- 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.
Participating teams
| Defending Olympic Champion |
| Olympic Runner-up |
| Third placers |
| Host nation |
Playoff berths for the Tournament
Allocation of Berths
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
- 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
- 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
- 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
|
Mexico |
4 |
4 |
0 |
234 |
109 | +125 |
8
|
France |
4 |
3 |
1 |
214 |
131 | +83 |
7
|
Cuba |
4 |
2 |
2 |
213 |
131 | +82 |
6
|
Iran |
4 |
1 |
3 |
136 |
215 | −79 |
5
|
Ireland |
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
Classification 21st-23rd
- 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
Classification 13th-16th
- Hungary forfeited all of the matches in this round as indicated above.
Boxscores
17th–23rd place quarterfinals
21st–23rd place semifinal
17th–20th place semifinals
9th–16th place quarterfinals
13th–16th place semifinals
9th–12th place semifinals
Final classification matches
Awards
1948 Olympic Basketball Champions |
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:
(*) 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.
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.