1980 — Moscow

HTML <h2><strong>1980 MOSCOW </strong><strong>OLYMPIC</strong><strong> GAMES</strong></h2>

HTML <p>The 1980 Olympics were the first Olympics Games to be held in Eastern Europe. The Games were seen as an opportunity for the rest of the world to experience life in a communist state.</p>

HTML <p>The 1980 Olympics were marred by an international boycott of the Games in response to the Soviet invasion of .</p>

HTML <p>In all 62 countries including the , , and did not compete in . Only 80 of the eligible 147 countries competed.</p>

HTML <p>A number of nations including Australia marched under the Olympic Flag during the Opening Ceremony rather than under national flags as a protest.</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Highlights of the Games</strong></h2>

HTML <p>Russian Alexander Dityatin winning eight medals, including three Gold Medals in gymnastics. </p>

HTML <p>Cuban heavyweight boxer Teofilo Stevenson becoming the first boxer in the history of the Olympics to win the same weight division in three Olympic Games.</p>

HTML <p>The great contests in the middle distance running between Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe of Great Britain.</p>

HTML <p>Ethiopian Yifter won the 5,000 and 10,000 metres track events</p>

HTML <p>The Olympic Flame in the stadium was lit by Soviet basketball great Sergei Belov.</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Australian Highlights</strong></h2>

HTML <p>Gold Medals were won by the men’s 4x100 metres swimming team and Michele Ford in the 800metres freestyle swimming.</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Australian Women’s Basketball Team</strong></h2>

HTML <p>In the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games only six teams would compete in the women’s basketball tournament.</p>

HTML <p>A Qualification Tournament was held in Varna, Bulgaria. The 22 teams participating were West Germany, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Korea, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, China, USA, France, Great Britain, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, Rumania and Yugoslavia.</p>

HTML <p>The tournament was organized into four groups of four teams and two groups of three teams. The teams played a round-robin competition between each other and the top two teams went to the next round of the tournament.</p>

HTML <p>Australia was drawn in Group E with Hungary and the USA.</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Game 1: Australia 57 USA 68</strong></h2>

HTML <p>The USA was the obvious favourites for the tournament and it was Australia’s bad luck to be drawn in their Group. The Australians surprised the Americans by only being behind 30-32 at half-time. The Australians were giving a very good account of themselves with Maree Jackson leading the way. In the second half the Australians stayed with the Americans for the most part but soon the Americans size and skill worked them out to a 36-27 second half and a victory 68-57.</p>

HTML <p>It was a terrific effort by Australia and it demonstrated that they could be a force in Olympic women’s basketball. Blazejowski led the USA with 18 points while Jackson led Australia with 15 points.</p>

HTML <p><strong>Australia:</strong> Gull 6, Smithwick, 6, Cheesman 6, Ogden 8, Christie 2, Nykiel 6, Mickan 4, Amiet 4, Jackson 15. Free throws: Australia 5/10 at 50%, Fouls 27 (Cheesman 5, Christie 5). FIBA does not have the USA statistics for this game.</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Game 2: Australia 62 Hungary 76</strong></h2>

HTML <p>The Australians then came up against the very strong Hungarian team one of the powerhouses of Europe. The Hungarians played strongly in the first half and the Australians were struggling to score and were behind 24-36 at half-time. The Hungarian player LenkeKiss was proving unstoppable. She was continually fouled and would go on to make 11 from 11 free-throws. The second half was a much better effort by the Australians as they lost that half 38-40. The damage had been done with their poor offense in the first half. L. Kiss 33 and Boksay 20 were the main scorers for Hungary. Jackson led the Australians with 13 points.</p>

HTML <p><strong>Australia:</strong> Gull 6, Smithwick 4, Cook 2, Cheesman 6, Ogden 6, Christie 5, Nykiel 8, Mickan 4, Hammond 4, Clarke 4, Jackson 13, Free-throws: Australia 10/18 at 55.6%, Hungary 16/20 at 80%, Fouls: Australia 25 (Cheesman 5) Hungary 19.</p>

HTML <p>The Leading scorers for Australia in the tournament were Jackson 28, Nykiel and Ogden 14, Cheesman and Gull 12. The Australians shot 15/28 free-throws at 53.6%.</p>

