Basketball at the 1996 Summer Olympics
| 14th Olympic Basketball Tournament |
|---|
|
Atlanta 1996 |
| Tournament details |
|---|
| Olympics |
1996 Summer Olympics |
|---|
| Host nation |
United States |
|---|
| City |
Atlanta |
|---|
| Duration |
July 20 – August 4 |
|---|
| Men's tournament |
|---|
| Teams |
12 |
|---|
| Medals |
|---|
 Gold medalists |  United States |  Silver medalists |  Yugoslavia |  Bronze medalists |  Lithuania |
|
| Women's tournament |
|---|
| Teams |
12 |
|---|
| Medals |
|---|
| Gold medalists | United States | | Silver medalists |  Brazil | | Bronze medalists |  Australia |
|
| Tournaments |
|---|
|
|
Basketball contests at the 1996 Olympic Games were held from July 20, 1996 to August 4, 1996. Games took place in the Morehouse College Gymnasium and in the Georgia Dome. For the second straight Olympic games, the American men's team composed almost completely of NBA players won the gold medal.
This was also the last Olympics before the founding of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in the United States, and it has been the only Summer Olympics to take place in a city with an NBA team – since the International Olympic Committee started allowing these professional players to compete – because Atlanta is the home of the Atlanta Hawks team. The Summer Olympics have never returned to the United States or to Canada (Toronto) since then.
Medalists
With the U.S. winning the gold medal, Scottie Pippen would become the first person to win NBA championship and Olympic gold medal in the same year twice, having played for Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals.[1] He had played for the Bulls in 1992 and later that year, for the "Dream Team" at the Barcelona Olympics.
Qualification
An NOC may enter up to one men's team with 12 players and up to one women's team with 12 players. The reigning world champions and the host country qualify automatically, as do the winners of the five continental championships, plus the runner-up and third place from the Americas, the runner-up from Asia and the second through fourth places from the Europe tournament. For the women's tournament, the extra teams consisted of the runner-up from the Americas, in addition to the second and third places from Asia and Europe.
Men
Women
Format
- Twelve teams are split into two preliminary round groups of six teams each.
- The top four teams from both groups qualify for the knockout stage.
- Fifth and sixth places from each group form an additional bracket to decide 9th–12th places in the final ranking.
- In the quarterfinals, the matchups are as follows: A1 vs. B4, A2 vs. B3, A3 vs. B2 and A4 vs. B1.
- The four eliminated from the quarterfinals form an additional bracket to decide 5th–8th places in the final ranking.
- The winning teams from the quarterfinals meet in the semifinals as follows: A1/B4 vs. A3/B2 and A2/B3 vs. A4/B1.
- The winning teams from the semifinals contest the gold medal. The losing teams contest the bronze.
Tie-breaking criteria:
- Head to head results
- Goal average (not the goal difference) between the tied teams
- Goal average of the tied teams for all teams in its group
Teams
Men
The men's event involved twelve teams split equally into two groups.
Women
The women's event involved 12 teams split in two groups.
Men's tournament
1996 men's teams.
Preliminary round
The four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.
