Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Multi tool use
2nd Olympic Basketball Tournament | |||||||||
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London 1948 | |||||||||
Tournament details | |||||||||
Olympics | 1948 Summer Olympics | ||||||||
Host nation | United Kingdom | ||||||||
City | London | ||||||||
Men's tournament | |||||||||
Teams | 23 | ||||||||
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Tournaments | |||||||||
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Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics was the second appearance of the sport as an official 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.
Contents
1 Format
2 Medalists[1]
3 Participating teams
3.1 Playoff berths for the Tournament
4 Results
4.1 Preliminary round
4.1.1 Group A
4.1.2 Group B
4.1.3 Group C
4.1.4 Group D
4.2 17th-23rd place classification playoffs
4.2.1 Classification 21st-23rd
4.3 9th-16th place classification playoffs
4.3.1 Classification 13th-16th
4.4 Final round
4.4.1 Classification 5th-8th
5 Boxscores
5.1 17th–23rd place quarterfinals
5.2 21st–23rd place semifinal
5.3 17th–20th place semifinals
5.4 9th–16th place quarterfinals
5.5 13th–16th place semifinals
5.6 9th–12th place semifinals
5.7 Quarterfinals
5.8 5th–8th place semifinals
5.9 Semifinals
6 Final classification matches
6.1 21st place match
6.2 19th place match
6.3 17th place match
6.4 15th place match
6.5 13th place match
6.6 11th place match
6.7 9th place match
6.8 7th place match
6.9 5th place match
6.10 Bronze medal match
6.11 Olympic Final
7 Awards
8 Participating nations
9 Summary
10 References
11 External links
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.

Medalists[1]
Gold | Silver | Bronze |
![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() Algodão Bráz Ruy de Freitas Marcus Vinícius Dias Affonso Évora Alexandre Gemignani Alfredo da Motta Alberto Marson Nilton Pacheco Massinet Sorcinelli |
Participating teams
Defending Olympic Champion | |
Olympic Runner-up | |
Third placers | |
Host nation |
Americas | Europe | Asia | Africa | |
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Playoff berths for the Tournament
Continental Zones | Automatic Qualifier | Additional berths from the previous Games | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Host Nation | 1 | N/A | 1 |
Defending Olympic Champions | 1 | N/A | 1 |
Americas Region | 5 | 3 | 8 |
Asian Region | 5 | N/A | 5 |
European Region | 7 | N/A | 7 |
Africa Region | 1 | N/A | 1 |
Total | 20 | 3 | 23 |
Results
Preliminary round
Group A
Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 5 | 5 | 0 | 261 | 150 | +111 | 10 |
![]() | 5 | 3 | 2 | 246 | 170 | +76 | 8 |
![]() | 5 | 3 | 2 | 201 | 172 | +29 | 8 |
![]() | 5 | 3 | 2 | 222 | 205 | +17 | 8 |
![]() | 5 | 1 | 4 | 170 | 208 | −38 | 6 |
![]() | 5 | 0 | 5 | 103 | 298 | −195 | 5 |
- 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
Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 5 | 3 | 2 | 258 | 152 | +106 | 8 |
![]() | 5 | 3 | 2 | 269 | 162 | +107 | 8 |
![]() | 5 | 3 | 2 | 234 | 156 | +78 | 8 |
![]() | 5 | 3 | 2 | 261 | 200 | +61 | 8 |
![]() | 5 | 3 | 2 | 281 | 202 | +79 | 8 |
![]() | 5 | 0 | 5 | 113 | 545 | −432 | 5 |
- 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
Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 5 | 5 | 0 | 325 | 167 | +158 | 10 |
![]() | 5 | 4 | 1 | 217 | 190 | +27 | 9 |
![]() | 5 | 3 | 2 | 236 | 199 | +37 | 8 |
![]() | 5 | 2 | 3 | 198 | 187 | +11 | 7 |
![]() | 5 | 1 | 4 | 162 | 256 | −94 | 6 |
![]() | 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
Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 4 | 4 | 0 | 234 | 109 | +125 | 8 |
![]() | 4 | 3 | 1 | 214 | 131 | +83 | 7 |
![]() | 4 | 2 | 2 | 213 | 131 | +82 | 6 |
![]() | 4 | 1 | 3 | 136 | 215 | −79 | 5 |
![]() | 4 | 0 | 4 | 70 | 281 | −211 | 4 |
- 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
17th-23rd place classification playoffs
17th-23rd place quarter-finals | 17th-20th place semifinals | 17th place match | ||||||||
(B4) ![]() | 42 | |||||||||
(C6) ![]() | 34 | |||||||||
(B4) ![]() | 54 | |||||||||
(A6) ![]() | 25 | |||||||||
(A6) ![]() | 46 | |||||||||
(D5) ![]() | 21 | |||||||||
(B4) ![]() | 38 | |||||||||
(A5) ![]() | 54 | |||||||||
(A5) ![]() | 77 | |||||||||
(B6) ![]() | 28 | |||||||||
(A5) ![]() | 35 | |||||||||
(C5) ![]() | 33 | 19th place match | ||||||||
(A6) ![]() | 18 | |||||||||
(C5) ![]() | 50 | |||||||||
Classification 21st-23rd
Classification Semifinals | 21st place match | |||||
(C6) ![]() | 55 | |||||
(D5) ![]() | 12 | |||||
(C6) ![]() | 2 | |||||
(B6) ![]() | 0 | |||||
- Since the total number of competitors of the tournament is not a power of 2, a bye was given to team Egypt causing them to advance automatically to the classification semifinals. Also, the Ireland national team was named as the last placers (23rd) of the tournament due to the loss they've got and to the bye they earned from Team Iraq.
9th-16th place classification playoffs
9-16th place quarter-finals | 9-12th place semi-finals | 9th place match | ||||||||
(B3) ![]() | 2 | |||||||||
(A3) ![]() | 0 | |||||||||
(B3) ![]() | 40 | |||||||||
(A4) ![]() | 45 | |||||||||
(A4) ![]() | 81 | |||||||||
(D4) ![]() | 25 | |||||||||
(A4) ![]() | 49 | |||||||||
(C4) ![]() | 43 | |||||||||
(C4) ![]() | 45 | |||||||||
(D3) ![]() | 40 | |||||||||
(C4) ![]() | 40 | |||||||||
(B5) ![]() | 29 | 11th place match | ||||||||
(B5) ![]() | 45 | |||||||||
(C3) ![]() | 43 | |||||||||
(B3) ![]() | 38 | |||||||||
(B5) ![]() | 34 | |||||||||
Classification 13th-16th
13-16th place semi-finals | 13th place match | |||||
(A3) ![]() | 0 | |||||
(D4) ![]() | 2 | |||||
(D4) ![]() | 36 | |||||
(D3) ![]() | 70 | |||||
(D3) ![]() | 35 | |||||
(C3) ![]() | 34 | |||||
15th place match | ||||||
(A3) ![]() | 0 | |||||
(C3) ![]() | 2 |
- Hungary forfeited all of the matches in this round as indicated above.
