Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics was the fourth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. Fifteen nations, an unusually low number for the basketball tournament, competed in the event, with 174 participants. A total number of 56 games of basketball were played.

4th Olympic Basketball Tournament
Melbourne 1956
Tournament details
Olympics1956 Summer Olympics
Host nationAustralia
CityMelbourne
DurationNovember 22 – December 1
Men's tournament
Teams15
Medals
Gold medalists  United States
Silver medalists Soviet Union
Bronze medalists  Uruguay
Tournaments
← Helsinki 1952  Rome 1960 →
Basketball at the
1956 Summer Olympics
Tournament
men
Squads
men

The teams were divided into four pools, with four teams in three of the pools and only three in the fourth. Every team played against each other team in its pool once. The top two teams from each pool advanced to the quarterfinals, where again they were split into pools of four. Teams again played every other team in their pool, with the top two in each advancing to the semifinal and the bottom two entering a pool for 5th through 8th places. Eliminated teams also played in consolation matches with the same structure as the quarterfinals and finals, but for 9th through 15th places. The games were held at the Royal Exhibition Building.

Qualified Teams
Outright qualifier, World Champion
Outright qualifier, World Runner-up
Outright qualifier, World Bronze Medalists
Host nation
Teams Participating by Region
Americas Europe Asia Africa Oceania
 United States  Soviet Union  Philippines No team participated  Australia
 Uruguay  France  Japan —
 Brazil  Canada  South Korea
 Chile  Bulgaria  Singapore
— —  Republic of China
 Thailand
Number of Berths Allocated for the Tournament
Region Automatic From the
previous
World Cup		 Berth as
Host nation		 Total
Europe 4 N/A N/A 4
Americas 2 2 4
Asia 5 1 6
Africa No team participated 0
Oceania N/A 1 1
TOTAL 11 3 1 15

Medalists
Gold: Silver: Bronze:
 United States (USA)
Carl Cain
Bill Hougland
K.C. Jones
Bill Russell
James Walsh
William Evans
Burdette Haldorsson
Ronald Tomsic
Dick Boushka
Gilbert Ford
Robert Jeangerard
Charles Darling		  Soviet Union (URS)
Valdis Muižnieks
Maigonis Valdmanis
Vladimir Torban
Stasys Stonkus
Kazys Petkevičius
Arkadi Bochkarev
Jānis Krūmiņš
Mikhail Semyonov
Algirdas Lauritenas
Yuri Ozerov
Viktor Zubkov
Mikhail Studenetsky		  Uruguay (URU)
Carlos Blixen
Ramiro Cortes
Héctor Costa
Nelson Chelle
Nelson Demarco
Héctor García Otero
Carlos Gonzáles
Sergio Matto
Oscar Moglia
Raúl Mera
Ariel Olascoaga
Milton Scaron

Squads

For the team rosters see: Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's team rosters.

Preliminary round
Advanced to the quarter-finals

Group A
Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts
 United States 3 3 0 320 122+198 6
 Philippines 3 2 1 184 226−42 5
 Japan 3 1 2 171 224−53 4
 Thailand 3 0 3 123 226−103 3
Philippines  55–44  Thailand
Scoring by half: 34–24, 21–20
United States  98–40  Japan
Scoring by half: 33–20, 65–20
United States  101–29  Thailand
Scoring by half: 54–12, 47–17
Japan  61–76  Philippines
Scoring by half: 29–37, 32–39
Thailand  50–70  Japan
Scoring by half: 20–35, 30–35
United States  121–53  Philippines
Scoring by half: 66–23, 55–30

Group B
Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts
 France 3 3 0 236 183+53 6
 Soviet Union 3 2 1 255 177+78 5
 Canada 3 1 2 206 234−28 4
 Singapore 3 0 3 154 257−103 3
Soviet Union  97–59  Canada
Scoring by half: 46–20, 51–39
Singapore  54–81  France
Scoring by half: 22–44, 32–37
Soviet Union  67–76  France
Scoring by half: 18–24, 49–52
Canada  85–58  Singapore
Scoring by half: 51–30, 34–28
Soviet Union  91–42  Singapore
Scoring by half: 40–21, 51–21
France  79–62  Canada
Scoring by half: 43–35, 36–27

Group C
TEAM PTS P W L PF PA
 Uruguay 6330238187
 Bulgaria 5321242199
 Formosa 4312216249
 South Korea 3303194255
22 November
20:00
South Korea  76–83  Formosa
Scoring by half: 28–42, 48–41
23 November
16:30
Uruguay  70–65  Bulgaria
Scoring by half: 38–35, 32–30
24 November
10:30
Uruguay  85–62  Formosa
Scoring by half: 39–36, 46–26
24 November
13:30
Bulgaria  89–58  South Korea
Scoring by half: 47–33, 42–25
26 November
10:30
Formosa  71–88  Bulgaria
Scoring by half: 35–47, 36–41
26 November
16:30
Uruguay  83–60  South Korea
Scoring by half: 35–25, 48–35

Group D
TEAM PTS P W L PF PA
 Brazil 4220167125
 Chile 3211137134
 Australia 2202122167
Chile  59–78  Brazil
Scoring by half: 34–39, 25–39
Brazil  89–66  Australia
Scoring by half: 50–35, 39–31
Chile  78–56  Australia
Scoring by half: 37–27, 41–29

