Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics

4th Olympic Basketball Tournament
Melbourne 1956
Tournament details
Olympics	1956 Summer Olympics
Host nation	Australia
City	Melbourne
Duration	November 22 – December 1
Men's tournament
Teams	15
Medals Gold medalists  United States Silver medalists  Soviet Union Bronze medalists  Uruguay
Tournaments
← Helsinki 1952  Rome 1960 →

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	320	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
South 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,  South Korea 58

Scoring by half: 47–33, 42–25

Formosa 71,  Bulgaria 88

Scoring by half: 35–47, 36–41

Uruguay 83,  South 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
South Korea	0	2	0	2	130	157

Korea 63,  Canada 74 ()

Scoring by half: 31–32, 31–30 Overtime: 1–12

Japan 83,  South 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,  South Korea 61

Scoring by half: 28–33, 19–28

• Singapore, BYE

Classification 13–14

Singapore 92,  South 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	2	1	195	187
Uruguay	5	3	2	1	221	209
Chile	4	3	1	2	221	220
Philippines	4	3	1	2	204	225

France 71,  Chile 60

Scoring by half: 37–23, 34–37

Uruguay 79,  Philippines 70 ()

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 ()

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

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