1972 MUNICH OLYMPIC GAMES
The 1972 Olympic Games were the second Summer Olympic Games to be held in after the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
These Olympics featured many beautiful new facilities and venues.
Over 7,000 athletes competed in the Games in 23 sports.
The Games began in the warm Bavarian sun and the cool evening of the Opening Ceremony. These were to be the Games of Peace and Joy. Unfortunately the Games would be remembered not for peace and joy but for the killing of eleven Israeli athletes in the Olympic Village by Palestinian terrorists in an event that became known as the “Munich Massacre”. For a time the Olympic Games were in doubt as to whether they should continue. But continue they did.
Highlights of the Games
Mark Spitz of the USA winning 7 Gold Medals in swimming.
Olga Korbut a tiny Soviet gymnast winning 2 Gold Medals in gymnastics.
LasseViren of Finland winning the 5,000 and 10,000 metres track events.
ValerieiBorzov of the USSR winning the 100 and 200 metres sprints.
Shane Gould, a 15 year old swimmer from Australia, winning 3 Gold Medals, a Silver Medal and a Bronze Medal in the swimmimg.
Australian highlights
Australian Gold Medal winners in swimming were Shane Gould (3), Brad Cooper, Gail Neale and Beverley Whitfield one each.
Australian sailors scored an unprecedented two Gold Medals with Tom Anderson, John Cuneo and John Shaw in the Dragon Class and John and Tom Andersen (twins) winning the Star Class
The Olympic Village
The Australians were the first nation to arrive at the Olympic Village and much was made of their arrival. The Mayor of Munich led an Australian flag raising ceremony which included a marching band. They soon settled into the Village where the facilities and food were first class and unlike previous Olympics only two persons to a room.
The Basketball Hall was approximately nine kilometers from the Village.
The 1972 Munich Olympic Village (R. Duke)
The Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony was held on August 26th 1972 in Munich at the Olympic Stadium. The Australian Men’s Basketball Team had packed lunches given to them. Then they assembled outside the main stadium at one o’clock and the whole Australian Olympic Team marched into the stadium. The tallest of the basketball team led the Australian parade behind the Australian Flag Bearer.
The 1972 Munich Olympic Stadium (R. Duke)
The Games were opened by German President Gustave Heinemann. German athlete Gunter Zahn lit the Olympic Flame.
Australia sent a team of 177 athletes and officials to Munich, 148 men and 29 women. Kayaker Dennis Green carried the Australian Flag. Green was competing at his fifth Olympics, the first Australian to do so. Dual 1968 Gold medalist Michael Wenden carried the Flag in the Closing Ceremony.
Preparation of the Australian Olympic Men’s Basketball Team
The 1972 Australian Men’s Olympic basketball team was the first Olympic basketball team to qualify through the new Oceania Olympic Qualification Zone. This meant that if Australia defeated New Zealand and other Pacific Island nations in the Oceania region it would qualify for the Olympics. Australiadefeated NZ to qualify for the Munich Olympic Games..
Most of the Australian Team was based in Victoria and played in the very strong Victorian Basketball Association. The Australian Team also featured for the first time naturalized American players. These players were Perry Crosswhite, Ken James and Tom Bender.
The team was under the coaching of Lindsay Gaze who had been one of Australia’s outstanding national players during the nineteen sixties. Tours to the USA for matches, US College and European teams coming to Australia and a tour to Iran and the Philippines were the major forms of preparation for the Australian Team in the years before the Olympics.
The Australian Team after a training session in Munich 1972 (R. Duke)
After the team arrived in Munich Australia played Great Britain in a practice match in the University Gym and won 111-56. Great Britain was yet to qualify and was on their way to the Qualifying Tournament in Augsburg.
The Australians followed this game with a win over Senegal 73-43 in another practice match and a morale boosting one point win over Yugoslavia a world basketball power.
The Australians left Munich and flew down to Milan, Italy and then by bus to Verese where they defeated the Italian National Team 76-75 in a practice game. A second practice game with the Italians ended in a draw.After the game the team enjoyed a leisurelybus trip to Lugano Switzerland, then back to Verese before travelling to Milan airport for the flight to Munich.
The Australian did not repeat the mistakes of 1968 where that team did not have sufficient time or games together prior to the Olympics. Also this time around they had a very supportive Australian Basketball Union.
