How many olympic basketball teams are there

History, top teams and all you need to know

Basketball was invented in the United States of America in 1891. But it didn’t take too long for the sport to become popular. Today, it’s one of the most-watched sports in the world.

Its rise can be traced back to its roots in a gym class in Springfield, Massachusetts, making its way into high school and colleges before evolving into a professional sport it is today. Eventually, it made its way to the sport’s grandest events.

When did basketball start in the Olympics?

Basketball was introduced in the Olympic programme at the 1904 Games in St Louis as a demonstration event. Basketball was first contested as a medal event at the 1936 Olympics. Women’s basketball, meanwhile, made its debut at the Montreal 1976 Games.

3x3 basketball made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

Who qualifies for Olympic basketball?

A total of 12 teams, each in the men’s and the women’s competition, qualify for the basketball event at the Olympic Games.

While seven teams can gain entry through the FIBA World Cup, four slots are determined through the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament. The last remaining slot is reserved for the hosts.

Which country has won the most Olympic gold medals in basketball?

The United States of America is the most successful team in the history of Olympics basketball.

The USA Olympic men’s basketball team has won the gold medal a record 16 times, which includes an unbeaten streak from 1936 to 1968.

The USA women’s basketball team, meanwhile, has pocketed the gold medal on nine occasions. This includes an unbeaten run that’s still in place and dates back to Atlanta 1996.

USA dominates Olympic basketball

Having invented the sport in the late 1800s, it was no surprise that the USA dominated basketball once it was included as a medal event at the 1936 Olympics.

With the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) playing a key role in spreading the sport to various nations, as many as 21 teams competed for the top honours at the Berlin 1936 Games.

But none could stand in the USA’s way as they romped home to emphatic wins in each of their matches to take home the gold.

The coming years saw the Americans grow stronger as they retained the Olympic title in commanding fashion. With no losses throughout their campaigns, their wins in the gold medal matches were most startling.

The USA basketball team beat France 65-21 in the final of the 1948 Games. The Soviet Union, meanwhile, lost to the Americans in the following four editions -- 1952, 1956, 1960 and 1964 -- with the champions recording dominating wins to retain their crown.

This period also saw the rise of the Soviet Union as a force in the international basketball scene.

The Soviets had made their presence felt at the continental stage by winning the biennial European Basketball Championships 10 times from 1951 to 1971 and the FIBA World Championships in 1972.

And when the 1972 Munich Olympics came around, their sole focus was to capture the only title missing from their cabinet -- an Olympic gold in basketball.

USA gets a shock at Munich Olympics

Coming into the Munich Olympics, the Americans were once again favourites to retain their title. But a look at their build-up suggested otherwise.

They had lost out to the Soviets in the final of the 1970 World University Games and bowed out of the 1971 Pan American Games without a medal.

What really hurt them in this phase was the lack of international experience in the squad. With the Olympic competition being restricted to amateurs, the best hoopsters in America were kept out of the Olympic team -- as they turned pro by joining the NBA -- while the top collegiate talent made up the squad.

Though this worked for the USA in the previous editions, this time the Soviets had found a way to exploit the American limitation by listing their players as soldiers or workers, which allowed them to breach the amateur rules.

This meant while the USA had high school sophomore Doug Collins and the North Carolina State University rookie Tommy Burleson as their best players, the Soviets rode on the brilliance of experienced stars Sergei Belov, Modestas Paulauskas and Alexander Belov.

However, it wasn’t until the gold medal game that the lack of experience came to haunt the USA.

Having come into the gold medal match without losing a game, the final was expected to be a close contest. But the Soviets had a different plan.

The USA lost to the Soviet Union in the final of the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

Picture by Getty Images

The Soviet Union basketball team controlled the proceedings with smart ball play, often using the length of the court to stretch the American defence to score points at will. The Soviets scored first and led by the healthy margin of 26-21 at the half.

“We particularly struggled against the Russians because they were adept at controlling the tempo,” Mike Bantom, a member of the ’72 team, now senior vice president for NBA player development, told the New York Times.

While the Americans mounted a comeback in the second period it wasn’t until the final six minutes that they had their opponents in trouble.

Trailing by eight points, the Americans put pressure and saw the Soviets stumble, helping them reduce the gap to just a point with six seconds left on the clock.

Down to the wire for the gold medal, Doug Collins - the pillar of his team - was not done yet as he made a fine open-court steal and drove towards the paint before being knocked down.

The foul meant the Americans were awarded two free throws to seal the match. While Collins sank them both to put his side ahead, the Soviets called for a time-out.

The game resumed with a second left, and when that went by, the United States players started celebrating. But the drama was not over yet.

Moments later, the FIBA president was seen on court asking for a redo of the final three seconds due to a refereeing error.

This time though, the Soviets ensured that they made the most of the opportunity as Alexander Belov pulled out a buzzer-beater to subject the USA to their first loss at the Olympic stage.

Though the Americans appealed against the final decision, it was turned down as the Soviet Union won their maiden basketball Olympic crown.

