1992 BARCELONA OLYMPIC GAMES
Barcelona won the right to host the Games over Amsterdam, Brisbane, Paris and Lucerne.They were the most highly attended games in history with the most countries and athletes competing.
Barcelona, the second largest city in Spain, conducted a spectacular Olympics full of flair, passion, music, song and culture.
The Opening and Closing ceremonies were feted because of their tradition and flare from shooting an arrow to light the Olympic Flame to having world famous opera singers perform.
It was also the first Games to admit professional players in all sports, including National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball players.
The Olympic Stadium in the background (IOC)
Highlights of the Games
South Africawas allowed to compete for the first time since 1960.
The break-up of Yugoslavia led to the first time appearances by the nations of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia Herzegovina.
With the break-up of the USSR countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania competed as nations for the first time since 1936.
In men’s gymnastics VitaliScherbo from Belarus won six Gold Medals (four in one day)
Other stars included Linford Christie (Great Britain),Jacki Joyner-Kersee (USA),and Derartu Tulu (Ethiopia) in athletics.YevgeniySadoviy (EUN),KrisztinaEferszegy (Hungary), and Alexander Popov (EUN) in swimming, and Tatyana Goutsou (EUN) in gymnastics.
Baseball became an Olympic sport.
Basketball entered the Open era with the admittance of the USA NBA players.
Australian Highlights
Australia won seven Gold Medals
Australia’s Gold Medals were across five sports: swimming, canoe/kayak, cycling, equestrian and rowing heralding the countries greater diversity in world sports.
The HIV Controversy
The Australian Men’s Basketball Team was involved in a world-wide controversy prior to the Olympics.
The American basketball superstar Ervin “Magic” Johnson had been diagnosed with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and there was a great deal of publicity in the US and around the world about the safety in playing basketball against a player with HIV.
Basketball being a contact sport and a sport where players received injuries that could bleed, the concern was about other players contracting HIV from players who bled. There was even much conjecture regarding the transmission of the disease via saliva.
It must be remembered that at this time the world did not really know the answers to the questions about the risks of transmission of HIV in contact sports.The debate was highly emotional and political in nature.
The Australian Men’s Basketball Team came into the spotlight when a small number of Australian team players suggested that they were contemplating not playing against the USA and Ervin because of the risks.Their statements fuelled a world-wide furore and criticism of the players and the AustralianBasketball Team as a whole.
The media had a field day and Basketball Australia, the Australian players and staff had to defend themselves vigorously.
The national daily Australian newspapers featured a story where the Head Coach Dr Adrian Hurley and his family had received a “bomb-threat” against him and his family. Threats had been made but the story was very much exaggerated, but steps were taken by the authorities to ensure their safety.
The Australian players concerned clarified their positions with the advent of further evidence and education regarding the spread of HIV and the rules brought in (such as the “blood bin”) to guarantee player safety in playing against players with HIV.
The publicity was so world-wide that Boomers Head Coach Adrian Hurley appeared on the American “Today” program which was broadcast nationally and around the world. He assured viewers and the media that the Australian players better understood the position regarding HIV and all players would play against the USA and Ervin if the situation arose.
The attention and drama regarding the issue diminished prior to the games, but simmered beneath the surface at the Games with the media referring to the matter from time to time.
The matter never came to a head as the Boomers surprisingly were one of the few teams destined not to play the USA. The players were disappointed that they did not play the USA but the reaction of the US players and the media if such a contest did take place would have been very “interesting”.
The Australian Women’s Team Olympic Qualification Tournament
After the great result of fourth place in the 1988 Seoul Olympics the Australian Women’s Team (yet to be called the Opals) had to qualify for the Barcelona Olympics through a Qualification Tournament that was held May 28th to June 7th in Vigo, Spain.
Even though the Australian Men’s Basketball Team was able to qualify through the Oceania region, FIBA did not consider the Oceania Women’s competition strong enough and the Australian Women’s Team had to fight for a place in Barcelona to “back-up” their result in Seoul. This of course was to change in the very near future when the 1996 Australian Women’s Team was able to qualify for the Atlanta Olympic Games by winning Oceania. This is a much less challenging way to get to the Olympics than the rigors of a Qualification Tournament where the luck of grouping is such a large factor.
There had been suggestions prior to this that Australia and New Zealand could become members of the Asian Qualification Zone, but the Asian countries were not keen on this as they didn’t want Australia and New Zealand to become teams they might have to beat to qualify for the Olympics. Thus the Oceania Zone for women was allowed for the 1996 Olympics and onwards.
In 1992 the European basketball zone was in some turmoil with the break-up of the Soviet Union, and former Soviet satellite countries were vying to compete as individual or combined nations.
FIBA determined that the first three teams from the 1990 World Championships (USA, Yugoslavia and Cuba) and the host country Spain would automatically qualify for the Olympics. The remaining four places in the eight team Olympic Games Tournament would come from a Qualification Tournament held in Vigo, Galicia in north-west Spain.
FIBA accepted sixteen teams for the Qualification Tournament. They were divided into two Groups (A and B) of eight teams.
Australia was drawn in Group A with the Dominican Republic, Brazil, China, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Zaire. Senegal was picked in Group B but did not attend.
The winner of each Group automatically qualified for the Barcelona Olympics. The second and third teams in each Group played each other in cross-over matches (2nd v 3rd) and the winners were to go to Barcelona.
An odd situation had developed where Yugoslavia who had qualified for Barcelona by virtue of its second place in the World Championships was still undecided as to whether they would compete as officially Yugoslavia no longer existed as a country and the main countries such as Serbia and Croatia were deciding whether to play as part of “Yugoslavia”. It was a very unusual situation as Croatia and Serbia did not attend the Qualification Tournament to attempt to qualify as individual nations. (The Croatian men’s team did qualify for Barcelona through the Qualification Tournament also held in Spain).
In Group B of the Olympic Women’s Qualification Tournament was a team from the Commonwealth of Soviet States (CEI sometimes listed as EUN) comprising of a number of former Soviet States including Slovenia, Ukraine and others.
Going into the Qualification Tournament the Australian Women’s Team was quietly confident. Coach Robbie Cadee commented, “I believe we have the defence to shut down the opposition top players but we must keep our shooting on track from the start of the tournament.” Cadee considered China, Brazil and Czechoslovakia to be Australia’s main threat.