Waiting for the team bus outside the training hall (R. Duke)
The Olympic Basketball Tournament
The basketball competition was held in the Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle in Munich a 6,356 seat stadium/hall.
The basketball tournament was played in the “Basketball Halle” which had a capacity of 6,356 spectators.
The Munich Olympic Basketball Halle (Richard Duke)
The Olympic basketball tournament was divided into two groups of eight.
Australia was drawn in Group A with Spain, USA, Czechoslovakia, Japan, Cuba, Brazil and Egypt.
The Olympic Tournament commenced on August 27th. As was usual, four games were played in the mornings and four games were played in the evenings. The Americans were the favourites for the tournament but they had been defeated by Cuba in the Pan American Games and had only got past Brazil in overtime so they were not considered invincible. There were other issues within the American team and their best player Bill Walton was unavailable for selection.
The Australian Team outside their apartments in the Olympic Village (L. Gaze)
Game 1: Australia 74 Spain 79 (41-36)
The Spanish team qualified for the Olympics through the very tough pre-Olympic Qualification Tournament in Augsburg where twelve teams had gathered to contest for two spots in the Olympic tournament. The pre-Olympic Tournament was a marathon contest. When the dust had settled Spain and Poland qualified for the finals in Munich. The Spanish were battle-hardened. Hopefully they would be very tired. They had also finished 7th in the Mexico City Olympics where Australia had failed to get through the Qualification Tournament. They were a very talented team with household name players such as Brabender, Margall and a future star in Corbalan, however they were also a team with a few internal problems. Could Australia cause the upset?
It looked like they could in the first half when with Palubinskas and Crosswhite leading the way the Australians got to 41-36 lead. After half-time however the Spanish made a run at the Australians. Their cause was helped significantly when the entire first five players for Australia fouled out of the game. The Australians were being pounded on the boards where Spain held the advantage 27 to 7. In a nail biter the Aussies were defeated 79-74.
Australia had played well against the strong Spanish team but was not able to come away with a very important win. Australia’s main scorers were Palubinskas 25 and Crosswhite 16. For Spain Ramos 17, Luyk 14, Brabender 12 were the main scorers.
Australia:Byrne 4, Watson 2, Tomlinson 6, Palubinskas 25, James 8, Crosswhite 16, Duke 6, Wyatt 7, Tomlinson 6.Rebounds:Tomlinson 7, Australia 9-Spain 27.
Duke, Palubinskas, Crosswhite, Tomlinson, James all had 5 fouls and fouled out of the game.
Game 2: Australia 55 USA 81 (24-36)
The USA was not invincible as their results in the Pan American Tournament had shown, they were beatable. The Americans were coached by the legendary college coach Hank Iba. At this time the team consisted of college or amateur (AAU) players. The Americans were using a full-court pressure defence which troubled teams but also led to foul trouble for them. In their previous game the US had defeated the strong Czech team 66-35 with the Czechs only scoring 12 points in the first half against the aggressive American defence.
Games against the US are always difficult as players and coaches have to believe a win is possible against the USA who at this stage had never been beaten in Olympic competition (75games).
Australia was not overawed and after 10 minutes the scores were even. At half-time the score was 36-24 to the USA. The Australians were doing better than the Czechs had done. In the second half the US juggernaut kicked into overdrive and they went on to overpower theAustralians 81-55. The Australian Team was very pleased that they had been competitive.The USA had too much power and size for the Australians and outrebounded them 32 to 12 with the giant Jim Brewer grabbing 10 rebounds. Palubinskas was the only Australian player to reach double figures in scoring. For the USARatleff 18, and Jones 12 were the main scorers.
Australia:Byrne 2, Bender 4, Palubinskas 10, Kerle 8, James 8, Crosswhite 9, Duke 6, Wyatt 1.Rebounds:Bender 5, Crosswhite 4, Australia 12-USA 32.
Game 3: Australia 68 Czechoslovakia 69 (38-39)
The Czechs had been soundly beaten by the USA 66-35 but then bounced back in an unconvincing style to defeat Japan 74-61 after being down at half-time 34-27. So they were not in great form and were vulnerable even with their talent.
In a thrilling game the two teams battled it out point for point until half-time when the Australians trailed by one point 39-38. The second half was a torrid affair but Australia appeared likely winners with a five point lead in the last three minutes. However a few errors and some indifferent officiating let the Czechs off the hook and Australia lost 69-68. Australia’s main scorers were Palubinskas 27, Kerle 8, James 8. For Czechoslovakia Brabenechad 16 points, Zidek 11, and Kos 10. Kos had 10 rebounds.
