd classification round
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

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Mexico 4 4 0 234 109 +125 8 Advanced to the quarterfinals
2  France 4 3 1 214 131 +83 7
3  Cuba 4 2 2 213 131 +82 6 Qualified for 9–16th classification round
4  Iran 4 1 3 136 215 −79 5
5  Ireland 4 0 4 70 281 −211 4 Qualified for 17th–23rd classification round
  • 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

Classification rounds

17th–23rd place classification rounds

A bye was given to Egypt as total number of teams is not a multiple of 2, which gave them bye 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.

21st place match21st–23rd place semifinalClassification Quarterfinals17th–20th place semifinals17th place match
B4 Republic of China42
C6 Switzerland34
C6 Switzerland55B4 Republic of China54
D5 Ireland12A6 Great Britain25
A6 Great Britain46
D5 Ireland21
C6 Switzerland (W/O)2*B4 Republic of China38
B6 Iraq0A5 Italy54
A5 Italy77
B6 Iraq28
A5 Italy3519th place match
C5 Egypt33
A6 Great Britain18
C5 Egypt50

Classification Quarterfinals

21st–23rd place semifinal

17th–20th place semifinals

9th-16th place classification playoffs

Hungary forfeited all of their matches in the classification round, and a win were awarded to their respective opponents, which are marked by asterisks.

13th place match13th–16th place semifinalsClassification Quarterfinals9th–12th place semifinals9th place match
B3 Belgium (W/O)2*
A3 Hungary0
A3 Hungary0B3 Belgium40
D4 Iran (W/O)2*A4 Canada45
A4 Canada81
D4 Iran25
D4 Iran36A4 Canada49
D3 Cuba70C4 Peru43
C4 Peru45
D3 Cuba40
15th place matchD3 Cuba35C4 Peru4011th place match
C3 Argentina34B5 Philippines29
A3 Hungary0B5 Philippines45B3 Belgium38
C3 Argentina (W/O)2*C3 Argentina43B5 Philippines34

Classification quarterfinals

Hungary 0–2 (W/O)  Belgium
Forfeited

13th–16th place semifinals

Hungary 0–2 (W/O)  Iran
Forfeited

9th–12th place semifinals

Final round

Fifth place match5th–8th place semifinalsQuarterfinalsSemifinalsGold medal match
C1 United States63
A2 Uruguay28
A2 Uruguay45C1 United States71
B2 South Korea36D1 Mexico40
D1 Mexico43
B2 South Korea32
A2 Uruguay50C1 United States65
B1 Chile32D2 France21
A1 Brazil28
C2 Czechoslovakia23
Seventh place matchC2 Czechoslovakia36A1 Brazil33Bronze medal match
B1 Chile38D2 France43
B2 South Korea38D2 France53D1 Mexico47
C2 Czechoslovakia39B1 Chile52A1 Brazil52

Quarterfinals

9 August 1948
21:00
United States 63–28  Uruguay
9 August 1948
19:30
Mexico 43–32  South Korea

9 August 1948
15:20
Brazil 28–23  Czechoslovakia
9 August 1948
15:40
France 53–52  Chile

5th–8th place semifinals

11 August 1948
Uruguay 45–36  South Korea
11 August 1948
Czechoslovakia 36–38  Chile

Semifinals

11 August 1948
19:30
United States 71–40  Mexico

11 August 1948
21:00
Brazil 33–43  France

Final classification matches

21st place match

Switzerland 2–0 (W/O)  Iraq
Forfeited

19th place match

17th place match

15th place match

Hungary 0–2 (W/O)  Argentina
Forfeited

13th place match

11th place match

12 August 1948
19:30
Philippines 34–38  Belgium
Scoring by half: 16–16, 18–22
Pts: Ramon Campos 17 Pts: Henri Coosemans 14
Harringay Arena, London
Referees: Jan Osuský (TCH), Ernesto Lastra (ARG)

9th place match

7th place match

5th place match

Bronze medal match

13 August 1948
19:30
Mexico 47–52  Brazil
Scoring by half: 25–17, 22–35
Pts: Josué Santos 16 Pts: Alfredo da Motta 25

Gold medal match

13 August 1948
United States 65–21  France
Scoring by half: 28–9, 37–12
Pts: Alex Groza 11 Pts: René Chocat 8
Harringay Arena, London
Referees: Abdel Azim Ashry, Vittorio Ugolini