Game 1: Australia 71 v Poland 56 (36-21)
The Australians were confident before this game. They considered the Poles to be one of the weaker European teams and after beating them in the 1990 World Championships they believed they were better team.
Poland could only score two baskets in the first eleven minutes of the game. The Australians took full advantage of Polish turnovers and scored some easy fast-break baskets. By half-time the Australians were cruising at 36-21. After half-time however things turned on their head for a while. Even though the Polish point guards struggled against the good Australiandefence, and their shot selection left a bit to be desired the Australians went off the boil. With seven minutes to go in the game the Poles had leveled the scores. The Poles were using a lot of zone defence and it was having effect against the Australians. The Australian front court in Rachel Sporn, Karen Smith and Karen Dalton are not tall by any means and the Poles negated the Australian game inside the keyhole. Shelley Gorman came off the bench and gave the Australians some solid scoring and Marina Moffa gave the front court experience and leadership. The Australians re-grouped and went on to win by fifteen pointsin a comfortable if not nervous win.
Urbankowska 19, and Jarzyna and Szamyjer with 10 each were the main scorers for Poland.For Australia Gorman 14 points, Timms 11,and Brondello 10 were the main scorers. The Australians shot at 50% for the game, 23% from the three-point,and 70% from the free-throw line.
Australia: Maher 4, Gorman 14, Brondello 10, Timms 11, Daldy 4, Fallon 2, Metcalf 2, Moffa 9, Dalton 8, Smith 3, Sporn 4. Free-throws: 16/23 at 69.6% Fouls: Australia 15 Poland 19
Game 2: Australia 84 v China 74 (45-38)
The Chinese were one of the favourites of their Group. Their outside shooting was very strong but their major strength was their 204cm centre Zheng the tallest player at that time in international competition. The Australians started the game well and by half-time had forged to a 45-38 lead. They were able to maintain that margin and creep it out to a ten point win. This was a critical win as China, Brazil and Czechoslovakia were the teams to beat in the Group.An amazing statistic from the game was that China did not take a single free-throw. For China Shuhing 14 and Jun 12 were the main scorers. Brondello 19 points and Timms 17 led the Australian scoring.
Australia: Maher 11, Gorman 4, Brondello 19, Timms 17, Thornton 2, Moffa 5, Dalton 4, Smith 12, Sporn 10. Free-throws: Australia 18/22 at 82%, China 0/0, Fouls: Australia 21 China 21.
Game 3: Australia 98 v Zaire 48 (40-26)
This game was a chance to relax for the Australians and all players got good court time. The Australians won the first half 40-26 and the second half by a massive 58-22.The game was however very physical and the Australians were left with more than their fair share of bruises. Kamanga 12 and Kano 10 were the main scorers for Zaire, For Australia Shelley Gorman and Sam Thornton were the top scorer with 18 points each.
Australia: Gorman 18, Brondello 6, Timms 8, Daldy 7, Fallon 5, Metcalf 15, Thornton 18, Moffa 7, Dalton 2, Smith 8
Game 4: Australia 66 v Hungary 55 (38-29)
A win in this game would put the Australians at the top of their Group and put one foot in the door for the finals in Barcelona. The Australians got off to a good start and led by nine points at half-time. As the second half unfolded the Australians increased the lead out to twenty points and were cruising. But as was to happen often in this tournament they became erratic and the Hungarians came back when they went on a 14-0 run. The Australians were digging deep. With three minutes 45 seconds to go the Hungarians had the deficit down to four points. However the Aussies regained their composure and fought out to a good eleven point win thanks mainly to three clutch baskets by Shelley Gorman in the last few minutes. Coach Cadee commented, “Any win is a good win, but I told the team it was just not on to give away a lead like that. We had to fight for our lives and we can’t expect to play that way and qualify”. At the end of the game the Australians had won four out of four games and were at the head of their Group table, though China and Czechoslovakia were breathing down their necks.
Csak 18 points and Sztojkovics 14 were the mains scorers for Hungary while Gorman and Timms led Australia with 15 each.
Australia: Maher 10, Gorman 15, Brondello 6, Timms 15, Daldy 3, Moffa 3, Dalton 6, Smith 4, Sporn 4. Free-throws: Australia 8/14 at 57%, Hungary 8/14 at 57%, Fouls: Australia 21, Hungary 22.
For Australia Gorman top scored and shot at 86% for the game. Sporn and Pearce dominated the rebounds and did a sterling job on the offensive boards.
Game 5: Australia 124 v Dominican Republic 49 (61-25)
The Australians were able to relax during this game as the Dominican Republic was just not in the same class as the Australians and by half-time the Aussies had a 36 point lead and Coach Cadee was able to give all players good court time and rest his starters. For the Dominican Republic Duran 21 and Guerrero 12 were the mains corers while for Australia Brondello led the way with 22 points.
Australia: Maher 10, Gorman 9, Brondello 22, Timms 14, Daldy 8, Fallon 15, Metcalf 6, Thornton 12, Moffa 9, Smith 5, Sporn 14. Free-throws: Australia 21/24 at 67%, D. Republic 8/15 at 53%, Fouls: Australia 17, D. Republic 25.
Game 6: Australia 97 v Brazil 99 (45-43)
The Australians were undefeated in the tournament. A win over Brazil would automatically qualify them for the Finals in Barcelona. The Australians had defeated China who had defeated Brazil so a win was a good possibility. The Australians started well enough and the two teams were neck and neck all through the first half. At half-time the scores were two points in the Australians favour at 45-43. Everyone knew this was going to be a high scoring game. The Brazilians were led by the brilliant Marcari who would be the leading scorer in the Barcelona Olympic Tournament. She was backed by Santos and Goncalves who would also be in the top five scorers at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games Basketball Tournament.
The scores stayed close and then late in the half reached 77 all. Robyn Maher made both free-throws in a one and one penalty, which was the format at that time on free-throws. Australia was now ahead 79-77. Brazil scored to tie it up and with 19 seconds left Brazil scored on a long range two pointer. The Australians called a time-out. They ran a play which ended with Brondello weaving her way around and through the defence to nail a free-throw distant jump-shot with seven seconds left. It was 81 all and into overtime.