Australia:Kerle 8, Palubinskas 27, Watson 1,Byrne 2, Crosswhite 9, James 8, Duke 6,Wyatt 1, Tomlinson 6.Rebounds: James 4, Crosswhite 4, Palubinskas 4, Australia 19 Czechoslovakia 30. Byrne, Watson, Duke, and James all had 5 fouls.
Game 4: Australia 92 Japan 76 (45-36)
Australia had now lost three games from three but with a bit more luck and skill could have been two wins and one loss. But they had to keep pressing ahead to see what they could achieve. Japan had lost to Brazil 110-55 and to Czechoslovakia 74-62. Their 12 point loss to the Czechs indicated that they would not be easy beats.
The Japanese were fast and relatively skilled but lacked good big players. It was important for the Aussies to get away to a good start and not to give their opponents the sense of a win. The Australians got to a half-time lead of 45-36 so victory was not assured. With good scoring from a number of players the Australian Team was able to run out solid winners 92-76. For Australia Palubinskas 21, Crosswhite 19, and James 14 were the main scorers. For Japan Taniguchi 24 points, Yokoyama 17 and Abe 15 were best.
Australia:Kerle 6,Koltuniewicz 3, Palubinskas 21, Watson 2, Byrne 12, Bender 2, Crosswhite 19, James 14, Duke 9, Wyatt 4.Rebounds:Duke 5, Crosswhite 4
Game 5: Australia 70 Cuba 84 (31-42)
Cuba was renowned for their great athleticism, quickness and leaping ability. They had placed 11th in the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games. So far they had defeated Egypt 105-64, Spain 74-53, lost to the USA 67-48 and defeated Czechoslovakia 77-65 and were in good form.
The Australian Team matched Cuba for the first part of the game but a Cuban burst saw them lead by 11 points at half-time 42-31. Palubinskas was scoring well but Koltuniewicz (10) and Duke (11) were the only other two in double figures and although the second half was mainly an even affair the Aussies could not bridge the gap and weredefeated84-70. Palubinskas scored 23 for Australia, while Urgelles 27 points and Herrera 14 points were best for Cuba.
Australia:Kerle 4,Koltuniewicz 10, Palubinskas 23,Byrne 4, Tomlinson 12, Bender 2, Crosswhite 8, James 4, Duke 11, Wyatt 4.Rebounds:Kerle 6,Koltuniewicz 3, Watson 3, Australia 19-Cuba 25. Byrne 5 fouls
Game 6: Australia 75 Brazil 69(40-34)
The Australians were now one win and four losses and any hopes of a Quarter Final position in the top eight of the tournament was gone. Brazil had secured 4th place four years before in Mexico City and were a world power in basketball. So far in the tournament they had defeated Japan 110-55, Egypt 110-84, Spain 72-69, lost to the USA 61-54 and beaten Czechoslovakia 83-82 and were heavily favoured to defeat the Australians.
This game was set down for 9am in the morning. The Australians were hoping that their opponents who were World Champions in 1966 would not be at their best having to play at that time of the day. Brazil preferred a “run and gun” style of play while the Australians preferred their controlled, structured offense combined with harassing defence. The Australian Team prepared very well with a 6.00am start to their day and a long warm-up. They got the early jump on the Brazilians and with most of the scoring being done by four players they were able to lead 40-34 at half-time. The Brazilians were keeping Palubinskas relatively quiet by his standards but Crosswhite, James and Duke were strong scorers. The Aussies played their best basketball of the tournament so far to win 75-69.
It was a great win and led the Aussies to believe “if only” they had played that well in the previous games then they may have been in the top 8. Crosswhite 21 points and Palubinskas 16 were the top scorers for Australia while Leite 18 points, Ubiratan 17, and Garcia 12 were best for Brazil.
Australia:Koltuniewicz9, Palubinskas 16, Byrne 2, Crosswhite 21, James 13,Duke 14,Rebounds:Crosswhite 7, Australia 20,-Brazil 25.Byrne and Kerle 5 fouls.
Game 7: Australia 89 Egypt 66 (44-24)
Egypt had qualified in second place (behind Senegal) in the African Zone qualifications. So far in the tournament they had lost toCuba 105-64, Brazil 110-84, Japan 78-73 Spain 72-58, USA 96-31 and Czechoslovakia 94-64 so they should not present a problem for the Australians who were on a high after their win over Brazil.
