Basketball at the 1992 Summer Olympics

Last updated

13th Olympic Basketball Tournament
Barcelona 1992
Basketball pictogram.svg
Tournament details
Olympics 1992 Summer Olympics
Host nation Spain
City Barcelona
Duration26 July – 8 August
Men's tournament
Teams12
Medals
Gold medal icon.svg Gold medalists Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Silver medalists Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia
Bronze medal icon.svg Bronze medalists Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania
Women's tournament
Teams8
Medals
Gold medal icon.svg Gold medalists Flag of the CIS.svg  CIS
Silver medal icon.svg Silver medalistsFlag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
Bronze medal icon.svg Bronze medalistsFlag of the United States.svg  United States
Tournaments
  Seoul 1988   Atlanta 1996  

Basketball at the 1992 Summer Olympics was the thirteenth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It included the sport of basketball's men's and women's competitions of the 1992 Summer Olympics. The games were played at the Pavelló Olímpic de Badalona. 12 men's teams and 8 women's teams participated in the tournament.

Contents

This was the first time that NBA players were eligible to play in Summer Olympics basketball, following a decision of FIBA in April 1989. Until 1992, only amateurs and players from professional leagues other than the NBA were allowed to play. [1] [2]

The United States men's team, which was nicknamed "The Dream Team", won the gold medal in the men's tournament by beating Croatia in the men's final, with Lithuania winning the bronze medal. A documentary film, The Other Dream Team , covered the progress of the Lithuanian team. [3]

The Unified Team, representing the Commonwealth of Independent States, of the recently defunct Soviet Union, won the women's tournament, with China as runner-up. The United States women's team won the bronze medal after losing to the CIS in the semifinal, suffering their third and last defeat to date in the Olympic basketball history.

The men's top scorer was Oscar Schmidt with 198 points in 8 games, with an average of 24.7 points, and Drazen Petrovic was second with 187 points in 7 games, with an average of 26.7 points.

Medal summary

EventGoldSilverBronze
Men's
details
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Christian Laettner
David Robinson
Patrick Ewing
Larry Bird
Scottie Pippen
Michael Jordan
Clyde Drexler
Karl Malone
John Stockton
Chris Mullin
Charles Barkley
Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jr.
Civil ensign of Croatia.svg  Croatia
Dražen Petrović
Velimir Perasović
Danko Cvjetičanin
Toni Kukoč
Vladan Alanović
Franjo Arapović
Žan Tabak
Stojko Vranković
Alan Gregov
Arijan Komazec
Dino Rađa
Aramis Naglić
Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg  Lithuania
Valdemaras Chomičius
Alvydas Pazdrazdis
Arūnas Visockas
Darius Dimavičius
Romanas Brazdauskis
Gintaras Krapikas
Rimas Kurtinaitis
Arvydas Sabonis
Artūras Karnišovas
Šarūnas Marčiulionis
Gintaras Einikis
Sergejus Jovaiša
Women's
details
Olympic flag.svg  Unified Team
Yelena Zhirko
Yelena Baranova
Irina Guerlits
Yelena Tornikidu
Yelena Shvaybovich
Marina Tkachenko
Irina Minkh
Yelena Khudashova
Irina Soumnikova
Elen Bounatiants
Natalia Zasulskaya
Svetlana Zaboluyeva
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
Cong Xuedi
He Jun
Li Dongmei
Li Xin
Liu Jun
Liu Qing
Peng Ping
Wang Fang
Zhan Shuping
Zheng Dongmei
Zheng Haixia
Zheng Xiulin
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Teresa Edwards
Daedra Charles
Clarissa Davis
Teresa Weatherspoon
Tammy Jackson
Vickie Orr
Victoria Bullett
Carolyn Jones
Katrina Felicia McClain
Medina Dixon
Cynthia Cooper
Suzanne McConnell

Qualification

An NOC may enter up to one men's team with 12 players and up to one women's team with 12 players. For the men's tournament, the host country qualified automatically, as did the winners of the continental championships held for Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Americas, plus the runner-up, third and fourth place from the Americas competitions. A special qualifying tournament was held for European teams to allocate four extra berths. [4] For the women's tournament, the host team qualified automatically, as did the top three teams from the 1990 FIBA World Championship. A qualifying tournament was held to allocate four extra berths. Yugoslavia was replaced by Italy (the fifth place team from the qualifying tournament) after it was excluded from the Olympic tournament. [5]

Men

AfricaAmericasAsiaEuropeOceaniaAutomatic qualifiers
Flag of Angola.svg  Angola Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg  Lithuania
Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia
Flag of the CIS.svg  CIS
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Flag of Spain.svg  Spain – Olympic hosts

Women

AmericasAsiaEuropeAutomatic qualifiers
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Flag of Italy.svg  Italy [a]
Flag of the CIS.svg  CIS
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain – Olympic hosts

Format

Men's tournament:

Women's tournament:

Tie-breaking criteria:

  1. Head to head results

Men's tournament

Preliminary round

The top four places in each of the preliminary round groups advanced to the eight team, single-elimination knockout stage, where Group A teams would meet Group B teams.