In overtime both teams had trouble scoring. Australia had two free-throws and missed both. Karen Dalton drove and scored to make it 83-81 Australia. Two free-throws from Brazil made the scores even. Brondello weaved along the baseline, took a jump shot and was fouled, but made the shot and then drained the free-throw for a great three-point play. Australia led Brazil 86-83. Brazil scored to be one point down. The Australiansran a fast-break, but the shot was blocked. Australia unfortunately fouled and Brazil made one free-throw with seconds left and the scores were tied again 86-86.Both teams had scored 5 points in the overtime period.The game went into another overtime!
In the second overtime for Australia Sporn scored a free-throw, Dalton scored a basket, and there was anotherbasket from Sporn, but Brazil matched them to tie the scores at 91-91. Australia missed some vital one and one free-throws and was down 94-93. Brazil scored a three-pointer to lead 97-93. Free-throws by Australia made the score 97-95 in Brazil’s favour before Brazil scored a lay-up (99-95) and Australia missed a fast-break lay-up. With nineteen seconds to go, Australia had the ball from the side. They worked for a quick shot but the defence held them out until the Australians scored two-points on the final whistle to lose 99-97.
It was a bitter loss for the Australians. They certainly had their chances and played a great game. Costly turnovers and missed free-throws let them down in the end and they were left ruing the “one that got away”.The bottom-line was that if the Australians had won that game they would be off to Barcelona regardless of other results. Now they had to win their next game to get into the playoffs to go to Barcelona.
For Brazil, Marcari was brilliant with 43 points (13 from 15 free-throws), while Da Silva 19 and Sobral 17 were the other main scorers. For Australia Brondello made a brilliant 27 points and was brilliantly supported by Rachael Sporn with 24 points. The deciding factor was that Brazil made 22 free-throws to Australia’s 8.
Australia: Maher 13, Gorman 11, Brondello 27, Timms 7, Dalton 12, Smith 3, Sporn 24.
Free-throws: Australia 8/18 at 44%, Brazil 22/28 at 79%, Fouls: Australia 24, Brazil 24.
This game may be one of the great games of Australian women’s basketball. It is certainly very popular in Brazil on You-Tube.
Game 7: Australia 69 v Czechoslovakia 72 (36-38)
This was another crunch game for the Australians. After their double overtime loss to Brazil in the previous game the Australians had to win this game to get a top two spot in their Group. If they lost the game they would be out of the Olympic Tournament in Barcelona.
The game was tight all the way. The pressure and stress was immense on both sides. The Czechs were one of the strongest teams in Europe, they were experienced and determined. At half-time the Australians were down by two points 36-38. It was going to be a game slugged out until the final whistle.
In the second half the tension was immense as neither team could get a winning break on the other. The bigger Czech players were making things hard for the Australians. The Australian guards with Brondello a stand out were keeping the pressure on the opposition. The last few minutes were frenetic as both teams threw everything they could at each other. The Australians had some good chances but the shots were not dropping and this was frustrating them.
Australia fell behind by three points with eighteen seconds to go and had two chances to tie the game but both shots missed. The Australians lost the game 72-69.
Coach Robbie Cadee commented, “We just broke down at the offensive end. We just could not put the ball in the hole.”
Australia shot at 42% for the game while Czechoslovakia shot at 52%.
Burianova 14 points and Hirakova 11 and Nemcova 11 were the main scorers for Czechoslovakia. Sandy Brondello was again the leading scorer for the Australians with 19 points.
Australia: Maher 12, Gorman 10, Brondello 19, Timms 6, Daldy 2, Moffa 3, Dalton 2, Smith 8, Sporn 7. Free-throws Australia 18/23 at 78%, Czechoslovakia 18/26 at 69%, Fouls: Australia 26, Czechoslovakia 23.
Sandy Brondello was the leading scorer for Australia with 15.6 points per game, followed by Shelley Gorman (11.6ppg), Michele Timms (11.1ppg), Rachael Sporn (9.6ppg) and Robyn Maher (8.6ppg).
Brondello was 11th in scoring in the tournament and Gorman was 31st.
Classification:
China 6-1Czechoslovakia 6-1 Brazil 5-2Australia 5-2 Hungary 3-4 Poland 2-5 Zaire 1-6Dominican Republic 0-7
Australia finished equal with Brazil with five wins and two losses. As Brazil had defeated Australia (by two points in double overtime) in the Group“round-robin” they went ahead of the Australians on the classification table and the right to play the second placed team in Group B, while Australia was out of the Olympic Tournament in Barcelona.
This was a hard pill to swallow especially considering that the Group winner China lost only one game and that was to Australia! China was to go on and win the Silver Medal in Barcelona
Playoffs for the final places for the Barcelona Tournament were Czechoslovakia (2nd Group A) against Canada (3rd Group B),and Brazil (3rdGroup A)) against Italy (2nd in Group B).
Czechoslovakia defeated Canada and Brazil defeated Italy. So as in previous Olympic Qualification Tournaments in Moscow (1980) and Cuba (1984) Australia was drawn in the toughest Group as three teams from their Group qualified for the finals in Barcelona.
There was a further twist in the tail for the tournament as the question as to whether Yugoslavia would have a team for Barcelona still hung in the balance. FIBA decided that the two losing teams in the playoff (Italy and Canada) would play for the final place if Yugoslavia did not field a team. Yugoslavia finally did not field a team for Barcelona and Italy’s victory over Canada 66-44 sent the Italians to Barcelona.
Teams Qualified for Barcelona: China (Group A) and Commonwealth Soviet States (EUN) winners of Group B. Czechoslovakia, Brazil and Italy.
Australian Women’s Basketball Team 1992 Olympic Qualification Tournament (S. Harcus)
Standing left to right: Trish Fallon, Rachel Sporn, Sandy Brondello, Vicki Daldy, Karen Smith, Samantha Thornton, Shelley Gorman, Michele Timms, Sue Harcus (Manager)
Seated left to right: Joanne Moyle, Karen Dalton, Robyn Maher (Capt) Marina Pearce
Absent: Coach Robbie Cadee, Fitness Coordinator Michael Pattinson, Assistant Coach Guy Molloy
1992 Barcelona Olympic Games Women’s Basketball Results
The former Soviets Commonwealth EUN team (comprising twelve of the former fifteen Soviet Republics excluding Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania) caused a major upset in the semi-finals and defeated the USA. They went on to play China in the final and defeated them 76-66 to win the Gold Medal. It is interesting to note that the two teams that won their respective groups in the Qualification Tournament in Vigo met in the Olympic Final. It is also of note that China lost only one game in their Qualification Group A and that was to Australia 84-74. Australia had defeated the eventual Silver Medalist by ten points in the Qualification Tournament.
