USA BASKETBALL HISTORY
USA MEN’S OLYMPIC TEAM 1972 RESULTS
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY • AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 9, 1972
In the most controversial game in international basketball history, the U.S. lost its first ever Olympic contest. Thomas Henderson and Dwight Jones scored 16 and 15 points, respectively, in a 66-35 opening win over Czechoslovakia, and Ed Ratcliff tallied 18 points in a U.S. 81-55 romp over Australia. Cuba fell 67-48 as Dwight Jones led the Americans with 18 points, and the U.S. struggled with Brazil before finally settling for a 61-54 win. Egypt was swamped 96-31, as Mike Bantom scored 17, Spain fell 72-56, and the U.S. drilled Japan 99-33. James Forbes’ 14 points powered the USA past Italy 68-38 in the semifinals setting the stage for the now infamous final. The USSR took a 7-0 lead and by half was in possession of a 26-21 lead. With 12:18 to play and the Soviets holding a 38-34 lead, the USA’s Dwight Jones and Soviet reserve Dvorni Edeshko were ejected from the game after a loose ball scuffle. On the ensuing jump ball, Jim Brewer suffered a concussion after being knocked to the floor. The U.S. narrowed the gap to one point, 49-48 on Jim Forbes’ jumper with 40 seconds remaining. The Soviet’s worked the clock down to 10 seconds but Tom McMillen blocked Aleksander Belov’s shot and Doug Collins intercepted his pass as he attempted to pass it back out to center court. Collins drove to the basket and was undercut as he attempted a layup with three seconds left. Awarded two free throws, Collins sank both free throws to put the USA ahead 50-49 despite the horn going off in the middle of his second attempt. The Soviets inbounded the ball and failed to score but one official had whistled play to stop with one second remaining after seeing a dis- turbance near the scorers table. The Soviets argued that they had requested a timeout before Collins’ foul shots. The referees ordered the clock reset to three seconds. However, the clock was in the process of being reset when the referees put the ball in play. A length of the court Soviet pass missed its mark and the U.S. again began celebrating. However, R. William Jones, Secretary General of FIBA, stepped in and ordered the clock again reset to 0:03 and the game replayed from that point. This time, the Soviet’s Aleksander Belov and the USA’s Kevin Joyce and Jim Forbes went up for the pass, Belov caught the long pass from Ivan Edeshko at the foul line sending the two Americans sprawling, Belov then drove to the basket for the layup and the winning points. Post-game, the U.S. filed a protest and FIBA officials met to discuss the protest. The U.S. protest was denied and the Soviets were awarded the gold medals. The U.S. team voted unanimously to refuse their silver medals.
1972 USA MEN’S OLYMPIC TEAM ROSTER
1972 USA RESULTS (8-1)
NAME
POS HGT WGT AGE AFFILIATION (SCHOOL)
HOMETOWN
Czechoslovakia
W, 66-35 W, 81-55 W, 67-48 W, 61-54 W, 96-31 W, 72-56 W, 99-33 W, 68-38 L, 50-51
Australia
Mike Bantom Jim Brewer Doug Collins Kenny Davis James Forbes Tommy Burleson Thomas Henderson
F
6-8 6-9 7-4 6-6 6-1 6-7 6-2 6-8
205 220 225 180 180 200 190 205 205 190 210 190
20 20 20 21 23 20 20 20 20 21 20 22
St. Joseph’s Minnesota
Philadelphia, PA Maywood, IL Newland , NC
F/C
Cuba Brazil Egypt Spain Japan
C G G
North Carolina State
Illinois State
Benton, IL
Marathon Oil (Georgetown College)
Monticello, KY
F
Texas-El Paso San Jacinto J.C. North Carolina
El Paso, TX Bronx, NY
G
Bobby Jones Dwight Jones Kevin Joyce Tom McMillen
C/F
Charlotte, NC Houston, TX Mansfield, PA Columbus, OH North Merrick, NY
Italy
C G
6-8 6-3 6-11 6-6
Houston
Soviet Union
South Carolina
F
Maryland
Ed Ratleff
F/G
Long Beach State
FINAL STANDINGS
HEAD COACH: Henry Iba, Oklahoma State University ASSISTANT COACH: John Bach, Penn State University ASSISTANT COACH: Don Haskins, University of Texas-El Paso MANAGER: W.K. Summers, Brownstown, Indiana ASSISTANT MANAGER: Herbert Mols, Buffalo, New York ATHLETIC TRAINER: Whitey Gwynne, West Virginia University
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Soviet Union (9-0) United States (8-1)
Cuba (7-2) Italy (5-4)
Yugoslavia (7-2) Puerto Rico (6-3)
1972 USA MEN’S OLYMPIC TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS
Brazil (5-4)
NAME
G
FGM-A
PCT
FTM-A
PCT
REB
PF
PTS
Czechoslovakia (4-5)
9.
Australia (5-4)
Henderson
9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 9 9
39- 74 34- 68 29- 72 26- 62 25- 59 24- 72 27- 68 21- 56 23- 45 14- 23 10- 27 6- 18
.524 .500 .403 .419 .524 .333 .397 .375 .511 .609 .370 .333 .432 .302
5- 6
.833 .682 .500 .667 .727 .813 .667
18/ 2.0 51/ 5.7 44/ 4.9 64/ 7.1 21/ 2.3 39/ 4.3 29/ 3.2 11/ 1.2 28/ 3.1 25/ 2.8 15/ 1.9 4/ 0.5
20 26 33 20 19 16 26 28 18 14 13
83/ 9.2 83/ 9.2 69/ 7.7 68/ 7.6 66/ 7.3 61/ 6.8 58/ 6.4 48/ 5.3 46/ 5.1 37/ 4.1 27/ 3.4 14/ 1.8
10. Poland (3-6) 11. Spain (4-5) 12. F.R. of Germany (3-6) 13. Philippines (3-6) 14. Japan (2-7) 15. Senegal (0-8) 16. Egypt (0-8)
Jones
15- 22 11- 22 16- 24 16- 22 13- 16
Bantom Brewer Collins McMillen
Ratleff Joyce Forbes Jones
4- 6 6- 6 0- 4
1.000 .000 .900 1.000 .684 .572 .583
9- 10 7- 12
Burleson
Davis USA OPP.
2- 2
6
278-644 157-520
104-152 87-152
349/38.8 239 211/23.4 237
660/77.3 401/44.6
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