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3rd Olympic Basketball Tournament
Helsinki 1952
Tournament details
Olympics	1952 Summer Olympics
Host nation	Finland
City	Helsinki
Duration	July 13 – August 2
Men's tournament
Teams	23
Medals Gold medalists  United States Silver medalists  Soviet Union Bronze medalists  Uruguay
Tournaments
← London 1948  Melbourne 1956 →

Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics was the third appearance of the sport. 23 nations entered the competition.

The top six teams at the 1948 Summer Olympics qualified automatically, as did the 1950 World Champion (Argentina), the top two at the 1951 European championships (USSR and Czechoslovakia), and the host country (Finland). Thirteen other nations competed in a preliminary round to determine the last six places in the sixteen-team Olympic tournament.

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
United States (USA) Ron Bontemps Marc Freiberger Wayne Glasgow Charlie Hoag Bill Hougland John Keller Dean Kelley Bob Kenney Bob Kurland Bill Lienhard Clyde Lovellette Frank McCabe Dan Pippin Howie Williams	Soviet Union (URS) Stepas Butautas Nodar Dzhordzhikiya Anatoly Konev Otar Korkiya Heino Kruus Ilmar Kullam Justinas Lagunavičius Joann Lõssov Aleksandr Moiseyev Yuri Ozerov Kazys Petkevičius Stasys Stonkus Maigonis Valdmanis Viktor Vlasov	Uruguay (URU) Martín Acosta y Lara Enrique Baliño Victorio Cieslinskas Héctor Costa Nelson Demarco Héctor García Otero Tabaré Larre Borges Adesio Lombardo Roberto Lovera Sergio Matto Wilfredo Peláez Carlos Roselló

Results

Preliminary round

Nations that lost two games in the preliminary tournaments were eliminated. When there were only two teams left in each group, those teams advanced to the main tournament.

Group A

In the first round, Cuba and Bulgaria won.

• Cuba def. Belgium, 59–51


• Bulgaria def. Switzerland, 69–58

Cuba and Bulgaria played each other, with Bulgaria's victory winning it a berth in the main tournament. The losers played each other, with Switzerland's second loss ejecting the nation from the tournament.

• Bulgaria def. Cuba, 62–56


• Belgium def. Switzerland, 59–49

The two teams that were 1–1 played each, with the winner receiving a tournament berth and the loser being eliminated.

• Cuba def. Belgium, 71–63

Group B

In the first round, Hungary and the Philippines won.

• Hungary def. Greece, 75–38


• Philippines def. Israel, 57–47

Hungary and the Philippines played each other, with the Philippines's victory winning it a berth in the main tournament. The losers played each other, with Israel's second loss ejecting the nation from the tournament.

• Philippines def. Hungary, 48–35


• Greece def. Israel, 54–52

The two teams that were 1–1 played each, with the winner receiving a tournament berth and the loser being eliminated.

• Hungary def. Greece, 47–44

Group C

In the first round, Italy and Turkey were served their first losses.

• Canada def. Italy, 68–57


• Egypt def. Turkey, 64–45

Romania's first game was a loss to Canada. Italy and Turkey played each other, with Turkey's second loss eliminating it.

• Canada def. Romania, 72–51


• Italy def. Turkey, 49–37

Italy and Romania, who had both lost once, played each other. Romania's second loss eliminated the nation from the tournament. Undefeated nations Canada and Egypt played each other, with Egypt being served its first loss.

• Italy def. Romania, 53–39


• Canada def. Egypt, 63–57

Italy played its fourth game of the tournament against Egypt. The decisive game ended with Egypt winning a berth to the main competition and Italy being eliminated.