The Dream Team

The coming years also saw a number of countries making the most of the loopholes in the amateur player rule to field top talents at the Olympics.

However, this changed in 1992 after FIBA ruled to include professionals for the Barcelona Olympics.

This allowed the USA to select what was later dubbed as the greatest sports team ever assembled.

The team featured the likes of NBA superstars Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen and Karl Malone among others.

The Dream Team, coached by Chuck Daly, a two-time NBA champion, had a pre-competition camp in Monaco and then moved into a luxury hotel in Barcelona, where they stayed during the Games.

The Dream Team dominated the Olympic competition, sailing through to win the gold medal. They were the first team to score 100 points in every match at the Games, something that led to their head coach commenting: “It was like Elvis and the Beatles put together. ”

However, it’s the legacy that the team left behind that had a lasting impact on the popularity that basketball enjoys today.

Following Barcelona 1992, foreign recruits have been a major draw in the NBA with Yao Ming and Andrea Bargnani being the number one draft picks in (2002) and (2006) respectively. Meanwhile, Dirk Nowitzki and Giannis Antetokounmpo have won the NBA MVP award since.

Olympic basketball winners: Men's

Women’s basketball at the Olympics

While the men’s game has enjoyed a storied history under the Olympic banner, women’s basketball has a similarly rich vein of tales to tap into.

The USA is the most successful team in women's Olympic basketball with eight titles.

Making its debut at the 1976 Games in Montreal, women’s basketball has been a constant presence at the Olympics ever since.

The Soviet Union was the first to claim the Olympic title in the women’s category by beating the United States in the final at the 1976 Games. While the Soviets retained their crown at their home Games in 1980, the Americans took the gold medals in the following two Games.

In 1992, a Unified Team consisting of the former Soviet Republics beat China for the title.

The Americans, however, returned to regain their crown at Atlanta 1996 and have won the title at every edition since.

Olympic basketball winners: Women's

Just the Facts: Olympic Men's Basketball

2020 | Basketball: Everything You Need to Know About the

Basketball is one of the few team sports whose history has preserved both the name of the inventor and the exact date of birth. The game, the meaning of which is to throw the ball into baskets suspended on special structures, was invented in 1892 by a Canadian school teacher James Naismith .

Basketball entered the official program of the Olympic Games in 1936 in Berlin, although it was still present at the Games as a demonstration discipline04 years. The first Olympic women's basketball tournament was held in 1976 in Montreal.

Schedule and dates

25 July - 8 August. Full schedule here.

The basketball tournament is traditionally one of the longest at the Olympics. It will begin the day after the opening ceremony, with the final match of the women's tournament taking place in Tokyo on the closing day of the Games.

Medal sets: 2

Competitions: men's and women's basketball tournament

Arena

The Olympic men's and women's basketball tournaments will be held at the Saitama Super Arena, located in the suburbs of Tokyo, with a capacity of 21,000 spectators. One of the most modern sports arenas in Japan has already hosted many of the largest sports events - in particular, the world championships in basketball and figure skating.

Rules and structure of the tournament

Basketball is played by two teams, each of which can have five players on the court at the same time. The goal of the game is to throw the ball into the opponent's ring, which is at a height of 305 centimeters. Accurate throws have different values: one point is awarded to a team for hitting without resistance from the free throw line after an opponent foul, two points for hitting a field goal, three points for hitting a field goal from a long distance (from behind an arc located at a distance 675 centimeters from the ring). The size of the court in this sport is 28 by 15 meters. A basketball match consists of 4 periods of 10 minutes. In case of a draw in regular time, an additional period of 5 minutes is assigned to determine the winner.

The Tokyo Olympics for men and women will each have 12 teams, and the formula for the men's and women's tournaments is the same. At the preliminary stage, the teams are divided into three groups of four teams, and according to the results of round-robin tournaments in groups of two best teams and two more best third-placed teams advance to the playoffs. Quarter-final pairs and the entire playoff bracket will be based on the ranking of teams based on the results of group tournaments.

The success of the Russians and who to follow in Tokyo

In the entire history, the Russian team was able to win Olympic medals only once - it happened in 2012 in London, when the Russian team became the third. But the basketball players of the USSR national team under the guidance of legendary coaches won the gold of the Olympics twice: in 1972 in Munich, the team Vladimir Kondrashin won the legendary final against the US team with the famous decisive hit Alexander Belov in the last second of the game, and in 1988 in Seoul the gold medals were won by the USSR national team, led by Alexander Gomelsky . In addition, the Soviet team won silver medals at the Olympics four times and bronze three times.

In the women's tournament, the basketball players of the Russian national team twice climbed the Olympic podium, in 2004 and in 2008 winning bronze medals. Their predecessors, as well as in men's competitions, have more significant achievements, and they have three victories at the Olympics. In 1976 in Montreal and in 1980 in Moscow, the USSR team won the first two women's Olympic tournaments in history, and in 19In 1992, in Barcelona, ​​the team that competed at those Games under the name "CIS United Team" won gold. Also in the asset of the women's team of the USSR, the bronze of the Olympics in Seoul in 1988.