The Australians got away to a flying start and led 44-24 at halftime and the game was virtually over.
The game allowed all players to get some court time and the Australians took no chances on their way to win 89-66. Crosswhite 17 points and Palubinskas 16 were the main scorers for Australia while Abdeinabi 14 points, Tewfik 13 and Selim 12 were best for Egypt.
Australia:Kerle 6,Koltuniewicz 2, Marsland 5, Palubinskas 16, Watson 6, Bender 8, Crosswhite 17, James 14, Duke 3, Wyatt 12.Rebounds: Kerle 7; Australia 28-Egypt 18,
Marsland 5 fouls.
Group A Classification:
USA 7-0 Cuba 6-1 Brazil 4-3 Czechoslovakia 4-3 Spain 3-4
Australia 3-4 Japan 1-6 Egypt 0-7
Australia and Spain finished equal in the Group A round robin but as Spain had defeated Australia they finished higher on the results table.
The results were however encouraging as it was clear that Australia could compete equally against all teams except perhaps for the USA.
The Olympic Massacre
The Australians now had a rest day and did some sight-seeing. The day ended in tragedy when Palestinian terrorists invaded the Israel accommodation in the Olympic Village. Two Israelis were shot and ninewere taken hostage. The Australians were within ear-shot of the events as their quarters were only some 400 metres away.
Team-member Brian Kerle recalls, “We heard noises during the night of the attack, when we woke there were guards outside our doors. We could see the Palestinians in the Israeli quarters as they were only two blocks away.”
“Waking up in the Olympic Village and hearing that Islamic terrorists had killed two Israeli athletes, taken nine more athletes hostages and were barricaded in thebuilding next to ours was a sickening way to start a day,” says Ken James a member of the Australian men’s basketball team.
A terrorist in the Olympic Village (K. James personal collection from a newspaper at the Games)
The day long drama ended with more violence when terrorists and hostages were killed.
The rescue operation resulted in the nine hostages being killed along with a West German policeman and five of the terrorists.
The next day a memorial service was held at the Olympic stadium and 80,000 people paid their respects and expressed their grief. Avery Brundage, the IOC chief, announced that the Games would continue a day late in the schedule.
The Commemorative Service for the slain at the 1972 Olympic Games (IOC)
“For me the most moving experience of the two weeks competition was not on the basketball court, but at the Olympic stadium where a service was held for the slain athletes,” recalls team-member Tom Bender.
Coach Lindsay Gaze summed up, “The tragedy of the conflict between Arab terrorists and Israeli athletes marred what looked like being the best of the modern Olympics and changed the attitude towards security at Olympic Games forever.”
Classification Games (Places 9-12)
Game 8: Australia 70 West Germany 69 (34-46)
There was quite some confusion at this stage of the basketball tournament because the IOC had ruled that the basketball games would not be held until the next day but the basketball tournament officials were unaware of this and the basketball competition went ahead.
Egypt took the court against the Philippines, bowed and left the court.
The Australians continued their warm-up only to be told the game was postponed. Then it was decided to play the game so after a stop start warm-up and uncertainty the game commenced.
The Germans had finished in fifth place in Group B with a 3win 4 loss record the same as the Australians had in their group. Their best win was a two point win over Poland (67-65)
The Germans,in front of a packed stadium…mostly Germans,seemed to handle the unsettling approach better and they led by 14 at half-time (46-34). The Aussies were in trouble. Palubinskas was scoring well but so were the Germans who were using their height advantage to good effect. Australia fought back well using a zone defense against the tall opposition and in a last few minutes when there were errors from both teams the Australians tied the score. Palubinskas had fouled out and the Australians had lost their main scoring weapon. The Germans worked for the winning basket but guard Ken James deflected a pass, was fouled and in front of the home country fans screaming their heads off calmly sank one free-throw to win the game 70-69. For Australia Palubinskas 28 points, Crosswhite 12, and James 11 were the main scorers. For West Germany Thimm 22 points, Geschwindner 14, and Pollex 10 were best.
Australia: Kerle 8,Koltuniwicz 2, Palubinskas 28,Crosswhite 12, James 11, Duke 4, Wyatt 5.Rebounds:Kerle 8, James 7, Australia 29-Germany 19. Palubinskas 5 fouls
Ken James shoots a free-throw against West Germany (K. James)
Game 9: Australia 91 Poland 83 (41-42)
Poland had defeated Spain (87-76) and earned the right to play the Australians for positions 9-10. The Poles had finished in 6th place in Group B with a 2 win 5 loss record.
