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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
1 Gold medalists  United States
2 Silver medalists Soviet Union
3 Bronze medalists  Uruguay
Tournaments
← Helsinki 1952  Rome 1960 →

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

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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

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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

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

Preliminary round

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Group A

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   United States 3 3 0 320 122 +198 6 Quarterfinals
2   Philippines 3 2 1 224 237 −13 5
3   Japan 3 1 2 171 225 −54 4 9th–15th classification round
4   Thailand 3 0 3 134 265 −131 3
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
23 November
13:30
Philippines   94–55   Thailand
Scoring by half: 34–24, 60–31
23 November
United States   98–40   Japan
Scoring by half: 33–20, 65–20
24 November
United States   101–29   Thailand
Scoring by half: 54–12, 47–17
24 November
Japan   61–77   Philippines
Scoring by half: 29–37, 32–40
26 November
Thailand   50–70   Japan
Scoring by half: 20–35, 30–35
26 November
United States   121–53   Philippines
Scoring by half: 66–23, 55–30

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   France 3 3 0 236 183 +53 6 Quarterfinals
2   Soviet Union 3 2 1 255 177 +78 5
3   Canada 3 1 2 206 234 −28 4 9th–15th classification round
4   Singapore 3 0 3 154 257 −103 3
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
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

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Uruguay 3 3 0 238 187 +51 6 Quarterfinals
2   Bulgaria 3 2 1 242 199 +43 5
3   Formosa 3 1 2 216 249 −33 4 9th–15th classification round
4   South Korea 3 0 3 194 255 −61 3
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
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

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Brazil 2 2 0 167 125 +42 4 Quarterfinals
2   Chile 2 1 1 137 134 +3 3
3   Australia (H) 2 0 2 122 167 −45 2 9th–15th classification round
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
(H) Hosts
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 9–15

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Group 1

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Formosa 3 3 0 218 189 +29 6 9th–12th classification playoffs
2   Australia (H) 3 2 1 258 208 +50 5
3   Singapore 3 1 2 200 215 −15 4 13th–16th classification playoffs
4   Thailand 3 0 3 150 214 −64 3
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
(H) Hosts
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

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Canada 2 2 0 147 123 +24 4 9th–12th classification playoffs
2   Japan 2 1 1 143 140 +3 3
3   South Korea 2 0 2 130 157 −27 2 13th–16th classification playoffs
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
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

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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 9–12

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Classification SemifinalsNinth-place match
 
      
 
1 December
 
 
  Formosa61
 
1 December
 
  Japan82
 
  Japan60
 
1 December
 
  Canada75
 
  Australia38
 
 
  Canada83
 
Eleventh-place match
 
 
1 December
 
 
  Formosa87
 
 
  Australia70

Quarterfinals

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

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   France 3 2 1 195 187 +8 5[a] Semifinals
2   Uruguay 3 2 1 221 209 +12 5[a]
3   Chile 3 1 2 221 220 +1 4[b] 5th–8th classification playoffs
4   Philippines 3 1 2 204 225 −21 4[b]
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head record: France 1–0 Uruguay
  2. ^ a b Head-to-head record: Chile 1–0 Philippines
France   71–60   Chile
Scoring by half: 37–23, 34–37
Uruguay   79–70 (OT)   Philippines
Scoring by half: 42–39, 26–29 Overtime: 11–2
Uruguay   80–73   Chile
Scoring by half: 40–25, 40–48
Philippines   65–58 (OT)   France
Scoring by half: 30–26, 25–29 Overtime: 10–3
Chile   88–69   Philippines
Scoring by half: 42–32, 46–37
Uruguay   62–66   France
Scoring by half: 31–38, 31–28

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   United States 3 3 0 283 150 +133 6 Semifinals
2   Soviet Union 3 2 1 208 209 −1 5
3   Bulgaria 3 1 2 182 224 −42 4 5th–8th classification playoffs
4   Brazil 3 0 3 192 282 −90 3
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
Bulgaria   44–85   United States
Scoring by half: 19–48, 25–37
Brazil   68–87   Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 28–37, 40–50
Bulgaria   56–66   Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 32–37, 24–29
United States   113–51   Brazil
Scoring by half: 50–22, 63–29
Soviet Union   55–85   United States
Scoring by half: 32–39, 23–46
Bulgaria   82–73   Brazil
Scoring by half: 38–36, 44–37

Classification 5–8

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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

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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

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1 December
Chile   68–75   Philippines
Scoring by half: 38–33, 30–42

Fifth-place match

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1 December
Brazil   52–64   Bulgaria
Scoring by half: 26–27, 26–37

Final round

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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

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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

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

Final

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

Awards

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 1956 Olympic Basketball champions 
 
United States
Fourth title

Final rankings

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Pos Team Record
    United States 8−0
    Soviet Union 5−3
    Uruguay 6−2
4th   France 5−3
5th   Bulgaria 5−3
6th   Brazil 3−4
7th   Philippines 4−4
8th   Chile 2–5
9th   Canada 5–2
10th   Japan 3–4
11th   Formosa 5−3
12th   Australia 2–5
13th   Singapore 2–5
14th   South Korea 1–6
15th   Thailand 0–7

References

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