1936 United States men's Olympic basketball team

The 1936 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the Games of the XI Olympiad in Berlin, representing the United States of America, and was coached by Jimmy Needles of the Amateur Athletic Union's Universal Pictures team. 1936 was the first year that basketball was an official medal sport (it had been a demonstration sport in 1904). The U.S. won the first gold medal, defeating Canada 19–8 in a gold medal match played outdoors on a clay and sand court in the rain.

Roster

Name [1] Position Height Weight Age Home Town Team/School
Sam Balter Guard 5-10 150 26 Los Angeles, CA Universal Pictures (UCLA)
Ralph Bishop Forward 6-3 185 21 New York City, NY Washington
Joe Fortenberry Center 6-8 185 25 Chesterfield, MO McPherson Globe Refiners (West Texas State)
Tex Gibbons Guard 6-1 175 28 La Habra, CA McPherson Globe Refiners (Southwestern)
Francis Johnson Guard 5-11 175 26 Chesterfield, MO McPherson Globe Refiners (Wichita State)
Carl Knowles Forward 6-2 165 26 Los Angeles, CA Universal Pictures (UCLA)
Frank Lubin Forward 6-7 225 26 Glendale, CA Universal Pictures (UCLA)
Art Mollner Guard 6-0 160 23 Westlake Village, CA Universal Pictures (Los Angeles CC)
Donald Piper Guard 5-11 160 25 Peoria, IL Universal Pictures (UCLA)
Jack Ragland Guard 6-0 175 30 Tucson, AZ McPherson Globe Refiners (Wichita State)
Willard Schmidt Center 6-8 190 26 Swanton, NE McPherson Globe Refiners (Creighton)
Carl Shy Guard 6-0 170 27 Hollywood, CA Universal Pictures (UCLA)
Duane Swanson Forward 6-2 175 22 El Toro, CA Universal Pictures (USC)
Bill Wheatley Forward 6-2 175 27 El Cerrito, CA McPherson Globe Refiners (Kansas Wesleyan)

Olympic trials

As was the custom at the time, the Olympic trials consisted of a tournament between top teams from the Amateur Athletic Union, the YMCA and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. One notably absent team from the tournament was the 1935–36 Long Island Blackbirds, who had just completed a 25–0 season behind stars Jules Bender, Ben Kramer and Art Hillhouse. The largely Jewish Blackbirds team boycotted the trials due to the games being held in Berlin. LIU president Tristram Walker Metcalfe stated: "Our conviction that the United States should not participate in the Olympic Games since they are being held in Germany has not been altered by the fact that our basketball team is now recognized generally as a possible Olympic representative. Such participation would be indirect, if not direct, contribution of the raising of funds to finance such participation."[2]

Olympic tournament

As the U.S. team arrived, they were made aware of several FIBA rules that were quite different than what the team was accustomed to in the States. The three second rule had been abolished, limited teams to seven total players, and designated outdoor facilities as the official playing surface. Needles successfully protested another stipulation - that players had to be 6'2" or shorter to compete. To get around the seven player team limit, Needles split the squad into two teams - one featuring the McPherson players and collegian Ralph Bishop and one featuring the Universal players - and alternated them for each match.[3]

Their first match was won in a forfeit as scheduled opponent Spain, in the throes of the Spanish Civil War, never showed up. In the second match, the Universal team routed European champions Estonia 52-28. A McPherson-led win over the Philippines up the Americans in the medal round, where they defeated Mexico to reach the Gold Medal game.[1]

The gold medal game was played after a day of rain, and the weather conditions put a damper on the Canadians' trademark fast break style. The two teams were only able to manage a total of eight points in the second half of play due to the downpour, and the U.S. won the gold medal with a 19-8 victory.[3]

Results

References

  1. 1 2 3 "1936 USA Men's Olympic Games Roster." usabasketball.com. Retrieved on April 6, 2014.
  2. ↑ Weinreb, Michael (April 20, 2009). "A team that chose principles over gold medals". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Cunnigham, Carson. American Hoops: U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball From Berlin to Beijing. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 1–28. ISBN 978-0-8032-2293-9.

External links

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