Olympic Tournament Classification
CIS (EUN)
China
USA
Cuba
Spain
Czechoslovakia
Brazil
Italy
Overview
The 1992 Australian Women’s Basketball Team was one of the unluckiest Australian Basketball Teams in Australia’s Olympic basketball history.
They participated in a very tough Olympic Qualification Tournament in order to reach the 1992 Olympic Games. Take the clock forward two years and they would not have had to Qualify through such a tough tournament, instead they would have been up against New Zealand in the Oceania Region Qualification Tournament to qualify for Olympic Games.
They played very well in the Qualification Tournament in Vigo, Spain and but for two agonizing losses (one in double overtime) they would have qualified for the finals in Barcelona.
The veteran players have expressed that the failure to qualify for Barcelona was one of the toughest defeats and moment in their careers. Spare a thought for the women on the team who would only have this one chance to play at an Olympic Games. The veterans such as Timms, Brondello, Sporn, Maher and Gorman had played in Olympic Games or would in the future, yet they have expressed their “gutted” feelings after the Qualification Tournament.
There is also a lack of recognition for the 1992 Australian Women’s Basketball Team’s campaign in Vigo. No official team photograph of the team is held by Basketball Australia, nor is there an Official Australian Team Report of the tournament. Coaching staff are not aware that any official reports were written. There are few statistics from the games, and FIBA only provides scorers, free-throws and fouls. There are no statistics for rebounds assists etc. Some statistics here have been delved from newspaper reports, hence the inconsistencies in reporting.
The 1992 Australian Women’s Basketball Team deserves recognition for what it achieved, and nearly achieved at the 1992 Olympic Qualification Tournament. By comparison Australian Men’s Basketball Teams from earlier eras who failed to get through Olympic Qualification Tournaments are recognized as having competed in the Olympic Games by the Australian Olympic Council (AOC), but not by the IOC.
It is hoped that in future years the 1992 Australian Women’s Basketball Team that competed in the 1992 Olympic Qualification Tournament will receive more recognition and appreciation than exist at the present.
Australian Olympic Men’s Basketball Team Preparation
A large Australian Men’s Basketball Squad training camp was held in February 1992 following a tour to Europe over the Christmas-New Year period.
In February a successful series by the Australian Team was held against the Chinese National Team in Australia, but the Chinese were not as strong as was hoped and certainly nothing like the Soviets who toured prior to the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
The National Basketball League (NBL) season had started and player unavailability meant that the Australian Men’s Basketball Team (Boomers) could not get together again before a series in July against the South West All Stars a US College All Star team that again while competitive was not of the high standard or international experience needed to prepare the Boomers.
Basketball Australia had attempted to bring a number of strong national teams (such as Greece) to Australia but all these attempts failed. The result was that the Boomers had to play against local All Star teams on the weekends of the NBL. The players were therefore focusing in two directions....winning NBL games and preparing for the Olympic Games. Injuries to the players were also a big concern with so much wear and tear from travel and games.
The Australian Team’s preparation was further hampered when the NBL (with Basketball Australia approval) would not release their players or suspend the League to allow the Boomers to prepare or go overseas to compete against international competition as they had done in 1988. Nor would they release the players until the weekend prior to the Olympic Games.
The Australian Coaches had felt that one of the main reasons for the success of the Boomers (4th in the 1988 Seoul Olympics)was that the team was together for four and a half weeks prior to the Games as well as playing six matches against the eventual Gold Medallists the USSR prior to leaving for Seoul.
The Australian Team players played in the NBL on the weekend prior to the Games (July 18-19) which further disrupted the Australian preparation and severely hampered the team’s ability to acclimatise (going from winter to summer) and to recover from jet-lag.
The Australian Team left for Barcelona and arrived there on July 21 after travelling for 38 hours. From the heart of winter to hot summer the Australians had five days to prepare for their first game. The extent of their immediate international Olympic preparation was a “pick-up” twenty minute training game in Barcelona against the Canadian National Team.
The Olympic Village
The Barcelona main Olympic Village was divided into two zones. Onezone was where the Athlete and Officials apartments were housed and where the offices and the NCC Medical premises were housed. The second zone was the International Zone which included the shopping centre, the Athlete Services, leisure and entertainment, the beaches, main parade, Olympic harbour and restaurants. The Australian Men’s Basketball Team was housed four to an apartment. The apartments by previous standards at Olympics were spacious and well set out. The catering area consisted of the main dining room and restaurants along the Olympic Harbour jetty. Transport was by shuttle bus to the training venues and the Olympic basketball stadium at Badalona. Some of the transport overpasses were unfinished and closed to the public but somehow athlete buses weaved their way through the construction. Many of the bus drivers were not from Barcelona so getting lost on the way to training was not uncommon.
The Olympic Village (A. Hurley)
The Opening and Closing Ceremonies
On the evening of 25th July, the Barcelona Olympic Games were opened in the main Olympic stadium. The 17,000 square metres of the centre of the stadium was covered with a blue carpet that represented the Mediterranean Sea on which thousands of dancers and displays represented the passion, colour and spirit of Barcelona, its European character and the vitality of the Mediterranean.
The Spanish great basketball player Antonio San Epifanio was the last athlete into the arena when he passed the Olympic Flame to an archer.
The Australian Basketball Team watched with fascination as the Spanish Paralympian Antonio Rebello who competed in the 1984-88-92 Olympic Games lit the Olympic Flame by firing an arrow over an open gas cauldron high up in the stadium.
The passion, colour, music, and flamboyance of the Opening ceremony left an indelible memory on all the Australian Team members.
The Closing Ceremony was held at night and was a spectacular sight of light, colour and sound. A highlight was the singing of the Olympic Farewell (Amigos paraSiempre) by Jose Carreras and Sarah Brightman with the song becoming a worldwide hit song.