HTML <p>Maree Jackson was the 24th leading scorer in the tournament with 14.0 points per game.</p>

HTML <p>The Australians lost to the very strong USA team and to Hungary and therefore were out of the tournament and had to pack their bags and go home.</p>

HTML <p>This system of play was totally unfair on all teams. So much of the results depended on the group allocations. Australia was a better team than some of those who went on to the Olympic Finals in Moscow. </p>

HTML <p>Australia had travelled all the way to Bulgaria to play in the Qualification Tournament and played only two games.</p>

HTML <p>Women’s basketball was not being given the respect it deserved by FIBA or the IOC. By contrast in 1984 and 1988 the Australian Women’s Basketball Teams played up to ten games in their qualification tournaments. So things were rectified but all too late for the 1980 Australian Women’s Basketball Team.</p>

HTML <p>The five teams to join the USSR in Moscow were USA, Bulgaria, Cuba, Yugoslavia and Italy.Hungary claimed sixth position. Australia had therefore been in a group with the best and sixth best teams in the tournament. </p>

HTML <p>The USA subsequently boycotted the Moscow Olympics due to the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR. Hungary replaced the USA for the Finals in Moscow.</p>

HTML <p>At the Games in Moscow the USSR won the Women’s Basketball Gold Medal defeating Bulgaria 104-73.</p>

HTML <p>Yugoslavia defeated Hungary 68-65 for the Bronze Medal. This last result confirmed again Australia’s bad fortune to be drawn in a qualification group with the USA and Hungary as the USA the winners of the Qualification Tournament and Hungary the winners of the Bronze Medal at the Olympics were the Australian team’s opponents in their Group. </p>

HTML <p>The 1980 Australian Women’s Team Olympic Qualification Tournament Varna, Bulgaria (Basketball Australia)</p>

HTML <p>Top row left to right:Jim Madigan (Head Coach), Leanne Grantham (n&#233;e Christie), Maree Jackson, Jill Hammond (Captain), Eddie Crouch (Referee),Ray Tomlinson (Assistant Coach), Pat Mickan, Karen Ogden (Blicavs), Robyn Gull (Maher).</p>

HTML <p>Bottom row left to right:Sharon Deacon (n&#233;e Amiet), Julie Nykiel, Jenny Cheesman, Elaine Hardwick (Manager), Jan Smithwick, Di Cook, Debbie Clarke (n&#233;e Shelton)</p>

HTML <h2><strong>The 1980 Australian </strong><strong>Olympic </strong><strong>Men’s Basketball Team Preparation</strong></h2>

HTML <p>The Australian Men’s Olympic Basketball Team consisted of ten Victorian and two South Australian players with Lindsay Gaze from Victoria the Coach. Poor resultsfor Australia as a nationin Montreal in 1976 led to an Australian Federal Government re-think on funding for sport. Also the Australian Men’s Basketball Team received substantial financial support from Tattersalls. This support allowed much better selection process and preparation. The preparation included international series in Australia and tours overseas and in particular the tour to the USA in November 1979.</p>

HTML <p>The Australian men’s Olympic Basketball Team was named after an Olympic Training Camp in Melbourne over the Easter weekend holidays. Olympic preparation games were played in 1980 in Australia against Jugoplastika (a Yugoslavian Club), and US College teams Oklahoma State and Puget Sound. At this time in the development of basketball in Australia European club and US College teams were able to give the Australian National Team very good competition.</p>

HTML <p>After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan Prime Minister Malcolm Fraserwas considering whether to ban Australian teams from participating in the Games. Countries such as the USA were leading the way for a world-wide boycott of the Moscow Games. </p>

HTML <p>Bob Staunton the Australian Team Manager arranged with the international basketball body (FIBA)for the Australian Men’s Basketball Team to go to Munich,Germany for their preparation so that the team could prepare and also place pressure on the government to allow the Australians to compete in Moscow. </p>

HTML <p>The Australian Team trained for a week in Munich, Germany then travelled to Split, Yugoslavia for a week and played practice games against Club team Yugoplastika. From there the team travelled to Belgrade and then Nis, Yugoslavia where they played matches against the Yugoslavian National Team.</p>