• Egypt def. Italy, 66–62

Main tournament

The top two teams in each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United States	3	3	0	195	139	+56	6	Qualified for the quarterfinals
2	Uruguay	3	2	1	167	164	+3	5
3	Czechoslovakia	3	1	2	161	164	−3	4
4	Hungary	3	0	3	143	199	−56	3

• United States def. Hungary, 66–48


• Uruguay def. Czechoslovakia, 53–51


• Uruguay def. Hungary, 70–56


• United States def. Czechoslovakia, 72–47


• Czechoslovakia def. Hungary, 63–39


• United States def. Uruguay, 57–44

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Soviet Union	3	3	0	192	143	+49	6	Qualified for the quarterfinals
2	Bulgaria	3	2	1	163	182	−19	5
3	Mexico	3	1	2	172	171	+1	4
4	Finland	3	0	3	147	178	−31	3

• USSR def. Bulgaria, 74–46


• Mexico def. Finland, 66–48


• Bulgaria def. Mexico, 52–44


• USSR def. Finland, 47–35


• Bulgaria def. Finland, 65–64


• USSR def. Mexico, 71–62

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Argentina	3	3	0	239	196	+43	6	Qualified for the quarterfinals
2	Brazil	3	2	1	184	179	+5	5
3	Philippines	3	1	2	192	221	−29	4
4	Canada	3	0	3	201	220	−19	3

• Argentina def. Philippines, 85–59


• Brazil def. Canada, 57–55


• Brazil def. Philippines, 71–52


• Argentina def. Canada, 82–81


• Philippines def. Canada, 81–65


• Argentina def. Brazil, 72–56

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	France	3	3	0	202	149	+53	6	Qualified for the quarterfinals
2	Chile	3	2	1	170	150	+20	5
3	Egypt	3	1	2	176	221	−45	4
4	Cuba	3	0	3	149	177	−28	3

• France def. Egypt, 92–64


• Chile def. Cuba, 53–52


• Chile def. Egypt, 74–46


• France def. Cuba, 58–42


• France def. Chile, 52–43


• Egypt def. Cuba, 66–55

Quarterfinals

The top two teams in each quarterfinals advanced to the semifinals. The other two teams in each quarterfinals played in the fifth through eighth place classification.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Uruguay	3	2	1	194	187	+7	5[a]	Qualified for the semifinals
2	Argentina	3	2	1	226	174	+52	5[a]
3	Bulgaria	3	1	2	177	220	−43	4[b]	Qualified for 5th–8th placement playoffs
4	France	3	1	2	178	194	−16	4[b]

• Argentina def. Bulgaria, 100–56


• France def. Uruguay, 68–66


• Uruguay def. Bulgaria, 62–54


• Argentina def. France, 61–52


• Bulgaria def. France, 67–58


• Uruguay def. Argentina, 66–65

Quarterfinals group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	United States	3	3	0	246	166	+80	6	Qualified for the quarterfinals
2	Soviet Union	3	2	1	190	195	−5	5
3	Brazil	3	1	2	177	155	+22	4	Qualified for 5th–8th placement playoffs
4	Chile	3	0	3	159	256	−97	3

• United States def. USSR, 86–58


• Brazil def. Chile, 75–44


• United States def. Chile, 103–55


• USSR def. Brazil, 54–49


• United States def. Brazil, 57–53


• USSR def. Chile, 78–60

Brackets

	5th-8th place semifinals				5th place game
	Chile	60
	Bulgaria	53
					Chile	58
					Brazil	49
	Brazil	59
	France	44
					7th place game
					Bulgaria	58
					France	44

	Semi-finals				Final
	July 31
	Soviet Union	61
					August 2
	Uruguay	57
					United States	36
	August 1
					Soviet Union	25
	United States	85
	Argentina	76
					Third place
					August 2
					Uruguay	68
					Argentina	59

Semifinals

 Chile v  Bulgaria

31 July 1952 (1952-07-31) 5th–8th place	Chile	60–53	Bulgaria	Helsinki, Finland
09:00	Scoring by half: 37–29, 23–24
	Pts: Badrie 22		Pts: Panov 13

 France v  Brazil

31 July 1952 (1952-07-31) 5th–8th place	France	44–59	Brazil	Helsinki, Finland
10:30	Scoring by half: –, –
				Arena: Töölö Sports Hall