Australian Men’s Basketball Team waiting at the Village for the Closing Ceremony (J. Dorge)
The Australian Team enjoying the Closing Ceremony (J. Dorge)
The 1992 Olympic Men’s Basketball Tournament
The basketball tournament was held in the Palau d’ Esports Badalona which had a seating capacity for 12,500 spectators. The stadium had been completed the year before the Olympics and included a number of practice courts attached to the main stadium and this was excellent for practice matches and team warm-ups and shooting.
Tournament Groups:
The Olympic Tournament was arranged in two “round robin” groups of six with the top four in each Group going through to the quarter finals.
Australia was drawn in Group B with EUN (Unified Team), Lithuania, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and China.
Game 1: Australia 116 v Puerto Rico 76 (57-29)
Puerto Rico was rated fourth in the world at this time and their team contained top flight US college players, European players and NBA players. They were a very tough opponent first up and a game the Australians felt they had to win.
The starters for Australia were Smyth, Gaze, Vlahov, Bradtke and Longley. The Australian tactics were to draw the big Puerto Rican players away from the basket and to pressure their guards. The Boomers jumped to a 16-10 lead after five minutes. They then surprisingly switched to a 2-1-2 zone to allow their big players to stay near the basket as the opposition was attempting to draw the Boomers NBA player 7feet 1inch Longley away from the basket. The move allowed the Australians to out-rebound the opposition and for Gaze and the guards to fast-break. The Boomers went on a 16-0 run and the Puerto Ricans were in shock. The Australians kept the pressure on by playing eleven players in the first half to lead 57-29 at the break. The game was virtually over and using switching defences and man-to-man and zone presses the Boomers ran out comfortable winners 116-76. A telling statistic was that the Australians had made 15 steals against a world class opponent.The opposition was shell-shocked, as was everyone at the tournament and the result prompted Jack Donahue the legendary Canadian coach to remark, “I thought the Americans were supposed to be the Dream Team.”
It certainly was a dream start for the Australians. For Puerto Rico,Gause 15 points, De Leon 12, Ortiz 10 and Lopez 10 were the main scorers.
Australia:Bradtke 20, McKay 6, Loggins 19, Heal 2,Dorge 2, Vlahov 4, Longley 16, Gaze 20, Keogh 12, Smyth 9, Borner 6, Shooting: 30/54 at 56%, Three-points13/29 at 45%, Free-throws: 17/22 at 77%, Rebounds: Australia 45-Puerto Rico 26, Assists: 15, Turnovers: 7, Steals15
Phil Smyth harasses the Puerto Rican guards (C. Purdam)
The Boomers huddle prior to playing EUN (The Australian Basketballer Magazine)
Game 2: Australia 63 v CIS (EUN-Unified Team) 85 (31-35)
The Commonwealth Independent States were a group of former Soviet States who played together as a nation. The CIS, who played as EUN standing for Unified Team were therefore an unknown quantity but their talent was undeniable as they were led by NBA player Alexander Volkov. (It should be noted that the EUN women’s team went on to win the Gold Medal in the women’s competition).
The EUN slowed the game down to a walk to frustrate the Australians who were used to an NBL running basketball and were struggling to adjust. Australia led 18-16, but the EUN surged and Australia was behind 35-31 at half-time and they knew they were in a dogfight. Then the wheels fell off with Australia’s perimeter shooting guards and small forwards were not able to score baskets from beyond the three point line despite getting a good supply of open shots. The EUN sensed the Australia shooting doubts and sat back in defence and defied the Boomers to make their baskets. In the last few minutes the Aussie discipline faltered and the EUN blew it out to final score of 85-63.
This was a very disappointing result however the EUN was to go on to win the Group and to reach the semi-finals where they lost to Lithuania in the battle for the Bronze medal so they were a quality team.
Australia’s defeat certainly lay at the poor perimeter shooting which was unexpected as the team contained excellent perimeter shooters. Once a few open shots went begging doubts and tension emerged and what could have been a feast of baskets from the perimeter did not happen.The Australian cause was not helped by a knee injury to its key player Andrew Gaze who was to carry the injury through the tournament.
The Boomersshot 3 from17 three point attempts at 18%. For the EUNVolkov 15 points,Miglinieks 14, andBerezhnoi 13 were the main scorers.
Australia:Bradtke 10, McKay 2, Loggins 4, Vlahov 10, Longley 7, Gaze17,Dorge 2, Keogh 6, Smyth 2, Sengstock 3, Borner 2 Shooting: 19/45 at 42%, Three-points: 3/17 at 18%, Free-throws: 16/22 at73%, Rebounds: Australia 23-CIS 26, Assists: 8, Turnovers: 9, Steals: 17
Game 3: Australia 78 v Venezuela 71 (43-27)
Venezuela had finished second in the Americas Qualification Tournament and was a quality team. They included NBA player Carl Herrera and former NBA player Sam Shepherd. Australia stayed with the same starters. The Boomers jumped out to 17-8 lead. The opposition then displayed that they had watched the CIS tactics against the Australians and went to a zone and challenged the Aussie guards and small forwards to shoot from the perimeter. The Aussie shooting struggled but their defence was terrific with Smyth and Keogh dogging Shepherd and Vlahov and Bradtke holding Herrera.
At half-time the Australians led 43-27.
The Boomers’perimeter shooting continued to struggle, fortunately their driving to the basket didn’t and they were able to keep a ten point lead even if it was unconvincing. They hung on to win 78-71. It was a good win against quality opposition. The major concern for the coaches and the team at this stage was the failure to knock down open perimeter shots. In its last two games the Boomers had made 9 three point baskets from 41 attempts at 22%. There was no doubt that confidence in that area was very fragile. Hopefully it would not do the team too much harm in future games. Olivares 22 points and Herrera 11 were the main scorers for Venezuela
Australia:Bradtke 16, Loggins 10,Dorge 8, Vlahov 14, Gaze 12, Keogh 8, Smyth 6, Borner 4 Shooting: 21/41at 51%, Three-points: 6/24 at 25%, Free-throws:18/26 at 69%, Rebounds: Australia 24-Venezuela 28, Assists:18, Turnovers:7, Steals:19
Mark Bradtke shoots over Ortiz of Puerto Rico (C. Purdam)
Game 4: Australia 88 v China 66 (39-28)
Australia desperately needed a flowing win to regain their shooting confidence. China might provide that opportunity but they were not an easy opponent as their national programme had been steadily improving over the past ten years. The series in Australia against them was invaluable at this stage as the Boomers knew what to expect. Again the Australianperimeter shooting was suspect but they led 39-28 at half-time on the back of good defence and rebounding. The Australians broke away early in the second half and all players got court time as they ran out winners 88-66. The main concern was still the continued lack of confidence and results with their perimeter shooting.The Boomers were two from eleven beyond the arc in the game and were 11 from 52 at just over 23% in three point attempts over their last three games.