HTML <p>The Australian Team’s participation in Moscow was in doubt until the 11th hour as Australia embroiled itself in a wide and very emotional debate on the proposed boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games. After massive public debate the Australian sports were allowed to decide for themselves whether to compete. The Australian Men’s Basketball Team chose to compete.</p>

HTML <p>When they arrived at the Olympic Village in Moscow the Australians played a practice game against the USSR. A combination of biased officiating and nerves saw the Australiansget off to a bad start and a large loss, but the second half was close and this gave the team heart. A second game was played against a USSR “Youth” team and the Australians lost a close game. The game did receive some media coverage back in Australia when a Peter Walsh and Peter Ali double team clash with the USSR giant Tkachenko (7ft 4 inches and 146kgs) forced the Russian to leave the court with a sprained ankle.</p>

HTML <p>Though the team preparation in the weeks prior to the Games was outstanding in its depth it was not necessarily seen by all as a good thing.</p>

HTML <p>“In hindsight the early departure from Australia was detrimental as by the time we got to Moscow many of the younger players were homesick and those of us who were older were sore and injured,” commentedteam captain Perry Crosswhite.</p>

HTML <p>The giant Soviet player Tchakenko (IOC)</p>

HTML <h2><strong>The Olympic Village</strong></h2>

HTML <p>The Australian team was fortunate to be housed in the first block of apartments of the Village closest to all the services which negated the team having to walk nearly a kilometre or having to catch an electric car to the athlete services. The team had one floor of the block exclusive to themselves and the players were two to a room....not so bad when compared to some previous Olympic Villages. The players and coaches felt that their hosts had done well by providing good food, laundry services and general comfort for the team. Each evening a variety show was performed for the athletes but as the basketball team was playing most days (or nights) the team did not get to see many of these shows which were quite spectacular. The team did however get to go to the Moscow Circus and the Bolshoi Ballet on two evenings prior to the Games commencing.</p>

HTML <p>The Australian Team trained at basketball halls some 40 minutes away from the Village. The courtswere not of a high standard in terms of the standard of the floors. The team claimed to wear out a brand new ball in one training session such was the roughness of the floor surfaces!</p>

HTML <h2><strong>The Opening Ceremony</strong></h2>

HTML <p>Misha the bear mascot of the Gamesat the Opening Ceremony (IOC)</p>

HTML <p>The Opening Ceremony at the Moscow Olympics was a triumph for the Soviets. With military like precision and a large array of culture, talent and colour the Opening Ceremony impressed a world-wide television audience. One of the highlights was the first use of display cards that the audience raised at certain times to present a mosaic of flags, symbols and of course the famous little bear mascot Misha who charmed the world. The athlete parade was led by the Greeks closely followed by the Australian OlympicTeam which included the basketball team. Sergei Belov, who scored the winning basket for the USSR in the Gold Medal game in Munich in 1972, was given the honour of igniting the Olympic Flame Cauldron.</p>

HTML <p>Gordie McLeod at the Opening Ceremony (G. McLeod)</p>

HTML <h2><strong>The Olympic Basketball Tournament</strong></h2>

HTML <p>The Olympicbasketball games were played in the Olympski Indoor Stadium and the CSKA Sports Palace.</p>

HTML <p>The tournament was divided into three groups of four with the two top teams in each group playing for positions one to six and the two bottom teams in each group playing for positions seven to twelve.</p>

HTML <p>Australia was in Group C with Italy, Cuba, and Sweden.</p>

HTML <h2><strong> Game 1</strong><strong>:</strong><strong>Australia</strong><strong> 76</strong><strong> v Cuba</strong><strong> 83</strong><strong> (40-40)</strong></h2>

HTML <p>Australia played Cuba in the first game the same as had happened in the Montreal Olympics.Cuba had finished in 7th place in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. They were renowned for their supreme jumping and athletic abilities. Cuba would be a very difficult task for the Australians particularly in the rebounding area. Australia got off to a good start and led throughout the first half mainly through hard defence and well balanced offense. Just before half-time the Cubans closed the gap and at half-time the scores were tied 40-40.</p>