Group A

Qualified for the quarterfinals
TeamWLPFPAPDPtsTie
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 50579350+22910
Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 41423400+239
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 23420463−4371–0
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 23369432−6370–1
Flag of Angola.svg  Angola 14324392−6861–0
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 14398476−7860–1

DAY 1

USA 116-48 Angola

Croatia 96-73 Brazil

Germany 83-74 Spain

Day 2

USA 103-70 Croatia

Spain 101-100 Brazil

Germany 64-63 Angola

Day 3

USA 111-68 Germany

Croatia 88-79 Spain

Angola 66-76 Brazil

Day 4

USA 127-83 Brazil

Croatia 98-74 Germany

Spain 63-83 Angola

Day 5

USA 122-81 Spain

Croatia 73-64 Angola

Germany 76-85 Brazil

Group B

Qualified for the quarterfinals
TeamWLPFPAPDPtsTie
Flag of the CIS.svg  CIS 41425373+5291–0
Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg  Lithuania 41481424+5790–1
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 32432396+3681–0
Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 32445440+1580–1
Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 14392427−356
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 05381496−1155

Day 1

CIS 78-64 Venezuela

Lithuania 112-75 China

Puerto Rico 76-116 Australia

Day 2

CIS 85-63 Australia

Puerto Rico 100-68 China

Venezuela 79-87 Lithuania

Day 3

CIS 100-84 China

Australia 78-71 Venezuela

Lithuania 104-91 Puerto Rico.

Day 4

CIS 92-80 Lithuania

Australia 88-66 China

Puerto Rico 96-82 Venezuela

Day 5

CIS 70-82 Puerto Rico

Venezuela 96-88 China

Lithuania 98-87 Australia

Knockout stage

Quarterfinals Semifinals Gold medal game
         
A1 Flag of the United States.svg  United States 115
B4 Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 77
A1 Flag of the United States.svg  United States 127
B2 Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg  Lithuania 76
B2 Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg  Lithuania 114
A3 Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 96
A1 Flag of the United States.svg  United States 117
A2 Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 85
B1 Flag of the CIS.svg  CIS 83
A4 Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 76
B1 Flag of the CIS.svg  CIS 74 Bronze medal game
A2 Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 75
A2 Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 98B1 Flag of the CIS.svg  CIS 78
B3 Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 65 B2 Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg  Lithuania 82

Women's tournament

Preliminary round

The best two teams from each group advanced to the semifinals. The United States and Cuba advanced undefeated through the group phase but couldn't reach the finals and ended up facing each other for the bronze medal instead.

Group A

Qualified for the semifinals
TeamWLPFPAPDPts
Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 30246230+166
Flag of the CIS.svg  CIS 21244222+225
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 12237241−44
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 03190224−343

Day 1

Cuba 91-89 CIS

Brazil 85-70 Italy

Day 2

CIS 77-67 Italy

Cuba 95-87 Brazil

Day 3

CIS 76-64 Brazil

Cuba 60-53 Italy

Group B

Qualified for the semifinals
TeamWLPFPAPDPts
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 30318181+1376
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 21205226−215
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 12181238−574
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia 03183242−593

Day 1

USA 111-55 Czechoslovakia

China 66-63 Spain

Day 2

Spain 59-58 Czechoslovakia

USA 93-61 China

Day 3

China 72-70 Czechoslovakia

USA 114-58 Spain

Knockout stage

Semifinals Finals
      
B1 Flag of the United States.svg  United States 73
A2 Flag of the CIS.svg  CIS 79
A2 Flag of the CIS.svg  CIS 76
B2 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 66
A1 Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 70
B2 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 109Third place
B1 Flag of the United States.svg  United States 88
A1 Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 74

Final standings

RankMenWomen
TeamWLTeamWL
Gold medal icon.svgFlag of the United States.svg  United States 80Flag of the CIS.svg  CIS 41
Silver medal icon.svgFlag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 62Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 32
Bronze medal icon.svgFlag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg  Lithuania 62Flag of the United States.svg  United States 41
4thFlag of the CIS.svg  CIS 53Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 32
Eliminated at the quarterfinalsEliminated at the preliminary round
5thFlag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 44Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 32
6thFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 44Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia 14
7thFlag of Germany.svg  Germany 35Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 23
8thFlag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 35Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 05
Eliminated at the preliminary round
9thFlag of Spain.svg  Spain 34
10thFlag of Angola.svg  Angola 25
11thFlag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 25
12thFlag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 07

See also

References

  1. Jan Hubbard. "Why Can Pros Compete in International Events?". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  2. "History of basketball at Olympics: A tale of American domination".
  3. Siegel, Alan (2 August 2012). "Remembering The Joyous, Tie-Dyed All-Stars Of The 1992 Lithuanian Basketball Team". Deadspin.
  4. 1992 European Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men, FIBA Archive. Accessed 31 March 2012.
  5. Brennan, Christine (3 June 1992). "Sanctions on Yugoslavia spoil IOC's hopes for a politics-free Olympics". Washington Post.