Andrew Gaze was an exception to this lack of confidence and his 30 points for the game was outstanding.
Australia playing China (A. Hurley)
The Boomer “bigs” were in form and reliable. The team was enjoying having the size to compete internationally through the likes of Longley, Bradtke, Borner and Dorge.For China Wu 14 points, Hu 15 points and Sun 13 points were the main scorers.
Australia:Bradtke 14, McKay 1, Loggins 4, Heal 5, Vlahov 4, Longley 11, Gaze 30, Smyth 6, Sengstock 7, Borner 6Shooting: 30/57 at 53%,Three-points: 2/11 at 18%,Free-throws: 22/33 at 67%,Rebounds: Australia 35-China 20,Assists: 16,Turnovers: 12,Steals: 20
Andrew Gaze scores against China (IOC)
Game 5: Australia 87 v Lithuania 98 (46-55)
Lithuania was competingin its first Olympic Basketball Tournament since 1936. Four of the players had started on the Gold Medal winning USSR team in 1988 in Seoul, Korea. Super guard SarunisMarciulionis was a star in the NBA and 7foot 3” centre ArvydasSabonis was about to start a stellar NBA career after being held back by continual injuries.
Lithuania was favourites in the Group and considered strong medal chances. This would be a tough game for the Australians. The early Boomer tactics worked as they “walled” Marciulionis from driving and swarmed Sabonis whenever he got the ball. Australia’s perimeter shooting was picking up and they went to the break leading 46-45. Australia was “looking after the ball” and would end the game with only four turnovers as well as another strong game in steals where they had 18.
Early in the second half Lithuaniarattled offnine unanswered points as Australia started to go into a shooting slump. Smyth and Keogh were doing a stirling job on Marciulionis but Sabonis was dominating inside which was not unusual for him. With the Boomers’ perimeter shooting falling away in the second half the Lithuanians skipped away to a 98-87 win. It was a credible performance by the Boomers.For Lithuania Sabonis 26 points,Kurtinaitis 21, and Marciulionis 17 were the main scorers.
Australia:Bradtke 16, McKay 3, Loggins 16,Dorge 3, Vlahov 5, Longley 12, Gaze 16, Keogh 5, Smyth 9, Borner 2Shooting: 25/67 at 37%, Three-points: 7/19 at 37%,Free-throws: 16/21 at 76%,Rebounds: Australia32-Lithuania 37,Assists: 11,Turnovers: 4 Steals: 18
Final Positions Group B
EUN 4-1, Lithuania 4-1,Australia 3-2, Puerto Rico 3-2, Venezuela 1-4 China 0-5
Australia secured third place in the Group (they were third because while being equal with Puerto Rico they had beaten that team in the round).
The Australian Team in the change-rooms before the game (J. Dorge)
Quarter Finals
Game 6: Australia 65 v Croatia 98
Australia played the second placed team in Group A, Croatia. Croatia was playing tremendous basketball and their only loss in the tournament was to the USA Dream Team.
Croatia consisted of the majority of the Yugoslavian National team that had won Gold at the 1990 World Basketball Championships. They were led by NBA players Petrovic, Radja, Vrankovic, Tabac and Kukoc. Croatia made their first three shots and was soon leading 13-7. Disaster struck as the Boomers got into foul trouble early and the malaise in perimeter shooting returned as they could just not get the ball in the basket despite “good looks”. Down 22-9 the Aussies battled back to 41-31 at half-time so it was still “game on”. Croatia continued in the second half where they had left off at half-time and were shooting 71% in the keyhole and 43% from beyond the three point line while the Boomers’ shooting confidence was still an issue. Kukoc was having a field day and the 6 feet 11” guard/forward was unstoppable and dished out 11 assists while scoring 13 points himself. The final score blew out to a 98-65 result. It was a disappointing result for the Boomers. Despite whatever tactics the Australians tried during the game on the back of 3 successful baskets from 16 attempts (19%) from behind the three point line they could never hope to win against this class of opposition. No one was getting “hot” and the opposition could sense the doubts. The missed shots also created fast-break opportunities for the opposition. Nevertheless credit must go to the Croatians who were a magnificent team of talent and confidence.Petrovic 25 points, Komazec 15,Radja 14,and Kukoc 13 were the main scorers for Croatia.
Australia: Gaze 16, Loggins 13,Dorge 4, Vlahov 11, Bradtke 1, Longley 10, Smyth 3, Sengstock 3, Borner 4Shooting: 22/5 at 41%,Three-points: 3/16 at 19%,Free-throws: 12/17 at 71%,Rebounds: Australia 29-Croatia 20,Assists: 10,Turnovers: 9,Steals: 12
The Australian Team coaching staff believed at this stage that the lack of international competition, tournament play every other day and the late departure from Australia was now hitting the team very hard. There was no other explanation for such a number of good perimeter shooters shooting poorly as a group. The problem for them was that while their perimeter shooting was so poor the opposition clogged the keyway and made it difficult for the Aussie “bigs” to score. In their last four games the Aussies had made 21 from 87 at 25% for their three point-shooting.
Losing to Croatia was no disgrace it was more the manner that it occurred which concerned everyone. The Boomers would have to bounce back!
Classification 5 to 8
Australia’s loss to Croatia meant that the dream of repeating its feats of making the medal round as they had done in Seoul was now gone. However they were still determined to get back on track and fight for 5th position.