HTML <p>Ian Davies was excelling in his first Olympic game while Smyth and Morseu were scoring to keep Australia in the game. Australia had a ten point lead not long after half-time. Cuba’s power game then kicked in and they soon wiped the deficit and got to a ten point lead.</p>

HTML <p>Australia fought back but were let down by poor foul-shooting and poor execution on offense,resulting in a final score of 83-76 victory for Cuba.Nevertheless it was a great effort and though disappointed the Australians knew that they would be very competitive in upcoming games.Luaces 14 points, Herrera 12, Morales 12, and Scott 12 were the main scorers for Cuba.</p>

HTML <p><strong>Australia:</strong> Tucker 11, Dalgleish 7, Davies 21, Morseu 12, Riddle 4, Sengstock 7, Smyth 13,Walsh 1.<strong>Shooting:</strong> 24/69 at 34%,<strong>Free-throws:</strong> 28/41 at 68%,<strong>Rebounds:</strong> Morseu 10, Davies 7, Walsh 6,Australia 42-Cuba 36,<strong>Steals:</strong> 11 <strong>Assists:</strong> 7 </p>

HTML <h2><strong>Game 2</strong><strong>:</strong><strong>Australia</strong><strong> 84</strong><strong> v Italy</strong><strong> 77</strong><strong> (34-44)</strong></h2>

HTML <p>Larry Sengstock (7) rebounds against No 11 Dino Meneghin and No 10 Marco Bonamico of Italy (IOC)</p>

HTML <p>The Italy game now became a must win situation for the Australiansas another loss could mean their chance to reach the top two in their Group was gone.</p>

HTML <p>The Italians were the European champions. They were big and strong and led by the legendary Dino Meneghin a giant of a man, the sharp-shooter RenatoVillata and the slick guard Marzorati. Italy had defeated Sweden 92-77 in their first game.</p>

HTML <p>Australia got off to another good start and at half-time led by ten points 44-34. Into the second half Italy quickly wiped out the ten point deficit. Davies was having a great game and the Italians had little answer to his shooting and skills. Smyth was dictating the tempo and also proving to be a handful for the Italians. The Australians fought back to recover the initiative with changing defences and lots of desperation towin 84-77<strong>.</strong>It was a magnificent team win and certainly shocked the Italians and the world of basketball. The Australianswere still in the race for the Quarter-Finals. The main scorers for Italy were Meneghin 18 points, Sylvester 18, and Villata 14.</p>

HTML <p><strong>Australia:</strong> Tucker 3, Davies 33, Morseu 13, Sengstock 12, Smyth 17, Crosswhite 5,<strong>Shooting:</strong> 33/75 at 44%,<strong>Free-throw</strong><strong>s:</strong> 18/32 at 56%,<strong>Assists:</strong> 4,<strong>Steals:</strong> 13,<strong>Rebounds:</strong>Australia 25-Italy 31.</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Game 3</strong><strong>:</strong><strong> Australia</strong><strong> 64</strong><strong> v Sweden</strong><strong> 55</strong><strong> (40-27)</strong></h2>

HTML <p>Going into the game against Sweden Australia knew that they had to defeat Sweden by more than eleven points to take a statistical top two position in their group. (Italy had defeated Sweden by fifteen points and Cuba had defeated the Swedes by eleven points). This was a statistical situation where the Aussies had not only to defeat Sweden but keep the margin greater than what the Italians and Cubans had defeated Sweden in the unlikely event that Italy defeated Cuba by exactly seven points. What were the odds of that happening?</p>

HTML <p>Once again the Australians got off to an excellent start and with Davies and Smyth running the show they forged to a 40-27 lead at half-time. The thirteenpoint lead was a good sign. However the Australians made a few crucial errors and turnovers in the second half and the Swedes, who were a good team, took advantage. Nevertheless the Australians had their chances in the last few minutes to get to the twelve point win required but errors cost them as they lost the second half to the Swedes. The Australians played some excellent team basketball and despite the errors won the match 64-55. The eventual nine point win margin was of credit to the team.</p>

HTML <p>Hopefully the result against Sweden would not affect Australia’s standing in the Group. The result was thought to be academic as only an extraordinary result between Cuba and Italy could put the Australians out of the Quarter-finals. </p>

