HONR101: History and Culture of Basketball November 9, 2011

 Phog Allen, the Kansas Jayhawks collegiate coach, was instrumental in establishing the first Olympic basketball tournament  It was organized in the 1936 Summer Olympics at Berlin on outdoor tennis courts  The championship game was played in a rainstorm in front of 1,000 standing fans  Dr. Naismith presented the medals to the top three teams.  According to the Olympic rules of that time, all of the competitors were amateurs.

 The tournament was held indoors for the first time in  The American team proved its dominance, winning the first seven Olympic tournaments until 1968 without losing a single game.  The Soviet Union, that joined the Olympics in 1952, became the Americans' main rival, and was runner-up four successive times from 1952 to  Yugoslavia emerged as a major force in 1968, when they beat the Soviets in the semifinal but lost to the Americans in the final.

 One of the most highly debated basketball games of all time is the 1972 Olympic final between the United States and the Soviet Union.  Entering this game, the U.S. had won 63 straight games and captured seven consecutive gold medals.  byg&feature=related byg&feature=related

 Ahead by one point as time expired, the United States team began celebrating. Before they could leave the court, however, the referees added more time to the clock.  The Soviet Union wound up with three extra opportunities to make a basket, finally capitalizing the third time and winning the game

 Americans reclaimed the gold medal in 1976, with Yugoslavia runner-up for the second time.  In 1980, with the Americans' absence due to the boycott, Yugoslavia became the third team to win the title after beating the Soviets in the semifinals and Italy in the final.  The United States regained the title in 1984, beating Spain in the final, with the Soviets boycotting this time.  The Soviets won the gold medal for the second time in 1988, after beating the Americans for the second time in the semifinal, and the Yugoslavs in the gold medal game.

 In 1989, through the leadership of President Borislav Stanković, FIBA approved the rule that allowed NBA players to compete in international tournaments, including the Olympics.  In the next Olympics in 1992, the "Dream Team" won the gold medal with average winning margin of 44 points, and without calling a time out.  By this time, Soviet Union and Yugoslavia no longer existed, but their predecessors continued to be among the leading forces. Two newly- indepent counties, Croatia and Lithuania, won the silver and broze medals respectively.

  The renewed dominance of the United States was interrupted in 2004 when the Americans suffered their third defeat in Olympic history to Argentina in the semifinals.  The Argentines went on to beat Italy in the final and become the fourth team to win the Olympic title.  The United States regained the gold medal in 2008, with Spain as runner-up, and won their first global title since the 2000 Olympics.

Total Medals G S B T_ United States Soviet Union Yugoslavia Brazil Lithuania Argentina Uruguay France Italy Spain Canada Croatia Cuba Mexico

 Off and on from 1924 through 1976, women’s basketball was only played as an exhibition sport at the Olympic Games.  In its inaugural year, 1976, the Soviet Union won the gold medal and the USA won the silver.  In 1980, the United States boycotted the Games.  The American women captured its first gold medal in the Los Angeles games in 1984.

Rank Nation G S B T 1 United States Soviet Union Unified Team Australia Brazil Bulgaria China Yugoslavia South Korea Russia

 the_Summer_Olympics the_Summer_Olympics   y/history.htm y/history.htm  ry-olympic-basketball.html ry-olympic-basketball.html