1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team
| Head coach | Pete Newell |
|---|---|
| 1960 Summer Olympics |  |
| Scoring leader |  Oscar Robertson (17.3) |
The 1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the
United States of America
.
The USA team, coached by California Golden Bears head coach Pete Newell, dominated the competition, winning its games by an average of 42.4 points per game. The team is considered by many to be the best amateur level basketball team of all time, and was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a unit, in 2010.
Roster
| United States men's national basketball team – 1960 Summer Olympics roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Pete Newell
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Olympic trials
Trials for the team were held in March and April 1960, in
Peoria Caterpillar Cats. The NCAA All-Stars won the competition convincingly, and so Pete Newell was named the team's head coach, with Warren Womble
as his assistant.
The trials came at a time when the
US Armed Forces (guard Adrian Smith). This compromise meant that many top college players were left off the team, including Ohio State's John Havlicek and Providence guard Lenny Wilkens.[2]
Olympic tournament
The team went 8–0 in the Olympic basketball tournament,Italy.[6]
Results
- Italy54
- USA 125, Japan66
- USA 107, Hungary63
- USA 104, Yugoslavia42
- USA 108, Uruguay50
- USA 81, USSR57
- USA 112, Italy81
- USA 90, Brazil63
Legacy
The 1960 team is thought to be one of the best
NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1966, and West's NBA Finals MVP in 1969. Eight members were selected to at least one NBA All-Star Game (Bob Boozer, Darrall Imhoff
and Adrian Smith were NBA All-Star Game participants during their careers. In total, there were 43 All-Star berths amongst the teammates. The team was elected to the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 1984.
In 2010, along with the "Dream Team," the 1960 US Olympic men's basketball team was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a unit. The election marks only the seventh and eighth teams so honored.[7]
See also
- 1960 Summer Olympics
- Basketball at the 1960 Summer Olympics
- United States at the 1960 Summer Olympics
- United States men's national basketball team
References
- ^ ""1960 USA Men's Olympic Games Roster". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on January 3, 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-8032-2293-9.
- ^ "1960 USA Men's Olympic Games Roster Archived 2010-01-03 at the Wayback Machine." usabasketball.com. Retrieved on April 6, 2010.
- ^ 1960 Olympic Games : Tournament for Men.
- ^ Game: BRAZIL vs USA (Group 1) Date: 10 September 1960.
- ^ Game: USA vs ITALY (Group 1) Date: 8 September 1960.
- ^ "Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2010 Archived 2010-04-09 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on April 11, 2010.
External links
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