HTML <p>For Sweden Yttergren 13 points, and Skyttevall 12 points were the main scorers.</p>

HTML <p><strong>Australia:</strong> Dalgleish 4, Davies 24, Morseu 4, Sengstock 12, Smyth 13, Crosswhite 5,<strong>Shooting:</strong>26/62 at 41%,<strong>Free-throws:</strong> 8/14 at 57%,<strong>Assists:</strong> 9,<strong>Steals:</strong>11,<strong>Rebounds:</strong> Davies 9, Morseu 8, Sengstock 7, Australia 32-Sweden 32 </p>

HTML <h2><strong>The Seven Point Game</strong></h2>

HTML <p>What followed was one of the most dramatic sequences of events in Australian Olympic basketball history even though the Australian Team was not directly involved.</p>

HTML <p>After the win over Sweden Lindsay Gaze explained the complicated statistical scenario to the media concerning the last game of the Group between Italy and Cuba:</p>

HTML <p>“If Cuba wins, then we go in. If Italy wins by less than six points, Cuba stays in. If Italy wins by more than seven points then Italy and we go in”</p>

HTML <p>In essence the only way Australia could miss out on advancing to the Quarter Finals would be if Italy defeated Cuba by exactly seven points.</p>

HTML <p>In the vital game the Cubans trailed Italy by up to twelve points for most of the second half only to draw to seven points in arrears with 45 seconds to play. </p>

HTML <p>At this time the unthinkable started to unfold. The Cubans realising that if the Italians got the ball and scored then they would be out of the Quarter Finals decided to hang on to the ball and refused to shoot the ball. Likewise the Italians did not want to risk a shot and allow Cuba to score as a five point win would put them out so they did not want to shoot the ball either. There was in fact a “Mexican standoff”.</p>

HTML <p>The Australians sitting in the stands were forced to watch the unthinkable. </p>

HTML <p>The game therefore froze to a 79-72 win for Italy. An Italian win by seven points!</p>

HTML <p>The Australians were stunned. The Australian Manager Bob Staunton spoke to the media afterwards, “Four years of work have gone into this...I just can’t believe it...none of us can.”</p>

HTML <p>Lindsay Gaze, the Coach, commented, “No one can describe the feeling of disappointment and disbelief of the team after the Italy-Cuba match.”</p>

HTML <p>He added, “Watching Italy and Cuba avoid scoring in the last minutes of the game to preserve the seven point margin made a mockery of the contest but was a tribute to pragmatism.”</p>

HTML <p>Any result other than a seven point win by Italy would have seen Australia through toits best result in Olympic Games to that time.</p>

HTML <p>As there was a three way tie between Australia, Italy and Cuba the three teams’ results against Sweden were taken into account. The nine point win over Sweden had come back against all odds to haunt the Australians.</p>

HTML <p>The result of the percentages for and against meant Australia missed out on a top two position in their Group with Italy and Cuba going through to the top six bracket.</p>

HTML <p>The mathematics worked out as follows:</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Team</strong><strong>W</strong><strong> L PF </strong><strong>PA PD </strong><strong>Pts 1st</strong><strong> Tie </strong><strong>2nd Tie 3</strong><strong>rd</strong><strong> Tie</strong></h2>

HTML <p>Italy 2 1 248 233 +15 5 1W-1L 1.000 1.064</p>

HTML <p>Cuba 2 1 226214 +12 5 1W-1L 1.000 1.056</p>

HTML <p>Australia 2 1 224215 +9 5 1W-1L 1.000 1.042</p>

HTML <p>Sweden 0 3 191 227 -36 3 </p>

HTML <p><strong>Australian Results in </strong><strong>Group C:</strong> Cuba 83-Australia 76; Australia 84-Italy 77; Australia 64-Sweden 55.</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Classification Games</strong></h2>

HTML <p>Australia was now to play for positions seven to twelve in a group that consisted of Sweden (Australia’s win over Sweden was carried over to this Group so they did not play again), Poland, India, Czechoslovakia, Senegal and Australia.</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Classification for positions 7-12</strong></h2>

