USSR men's basketball team

One of the strongest teams in the world during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. She won medals at all 9 Olympiads , in which she took part: 2 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze.

In total, the USSR national team in the final stages of the main international tournaments won 39 medals: Olympiads (9), world championships (9) and Europe (21) from 1947 to 1990, in all of which the USSR national team took part (except for 1959). This unique achievement has not surrendered to more than a single basketball team. From 1957 to 1971, the USSR national team won eight European Championships in a row.

One of the most memorable pages in the history of Soviet sports is the USSR basketball team's victory over the US team in the 1972 Olympics final in Munich with a score of 51-50, won in the last seconds of the match.

The main contribution to the success of the Soviet team was made, as a rule, by Russian, Lithuanian and Ukrainian basketball players. Representatives of Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Kazakhstan and other republics of the Soviet Union also played a prominent role.

The coaches with which the long-term successes of Soviet men's basketball in the international arena are related are Stepan Spandaryan , Alexander Gomelsky and Vladimir Kondrashin .

European Championships

In 1947, the All-Union Basketball Section became a member of the International Basketball Federation . Soviet basketball players have the right to participate in all competitions organized by FIB. In the same year, the USSR men's team took part in the European Championship for the first time. Soviet basketball players defeated the teams of Yugoslavia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Egypt, Poland and met in the final with the European champion - the team of Czechoslovakia. Having won with a score of 56:37, the USSR national team won the European champion title. ^[one]

From 1947 to 1971, the USSR national team dominated Europe, invariably becoming a champion , with the exception of only 3rd place at the 1955 European Championship in Hungary. In 1949, for the first and last time, the men's team of the USSR ignored the European Championship. It was held in Cairo. In the absence of teams from France, Italy, Yugoslavia and all socialist countries, the team of Egypt became the champion of Europe.

Olympics

In 1952, the men's team of the USSR made its debut at the XV Olympic Games in Helsinki . Soviet basketball players defeated strong teams in Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, left behind all European teams and won second place.

In 1956, at the XVI Olympic Games in Melbourne, the USSR national team again won silver medals.

In 1960, at the XVII Olympic Games in Rome, the USSR national team again won silver medals. The team lost twice to the US team with a difference of 24 points, but in the final micro-tournament for 1-4 places it pulled out two points from the Brazilian national team and eight points from the Italian national team.

In 1964, at the XVIII Olympic Games in Tokyo, the USSR national team in the final with a relatively small advantage (73:59) lost to the US team and took second place. For the men's team of the USSR (and Russia) it was the last Olympic "silver". From 1952 to 1964, the men's team of the Soviet Union was the main rival of the Americans at the Olympics, becoming a finalist four times in a row. In Mexico City 68, in Montreal 76 and Moscow 80, the team will be able to win bronze medals.

At the XX Olympic Games in Munich in 1972, the USSR men's basketball team won gold medals for the first time. Defeating the US team in a dramatic finale. Alexander Belov made a decisive victory on the final second of the final match of the Munich Olympics with the US team , which went down in history as the “golden one”. (Video of the ending of the match)

The US team boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, so Soviet basketball players were the main contenders for gold medals. In the final group, the men's team of the USSR insultingly lost only two points to the Italians and could not take part in the match for gold. In the final, the Yugoslav team won a landslide victory with a score of 86:77 over the Italians. The men's team of the USSR defeated the Spanish team in the match for the third place (117: 94).

In the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the USSR did not participate in response to the boycott of the US Olympic Games in Moscow.

In 1988 at the Olympic Games in Seoul, the men's team of the USSR won gold medals for the second time in its history. With the main rival - the US team met in the semifinals. Almost the entire match, the Soviet team led 12-13 points and eventually won confidently, and then, in the final of the tournament, beat the Yugoslavs, which they lost in the group stage of the competition.

In 1992, at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, the CIS team ranked fourth.

World Basketball Championships

The USSR men's team for the first time took part in the 1959 World Cup . In this championship, she won all the meetings, including the American team, but obeying a politically motivated order from the Kremlin, refused to play with the national team of Taiwan , for which FIBA was disqualified and did not make it to the top prize-winners. ). The title of world champions was awarded to the national team of Brazil.

At the 1963 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, the USSR national team in a dramatic match won a bronze medal, beating the US team (75:74). Alexander Petrov was recognized as the best center of the championship.

For 1967, the USSR national team for the first time became world champions in Montevideo ( Uruguay ). Several key matches ended with a one point difference. As a result, with one defeat (from the USA national team, 58:59), but with a confident victory over the Yugoslavs (71:59), the USSR national team took the top line of the standings. One victory is less for three teams at once - Yugoslavia, Brazil and the USA.

In 1970, after losing the USSR to the Americans with a score of 72:75, she could not rise above third place.

In 1974, the USSR national team won the men's world championship in San Juan . In the final games for 1-8 places the teams of the USSR, Yugoslavia and the USA finished with the same result - each with six victories. The USSR national team lost three points to the Yugoslav team, but won the US team eleven. The national team of Yugoslavia, losing three points to the US team, remained second.

• Olympic champion (2): 1972, 1988
• Olympic silver medalist (4): 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964
• Bronze medalist of the Olympic Games (3): 1968, 1976, 1980
• World Champion (3): 1967, 1974, 1982
• Vice World Champion (3): 1978, 1986, 1990
• The champion of Europe (14): 1947, 1951, 1953, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1979, 1981, 1985

• Stepan Spandaryan 1947-1953, 1956-1962
• Konstantin Travin 1953-1955
• Alexander Gomelsky 1963-1970, 1977-1983, 1987-1988
• Vladimir Kondrashin 1971-1976
• Vladimir Obukhov 1985—1986
• Vladas Garastas 1989-1991

• Russian men's basketball team
• USSR women's basketball team
• Russian women's basketball team

• Alexander Gomelsky . Basketball conquers the planet: Basketball at the Olympics. - M .: Soviet Russia, 1980. - 144 p.
• V.B. Kvass 100 years of Russian basketball: history, events, people: a reference book. - M .: Soviet Sport , 2006. - 274 p. - ISBN 5-9718-0175-9 .