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7th Olympic Basketball Tournament
Mexico City 1968
Tournament details
Olympics 1968 Summer Olympics
Host nation Mexico
City Mexico City
DurationOctober 13–25, 1968
Men's tournament
Teams16
Medals
1 Gold medalists   United States
2 Silver medalists  Yugoslavia
3 Bronze medalists   Soviet Union
Tournaments
←  Tokyo 1964   Munich 1972 →
Basketball at the
1968 Summer Olympics
Tournament
men
Squads
men
Qualification
men

Basketball contests at the 1968 Summer Olympics was the seventh appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place at the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City, Mexico from October 13 to October 25, 1968. The United States defeated Yugoslavia to win their seventh consecutive gold medal in this sport, while the Soviet Union earned the bronze against Brazil.

The Americans' record of seven basketball gold medals in a row was matched by their women's team when they won the 2020 Olympics.

Medal summary

Gold: Silver: Bronze:
  United States (USA)
Mike Barrett
John Clawson
Don Dee
Calvin Fowler
Spencer Haywood
Bill Hosket
Jim King
Glynn Saulters
Mike Silliman
Ken Spain
Jo Jo White
Charlie Scott 		  Yugoslavia (YUG)
Dragutin Čermak
Krešimir Ćosić
Vladimir Cvetković
Ivo Daneu
Radivoj Korać
Zoran Marojević
Nikola Plećaš
Trajko Rajković
Dragoslav Ražnatović
Petar Skansi
Damir Šolman
Aljoša Žorga 		  Soviet Union (URS)
Anatoli Krikun
Modestas Paulauskas
Zurab Sakandelidze
Vadim Kapranov
Yuri Selikhov
Anatoli Polivoda
Sergei Belov
Priit Tomson
Sergei Kovalenko
Gennadi Volnov
Jaak Lipso
Vladimir Andreev

Qualification

Automatic qualifications were granted to the host country and the first five places at the previous tournament. Additional spots were decided by various continental tournaments held by FIBA plus two additional tournaments that granted two extra berths each.

Means of qualification Date Venue Berths Qualified
Host nation 1   Mexico
1964 Olympic Tournament 11–23 October 1964 Japan Tokyo 5   United States
  Soviet Union
  Brazil
  Puerto Rico
  Italy
1967 Pan American Games 24 July–2 August 1967 Canada Winnipeg 2   Cuba
  Panama
1967 ABC Championship 23 September – 1 October 1967 South Korea Seoul 2   Philippines
  South Korea
FIBA Africa Championship 1968 29 March–2 April 1968 Morocco Casablanca 2   Senegal
  Morocco
European Pre-Olympic Tournament 25 May–3 June 1968 Switzerland Geneva 2   SFR Yugoslavia
  Bulgaria
Pan-Continental Pre-Olympic Tournament 26 September–2 October 1968 Mexico Monterrey 2   Poland
  Spain
Total 16

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.

Squads

For the team rosters see: Basketball at the 1968 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. Both group leaders, the United States and the Soviet Union advanced undefeated to the knockout stage.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   United States 7 7 0 599 392 +207 14 Semifinals
2   Yugoslavia 7 6 1 592 511 +81 13
3   Italy 7 5 2 562 539 +23 12 5th–8th classification round
4   Spain 7 4 3 557 548 +9 11
5   Puerto Rico 7 3 4 493 468 +25 10 9th–12th classification round
6   Panama 7 2 5 572 624 −52 9
7   Philippines 7 1 6 525 636 −111 8 13th–16th classification round
8   Senegal 7 0 7 383 565 −182 7
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.

October 13

United States  81–46   Spain
Italy  91–66   Philippines
Puerto Rico  69–26   Senegal
SFR Yugoslavia  96–85   Panama

October 14

United States  93–36   Senegal
Spain  108–79   Philippines
Puerto Rico  72–93   SFR Yugoslavia
Italy  94–87   Panama

October 15

Senegal  65–84   SFR Yugoslavia
Spain  88–82   Panama
United States  96–75   Philippines
Puerto Rico  65–68   Italy

October 16

Philippines  92–95   Panama
Spain  86–62   Puerto Rico
Senegal  55–81   Italy
United States  73–58   SFR Yugoslavia

October 18

United States  95–60   Panama
Senegal  54–64   Spain
Philippines  65–89   Puerto Rico
Italy  69–80   SFR Yugoslavia