The USA “Dream Team playing Lithuania (A. Hurley)
Game 7: Australia 109 v Germany 79 (52-44)
Germany was led by NBA star Detlef Schrempf who had twice won the “Best Sixth Man in the NBA” award.
The Australians started as in every game so far with Smyth, Gaze, Vlahov, Bradtke, and Longley.
Last minute instructions before the game (A. Hurley)
Luc Longley was at this time in the NBA but in his first year and receiving very limited court time with his NBA team and he was working very hard but also lacked tough “match fitness”. He was of course to go on to stardom, three NBA titles as a starter with the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordon to become an icon in Australian basketball.
The Australians were behind early and attempting an up-tempo game to run the bigger Germans around as well as pressing their guards. The Germans stayed firm and led 26-19. Australia needed a “hot-hand” to get them going! Gaze answered the call and made two huge long bombs and everyone else suddenly saw a much larger basket and they powered away to lead 52-44 at half-time. The Boomers were getting great value out of their bench players and started the second half with three bench players. The aim was to keep running the Germans off their legs and it was working. After five minutes in the second half the Boomers led 70-53. Vlahov and Bradtke were containing Schrempf. The Australians powered home with Gaze scoring freely (30 points in 30 minutes) to win 109-79.Loggins was having one of his best games. It was a very good team performance against a very good team. The confidence had returned to many of the players in their shooting off the back of the dynamic Andrew Gaze who never seemed to lack confidence in his shooting. His efforts picked up the shooting confidence of the whole team.Harnisch 12 points,Baeck 12,and Schrempf 11 were the main scorers for Germany.
Australia: Vlahov 16, Heal 9, Loggins 19, Bradtke 14, Gaze 30, Keogh 8, Smyth 6, Borner 7,Shooting: 27/45 at 60% Three-points: 14/30 at 47%,Free-throws: 13/22 at 59%,Rebounds: Australia 26-Germany 24,Assists: 21,Turnovers: 3,Steals: 23
Classification 5th-6th.
Australia would record their second best ever performance at the Olympics by coming 5th or 6th but dearly wanted to get 5th and be on that cusp of world top four teams.
Australian Team introductions (J. Dorge)
Game 8: Australia 80 v Brazil 90 (44-38)
This was another early morning game. The Brazilians were in red hot form and their super star 6feet 9” shooter Oscar Schmidt was having one of those great shooting tournaments where he scores from anywhere. He was averaging over 40 points a game and was about to set an Olympic record for points scoring that may never be broken.
Brazil like to run, and the Aussies were more comfortable doing the same. Australia’s plan was a good one and with Vlahov hounding Schmidt as he had done at the 1990 World Championships things were looking good. The Boomers started to make tired and uncharacteristic turnovers, which allowed the Brazilians to fast break and lead 28-24 after ten minutes. The Australians stayed with the game plan and were finding the range and confidence in their shooting to lead Brazil 44-38 at half-time.
The worrying signs were the Brazilian offensive rebounding and the Boomers’ turnovers which were keeping the opposition in the game. The Australian turnovers were surprising as the Boomers were one of the tournament leaders in the least turnovers. With five minutes to go the scores were level. Australia was in foul trouble with their big players and being pounded on the boards by the athletic Brazilians. Brazil got the lead out to 86-80. The final score came out at 90-80 to the Brazilians. The story of the game was in the statistics where Australia had 17 turnovers (their average being 6 per game) and they gave up 16 offensive rebounds. The Aussie “bigs” had 12 points as a group for the game. This was a disappointing loss for the Aussies as they knew that the game was always in their grasp but they gave away too much possession. It was also a disappointing way to finish the tournament. The only answer to the Boomers’ turnovers and lack of defensive rebounding was perhaps fatigue against a very good team.Vlahov had played a great game scoring 18 points and holding Schmidt to one of his lowest scores in the tournament. Schmidt 23 points, Villas 16, Machado 14, andVictalino 14 were the main scorers for Brazil.
Australia: Vlahov 18, Loggins 13, Bradtke 6, Longley 2, Gaze 26, Smyth 11, Borner 4,Shooting: 20/37at 54%,Three-points: 9/26 at 35%,Free-throws: 13/16 at 81%,Rebounds: Australia 26-Brazil 33,Assists: 17,Turnovers: 17,Steals: 17
Australian Team Statistics for the Olympic Basketball Tournament
Point Scoring:Dorge 17, McKay 12, Smyth 52, Sengstock 13, Keogh 29, Loggins 98, Gaze 167, Heal 16, Bradtke 97, Longley 58, Vlahov 82, Borner 35. As a team the Boomers made 251 baskets from 572 attempts at 43.8%
Three point shooting: Gaze 15/52 at 29%, Loggins 6/36 at 17%,Smyth 14/33 at 42%, Keogh 8/21 at 38%, Vlahov 7/13 at 54%,McKay 3/8, Sengstock 0/2, Heal 4/7. As a team: 39 baskets from 122 attempts at 32%
Free-throws:Dorge 3/7, McKay 1/3, Smyth 2/2, Sengstock 3/6, Keogh 5/7, Loggins 16/19, Gaze 46/57, Heal 0/1, Bradtke 15/22, Longley 6/12, Vlahov 17/27,Borner 13/16, As a team 127/179 at 71%
Rebounding:Dorge 15, McKay 3,Smyth 8, Sengstock 13, Keogh 11, Loggins 22,Gaze 23, Bradtke 60,Longley 29, Vlahov 32, Borner 24.
Assists:Dorge 1, McKay 2, Smyth 16, Sengstock 4, Keogh 13, Loggins 9, Gaze 25, Heal 3, Bradtke 8, Longley 17, Vlahov 17, Borner 5.
Steals:Dorge 7, Smyth 24, Sengstock 5, Keogh 10, Loggins 18, Gaze 24, Heal 1, Bradtke 21, Longley 9, Vlahov 16, Borner 6.
Blocks: Longley 8, Bradtke 3, Borner 1, Loggins 2, Smyth 1,Dorge 4,
Fouls:Dorge 12, McKay 5, Smyth 15, Sengstock 10, Keogh 11, Loggins 12, Gaze 16, Heal 1, Bradtke 17, Longley 30, Vlahov 25, Borner 16.