 Soviet Union v  Uruguay

31 July 1952 (1952-07-31) Medal Round	Soviet Union	61–57	Uruguay	Helsinki, Finland

 Argentina v  United States

1 August 1952 (1952-08-01) Medal Round	Argentina	76–85	United States	Helsinki, Finland

Finals

 Bulgaria v  France

1 August 1952 (1952-08-01) 7th place Finals	Bulgaria	58–44	France	Helsinki, Finland
09:00	Scoring by half: 22–22, 36–22
	Pts: Panov 12		Pts: Vacheresse 9

 Brazil v  Chile

2 August 1952 (1952-08-02) 5th place Finals	Brazil	49–58	Chile	Helsinki, Finland
09:00	Scoring by half: 24–32, 25–26
	Pts: Da Motta 16		Pts: Fernandez 14

 Uruguay v  Argentina

1 August 1952 (1952-08-01) Bronze Finals	Uruguay	68–59	Argentina	Helsinki, Finland
16:00	Scoring by half: 31–24, 37–35
	Pts: Lombardo 23		Pts: Gazsó 19	Arena: Toolo Sports Hall

 Soviet Union v  United States

2 August 1952 (1952-08-02) Gold Finals	Soviet Union	25–36	United States	Helsinki, Finland
16:00	Scoring by half: 15–17, 10–19
	Pts: Korkia 8		Pts: Lovellette 9	Arena: Töölö Sports Hall Attendance: 5,500

Awards

1952 Olympic Basketball Champions
United States Third title

Participating nations

Each country was allowed to enter one team of 14 players and they all were eligible for participation. A total number of 317 players were entered.

A total of 301(*) basketball players from 23 nations competed at the Helsinki Games:

• 
   Argentina (14)
  


• 
   Belgium (13)
  


• 
   Brazil (13)
  


• 
   Bulgaria (14)
  


• 
   Canada (13)
  


• 
   Chile (13)
  


• 
   Cuba (12)
  


• 
   Czechoslovakia (14)
  


• 
   Egypt (14)
  


• 
   Finland (14)
  


• 
   France (14)
  


• 
   Greece (12)
  


• 
   Hungary (13)
  


• 
   Israel (12)
  


• 
   Italy (13)
  


• 
   Mexico (13)
  


• 
   Philippines (12)
  


• 
   Romania (12)
  


• 
   Soviet Union (14)
  


• 
   Switzerland (14)
  


• 
   Turkey (12)
  


• 
   United States (14)
  


• 
   Uruguay (12)
  

(*) NOTE: There are only players counted, which participated in one game at least. Up to now only two reserve player can be named, 14 reserve players are unknown.