They had defeated Australia in most controversial circumstances in the Mexico City Olympic Qualification Tournament in Monterrey 4 years before (when Australian centre Carl Rodwell was incorrectly assessed with 5 fouls) and the Australians were keen to put the record straight as to who was the better basketball nation.
At half-time the Poles had edged to a one point lead 42-41.In a hard fought second half the Australians held their nerve and in the last few minutes kicked away for a 91-83 win and secured 9th position in the tournament. Palubinskas 24 points was the Australian top scorer while Kozak 16 points, and Pasiorowski 15 were best for Poland.
Australia: Kerle 10, Palubinskas 24, Watson 2, Byrne 3, Tomlinson 4, Bender 2, Crosswhite 10, James 9, Duke 19, Wyatt 8.Rebounds:Crosswhite 7, James 6, Kerle 5, Australia 25-Poland 22.
The Gold Medal Game
The final of the tournament for the gold medal was to become the most famous game in basketball history.
In the final between the USA and the Soviet Union Doug Collins of the US sank two free-throws to give the US a 50-49 lead with three seconds left in the game. After inbounding the ball with a full-court pass from the baseline the Soviets failed to score on their possession and it was assumed the Americans had won, but the play was called back. It was ruled that the Soviets had requested a time-out after the Collins free-throws and the ball should not have been inbounded.
The Soviets had another attempt at scoring and failed again, however the play was re-called as it was ruled that the clock had been re-set to .50 seconds instead of 3 seconds so the play was run yet again.
This time the Soviets threw a full-court pass to Alexander Belov who caught the ball high and near the basket then took three steps…so claimed by the Americans…and sank the lay-up for a 51-50 win for the Soviets. The USA protested to no avail and subsequently refused to accept their Silver Medals which to this day are held in a vault in Switzerland.
Some of the outstanding players at the tournament were Sergei Belov and Alexander Belov of the USSR and Doug Collins, Mike Bantom and Jim Brewer of the USA.
USSR’s Belov celebrates the winning basketin the Gold Medal Game (IOC)
Doug Collins of the USA shooting with three seconds left in the game. He was to make two free-throws to give the USA the lead (Photograph taken by Australian player Richard Duke)
The rule changes in the basketball:
In the last three minutes all fouls free-throws rule was eliminated.
A jump ball is ruled if a player is closely guarded for 5 seconds and does not make progress.
The court measurements were changed to metric.
Final standings
1. USSR
2. USA
3. Cuba
4. Italy
5. Yugoslavia
6. Puerto Rico
7. Brazil
8. Czechoslovakia
9. Australia
10. Poland
11. Spain
12. West Germany
13. Philippines
14. Japan
15. Senegal
16. Egypt
Overview
In the Olympic Basketball Tournament, Australia had played strong basketball. Most teams had great difficulty combating Australia’s screening and ball movement offense and the tremendous shooting abilities of Eddie Palubinskas.
Unfortunately the team got off to a slow start losing their first three games. Losses to Czechoslovakia and Spain kept the Australians out of the Quarter-Finals.
With a much better start a much higher position could have been obtained.
Nevertheless the team had shown great improvement and their performance was very encouraging after the disappointments of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
Their most significant wins were over the powerful Brazilian team and Poland for 9th position.
Eddie Palubinskas was the second leading scorer for the Olympic tournament with 190 points, only one point behind a Japanese player.
“It was a great pleasure to be associated with the strongest team ever to represent Australia. Ninth position in a sport that affiliates 132 nations, speaks for itself,” commented Frank Angove the Team Manager.
Perry Crosswhite the team captain remarked, “The 1972 Australian Olympic Basketball
Team proved to the rest of the basketball world that we had arrived and deserved to be
included in world competitions.”
The 1972 Australian Olympic Men’s Basketball Team(L. Gaze)
Back-row left to right: Perry Crosswhite, Ray Tomlinson, Peter Byrne, Ken James, Toli Koltuniewicz, Brian Kerle, Tom Bender
Front row left to right: Lindsay Gaze (Coach), Bill Wyatt, Ian Watson, Glenn Marsland, Eddie Palubinskas, Richard Duke, Frank Angove (Manager)