History of the 1952 United States men's Olympic basketball team
Going into the 1952 Olympics it was anything but a sure bet than the US would win gold. The Soviets had finally put together a very solid basketball program and the US had lost its first major international competiton in 1950 when it lost to Argentina in the World Basketball Championships (Now the FIBA World Cup)
The US once again went with all amatuer players. Bob Kurland was once again on the team as was Philips 66er teammate Wayne Glasgow. Seven members of the Kansas Jayhawks national championship team were also on the roster as were five members of the Peoria Caterpillars AAU team. The team was coached by Warren Womble and his lead assistant was Phog Allen.
The 1952 games were held in Helsinki, Finland, inside the Tennnispalatsi arena. The number of teams competing was also cut from 23 to just 16.
The US began the Olympic with a rare double header on July 25th. The US first faced off again Hungary and built an early large half-time lead 37-23, but the Hungarians stayed with the US in the second half mainly due to some favorable officiating. The US ended up winning 66-48.
A few hours after finishing their game vs Hungary the US played Czechoslovakia. The US once again built a large half-time lead, leading the game 35-21, before more questionable officiting in the second half, but the US won 72-47. Poor officiating was not just a US problem, the Soviets were irate with the Egyptian officials and called for an investigation.
Two days later the US played Uruguay and easily won the match 56-44.
The highly anticipated match vs the Soviet Union saw what many thought may be the first US Olympic loss, instead fans were treated to the US trashing the Reds. The US lead 36-22 at half-time and got red hot in the second half and won 85-58.
The US embarassed Chile in the next game 103-55, in what at the time was the large US victory ever. The 48 point win is still top 20 in US history.
What the Soviets couldn't do, the Brazillians nearly did in the next US game. Brazil lead 26-24 at halftime, it is one of the few times the US has not lead at the half in Olympic history. The US played much better in the second half for a 57-53 win.
In tournament play the US faced off against Argentina, the team who had given them their first international loss during the World Basketball Championships two years prior. Once again an Egyptian referre casued problems for the US, but the US was able to eek out a 9-point win 85-76 to advance to the gold medal game.
The Americans would face off against the Soviets in the gold medal game. In the previous game the US was able to easily out run the Soviets, so the Soviets tried to change things around by preventing the Americans from having the ball. This was before the shot clock was invented, and the Soviets did the same thing to the US than the Royals would do to the Lakers in the game 19-18 game. The Soviets helds the ball almost the entire 10 minute first quarter, after one the US lead 4-3.
The US began to get aggressive on defense and this paid off a little and the US lead 17-15 going into the half. But the Soviets came out in the second half with the same strategy and actually took a lead in the third quarter. The US however, began to shoot the ball well and pressued the Soviets into some turnovers and outscored the Reds 19-10 in the second half for a 36-25 win. It would be the United States third consecutive gold medal.
The intensity of the game lead to the Soviets coach making comments that the US was dirty, the US countered saying the Soviets cheated and implied they had paid the Egyptian officials off.
The 1952 games were one of the more balanced Olympic touraments ever played. 15 of the 16 teams won at least one game, with host Finland being the only winless team at 0-3. There is some confusion about the number of teams playing, some official Olympic records list 23 while others list 16. 16 teams played in the Olympic tournament as part of the Olympics, 7 other teams competed to make the Olympic tourmanet.
Officiating was also an issue and multiple teams complained about officials.
Clyde Lovellette lead the USA in scoring at 13.9 points per game. He would go on to have a very successful NBA career; making 3 NBA all-star teams and he would become the first person to win an Olympic gold medal and an NBA championship when he won a title with the 1954 Minneapolis Lakers.
Bob Kurland is often considered the greatest player to never play in the NBA, or its predecessors. He remained in the AAU circuit playing for the 66ers and won 3 championships. He also became the first basketball player to win two gold medals when he won gold in the 1952 Helsinki games after having previously won gold in 1948 in London. In 1961 he was introduced into the Basketball Hall-of-Fame.
Ron Bontemps was drafted by the NBA, but stayed working for Caterpillar and never played in the NBA.
Marc Freiberger was the third overall pick in the 1951 by the Indanapolis Olympains but never played in the NBA.
Wayne Glasglow stayed with the 66ers and never played in the NBA.
Charlie Hoag was a three sport athele and had prospects in all three sports, but decided to focus on football. He was a 26th round pick in the 1953 draft by the Cleveland Browns. Hoag never played in the NFL as he suffered a knee injury.
Bill Hougland stayed in the AAU ranks and would be a member of the 1956 gold medal USA basketball team.
John Kelller, Dean Kelley, Bob Kenney, Bill Lienhard, Frank McCabe, Dan Pippin, and Howie Williams stopped playing basketball at any level shortly after the Olympics.
Dan Pippin had one of the rougher times of any former USA basketball player, he committed suice in 1965.
Bill Lienhard was the last living member of the 1952 team, dying in 2022.
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