Final round
Quarterfinals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
(C1) ![]() | 63 | |||||||||
(A2) ![]() | 28 | |||||||||
(C1) ![]() | 71 | |||||||||
(D1) ![]() | 40 | |||||||||
(D1) ![]() | 43 | |||||||||
(B1) ![]() | 32 | |||||||||
(C1) ![]() | 65 | |||||||||
(D2) ![]() | 21 | |||||||||
(A1) ![]() | 28 | |||||||||
(C2) ![]() | 23 | |||||||||
(A1) ![]() | 33 | |||||||||
(D2) ![]() | 45 | Third place match | ||||||||
(D2) ![]() | 53 | |||||||||
(B2) ![]() | 52 | |||||||||
(A1) ![]() | 52 | |||||||||
(D1) ![]() | 47 | |||||||||
Classification 5th-8th
Classification semifinals | Fifth place match | |||||
(A2) ![]() | 45 | |||||
(B1) ![]() | 36 | |||||
(A2) ![]() | 50 | |||||
(B2) ![]() | 32 | |||||
(C2) ![]() | 36 | |||||
(B2) ![]() | 38 | |||||
Seventh place match | ||||||
(B1) ![]() | 38 | |||||
(C2) ![]() | 39 |
Boxscores
17th–23rd place quarterfinals
![]() | 42–34 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
![]() | 46–21 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
![]() | 77–28 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
21st–23rd place semifinal
![]() | 55–12 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
17th–20th place semifinals
![]() | 54–25 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
![]() | 35–33 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
9th–16th place quarterfinals
![]() | 0–2 (W/O) | ![]() |
Forfeited |
Harringay Arena, London |
![]() | 81–25 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
![]() | 40–45 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
![]() | 45–43 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
13th–16th place semifinals
![]() | 0–2 (W/O) | ![]() |
Forfeited |
Harringay Arena, London |
![]() | 35–34 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
9th–12th place semifinals
![]() | 40–45 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
![]() | 40–29 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
Quarterfinals
![]() | 63–28 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
![]() | 43–32 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
![]() | 28–23 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
![]() | 53–52 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
5th–8th place semifinals
![]() | 45–36 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
![]() | 36–38 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
Semifinals
![]() | 71–40 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
![]() | 33–45 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
Final classification matches
21st place match
![]() | 2–0 (W/O) | ![]() |
Forfeited |
Harringay Arena, London |
19th place match
![]() | 18–50 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
17th place match
![]() | 54–38 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
15th place match
![]() | 0–2 (W/O) | ![]() |
Forfeited |
Harringay Arena, London |
13th place match
![]() | 70–36 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
11th place match
![]() | 34–38 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
9th place match
![]() | 49–43 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
7th place match
![]() | 38–39 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
5th place match
![]() | 50–32 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
Bronze medal match
![]() | 47–52 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
Olympic Final
![]() | 65–21 | ![]() |
Harringay Arena, London |
Awards
1948 Olympic Basketball Champions |
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![]() 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 14 players and they all were eligible for participation.
A total of 298(*) basketball players from 23 nations competed at the London Games:
Argentina (14)
Belgium (14)
Brazil (12)
Canada (14)
Chile (14)
Republic of China (10)
Cuba (14)
Czechoslovakia (14)
Egypt (14)
France (14)
Great Britain (13)
Hungary (14)(**)
Ireland (14)
Iran (13)
Iraq (10)
Italy (14)
South Korea (9)
Mexico (14)
Peru (11)
Philippines (10)
Switzerland (14)
United States (14)
Uruguay (14)
(*) 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 | ![]() |
Coach: Omar Browning (Phillips 66ers (Bartlesville, OK)) Cliff Barker (University of Kentucky) Don Barksdale (Oakland Bittners/UCLA) Ralph Beard (University of Kentucky) Lew Beck (Phillips 66ers/Oregon State) Vince Boryla (Denver Nuggets/Denver) Gordon Carpenter (Phillips 66ers/Arkansas) Alex Groza (University of Kentucky) Wah Wah Jones (University of Kentucky) Bob Kurland (Phillips 66ers/Oklahoma St.) Ray Lumpp (New York University) R. C. Pitts (Phillips 66ers/Arkansas) Jesse Renick (Phillips 66ers/Oklahoma St.) Jackie Robinson (Baylor University) Kenny Rollins (University of Kentucky) | |
2 | ![]() |
3 | ![]() |
Coach: Moacir Daiuto | |
4 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() Coach: Jorge Hugo Canavesi Raúl Calvo Leopoldo Contarbio Oscar 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 | ![]() H. Ahmed Y. Emile G. Hanna A. Hashim A. Irfan A. Kanaan F. Saleh M. Salmain Ali D. Salman K. Wadoon |
23 | ![]() 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
^ Finkelman, Paul, ed. (2009). Encyclopedia of African American History 1896 To The Present. 4. Oxford University: Oxford University Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-19-516779-5.
External links
- Official Olympic Report
Coordinates: 51°34′35″N 0°05′52″W / 51.5763°N 0.0977°W / 51.5763; -0.0977