HTML <h2><strong>Game 4</strong><strong>:</strong><strong> Australia</strong><strong> 91</strong><strong>v Czechoslovakia</strong><strong> 86</strong><strong> (41-44)</strong></h2>

HTML <p> The determination of the Australian team was demonstrated by their excellent results in the position playoff games following the disappointment of their Group C games.</p>

HTML <p>The Czechs had lost to Brazil by one point and had extended the USSR. They had finished third in the European Championships and second in the European Olympic Qualification Tournament. The Czechs were a very big side and contained European superstar KamilBrabenec.</p>

HTML <p>The first-half of the game was nip and tuck with the teams going basket for basket. The Czech’s went to a 44-41 half-time lead. Davies was again proving extremely difficult for the opposition and was scoring from range as well as off his team-mates screens. Smyth was in control of the game and Sengstock was competing manfully on the boards as well as scoring. The Australians continued to foil the Czech switching defences tactics with good shooting and offense. Davies was having a great game and would take 27 shots in the game scoring 17 at 62%. Fantastic shooting! The rest of the Australian Team took 45 shots as a group. Brabenec was being was being stifled by the Australian defence and only took nine shots.</p>

HTML <p>The Australians were playing an up tempo game to offset the size of the Czechs. With good offense and aggression the Australians were able to win 91-86. This was the first time Australia had beaten Czechoslovakia in Olympic or World Championship play.Kropilak 32 points and Rajniak 18 points were the main scorers for Czechoslovakia. Brabenec scored 8 points for the Czechs.</p>

HTML <p><strong>Australia:</strong> Ali 2, Dalgleish 5, Davies 36, Morseu 12, Sengstock 15, Smyth 15, Crosswhite 6,<strong>Shooting:</strong> 41/72 at 56%,<strong>Free-throws:</strong> 9/13 at 69%,<strong>Assists:</strong>6,<strong>Steals:</strong> 8,<strong>Rebounds:</strong> Sengstock 11, Crosswhite 7, Australia 30-Czechoslovakia 30 </p>

HTML <h2><strong>Game 5</strong><strong>:</strong><strong>Australia</strong><strong> 71</strong><strong> v Poland</strong><strong> 101</strong><strong> (35-42)</strong></h2>

HTML <p>Poland was one of the stronger teams in Europe and had a reputation as a very solid team.</p>

HTML <p>The Poles played strongly in the first half and were concentrating on stopping Smyth and Davies as best they could. At half-time the Poles led 42-35. The Australians came back to draw close. The Poles, recognising the continuing influence of Smyth and Davies,then used a combination of defences including a Box and One and a Triangle and Two to concentrate their defences on the two Australians. Using these tactics the Poles extended their six point half-time lead to twenty. Mlynarski was having a field day for the Poles on offense. The Poles were to outshoot the Australians 43/71 at 60% to Australia’s 32/82 at 39%. The Poles continued their excellent shooting along with their changing defencesto defeat Australia 101-74.It was a disappointing loss for the Australians but considering what they had been through in missing out on the Quarter-Finals perhaps a let-down was on the cards. For Poland Mlynarski 34 points and Kijewski 22 points were the main scorers. Davies again led the Australian scoring.</p>

HTML <p><strong>Australia:</strong> Tucker 10, Ali 7, Dalgleish 2, Davies 23, Morseu 6, Sengstock 12, Smyth 12, Crosswhite 2.<strong>Shooting:</strong> 32/82 at 39%,<strong>Free-throws:</strong> 10/19 at 52%,<strong>Assists:</strong> 7,<strong>Steals:</strong> 11,<strong>Rebounds:</strong> Davies 11, Sengstock 9, Australia 33-Poland 37 </p>

HTML <h2><strong>Games 6</strong><strong>:</strong><strong>Australia</strong><strong> 95</strong><strong> v Senegal</strong><strong> 64</strong><strong> (51-37)</strong></h2>

HTML <p>Even though Senegal had some good athletes with talent and several players who played in the French Leagues the Australians knew that they should defeat the inexperienced opposition. Things were perhaps a little tight in the first half and at half-time the Australians only led 51-37. However the well drilled Australianscontinued to stay focused and efficient and increased their lead to win 95-64.All the Australian players got court time and some of the bench players got their major minutes in the tournament. Crosswhite did not play due to injury. Dia with 22 points was the main scorer for Senegal.</p>

