USA BASKETBALL HISTORY
USA MEN’S PAN AMERICAN GAMES TEAM 1955 RESULTS
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO • MARCH 12-26, 1955
After capturing the gold medal in the inaugural Pan American Games, the United States entered the 1955 Games eager to repeat. Although the USA suffered its first defeat in Pan American competition, the team regrouped and won its final three games to capture the gold. As was the case in 1951, selection of the 1955 team was no easy task. Originally, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced that the 1955 Pan American Games team would consist of five AAU players, four college players and five players from the Armed Forces. But because of the game’s March competition dates, college student-athletes could not compete. Instead, the U.S. Olympic Committee decided that the team would consist of seven players from the AAU and seven players from the Armed Forces. The 1954 AAU champion Peoria Caterpillars were unavailable because they were representing the USA at the 1955 World Championship, so the 1954 AAU runner-up Grihalva Buicks were cho- sen. A camp featuring 20 of the Armed Forces’ top players was held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to determine those seven. A series of games between the Grihalva Buicks and the Armed Forces took place in San Diego to determine who would serve as head coach. Lt. Norman Pilgrim was selected as the head coach after his armed forces team claimed two wins over AAU. Opening the round-robin competition facing Brazil, the U.S. led 30-27 at half and broke the game open in the second half, claiming a 78-49 win as Melvin Kelley and Donald Byrd paced the U.S. with 14 and 13 points each. Facing Argentina next, the USA fell behind early and at half trailed 29-23. Argentina expanded its lead to as many as 12 midway through the third quarter, but the U.S. rallied and took a one-point lead with about a minute to play. However, three consecutive turnovers doomed the U.S. to its first loss, 54-53. Byrd led the U.S. with 19 points, while Robert Williams added 14. The U.S. regrouped to claim wins in its final three games. Behind Robert Kenney’s 17 points and 15 points from John Hoverder, the U.S. dis- posed of Mexico 85-55. Cuba proved no problem as the Americans won 84-56. The USA’s final game was another lopsided victory as the U.S. captured a 72-29 win over Venezuela while Williams scored 16 points. Thanks to Brazil’s 61-57 win over Argentina, the United States, Brazil and Argentina finished with identical records of 4-1 and in a three-way tie for first. The final medal standings were determined on the point spread between the three teams in their games against each other. Relying on this system, the U.S. was declared the winner with a +28, while Argentina, with a -3, earned the silver and Brazil, -25, won bronze.
1955 USA MEN’S PAN AMERICAN GAMES TEAM ROSTER
1955 USA RESULTS (4-1)
NAME
POS HGT WGT AGE COLLEGE
HOMETOWN
Brazil
W, 78-49 L, 53-54 W, 85-55 W, 84-56 W, 72-29
Argentina
Donald Byrd Ron Faulkner
G
6-3 6-5 6-6 6-0 6-2 6-4 6-2 6-6 6-6 6-0 6-3 6-6 6-2 6-6
170 215 185 170 185 205 185 198 175 170 180 185 230
U.S. Armed Forces (Central H.S.) Grihalva Buicks (Pepperdine) Grihalva Buicks (Cent. Mo. St.) U.S. Armed Forces (Kansas) U.S. Armed Forces (Kansas) Grihalva Buicks (Northwestern) Grihalva Buicks (San Diego) Grihalva Buicks (Pomona College) U.S. Armed Forces (Dayton) Grihalva Buicks (San Diego St.) Grihalva Buicks (San Diego St.) U.S. Armed Forces (Ga. Tech) U.S. Armed Forces (Memphis St.) U.S. Armed Forces (Florida A&M)
Cleveland, OH Anaheim, CA Kansas City, MO McClune, KS Winfield, KS Davenport, IA San Francisco, CA Springfield, OH Long Beach, CA Lakewood, OH Upland, CA
C/F
Mexico
James Hoverder Melvin Kelley Robert Kenney Robert LeBuhn Kenneth Leslie Locke Olson James Paxson James Poole
F
24 21 20 29 29 22 22 26 22
Cuba
G G
Venezuela
F F F F
FINAL STANDINGS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
United States (4-1)*
G G
Argentina (4-1)*
Paul Rundell Cecil Silas Alva Wilfong
F F F
Miami, FL Puxico, MO
Brazil (4-1)* Mexico (2-3) Cuba (1-4)
Robert Williams
24
HEAD COACH: Lt. Norman Pilgrim, U. S. Armed Forces (Sheppard Air Force Base) ASSISTANT COACH: Fon Johnson, Grihalva Buicks (San Diego, CA) MANAGER: Maj. Roy Johnson, U.S. Air Force
Venezuela (0-5)
1955 USA MEN’S PAN AMERICAN GAMES TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS
NAME
G/S
FGM-A
PCT
FTM-A
PCT
PTS
Robert Williams 5 Robert Kenney 5
24- 27- 20- 17- 14- 12-
22- 34
.647 .471 .727 .750 .533 .714 .667 .600 .714 .250 .000 .333 .000 .611 .496
70/ 14.0 62/ 12.4 48/ 9.6 43/ 8.6 36/ 7.2 34/ 6.8 20/ 5.0 23/ 4.6 16/ 3.2 12/ 3.0 4/ 1.3 1/ 0.3 0/ 0.0
8- 17 8- 11 9- 12 8- 15
Donald Byrd
5
James Hoverder 5
Alva Wilfong Melvin Kelley Ron Faulkner James Paxson Cecil Silas Paul Rundell Locke Olson James Poole
5 5 4 5 5 2 3 3
10- 14
8-
4- 6 3- 5 2- 8 3- 3 0- 2 1- 3 0- 0
10-
3- 5- 0- 2- 0- 0-
10- 14
Kenneth Leslie 4
1.000 3/ 1.5
Robert LeBuhn 1
USA OPP.
5 5
142-
88-144 69-139
372/ 74.4 243/ 48.6
87-
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