Team rosters

Place	Nation
1	United States (USA)
	Coach: Warren Womble Ron Bontemps (Peoria Caterpillars/Illinois) Marc Freiberger (Peoria Caterpillars/Oklahoma) Wayne Glasgow (Phillips 66ers/Oklahoma) Charlie Hoag (University of Kansas) Bill Hougland (Phillips 66ers/Kansas) John Keller (University of Kansas) Dean Kelley (University of Kansas) Bob Kenney (University of Kansas) Bob Kurland (Phillips 66ers/Oklahoma St.) Bill Lienhard (University of Kansas) Clyde Lovellette (University of Kansas) Frank McCabe (Peoria Caterpillars/Marquette) Dan Pippin (Peoria Caterpillars/Missouri) Howie Williams (Peoria Caterpillars/Purdue)
2	Soviet Union (URS)
	Stepas Butautas (BC Žalgiris Kaunas) Nodar Dzhordzhikiya (BC Dinamo Tbilisi) Anatoly Konev (MBC Dynamo Moscow) Otar Korkiya (BC Dinamo Tbilisi) Heino Kruus (Tallinna Kalev) Ilmar Kullam (Tallinna Kalev) Justinas Lagunavičius (BC Žalgiris Kaunas) Joann Lõssov (Tallinna Kalev) Aleksandr Moiseyev (VVS Moscow) Yuri Ozerov (MBC Dynamo Moscow) Kazys Petkevičius (BC Žalgiris Kaunas) Stasys Stonkus (BC Žalgiris Kaunas) Maigonis Valdmanis (ASK Riga) Viktor Vlasov (MBC Dynamo Moscow)
3	Uruguay (URU)
	Martín Acosta y Lara Enrique Baliño Victorio Cieslinskas Héctor Costa Nelson Demarco Héctor García Otero Tabaré Larre Borges Adesio Lombardo Roberto Lovera Sergio Matto Wilfredo Peláez Carlos Roselló
4	Argentina (ARG) Coach: Rodolfo Masilla Leopoldo Contarbio Hugo del Vecchio Oscar Furlong Juan Gazsó Ricardo González Rafael Lledó Alberto López Rubén Menini Omar Monza Rubén Pagliari Raúl Pérez Varela Ignacio Poletti Juan Uder Roberto Viau
5	Chile (CHI) Pedro Araya Zabala Rufino Bernedo Eduardo Cordero Fernández Hugo Fernández Diez Ezequiel Figueroa Reyes Juan José Gallo Chinchilla Víctor Mahana Badrie Eric Mahn Godoy Juan Ostoic Ostoic Hermán Raffo Abarca Hermán Ramos Muñoz Álvaro Salvadores Orlando Silva Infante
6	Brazil (BRA) Coach: Manoel Pitanga Angelim Bráz Raymundo Carvalho dos Santos Mário Jorge da Fonseca Hermes Almir Nelson de Almeida Algodão Ruy de Freitas Mayr Facci Tião Godinho Thales Monteiro Alfredo da Motta Zé Luiz
7	Bulgaria (BUL) Petar Chichkov Hristo Donev Ilja Georgiev Konstantin Georgiev Genczo Hristov Anton Kuzov Vasil Manchenko Nejczo Neichev Ivan Nikolov Georgi Panov Veselin Penkov Kiril Semov Vladimir Slavov Konstantin Totev
8	France (FRA) André Buffière André Chavet René Chocat Robert Crost Jacques Dessemme Louis Devoti Robert Guillin Roger Haudegand Robert Monclar Jean Perniceni Bernard Planque Jean-Pierre Salignon André Vacheresse Jean-Paul Beugnot
9–16	Canada (CAN) Woody Campbell Bill Coulthard Red Curren Chuck Dalton Bill Pataky Glenn Pettinger Bob Phibbs Bernie Pickell Carl Ridd Bobby Simpson Harry Wade George Wearring Roy Williams
9–16	Cuba (CUB) Carlos Bea Felipe de la Pozas y Piad Alberto Escoto Valdés Armando Estrada Rivero Alfredo Faget Otazo Casimiro García Artime Juan García García R. Carlos García Ordoñez Federico López Garviso Mario Quintero Padrón Fabio Ruiz Vinajeras Ramón Wiltz Bucelo
9–16	Czechoslovakia (TCH) Coach: Josef Fleischlinger Jiří Baumruk Miroslav Baumruk Zdeněk Bobrovský Josef Ezr Eugen Horniak Miroslav Kódl Luboš Kolář Jan Kozák Jiří Matoušek Ivan Mrázek Zdeněk Rylich Jaroslav Šíp Miroslav Škeřík Jaroslav Tětiva
