Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics

4th Basketball Olympic Tournament Melbourne 1956
Tournament details
Olympics	1956 Summer Olympics
Host nation	Australia
City	Melbourne
Duration	November 22–December 1
Men's teams	16
Men's medals:
Gold medalists	United States
Silver medalists	Soviet Union
Bronze medalists	Uruguay

Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics was the fourth appearance of the sport in Olympic competition. 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.

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.

Medalists

Gold:	Silver:	Bronze:
United States (USA) Carl Cain Bill Hougland K.C. Jones Bill Russell James Walsh William Evans Burdette Haldorsson Ronald Tomsic Richard 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

Final ranking

1. United States
2. Soviet Union
3. Uruguay
4. France
5. Bulgaria
6. Brazil
7. Philippines
8. Chile
9. Canada
10. Japan
11. Republic of China
12. Australia
13. Singapore
14. South Korea
15. Thailand

Results

Preliminary round

Group A

TEAM	PTS	P	W	L	PF	PA
United States	6	3	3	0	300	122
Philippines	5	3	2	1	184	226
Japan	4	3	1	2	171	224
Thailand	3	3	0	3	123	226

		Philippines 94, Thailand 55
		Scoring by half: 34-24, 60-31

		United States 98, Japan 40
		Scoring by half: 33-20, 65-20

		United States 101, Thailand 29
		Scoring by half: 54-12, 47-17

		Japan 61, Philippines 77
		Scoring by half: 29-37, 32-40

		Thailand 50, Japan 70
		Scoring by half: 20-35, 30-35

		United States 121, Philippines 53
		Scoring by half: 66-23, 55-30

Group B

TEAM	PTS	P	W	L	PF	PA
France	6	3	3	0	236	183
Soviet Union	5	3	2	1	255	177
Canada	4	3	1	2	206	234
Singapore	3	3	0	3	154	257

		Soviet Union 97, Canada 59
		Scoring by half: 46-20, 51-39

		Singapore 54, France 81
		Scoring by half: 22-44, 32-37

		Soviet Union 67, France 76
		Scoring by half: 18-24, 49-52

		Canada 85, Singapore 58
		Scoring by half: 51-30, 34-28

		Soviet Union 91, Singapore 42
		Scoring by half: 40-21, 51-21

		France 79, Canada 62
		Scoring by half: 43-35, 36-27

Group C

TEAM	PTS	P	W	L	PF	PA
Uruguay	6	3	3	0	238	187
Bulgaria	5	3	2	1	242	199
Formosa	4	3	1	2	216	249
Korea	3	3	0	3	194	255

		Korea 76, Formosa 83
		Scoring by half: 28-42, 48-41

		Uruguay 70, Bulgaria 65
		Scoring by half: 38-35, 32-30

		Uruguay 85, Formosa 62
		Scoring by half: 39-36, 46-26

		Bulgaria 89, Korea 58
		Scoring by half: 47-33, 42-25

		Formosa 71, Bulgaria 88
		Scoring by half: 35-47, 36-41

		Uruguay 83, Korea 60
		Scoring by half: 35-25, 48-35

Group D

TEAM	PTS	P	W	L	PF	PA
Brazil	4	2	2	0	167	125
Chile	3	2	1	1	137	134
Australia	2	2	0	2	122	167

		Chile 59, Brazil 78
		Scoring by half: 34-39, 25-39

		Brazil 89, Australia 66
		Scoring by half: 50-35, 39-31

		Chile 78, Australia 56
		Scoring by half: 37-27, 41-29

Classification 9-15

Group 1 (9-15)

TEAM	PTS	P	W	L	PF	PA
Formosa	6	3	3	0	218	189
Australia	5	3	2	1	258	208
Singapore	4	3	1	2	200	215
Thailand	3	3	0	3	150	214

		Singapore 64, Formosa 67
		Scoring by half: 23-26, 41-41

		Australia 87, Thailand 48
		Scoring by half: 48-23, 39-25

		Thailand 50, Singapore 62
		Scoring by half: 26-29, 24-33

		Australia 73, Formosa 86
		Scoring by half: 40-39, 33-47

		Formosa 65, Thailand 52
		Scoring by half: 35-31, 30-21

		Australia 98, Singapore 74
		Scoring by half: 48-36, 50-38

Group 2 (9-15)

TEAM	PTS	P	W	L	PF	PA
Canada	4	2	2	0	147	123
Japan	3	2	1	1	143	140
Korea	0	2	0	2	130	157

		Korea 63, Canada 74			OT
		Scoring by half: 31-32, 31-30 OT: 1-12

		Japan 83, Korea 67
		Scoring by half: 36-23, 47-44

		Canada 73, Japan 60
		Scoring by half: 40-26, 33-34

Classification 13-15

Thailand's loss gave the nation 15th place.

		Thailand 47, Korea 61
		Scoring by half: 28-33, 19-28

• Singapore, BYE

Classification 13-14

		Singapore 92, Korea 79
		Scoring by half: 45-39, 47-40

Classification 9-12

		Formosa 61, Japan 82
		Scoring by half: 32-38, 29-44

		Australia 38, Canada 83
		Scoring by half: 18-30, 20-53

Classification 11/12

		Formosa 87, Australia 70
		Scoring by half: 46-32, 41-38

Classification 9/10

		Japan 60, Canada 75
		Scoring by half: 34-39, 26-36

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal Group A

The top two teams from each group advanced to the Semifinal Round.

TEAM	PTS	P	W	L	PF	PA
France	5	3	3	0	195	187
Uruguay	5	3	2	1	221	209
Chile	4	3	1	2	221	220
Philippines	4	3	0	3	204	225

		France 71, Chile 60
		Scoring by half: 37-23, 34-37

		Uruguay 79, Philippines 70			OT
		Scoring by half: 42-39, 26-29 OT: 11-2

		Uruguay 80, Chile 73
		Scoring by half: 40-25, 40-48

		France 65, Philippines 58			OT
		Scoring by half: 30-26, 25-29 OT: 10-3

		Chile 89, Philippines 69
		Scoring by half: 42-32, 46-37

		Uruguay 62, France 66
		Scoring by half: 31-38, 31-28

Quarterfinal Group B

TEAM	PTS	P	W	L	PF	PA
United States	6	3	3	0	283	150
Soviet Union	5	3	2	1	208	209
Bulgaria	4	3	1	2	182	224
Brazil	3	3	0	3	192	282

		Bulgaria 44, United States 85
		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, Brazil 51
		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

		Chile 64, Brazil 89
		Scoring by half: 33-55, 31-34

		Philippines 70, Bulgaria 80
		Scoring by half: 43-50, 27-30

Classification 7/8

		Chile 68, Philippines 75
		Scoring by half: 38-33, 30-42

Classification 5/6

		Brazil 52, Bulgaria 64
		Scoring by half: 26-27, 26-37

Semifinals

	Semifinals					Gold medal game
	A1	France	49
	B2	Soviet Union	56
						Soviet Union		55
						United States		89
	A2	Uruguay	38
	B1	United States	101

Bronze medal game

		France 62, Uruguay 71
		Scoring by half: 29-37, 33-34

References

• Official Olympic Report