Awards

1948 Olympic Basketball Champions
United States
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:

(*) 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

Place Nation
1  United States (USA)
Head Coach: Omar Browning (Phillips 66ers (Bartlesville, OK))
Cliff Barker (Kentucky)
Don Barksdale (Oakland Bittners/UCLA)
Ralph Beard (Kentucky)
Lew Beck (Phillips 66ers/Oregon State)
Vince Boryla (Denver Nuggets/Denver)
Gordon Carpenter (Phillips 66ers/Arkansas)
Alex Groza (Kentucky)
Wah Wah Jones (Kentucky)
Bob Kurland (Phillips 66ers/Oklahoma St.)
Ray Lumpp (NYU)
R. C. Pitts (Phillips 66ers/Arkansas)
Jesse Renick (Phillips 66ers/Oklahoma St.)
Jackie Robinson (Baylor)
Kenny Rollins (Kentucky)
2  France (FRA)
3  Brazil (BRA)
Head Coach: Moacir Daiuto
4  Mexico (MEX)
Angel Acuña Lizaña
Issac Alfaro Loza
Alberto Bienvenu Barajas
Jorge Cardiel Gaytán
José de la Cruz Cabrera Gándara
Rodolfo Díaz Mercado
Francisco Galindo Chávez
Jorge Gudiño Goya
Héctor Guerrero Delgado
Emilio López Enríquez
Fernando Rojas Herrera
José Rojas Herera
Ignacio Romo Porchas
Josué Santos de León Neri
5  Uruguay (URU)
Martín Acosta y Lara
Néstor F. Anton Giudice
Victorio Cieslinskas
Nelson Demarco
Miguel Carlos Diab Figoli
Abraham Eidlin Grossman
Eduardo A. Folle Colombo
Héctor García
Eduardo M. Gordon Morgan
Adesio Lombardo
Roberto Lovera
Gustavo Magariños Morales de los Ríos
Carlos Roselló
Héctor Ruiz
6  Chile (CHI)
Eduardo Cordero Fernández
Ezequiel Figueroa Reyes
Juan José Gallo Chinchilla
Roberto Hammer Casadio
Eduardo Kapstein Suckel
Manuel Ledesma Barrales
Víctor Mahana Badrie
Luis Enrique Marmentini Gil
Andrés Mitrovic Guic
Antonio Moreno Rodillo
Eduardo Parra Rojas
Hermán Raffo Abarca
Marcos Sánchez Carmona
Guillermo Verdugo Yañez
7  Czechoslovakia (TCH)
Head Coach: Josef Fleischlinger
Karel Bělohradský
Cyril Benáček
Jiří Chlup
Jiří Drvota
Josef Ezr
Jozef Kalina
Jan Kozák
Václav Krása
Zoltán Krenický
Jozef Křepela
Ivan Mrázek
Jiří Siegel
Josef Toms
Ladislav Trpkoš
8  South Korea (KOR)
Ahn Byung-Suk
Bang Won-Sun
Chang Chin-Ri
Chyo Joon-Deuk
Kang Hyun-Bong
Kim Shin-Chung
Lee Hoon-Sang
Lee Yung-Choon
Oh Chul-Soo
9  Canada (CAN)
Head Coach: Bob Osborne (University of British Columbia))
Ole Bakken (University of British Columbia)
Bill Bell (University of British Columbia)
Doodie Bloomfield (Montréal YMHA)
Dave Campbell (University of British Columbia)
Harry Kermode (University of British Columbia)
Bennie Lands (Montréal YMHA)
Pat McGeer (University of British Columbia)
Reid Mitchell (University of British Columbia)
Mendy Morein (Montréal YMHA)
Nev Munro (University of British Columbia)
Bobby Scarr (University of British Columbia)
Cy Strulovitch (Montréal YMHA)
Sol Tolchinsky (Montréal YMHA)
Murray Waxman (Montréal YMHA)
10  Peru (PER)
G. Ahrens Valdivia
Carlos Alegre Benavides
David Descalzo Álvarez
Virgilio Drago Burga
Alberto Fernández Calderón
Arturo Ferreyros Pérez
Eduardo Fiestas Arce
Rodolfo Salas Crespo
Luis Sánchez Maquiavelo
R. Ríos Soracco
José Vizcarra Nieto
11  Belgium (BEL)
Georges Baert
Auguste Bernaer
Henri Coosemans
François de Pauw