There will be no ROC basketball teams at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo: neither men nor women could qualify for the main start of the four-year period.

Traditionally, at the Olympic Games of the last decades, the performance of the US team is of particular interest. Since 1992, when the best players in the world from the National Basketball Association were allowed to play in the Olympic competitions, the American Dream Team (“dream team”) has only once been left without Olympic gold - in 2004, the Argentine team won a sensational victory in Athens. The US team will also be a clear favorite of the Olympics at the Tokyo Games, where the next version of the Dream Team will perform, led by forward Kevin Durant .

In the women's Olympic basketball tournament, the historical list of teams that have become Olympic champions is quite short. In addition to the already mentioned victories of the basketball players of the USSR and the Joint Team of the CIS, only one team won the gold of the Games - the US team. She has won eight Olympics, including all five previous Olympic tournaments. The chances of the US women's team to win another victory in Tokyo are very high, and only the Australians and four European teams selected for the Games - France, Spain, Belgium and Serbia - can compete with them in Tokyo.

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2020 | Basketball: Odds & Team Lineups, Finals Schedule, 9 Favorites0001

The basketball competition at the Olympic Games in Tokyo will be held from July 25 to August 8. Two sets of awards will be played - in the men's and women's tournaments.

In the men's competition, the big question, as usual, is whether anyone can stop Team USA on their way to their next Olympic gold medal. Since 1992, when the NBA basketball players got the opportunity to play at the Barcelona Games for the first time, various versions of the American Dream Team have only once remained at the Olympics without gold medals - in 2004, the Argentina team won a historic victory in Athens. Team USA in Tokyo, led by NBA star Kevin Durant , who could become a four-time Olympic champion at these Games, of course, is again among the main favorites. True, two unexpected defeats of the Americans in test matches before the Games - from Nigeria and Australia - can seriously alert their fans. In the final game before the Olympics, the US team managed to defeat Spain, but still, in the pre-start handouts on the eve of the Games, it does not at all look like the “dream team”, as it is commonly called.

Several national teams can compete with the Americans at once. A surprise team in Tokyo could be, for example, Slovenia, which will make its debut at the Olympic basketball tournament this year. Her main trump card is NBA star Luka Doncic , who less than a month ago made a huge contribution to the fact that Slovenians were able to qualify for the Games. His triple-double in the final qualifying match against the Lithuanian national team confirmed that the Slovenian leader is in great shape and well motivated.

Luka Doncic's triple-double in the match with the Lithuanian national team not only helped Slovenia to qualify for the Olympics, but also confirmed that its leader is in excellent shape before the Games

Among the contenders for medals in the men's tournament, one can also name the national teams of Spain and France. The current world champions - the Spaniards - have a super-experienced squad, in which there are long-term leaders of this team - Pou Gasol , Sergio Llull , Rudy Fernandez , Marc Gasol , Ricky Rubio and others. Whether this over-age squad will have enough resources for the entire tournament will become clear in Tokyo. The French team with NBA players Nicolas Batum , Rudy Gobert , Evan Fournier did not look too convincing in the pre-Olympic meetings, having managed to lose even to the Japanese team. But, perhaps, at the Games themselves, the coach of Vincent Collet will be able to find a balance in the game of his team, which, by selecting players, may well count on medals.

The Olympic tournament formula will be unusual at the Tokyo Games. 12 teams at the preliminary stage were not divided into two sixes, as it was before, but into three groups of four teams each. The two best teams from the group, as well as two of the three (according to additional indicators) among the third-placed teams, will advance to the quarterfinals. At the same time, the distribution of teams into groups turned out to be not too uniform. For example, the quartet with the participation of Australia, Italy, Germany and Nigeria does not have a clear favorite. But in the other two, the USA will play with France (group A) and Spain with Slovenia (group C), so their opponents will have a very difficult time already at the preliminary stage of the Olympic tournament.

In the women's basketball tournament at the Tokyo Games, Team USA will be the clear favorite. For 25 years now (since the 1996 Games in Atlanta), American women have not given Olympic gold to anyone, and it is very unlikely that this historical line will be interrupted at the current Olympics. The recent EuroBasket showed that all four representatives of the Old World, who will play in the women's tournament of the Games, are quite vulnerable. And, in addition to them, only the Australian team can be attributed to the number of contenders for medals. On a medal - yes, but hardly on gold.

Basketball at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Schedule of play-off matches

start time - Moscow

August 3, Tuesday

Men. Quarterfinals. Beginning at 4:00, 7:40, 11:20, 15:00

August 4, Wednesday

Women. Quarterfinals. Beginning at 4:00, 7:40, 11:20, 15:00

August 5, Thursday

Men. Semi-finals. Start at 7:15, 14:00

August 6, Friday

Women. Semi-finals. Beginning at 7:40, 14:00

August 7, Saturday

Men. The final. Beginning at 5:30

Women. Match for third place. Beginning at 10:00

Men.

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