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Basketball, Men

Date13 – 23 October 1968
StatusOlympic
LocationJuan Escutia Palacio de los Deportes, Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca, Ciudad de México
Participants191 from 16 countries
FormatRound-robin pools advance teams to single-elimination tournament.

Basketball was becoming much more of an international sport and by 1968, a United States’ victory at the Olympics was no longer a foregone conclusion. The Soviet Union, in particular, was now considered a formidable obstacle to another American gold medal. They had won the European Championship in both 1965 and 1967, and the World Championship in 1967, with the United States finishing only 4th at the Worlds. Yugoslavia also had an excellent team, and had finished second to the USSR at the 1965 Europeans and the 1967 World Championship. Further, the Americans were hampered domestically by calls for a boycott of the Olympics by African-American athletes. While this never materialized, the two best US collegiate players, Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabaar) and Elvin Hayes, did not try to play for the 1968 US Olympic team.

At Mexico City, the US was led by future professional stars Spencer Haywood and Jo-Jo White. The USA narrowly defeated Puerto Rico by only 5 points in a preliminary round game, and then made it to the final by defeating Brazil 75-63. There it faced Yugoslavia, which had defeated the Soviet Union in the other semi-final. The final was close at half-time, 32-29, but the USA opened the second half with a 22-3 scoring streak, and put the game out of reach, eventually winning 65-50.

PosNrTeamNOCWLPtsPoints
1United StatesUSA9018739–505Gold
2YugoslaviaYUG7214705–638Silver
3Soviet UnionURS8116774–524Bronze
4BrazilBRA6312677–563
5MexicoMEX7214641–580
6PolandPOL5410604–631
7SpainESP5410717–693
8ItalyITA5410686–693
9Puerto RicoPUR5410631–590
10BulgariaBUL458596–624
11CubaCUB366670–691
12PanamaPAN274739–798
13PhilippinesPHI366677–756
14Republic of KoreaKOR274592–655
15SenegalSEN182484–679
16MoroccoMAR090450–762

Preliminary Round (13 – 20 October 1968)

Group A (13 – 20 October 1968)

Round-robin pools.

PosNOCWLPtsPoints
1USA7014599–392
2YUG6112592–511
3ITA5210562–539
4ESP438557–548
5PUR346493–468
6PAN254572–624
7PHI162525–636
8SEN070383–565

Match #113 OctUSA 81 – 46ESP
Match #213 OctITA 91 – 66PHI
Match #313 OctPUR 69 – 26SEN
Match #413 OctYUG 96 – 85PAN
Match #514 OctUSA 93 – 36SEN
Match #614 OctESP 108 – 79PHI
Match #714 OctYUG 93 – 72PUR
Match #814 OctITA 94 – 87PAN
Match #915 OctYUG 84 – 65SEN
Match #1015 OctESP 88 – 82PAN
Match #1115 OctUSA 96 – 75PHI
Match #1215 OctITA 68 – 65PUR
Match #1316 OctPAN 95 – 92PHI
Match #1416 OctESP 86 – 62PUR
Match #1516 OctITA 81 – 55SEN
Match #1616 OctUSA 73 – 58YUG
Match #1718 OctUSA 95 – 60PAN
Match #1818 OctESP 64 – 54SEN
Match #1918 OctPUR 89 – 65PHI
Match #2018 OctYUG 80 – 69
AET
ITA
Match #2119 OctPHI 80 – 68SEN
Match #2219 OctPUR 80 – 69PAN
Match #2319 OctYUG 92 – 79ESP
Match #2419 OctUSA 100 – 61ITA
Match #2520 OctPAN 94 – 79SEN
Match #2620 OctITA 98 – 86ESP
Match #2720 OctYUG 89 – 68PHI
Match #2820 OctUSA 61 – 56PUR

Group B (13 – 20 October 1968)

Round-robin pools.

PosNOCWLPtsPoints
1URS7014642–408
2BRA6112561–418
3MEX5210493–443
4POL438473–504
5BUL346456–478
6CUB254514–532
7KOR162453–530
8MAR070355–634

Match #113 OctBRA 98 – 52MAR
Match #213 OctURS 91 – 50POL
Match #313 OctMEX 75 – 62KOR
Match #413 OctBUL 70 – 61CUB
Match #514 OctURS 123 – 51MAR
Match #614 OctPOL 77 – 67KOR
Match #714 OctBRA 75 – 59BUL
Match #814 OctMEX 76 – 75CUB
Match #915 OctBUL 77 – 59MAR
Match #1015 OctPOL 78 – 75CUB
Match #1115 OctURS 89 – 58KOR
Match #1215 OctBRA 60 – 53MEX
Match #1316 OctURS 81 – 56BUL
Match #1416 OctMEX 86 – 38MAR
Match #1516 OctBRA 88 – 51POL
Match #1616 OctCUB 80 – 71KOR
Match #1718 OctPOL 85 – 48MAR
Match #1818 OctURS 100 – 66CUB
Match #1918 OctBRA 91 – 59KOR
Match #2018 OctMEX 73 – 63BUL
Match #2119 OctKOR 76 – 54MAR
Match #2219 OctPOL 69 – 67BUL
Match #2319 OctBRA 84 – 68CUB
Match #2419 OctURS 82 – 62MEX
Match #2520 OctCUB 89 – 53MAR
Match #2620 OctBUL 64 – 60KOR
Match #2720 OctMEX 68 – 63POL
Match #2820 OctURS 76 – 65BRA

Classification Round 5-8 (22 October 1968)

Classification matches.

Match #122 OctPOL 66 – 52ITA
Match #222 OctMEX 73 – 72ESP

Classification Round 9-12 (22 October 1968)

Classification matches.

Match #122 OctPUR 71 – 65CUB
Match #222 OctBUL 83 – 79PAN

Classification Round 13-16 (22 October 1968)

Classification matches.

Match #122 OctPHI 86 – 57MAR
Match #222 OctKOR 76 – 59SEN

Semi-Finals (22 October 1968)

Single-elimination.

Match #122 OctUSA 75 – 63BRA
Match #222 OctYUG 63 – 62URS

Final Round (23 October 1968)

Medal round.

Match 1/223 OctUSA 65 – 50YUG
Match 3/423 OctURS 70 – 53BRA
Match 5/623 OctMEX 75 – 65POL
Match 7/823 OctESP 88 – 72ITA
Match 9/1023 OctPUR 67 – 57BUL
Match 11/1223 OctCUB 91 – 88PAN
Match 13/1423 OctPHI 66 – 63KOR
Match 15/1623 OctSEN 42 – 38MAR

Rankings

Points
Scoring Average
Total Field Goals Attempted
Total Field Goals %
Free Throws Made
Free Throws %
Personal Fouls