Team averages per game: Free-throws made 15.9; 2 point baskets made 24.3; three point baskets made 7.1; Field goals 31.4; Rebounds 30.00; Assists 15.3; Steals 17.6; Turnovers 8.5; Blocked shots 2.4; Fouls 21.3
Against all other teams (12 teams in all):
6th in free-throw percentage (127/179 @ 71%);
8th in two point baskets (194/400 at 49%;
8th in three point baskets (57/172 at 33%;
5th in rebounding at 30 per game (81 offensive/ 240 defensive);
4th in assists (122 at 15.3 per game);
6th in blocked shots at 2.4 per game;
10thworst in fouls (170 at 21.3 per game);
2nd in steals at 17.6 per game;
2nd in least turnovers (68 at 8.5 per game).
The team statistics in comparison to other teams are positive as the team committed a low ratio of fouls, high ratio of steals, low ratio of turnovers a high ratio in assists, rebounding and free-throws. The poorer areas were in shooting. A better performance here could have meant a much better tournament result.
Tournament Top 10 Leaders:
Andrew Gaze finished as the 6th highest scorer in the tournament with 167 points at an average of 20.8 points per game, was 9th best in steals (20), 5th in three point attempts made (15) and 4th in free-throws made (46)
Luc Longley was 7th in the blocked shots for the tournament (8) and 4th in fouls committed (30).
Mark Bradtke was 5th in rebounding for the tournament (60) at 7.5 per game and 10th in two point baskets made (41)
Leroy Loggins was 7th overall in free-throw percentage at 84% (minimum of 11 attempts)
Shane Heal was 4thin three point shooting percentage with 4/7 at 57% (6 attempts minimum) while Andrew Vlahov was 6th in the same category with 7 from 13 at 54%
Phil Smyth was 7th in three point baskets made with 14.
The Gold Medal Game: USA v Croatia
Croatia deserved the right to play the Americans for the Gold Medal as they were clearly the best “other” team in the tournament.
After seven minutes the Americans led 18-12. The Croatians surged out to lead 25-23. The USA responded to lead 56-42 at half-time. Croatia were being brilliantly led by European legend DragenPetrovic, but early in the second half Michael Jordon was given the job to hound Petrovic on defence and the Croatian game spluttered. Soon the Americans were leading by 30 points. The Americans subbed freely and ran out winners 117-85.The Open era had begun with a bang! The question was whether anyone could compete with or even defeat the Americans in the foreseeable future?
Final Classifications:
GoldUSA
Silver Croatia
Bronze Lithuania
4th EUE
5th Brazil
6th Australia
7th Germany
8th Puerto Rico
9th Spain
10th Angola
11th Venezuela
12th China
Australia could take some comfort that they had played four of the top five teams in the tournament and three teams from their Group finished in the top four. There was disappointment in not playing the USA “Dream Team”. The experience of playing perhaps the greatest side in history would have been something. For players to be able to say that they played against a team containing Michael Jordon, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Patrick Ewing, Clive Drexler, Charles Barkley, Chris Mullen and John Stockton would be something to tell their friends, children and grand-children.
1992 Olympic Games Australian Team Basketball Staff (Basketball Australia)
Left to right: Patrick Hunt (Assistant Coach), Barry Barnes (Assistant Coach), Dr Adrian Hurley (Head Coach), John TrivellionScott (Manager), Dr Peter Harcourt (Medical Officer), Craig Purdam (Physiotherapist)
Overview
The Australian Men’s Basketball Team was somewhat disappointed in their final position as they believed that if they had been more consistent and played better in key games then they may have repeated their performance from four years before and even won a medal. However 6th in the world was an exceptional performance.
The Australian Team and the Australian public and media expectations were so much higher because of the result in 1988 and the high profile of the NBL and the Australian players and the presence of an NBA player on the team.
However the team did not have the international games or time together (as they did in 1988) and this less than ideal preparation was considered to be a strong factor in the team’s performance.
Playing in the NBL in Australia on the weekend prior to the Games and arriving in Barcelona five days before the first game hampered the team’s ability to psychologically, technically and mechanically prepare the way they wished.
Yet the Australians played with great tenacity, pride, and effort. The Australian Team achieved a tremendous result one of which they should be proud.
Coach Hurley’s official report after the Games precipitated a BA review and major changes were instigated to ensure that future teams would get the opportunities to prepare properly.
Al Ramsay FIBA Life Member and Australian Basketball Hall of Fame Legend stated,“Australia’s 6thplace was a very credible performance against strong opposition. However, this did not meet with general approval back home where everyone expected medals. In fact, not even the Basketball Australia Board members realised just how strong international basketball was throughout the world, as most had little knowledge and experience of international basketball.”
Sixth place at the Barcelona Olympics was the second best ever performance by an Australian Men’s Team at Olympic competition and the team deserved high praise for their gutsy performances in the world’s toughest competition and the first Open Olympics. Many of the players from this team would continue on to represent Australia at another two Olympics, play around the world, in the NBA, and become high profile sportsmen in Australian sport.
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1992 Australian Olympic Basketball Team (Basketball Australia)
Back-row left to right: Barry Barnes (Assistant Coach), Patrick Hunt (Assistant Coach), Phil Smyth, Shane Heal, Leroy Loggins, Larry Sengstock, Mike McKay, Damian Keogh
Front row left to right: John TrivellionScott (Manager), Dr Adrian Hurley (Head Coach), Andrew Gaze, Mark Bradtke, Luc Longley, John Dorge, Ray Borner, Andrew Vlahov
Head Coach: Dr. Adrian Hurley
Assistant Coaches: Barry Barnes, Patrick HuntManager: John TrivellionScott
Medical Officer: Dr. Peter HarcourtPhysiotherapist: Craig Purdham
Referee: Bill Mildenhall
******OR USE PHOTO BELOW JILL
The 1992 Australian Olympic Men’s Basketball Team (Basketball Australia)
Back row left to right: Damian Keogh, Mike McKay, Larry Sengstock, Leroy Loggins, Shane Heal, Phil Smyth, Patrick Hunt (Assistant Coach), Barry Barnes (Assistant Coach)
Front row left to right: Andrew Vlahov, Ray Borner, John Dorge, Luc Longley, Mark Bradtke, Andrew Gaze, Dr Adrian Hurley (Head Coach), John TrivellionScott (Manager)