Group A
| | Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| Team |
W |
L |
PF |
PA |
PD |
Pts |
Tie |
| United States | 5 | 0 | 522 | 345 | +177 | 10 | |
.svg.png) Lithuania | 3 | 2 | 427 | 354 | +73 | 8 | 1W–0L |
 Croatia | 3 | 2 | 422 | 386 | +36 | 8 | 0W–1L |
 China | 2 | 3 | 360 | 502 | −142 | 7 | 1W–0L |
 Argentina | 2 | 3 | 351 | 396 | −45 | 7 | 0W–1L |
 Angola | 0 | 5 | 280 | 379 | −99 | 5 | |
| Lithuania |
82–104 |
United States |
| United States |
133–70 |
China |
Group B
| | Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| Team |
W |
L |
PF |
PA |
PD |
Pts |
| Yugoslavia | 5 | 0 | 478 | 364 | +114 | 10 |
| Australia | 4 | 1 | 492 | 438 | +54 | 9 |
 Greece | 3 | 2 | 402 | 416 | −14 | 8 |
| Brazil | 2 | 3 | 498 | 494 | +4 | 7 |
 Puerto Rico | 1 | 4 | 447 | 465 | −18 | 6 |
 South Korea | 0 | 5 | 422 | 562 | −140 | 5 |
| Yugoslavia |
91–68 |
Australia |
Knockout stage
Championship bracket
| |
Quarterfinals (July 30) |
|
Semifinals (August 1) |
|
Gold medal (August 3) |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
B1 |
Yugoslavia |
128 |
|
|
A4 |
China |
61 |
|
|
|
B1 |
Yugoslavia |
66 |
|
|
|
|
|
A2 |
Lithuania |
58 |
|
|
A2 |
Lithuania |
99 |
|
| |
B3 |
Greece |
66 |
|
|
|
|
B1 |
Yugoslavia |
69 |
|
|
A1 |
United States |
95 |
| |
B2 |
Australia |
73 |
|
|
A3 |
Croatia |
71 |
|
|
|
B2 |
Australia |
73 |
|
Bronze medal (August 3) |
|
|
|
|
A1 |
United States |
101 |
|
|
A1 |
United States |
98 |
|
A2 |
Lithuania |
80 |
|
| |
B4 |
Brazil |
75 |
|
|
B2 |
Australia |
74 |
Classification brackets
9th–12th Place
5th–8th Place
Women's tournament
1996 women's teams.
Preliminary round
The four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.
Group A
| | Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| Team |
W |
L |
PF |
PA |
PD |
Pts |
| Brazil | 5 | 0 | 424 | 360 | +64 | 10 |
 Russia | 4 | 1 | 378 | 342 | +36 | 9 |
 Italy | 3 | 2 | 330 | 309 | +21 | 8 |
 Japan | 2 | 3 | 365 | 396 | −31 | 7 |
| China | 1 | 4 | 347 | 378 | −31 | 6 |
 Canada | 0 | 5 | 293 | 352 | −59 | 5 |
Group B
| | Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| Team |
W |
L |
PF |
PA |
PD |
Pts |
Tie |
| United States | 5 | 0 | 507 | 339 | +168 | 10 | |
 Ukraine | 3 | 2 | 354 | 358 | −4 | 8 | 1W–0L |
| Australia | 3 | 2 | 369 | 319 | +50 | 8 | 0W–1L |
 Cuba | 2 | 3 | 365 | 377 | −12 | 7 | 1W–0L |
| South Korea | 2 | 3 | 347 | 389 | −42 | 7 | 0W–1L |
 Zaire | 0 | 5 | 287 | 447 | −160 | 5 | |
| United States |
101–84 |
Cuba |
| Cuba |
63–75 |
Australia |
| United States |
107–47 |
Zaire |
| Australia |
79–96 |
United States |
Knockout stage
Championship bracket
| |
Quarterfinals (July 31) |
|
Semifinals (August 2) |
|
Gold medal (August 4) |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
B1 |
Brazil |
101 |
|
|
A4 |
Cuba |
69 |
|
|
|
B1 |
Brazil |
81 |
|
|
|
|
|
A2 |
Ukraine |
60 |
|
|
A2 |
Ukraine |
59 |
|
| |
B3 |
Italy |
50 |
|
|
|
|
B1 |
Brazil |
87 |
|
|
A1 |
United States |
111 |
| |
B2 |
Russia |
70 |
|
|
A3 |
Australia |
74 |
|
|
|
A3 |
Australia |
71 |
|
Bronze medal (August 4) |
|
|
|
|
A1 |
United States |
93 |
|
|
A1 |
United States |
108 |
|
A2 |
Ukraine |
56 |
|
| |
B4 |
Japan |
93 |
|
|
A3 |
Australia |
66 |
Classification brackets
9th–12th Place
5th–8th Place
Final standings
References
- ↑ Smith, Sam (August 4, 1996). "DREAM TEAM'S SLEEPWALK ENDS WITH GOLD MEDAL". Chicago Tribune. p. 1.
|
|---|
|
| Tournaments |
| |
|---|
|
| Qualifications | |
|---|
|
| Squads | |
|---|
|
|
.svg.png){kind=small}