October 19

Panama  69–80   Puerto Rico
Philippines  80–68   Senegal
SFR Yugoslavia  92–79   Spain
United States  100–61   Italy

October 20

Panama  94–79   Senegal
Italy  98–86   Spain
SFR Yugoslavia  89–68   Philippines
United States  61–56   Puerto Rico

Group B

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Soviet Union 7 7 0 642 408 +234 14 Semifinals
2   Brazil 7 6 1 561 418 +143 13
3   Mexico (H) 7 5 2 493 443 +50 12 5th–8th classification round
4   Poland 7 4 3 473 504 −31 11
5   Bulgaria 7 3 4 456 478 −22 10 9th–12th classification round
6   Cuba 7 2 5 514 532 −18 9
7   South Korea 7 1 6 453 530 −77 8 13th–16th classification round
8   Morocco 7 0 7 355 634 −279 7
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

October 13

Brazil  98–52   Morocco
Soviet Union  91–50   Poland
Mexico  75–62   South Korea
Cuba  61–70   Bulgaria

October 14

Soviet Union  123–51   Morocco
Poland  77–67   South Korea
Brazil  75–59   Bulgaria
Mexico  76–75   Cuba

October 15

Morocco  59–77   Bulgaria
Poland  78–75   Cuba
Soviet Union  89–58   South Korea
Mexico  53–60   Brazil

October 16

Soviet Union  81–56   Bulgaria
Morocco  38–86   Mexico
Poland  51–88   Brazil
South Korea  71–80   Cuba

October 18

Morocco  48–85   Poland
Soviet Union  100–66   Cuba
South Korea  59–91   Brazil
Mexico  73–63   Bulgaria

October 19

Morocco  54–76   South Korea
Cuba  68–84   Brazil
Bulgaria  67–69   Poland
Soviet Union  82–62   Mexico

October 20

Morocco  53–89   Cuba
Bulgaria  64–60   South Korea
Mexico  68–63   Poland
Soviet Union  76–65   Brazil

Knockout stage

The much anticipated final between the United States and the Soviet Union would have to wait four years. Yugoslavia stunned the Soviets 63–62 in the semifinals. In the championship game the Americans had a slim 32-29 lead at intermission but put the game out of reach with a 22-3 streak to start the second half.

Medal bracket

Semifinals (October 22) [1] Gold medal (October 25)
      
A1   United States 75
B2   Brazil 63
A1   United States 65
A2   SFR Yugoslavia 50
B1   Soviet Union 62
A2   SFR Yugoslavia 63 Bronze medal (October 25)
B2   Brazil 53
B1   Soviet Union 70

Classification brackets

5th–8th Place

Semifinals (October 22) 5th place (October 25)
      
A3   Italy 52
B4   Poland 66
B3   Poland 65
B4   Mexico 75
B3   Mexico 73
A4   Spain 72 7th place (October 25)
A3   Italy 72
A4   Spain 88

9th–12th Place

Semifinals (October 23) 9th place (October 24)
      
A5   Puerto Rico 71
B6   Cuba 65
A5   Puerto Rico 67
B5   Bulgaria 57
B5   Bulgaria 83
A6   Panama 79 11th place (October 24)
A6   Cuba 91
B6   Panama 88

13th–16th Place

Semifinals (October 23) 13th place (October 24)
      
A7   Philippines 86
B8   Morocco 57
A7   Philippines 66
B7   South Korea 63
B7   South Korea 76
A8   Senegal 59 15th place (October 24)
B8   Morocco 38
A8   Senegal 42

Awards

1968 Olympic Basketball Champions
United States
United States
Seventh title

Final standings

Rank Team Pld W L
1st place, gold medalist(s)   United States 9 9 0
2nd place, silver medalist(s)   SFR Yugoslavia 9 7 2
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)   Soviet Union 9 8 1
4th   Brazil 9 6 3
5th   Mexico 9 7 2
6th   Poland 9 5 4
7th   Spain 9 5 4
8th   Italy 9 5 4
9th   Puerto Rico 9 5 4
10th   Bulgaria 9 4 5
11th   Cuba 9 3 6
12th   Panama 9 2 7
13th   Philippines 9 3 6
14th   South Korea 9 2 7
15th   Senegal 9 1 8
16th   Morocco 9 0 9

References

  1. ^ 1968 Semifinals – Ref: El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish)

External links

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