Henri Hermans
André Hollanders
Henri Hollanders
Emile Kets
Léon Lampo
Julien Meuris
Gustave Poppe
René Steurbaut
Luois van de Goor
Armand van Wambeke
12  Philippines (PHI)
Head Coach: Dionisio Calvo
Manuel Araneta
Ramón Campos
Eduardo Decena
Andrés de la Cruz
Felicisimo Fajardo
Gabriel Fajardo
Edgardo Fulgencio
Antonio Luis Martínez
Lauro Mumar
Francisco Vestil
13  Cuba (CUB)
Mario Aguero Medrano
José Miguel Alvarez Pozo
Casimiro García Artime
Juan García García
R. Carlos García Ordoñez
Francisco Lavernia Hernández
José Llanusa Gobel
Miguel Llaneras Rodríguez
Federico López Garviso
Pedro Manuel Otero Vázquez
Mario Quintero Padrón
Fabio Ruiz Vinajeras
Ramón Wiltz Bucelo
Otazo A. Paget
14  Iran (IRI)
Head Coach: Kazem Rahbari
Kazem Ashtari
Asghar Ehsasi
Fereidoun Esfandiari
Hossein Hashemi
Hossein Jabbarzadegan
Hossein Karandish
Farhang Mohtadi
Houshang Rafatjah
Fereydoon Sadeghi
Ziaoddin Shadman
Abolfazl Solbi
Hossein Sorouri
Hossein Saoudipour
15  Argentina (ARG)
Head Coach: Jorge Hugo Canavesi
Raúl Calvo
Leopoldo Contarbio
Óscar Furlong
Ricardo González
Manuel Guerrero
Rafael Lledó
León Martinetti
Rubén Menini
Jorge Nuré
Oscar Pérez Cattáno
Arturo Ruffa
Juan Carlos Uder
Bruno Varani
Tomás Vío
16  Hungary (HUN)
Antal Bánkuti
P. Benedek
János Halász
Géza Kardos
József Kozma
István Lovrics
Tibor Mezőfi
György Nagy
László Novakovszky
Attila Timár Geng
István Timár Geng
Ede Vadászi
J. Verbenyi
Tibor Zsíros
17  Italy (ITA)
Gianfranco Bersani
Carlo Cerioni
Sergio Ferriani
Ezio Mantelli
Federico Marietti
Giancarlo Marinelli
Giovanni Nesti
Valentino Pellarini
Giancarlo Primo
Renzo Ranuzzi
Luigi Rapini
Romeo Romanutti
Sergio Stefanini
Vittorio Tracuzzi
18  Republic of China (ROC)
Chia Chung-Chang
Chua Bon-Hua
Kya Is-Kyun
Lee Edward
Lee Tsun-Tung
Pao John Sung-Yuan
Wee Tian-Siak
Woo Cheng-Chang
Yee Jose
Yu Sai-Chang
19  Egypt (EGY)
Youssef Mohamed Abbas
Youssef Abou Ouf
Fouad Abdel Meguid Abu el Kheir
Armand Philippe Catafago
Mahmoud Gamal el Leissy
Albert Fahmy Tadros
Mohamed Habib
Abdelrahman Ismail Hafez
Robert Makzoume
Hassan Moawad
Medhat Youssef Mohamad
Hussein Kamal Montassir
Ahmed Nessim
Mohamed Soliman
20  Great Britain (GBR)
Frank Cole
Trevor C. Davies
Alexander Elk
Malcolm Finlay
Colin L. Hunt
Douglas C. Legg
Ronald H. Legg
Stanley McMeekan
Sydney McMeekan
Robert H. Norris
Lionel Price
Harry L. Weston
Stanley B. Weston
21  Switzerland (SUI)
Pierre Albrecht
Henri Baumann
Marc Bossy
Claude Chevalley
Maurice Chollet
Bernard Dutoit
Robert Geiser
Hans Gujer
Claude Landini
Jean Pare
G. Piaget
Jean Pollet
Georges Stockly
J. Tribolet
22  Iraq (IRQ)
Hashim
Awni Kanaan
Kadir Irfan
Ali Salman
Salih Faraj
George Hanna
Hamid Ahmed
Wadud Khalil
Mahdi Salman
Yonan Emile
23  Ireland (IRL)
Harry Boland
Vincie Crehan
John Flynn
William Jackson
Thomas Keenan
James R. McGee
Gerald McLoughlin
Thomas Malone
Frank B. O'Connor
Donald O'Donovan
Daniel Reddin
Donald Sheriff
Patrick Sheriff
Christy Walsh
Liam Doherty

References

  1. ^ 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.

51°34′35″N 0°05′52″W / 51.5763°N 0.0977°W / 51.5763; -0.0977