HTML <p><strong>Australia:</strong> Tucker 12, Walsh 2, Ali 3,Breheney 10, Dalgleish 6, Davies 32, McLeod 2, Morseu 10, Sengstock 5, Smyth 13<strong>Shooting:</strong> 39/74 at 52%,<strong>Free-throws:</strong> 17/29 at 58%,<strong>Assists:</strong>17,<strong>Steals:</strong> 15,<strong>Rebounds:</strong> Sengstock 11, Davies 7, Walsh 6, Australia 43-Senegal 29.</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Game 7</strong><strong>:</strong><strong> Australia</strong><strong> 93 v India 75 (41-37)</strong></h2>

HTML <p>India struggled throughout the tournament and showed they had a long way to go before challenging teams at the Olympics. These games against lowly ranked opponents are always somewhat difficult as the Australians expected to win and motivation and desperation can sometimes be not up to the levels they should be.The game was also a chance to give players whohad not had much court time some more opportunities. </p>

HTML <p>Ian Davies contests a rebound against India while Phil Smyth awaits the outcome (IOC)</p>

HTML <p>The first half did not go to script with the Indians gaining confidence every minute and the Australians saw themselves only leading 41-37 at half-time. The alarm bells were not ringing but the Australian needed to up their efforts, particularly on defence, and put the Indians away. Once again Davies had to answer the call and the Indians could not cope with him. He took 35 shots and made 15 at 42%. Morseu and Smyth were the only other players in double figures. The Australians played strongly in the second half and powered away to a 93-75 win. For India Chopra 25 points and Nagarajan 16 points were the main scorers.</p>

HTML <p><strong>Australia:</strong> Tucker 2, Ali 4,Breheney 6, Dalgleish 2, Davies 36, Morseu 16, Sengstock 8, Smyth 19.<strong>Shooting:</strong> 39/93 at 39%,<strong>Free-throws:</strong> 15/22 at 68%,<strong>Assists:</strong>15,<strong>Steals:</strong> 27,<strong>Rebounds:</strong> Sengstock 13, Davies 11, Australia 47-India 36.</p>

HTML <p><strong>’s </strong><strong>Positions 6 to 12</strong><strong> results</strong><strong>:</strong> 91-Czechoslovakia 86; 101-Australia 74; Australia 95-Senegal 64; 93-India 75. </p>

HTML <h2><strong>Final Positions in the classification for 7-12 positions</strong></h2>

HTML <p>Poland 4-1, Australia 4-1, Czechoslovakia 3-2, Sweden 3-2, Senegal 1-4, India 0-5.</p>

HTML <p>Australia therefore finished in 8th position in the tournament,its equal best result at Olympic competition.</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Olympic Basketball Medals</strong></h2>

HTML <p>The Soviet Union defeated Spain 117-94 to take the Bronze Medal.</p>

HTML <p>Yugoslavia defeated Italy 86-77 to take the Gold Medal.</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Final </strong><strong>P</strong><strong>ositions</strong><strong> in the Tournament</strong><strong>:</strong></h2>

HTML <p>1. Yugoslavia </p>

HTML <p>2. Italy </p>

HTML <p>3. Soviet Union</p>

HTML <p>4. Spain </p>

HTML <p>5. Brazil</p>

HTML <p>6. Cuba </p>

HTML <p>7. Poland </p>

HTML <p>8. Australia </p>

HTML <p>9. Czechoslovakia </p>

HTML <p>10. Sweden </p>

HTML <p>11. Senegal </p>

HTML <p>12. India</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Rule changes</strong></h2>

HTML <p>Bonus free-throws after eight fouls.</p>

HTML <p>Disqualification of the coach after the third technical foul.</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Australian </strong><strong>Team </strong><strong>Statistics</strong></h2>

HTML <p><strong>Scoring:</strong>Ian Davies was the leading scorer at the Olympics (all teams) with 205 points at an average just below 30 points a game.Davies took 183 shots and made 91 at 49%. There was no three point line at this time.</p>