9–16	Egypt (EGY) Youssef Abbas Youssef Abou Ouf Fouad Abdel Meguid Abu el Kheir Mohamed Medhat Bahgat Armand Philippe Catafago Georges Jean Chalhoub Mohamed Ezz Eldin Aly Ahmed el Rashidy Abdelrahman Ismail Hafez Zaki Selim Ibrahim Harari Sami Mansour Medhat Youssef Mohamad Hussein Kamal Montassir Fahmy Raymond Sabounghi Albert Fahmy Tadros
9–16	Finland (FIN) Kalevi Heinänen Esko Karhunen Juhani Kyöstilä Pentti Laaksonen Olavi Lahtinen Raimo Lindholm Pertti Mutru Raine Nuutinen Tapio Pöyhönen Tuomo Ristola Eero Salonen Timo Suviranta Kalevi Sylander Oiva Virtanen
9–16	Hungary (HUN) László Bánhegyi Pál Bogár György Bokor Tibor Cselkó Tibor Czinkán János Greminger László Hódi Ede Komáromi Tibor Mezőfi Péter Papp János Simon György Telegdy Tibor Zsíros
9–16	Mexico (MEX) Rubén Almanza García Carlos José Bru Villarreal Jorge Cardiel Gaytán José de la Cruz Cabrera Gándara Héctor Guerrero Delgado Emilio López Enríquez Filiberto Manzo Hernández José Meneses Luna Sergio Olguín Fierro Fernando Rojas Herrera José Rojas Herera Rolando Rubalcava Peña José Pioquinto Soto Villanueva
9–16	Philippines (PHI) Coach: Felicisimo Fajardo Florentino Bautista Ramón Campos Antonio Genato José Gochangco Rafael Hechanova Eduardo Lim Carlos Loyzaga Antonio Luis Martínez Ponciano Saldaña Meliton Santos Antonio Tantay Mariano Tolentino
17–23	Belgium (BEL) Jules Boes Jan Ceulemans Henri Coosemans Henri Crick Yves Delsarte Josef du Jardin Johannes Ducheyne Jef Eygel Désiré Ligon Julien Meuris Félix Roosemont Alexis van Gils Pierre van Huele
17–23	Greece (GRE) [1] Coach: Vladimiros Vallas Stelios Arvanitis (Panathinaikos) Themistokles Cholevas (Panellinios) Ioannis Lambrou (Panathinaikos) Panayiotis Manias (Panellinios) Phaedon Mathaiou (Panathinaikos) Nikolaos Milas (Panathinaikos) Konstantinos Papadimas (Panellinios) Aristidis Roubanis (Panellinios) Alexandros Spanoudakis (Olympiacos) Ioannis Spanoudakis (Olympiacos) Dimitrios Stefanidis (Panellinios) Dimitrios Taliadoros (XAN Thessaloniki)
17–23	Israel (ISR) Coach: Toby Ruskin Eliahu Amiel (Hapoel Holon) Moshe Daniel-Levy (Hapoel Maayan Barukh) Dan Erez-Buxenbaum (Hapoel Tel Aviv) Reuben Fecher-Perach (Hapoel Mizra) Mordechai-Marcel Hefez (Hapoel Holon) Ralph Klein (Raphael Ram) (Maccabi Tel Aviv) Menahem Kurman-Degani (Maccabi Tel Aviv) Amos Lin-Linkovsky (Hapoel Mishmar Ha'emek) Zekarya Ofri (Maccabi Tel Aviv) Shimon Shelah-Schmuckler (Hapoel Tel Aviv) Abraham Shneior (Maccabi Tel Aviv) Yehuda Wiener-Gafni (Maccabi Tel Aviv) Fredi Cohen (Hapoel Holon)
17–23	Italy (ITA) Giorgio Bongiovanni Achille Canna Carlo Cerioni Giordano Damiani Sergio Ferriani Sergio Marelli Federico Marietti Enrico Pagani Fabio Presca Renzo Ranuzzi Luigi Rapini Sergio Stefanini Dino Zucchi
17–23	Romania (ROU) Cornel Călugăreanu Gheorghe Constantinide Grigore Costescu Andrei Folbert Ladislau Mokos Liviu Naghi Mihai Nedef Cezar Niculescu Dan Niculescu Adrian Petroşanu Vasile Popescu Emanoil Răducanu Constanin Herold
17–23	Switzerland (SUI) Pierre Albrecht Henri Baumann Marc Bossy René Chiappino Maurice Chollet Gerald Cottier Roger Domenjoz Marcel Moget Roger Prahin Jacques Redard Bernard Schmied Georges Stockly Jean-Pierre Voisin René Wohler
17–23	Turkey (TUR) Yüksel Alkan Altan Dinçer Nejat Diyarbakırlı Yalçın Granit Sadi Gülçelik Yılmaz Gündüz Erdoğan Partener Sacit Seldüz Turhan Tezol Güney Ülmen Ali Uras Mehmet Ali Yalım

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics.

• Official Olympic Report