1952 United States men's Olympic basketball team

1952 United States men's Olympic basketball team

Head coach	Warren Womble
1952 Summer Olympics
Scoring leader	Clyde Lovellette (13.9) [1]
Biggest win	48 vs. Chile
←  1948 1956  →

The 1952 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland from July 14 to August 2, 1952. Warren Womble was the team's head coach, and Phog Allen was the team's main assistant coach. ^[2] The team won its third straight Summer Olympics basketball gold medal.

Olympic Trials

The Olympic Trials were held at the end of March in Kansas City and New York. ^[3] The collegiate side of the Olympic Trials bracket included the NAIA, NIT, and NCAA champions as well as the NCAA runner-up. The post-collegiate amateur bracket contained the four semi-finalists from the 1952 AAU basketball tournament.

	Amateur semi-finals Collegiate semi-finals March 29				Amateur final Collegiate final March 31				Final April 1
	New York City
	Peoria Caterpillars (AAU champions)	71
					New York City
	Air Force All-Stars (AAU third place)	67
					Peoria Caterpillars	64
	Kansas City
					Phillips Oilers	50
	Phillips Oilers (AAU runners-up)	502OT
									New York City
	Hollywood Fibber McGee and Molly (AAU forth place)	48
									Peoria Caterpillars	62
	New York City
									Kansas	60
	La Salle (NIT champions)	71
					New York City
	St. John's (NCAA runners-up)	62
					La Salle	65			Third Place
	Kansas City
					Kansas	70			New York City
	Kansas (NCAA champions)	92
									Phillips Oilers	92
	Southwest Missouri State (NAIA champions)	65
									La Salle	59

Roster

The team consisted of 14 members. It included five members of the Amateur Athletic Union's Peoria Caterpillars team and two Phillips 66ers. The team also featured seven players from the national champion 1951–52 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team, as well as their coach Phog Allen, who served as assistant on the team.

	Position	Height	Weight	Age	Hometown	Team
Ron Bontemps	Guard	6'2"	175	25	Taylorville, Illinois	Peoria Caterpillars (Illinois)
Marc Freiberger	Center	6'11"	215	23	Greenville, Texas	Peoria Caterpillars (Oklahoma)
Wayne Glasgow	Guard/Forward	6'3"	190	26	Dacoma, Oklahoma	Phillips 66ers (Oklahoma)
Charlie Hoag	Guard/Forward	6'2"	185	20	Oak Park, Illinois	Kansas
Bill Hougland	Guard	6'4"	180	22	Beloit, Kansas	Kansas
John Keller	Guard/Forward	6'3"	185	23	Page City, Kansas	Kansas
Dean Kelley	Guard	5'11"	165	20	Morton, Illinois	Kansas
Bob Kenney	Forward	6'2"	185	21	Winfield, Kansas	Kansas
Bob Kurland	Center	7'0"	220	27	Jennings, Missouri	Phillips 66ers (Oklahoma St.)
Bill Lienhard	Forward	6'5"	180	22	Lawrence, Kansas	Kansas
Clyde Lovellette	Forward	6'9"	230	22	Terre Haute, Indiana	Kansas
Frank McCabe	Forward	6'8"	225	25	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Peoria Caterpillars (Marquette)
Dan Pippin	Guard	6'1"	170	25	Waynesville, Missouri	Peoria Caterpillars (Missouri)
Howie Williams	Guard	6'0"	168	24	New Ross, Indiana	Peoria Caterpillars (Purdue)

1952 Team USA matches

25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)

OR p. 680

United States	66–48	Hungary
Scoring by half:37–23, 27–25

Tennispalatsi, Helsinki Referees: Vanderperren (BEL), Wabby (EGY)

25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)

OR p. 682

United States	72–47	Czechoslovakia
Scoring by half:35–21, 37–26

Tennispalatsi, Helsinki Referees: Ashri (EGY), Reverberi (ITA)

27 July 1952 (1952-07-27)

OR p. 683

United States	56–44	Uruguay
Scoring by half:32–27, 24–17

Tennispalatsi, Helsinki Referees: Siener (FRA), Chuard (SUI)

28 July 1952 (1952-07-28)

OR p. 684

United States	86–58	Soviet Union
Scoring by half:36–22, 50–36

Tennispalatsi, Helsinki Referees: Siener (FRA), Wahby (EGY)

29 July 1952 (1952-07-29)

OR p. 684

United States	103–55	Chile
Scoring by half:47–32, 56–23

Tennispalatsi, Helsinki Referees: Ashri (EGY), Posvar (TCH)

30 July 1952 (1952-07-30)

OR p. 686

United States	57–53	Brazil
Scoring by half: 24–26, 33–27

Tennispalatsi, Helsinki Referees: Wahby (EGY), Posvar (TCH)

31 July 1952 (1952-07-31)

OR p. 688

United States	85–76	Argentina
Scoring by half:43–39, 42–37

Messuhalli, Helsinki Referees: Ashri (EGY), Siener (FRA)

2 August 1952 (1952-08-02) 16:00

OR p. 688

United States	36–25	Soviet Union
Scoring by half:17–15, 19–10
Pts: Lovellette 9		Pts: Korkia 8

Messuhalli, Helsinki Referees: Vanderperren (BEL), Wahby (EGY)

Final match up versus USSR

The final match up game was a very low scoring game, as the USSR successfully utilized a low block and time wasting. After ten minutes, Team USA only led 4–3. After the USSR took a lead in the third quarter, Team USA began to display their offense by shooting well, ultimately winning the game by 11 points. Lovellette scored nine points, while Kurland scored eight points.

Final standings

• 1.   United States (8–0)
• 2.   Soviet Union (6–2)
• 3.   Uruguay (5–3)
• 4.   France (5–3)
• 5.   Chile (4–4)
• 6.   Brazil (4–4)
• 7.   Bulgaria (4–4)
• 8.   France (4–4)
• 9.   Canada (3–3)
• 10.   Cuba (1–4)
• 11.   Czechoslovakia (1–2)
• 12.   Egypt (3–3)
• 13.   Finland (0–3)
• 14.   Hungary (2–4)
• 15.   Mexico (1–2)
• 16.   Philippines (1–2) ^[4]

See also

• Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics

References

1. 1952 Olympic Games : Tournament for Men.
2. Games of the XVth Olympiad -- 1952.
3. Written at New York. "Olympic Basketball Trials Begin Tonite In New York And Kansas City". The Daily Advocate . Greenville, Ohio. United Press. March 29, 1952. The Olympic tourney semi-final thus could produce a clash between the NCAA and the NIT champions.
4. "Games of the XVTH Olympiad -- 1952". Archived from the original on February 26, 2015.

External links

• USA Basketball, official site