HTML <p>Davies 205 points,Smyth102, Crosswhite 77, Morseu 73, and Sengstock 71were Australia’s leading scorers. </p>

HTML <p>Davies led the team in assists (13) followed by Sengstock (10) and Smyth (9).</p>

HTML <p>Point guard Phil Smyth established his early career as the “General”. He finished the tournament with 102 points (7 games) and was 23rd highest scorer in the tournament. </p>

HTML <p>Ian Davies dunks the ball (IOC)</p>

HTML <p><strong>Total Rebounds:</strong>Australia’s leading rebounders were Sengstock 62, Davies 54, Tucker 25, Smyth 18, and Dalgleish, Crosswhite and Walsh with 16 each. </p>

HTML <p>Phil Smyth led the free-throw shooting percentage for Australia with 28/33 at 84% followed by Morseu at 5/6 at 83% (6 attempts minimum to be included in the Olympic table for all teams).</p>

HTML <p>Australia was ranked 9thin team shooting at 43% (236/538), ranked 11th in free-throw shooting at 61% (105/170), and ranked 5th in assists with 65 (Spain led the way with 105). It was 4th lowest in fouls with 159.</p>

HTML <p>Smyth led the team in steals with 20, followed by Davies 19 and Sengstock 15.</p>

HTML <p>The overall recording of the game statistics recorded for FIBA history was sparse. The only comparison between individuals from the teams was in scoring. No other rankings were made. Turnovers were not included in the reported statistics.</p>

HTML <h2><strong>Overview</strong></h2>

HTML <p>The 1980 Australian Olympic Basketball Team confirmed once again that Australia deserved its top ten world ranking.</p>

HTML <p>“Most importantly the results achieved by the 1972, 1976 and 1980 Australian Olympic Basketball Teams cemented the Oceania Qualification place which had been established in 1972,” states Perry Crosswhite the 1980 Australian Olympic Team captain.</p>

HTML <p>A new star in Ian Davies had arrived on the scene from virtually out of nowhere (due to the fact that he played high school and college basketball in the USA). Ian returned to Australia at the end of 1979 and played with Launceston at the beginning of 1980 and received a last minute invitation to the March selection camp and was selected for the Australian Olympic Team. </p>

HTML <p>Ian’s prodigious shooting and scoringin Moscow 1980 was to continue the tradition of Australian teams having one of the highest (if not highest) scoring players in the Olympic men’s basketball tournaments, following on from Eddie Palubinskas in 1972 and 1976 and to be continued by Andrew Gaze from 1988 through to the 2000 Sydney Games.</p>

HTML <p>The 1980 Olympic Games also saw the debuts of Olympic stars Phil Smyth and Larry Sengstockand the retirement of Perry Crosswhite.</p>

HTML <p>The seven point “nightmare” would have gutted most teams but the Australians showed their mettle by coming back from such a huge disappointment. Things were about to change back in Australia with the rise of the National Basketball League (NBL) which had commenced in 1979. The Australian Men’s Basketball Team was now a consistent top ten team in world basketball and was moving up the ranks. They would go on to take three 4th places in Olympic Games (1988, 1996, and 2000) in the next two decades.</p>

HTML <h2><strong>The 1980 Australian Men’s Olympic Basketball Team</strong><strong> (Basketball Australia)</strong></h2>

HTML <p>Left to right: Bob Staunton (Manager), Perry Crosswhite (Captain),Stuart Gray (Physiotherapist), Larry Sengstock, Alan Dawe (Assistant Coach), Mel Dalgleish, Les Riddle, Peter Walsh, Ian Davies, Gordie McLeod, Peter Ali, Steve Breheney, Michael Tucker, Phil Smyth, Danny Morseu, Lindsay Gaze (Coach) </p>

HTML <p>The 1980 Men’s Olympic Team at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games (Basketball Australia) Left to right: Perry Crosswhite, Peter Ali, Steve Breheny, Mel Dalgleish, Alan Dawe, Lindsay Gaze, John Holden, Gordie McLeod, Danny Morseu, Les Riddle, Larry Sengstock, Phil Smyth, Michael Tucker</p>