7th Olympic Basketball Tournament
Mexico City 1968
Tournament details
Olympics1968 Summer Olympics
Host nationMexico
CityMexico City
DurationOctober 13–25, 1968
Men's tournament
Teams16
Medals
1 Gold medalists  United States
2 Silver medalists Yugoslavia
3 Bronze medalists  Soviet Union
Tournaments
← Tokyo 1964  Munich 1972 →

Basketball contests at the 1968 Summer Olympics was the seventh appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place at the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City, Mexico from October 13 to October 25, 1968. The United States defeated Yugoslavia to win their seventh consecutive gold medal in this sport, while the Soviet Union earned the bronze against Brazil.

The Americans' record of seven basketball gold medals in a row was matched by their women's team when they won the 2020 Olympics.

Medal summary

Gold: Silver: Bronze:
 United States (USA)
Mike Barrett
John Clawson
Don Dee
Calvin Fowler
Spencer Haywood
Bill Hosket
Jim King
Glynn Saulters
Mike Silliman
Ken Spain
Jo Jo White
Charlie Scott		  Yugoslavia (YUG)
Dragutin Čermak
Krešimir Ćosić
Vladimir Cvetković
Ivo Daneu
Radivoj Korać
Zoran Marojević
Nikola Plećaš
Trajko Rajković
Dragoslav Ražnatović
Petar Skansi
Damir Šolman
Aljoša Žorga		  Soviet Union (URS)
Anatoli Krikun
Modestas Paulauskas
Zurab Sakandelidze
Vadim Kapranov
Yuri Selikhov
Anatoli Polivoda
Sergei Belov
Priit Tomson
Sergei Kovalenko
Gennadi Volnov
Jaak Lipso
Vladimir Andreev

Qualification

Automatic qualifications were granted to the host country and the first five places at the previous tournament. Additional spots were decided by various continental tournaments held by FIBA plus two additional tournaments that granted two extra berths each.

Means of qualificationDateVenueBerthsQualified
Host nation1 Mexico
1964 Olympic Tournament11–23 October 1964Japan Tokyo5 United States
 Soviet Union
 Brazil
 Puerto Rico
 Italy
1967 Pan American Games24 July–2 August 1967Canada Winnipeg2 Cuba
 Panama
1967 ABC Championship23 September – 1 October 1967South Korea Seoul2 Philippines
 South Korea
FIBA Africa Championship 196829 March–2 April 1968Morocco Casablanca2 Senegal
 Morocco
European Pre-Olympic Tournament25 May–3 June 1968Switzerland Geneva2 SFR Yugoslavia
 Bulgaria
Pan-Continental Pre-Olympic Tournament26 September–2 October 1968Mexico Monterrey2 Poland
 Spain
Total16

Format

  • Two groups of eight teams are formed, where the top two from each group compete for the medals in a knockout round.
  • The remaining places are defined as follows:
    • Fifth through eighth places are decided in a separate bracket between the third and fourth places from each group in a separate bracket.
    • Ninth through sixteenth places are decided between the fifth through eighth places from each group in separate brackets.

Squads

For the team rosters see: Basketball at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's team rosters.

Preliminary round

The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals, while the remaining teams compete for 5th through 16th places in separate brackets. Both group leaders, the United States and the Soviet Union advanced undefeated to the knockout stage.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  United States 7 7 0 599 392 +207 14 Semifinals
2  Yugoslavia 7 6 1 592 511 +81 13
3  Italy 7 5 2 562 539 +23 12 5th–8th classification round
4  Spain 7 4 3 557 548 +9 11
5  Puerto Rico 7 3 4 493 468 +25 10 9th–12th classification round
6  Panama 7 2 5 572 624 −52 9
7  Philippines 7 1 6 525 636 −111 8 13th–16th classification round
8  Senegal 7 0 7 383 565 −182 7
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.

October 13

October 14

October 15

October 16

October 18

October 19

October 20

Group B

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Soviet Union 7 7 0 642 408 +234 14 Semifinals
2  Brazil 7 6 1 561 418 +143 13
3  Mexico (H) 7 5 2 493 443 +50 12 5th–8th classification round
4  Poland 7 4 3 473 504 −31 11
5  Bulgaria 7 3 4 456 478 −22 10 9th–12th classification round
6  Cuba 7 2 5 514 532 −18 9
7  South Korea 7 1 6 453 530 −77 8 13th–16th classification round
8  Morocco 7 0 7 355 634 −279 7
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

October 13

October 14

October 15

October 16

October 18

October 19

October 20

Knockout stage

The much anticipated final between the United States and the Soviet Union would have to wait four years. Yugoslavia stunned the Soviets 63–62 in the semifinals. In the championship game the Americans had a slim 32-29 lead at intermission but put the game out of reach with a 22-3 streak to start the second half.

Medal bracket

Semifinals (October 22)[1] Gold medal (October 25)
      
A1  United States 75
B2  Brazil 63
A1  United States 65
A2  SFR Yugoslavia 50
B1  Soviet Union 62
A2  SFR Yugoslavia 63 Bronze medal (October 25)
B2  Brazil 53
B1  Soviet Union 70

Classification brackets

5th–8th Place

Semifinals (October 22) 5th place (October 25)
      
A3  Italy 52
B4  Poland 66
B3  Poland 65
B4  Mexico 75
B3  Mexico 73
A4  Spain 72 7th place (October 25)
A3  Italy 72
A4  Spain 88

9th–12th Place

Semifinals (October 23) 9th place (October 24)
      
A5  Puerto Rico 71
B6  Cuba 65
A5  Puerto Rico 67
B5  Bulgaria 57
B5  Bulgaria 83
A6  Panama 79 11th place (October 24)
A6  Cuba 91
B6  Panama 88

13th–16th Place

Semifinals (October 23) 13th place (October 24)
      
A7  Philippines 86
B8  Morocco 57
A7  Philippines 66
B7  South Korea 63
B7  South Korea 76
A8  Senegal 59 15th place (October 24)
B8  Morocco 38
A8  Senegal 42

Awards

1968 Olympic Basketball Champions
United States
United States
Seventh title

Final standings

RankTeamPldWL
1st place, gold medalist(s) United States990
2nd place, silver medalist(s) SFR Yugoslavia972
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Soviet Union981
4th Brazil963
5th Mexico972
6th Poland954
7th Spain954
8th Italy954
9th Puerto Rico954
10th Bulgaria945
11th Cuba936
12th Panama927
13th Philippines936
14th South Korea927
15th Senegal918
16th Morocco909

References

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