Classification games for 9th–15th places

Group 1 (9–15)
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Formosa 3 3 0 218 189 +29 6 Classification 9–12
2  Australia (H) 3 2 1 258 208 +50 5
3  Singapore 3 1 2 200 215 −15 4 Classification 13–15
4  Thailand 3 0 3 150 214 −64 3
Source: FIBA Archives
(H) Host.
Singapore 64–67  Formosa
Scoring by half: 23–26, 41–41
Australia  87–48  Thailand
Scoring by half: 48–23, 39–25
Thailand  50–62  Singapore
Scoring by half: 26–29, 24–33
Australia 73–86  Formosa
Scoring by half: 40–39, 33–47
Formosa  65–52  Thailand
Scoring by half: 35–31, 30–21
Australia  98–74  Singapore
Scoring by half: 48–36, 50–38

Group 2 (9–15)
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Canada 2 2 0 147 123 +24 4 Classification 9–12
2  Japan 2 1 1 143 140 +3 3
3  South Korea 2 0 2 130 157 −27 2 Classification 13–15
Source: FIBA Archives
South Korea  63–74 (OT)  Canada
Scoring by half: 31–32, 31–30 Overtime: 1–12
Japan  83–67  South Korea
Scoring by half: 36–23, 47–44
Canada  73–60  Japan
Scoring by half: 40–26, 33–34

Classification 13–15
 
Classification Semifinals13th place match
 
      
 
1 December
 
 
 Thailand47
 
1 December
 
 South Korea61
 
 South Korea79
 
 
 Singapore92
 
 
 
 
  • Thailand was named as the final placers of the games because of their loss to the Koreans.

Classification playoffs for 9th–12th places
 
Classification SemifinalsNinth place match
 
      
 
1 December
 
 
 Formosa61
 
1 December
 
 Japan82
 
 Japan60
 
1 December
 
 Canada75
 
 Australia38
 
 
 Canada83
 
Eleventh place match
 
 
1 December
 
 
 Formosa87
 
 
 Australia70

Quarterfinals
Advance to the semifinals
Relegated to the 5th-8th classification

Group A
TEAM PTS P W L PF PA
 France 5321195187
 Uruguay 5321221209
 Chile 4312221220
 Philippines 4312204225
France 71,  Chile 60
Scoring by half: 37–23, 34–37
Uruguay 79,  Philippines 70 (OT)
Scoring by half: 42–39, 26–29 Overtime: 11–2
Uruguay 80,  Chile 73
Scoring by half: 40–25, 40–48
 Philippines 65, France 58 (OT)
'Scoring by half: 30–26, 25–29 Overtime: 10–3
Chile 88,  Philippines 69
Scoring by half: 42–32, 46–37
Uruguay 62,  France 66
Scoring by half: 31–38, 31–28

Group B
TEAM PTS P W L PF PA
 United States 6330283150
 Soviet Union 5321208209
 Bulgaria 4312182224
 Brazil 3303192282
27 November
16:30
Bulgaria  44–85  United States
Scoring by half: 19–48, 25–37
Brazil 68,  Soviet Union 87
Scoring by half: 28–37, 40–50
Bulgaria 56,  Soviet Union 66
Scoring by half: 32–37, 24–29
United States  113–51  Brazil
Scoring by half: 50–22, 63–29
Soviet Union  55,  United States 85
Scoring by half: 32–39, 23–46
Bulgaria 82,  Brazil 73
Scoring by half: 38–36, 44–37

Classification 5–8
 
Classification Semifinals5th place game
 
      
 
 
 
 
 Chile 64
 
 
 
 Brazil 89
 
 Brazil 52
 
 
 
 Bulgaria 64
 
 Philippines 70
 
 
 Bulgaria 80
 
7th place game
 
 
 
 
 
 Chile 68
 
 
 Philippines 75

Classification Semifinals
30 November
15:00
Chile  64–89  Brazil
Scoring by half: 33–55, 31–34
Pts: Ostoic 13 Pts: dos Santos 27
30 November
16:30
Philippines  70–80  Bulgaria
Scoring by half: 43–50, 27–30
Pts: Badion 27 Pts: Radev 21

Seventh place match

Fifth place match

Final round
 
Semi-finalsGold medal match
 
      
 
30 November
 
 
(A2)  Uruguay38
 
1 December
 
(B1)  United States101
 
(B1)  United States89
 
30 November
 
(B2)  Soviet Union55
 
(A1)  France49
 
 
(B2)  Soviet Union56
 
Bronze medal match
 
 
1 December
 
 
(A2)  Uruguay71
 
 
(A1)  France62

Semifinals
30 November
20:00
France  49–56  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 19–25, 30–31
Pts: Antoine 12 Pts: Krūmiņš 27
30 November
21:30
Uruguay  38–101  United States
Scoring by half: 10–51, 28–50
Pts: Mera, Blixen 8 each Pts: Tomsic 18

Bronze medal match
1 December
20:00
France  62–71  Uruguay
Scoring by half: 29–37, 32–34
Pts: Monclar 16 Pts: Moglia 25

Final
1 December
21:30
Soviet Union  55–89  United States
Scoring by half: 27–56, 28–33
Pts: Semyonov 15 Pts: Jeangerard 16

Awards
 1956 Olympic Basketball Champions 

United States
Fourth title

Final Rankings
Pos Team Record
 United States8−0
 Soviet Union5−3
 Uruguay6−2
4th France5−3
5th Bulgaria5−3
6th Brazil3−4
7th Philippines4−4
8th Chile2–5
9th Canada5–2
10th Japan3–4
11th Formosa5−3
12th Australia2–5
13th Singapore2–5
14th South Korea1–6
15th Thailand0–7

References
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