Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics was the seventeenth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It was held from 9 August to 24 August 2008. Competitions were held at the Wukesong Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China.

17th Olympic Basketball Tournament
Beijing 2008
Tournament details
Olympics	2008 Summer Olympics
Host nation	China
City	Beijing
Venue	Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium
Duration	August 9–24, 2008
Men's tournament
Teams	12
Medals Gold medalists United States Silver medalists Spain Bronze medalists Argentina
Women's tournament
Teams	12
Medals Gold medalists United States Silver medalists Australia Bronze medalists Russia
Official website
www.olympicbasketball.fiba.com
Tournaments
← Athens 2004  London 2012 →

Medalists

Beijing Wukesong Arena, basketball venue for the 2008 Summer Olympics

See also: List of Olympic medalists in basketball

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men	United States (USA) Carmelo Anthony Carlos Boozer Chris Bosh Kobe Bryant Dwight Howard LeBron James Jason Kidd Deron Williams Chris Paul Tayshaun Prince Michael Redd Dwyane Wade	Spain (ESP) José Calderón Rudy Fernández Jorge Garbajosa Marc Gasol Pau Gasol Carlos Jiménez Raúl López Álex Mumbrú Juan Carlos Navarro Felipe Reyes Berni Rodríguez Ricky Rubio	Argentina (ARG) Carlos Delfino Manu Ginóbili Román González Juan Pedro Gutiérrez Leonardo Gutiérrez Federico Kammerichs Andrés Nocioni Fabricio Oberto Pablo Prigioni Antonio Porta Paolo Quinteros Luis Scola
Women	United States (USA) Seimone Augustus Sue Bird Tamika Catchings Sylvia Fowles Kara Lawson Lisa Leslie DeLisha Milton-Jones Candace Parker Cappie Pondexter Katie Smith Diana Taurasi Tina Thompson	Australia (AUS) Suzy Batkovic Tully Bevilaqua Rohanee Cox Hollie Grima Kristi Harrower Lauren Jackson Erin Phillips Emma Randall Jenni Screen Belinda Snell Laura Summerton Penny Taylor	Russia (RUS) Svetlana Abrosimova Becky Hammon Marina Karpunina Ilona Korstin Marina Kuzina Ekaterina Lisina Irina Osipova Oxana Rakhmatulina Tatiana Shchegoleva Irina Sokolovskaya Maria Stepanova Natalia Vodopyanova

Medal count

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	2	0	0	2
2	Australia (AUS)	0	1	0	1
	Spain (ESP)	0	1	0	1
4	Argentina (ARG)	0	0	1	1
	Russia (RUS)	0	0	1	1
Totals (5 entries)		2	2	2	6

Flag bearers

Basketball players that carried their flags at the opening ceremony were Yao Ming (for the People's Republic of China), Šarūnas Jasikevičius (for Lithuania), Dirk Nowitzki (for Germany), Andrei Kirilenko (for the Russian Federation), and Manu Ginóbili (for Argentina).

Events

Two sets of medals were awarded in the following events:

• Basketball – Men
• Basketball – Women

Qualification

A NOC may enter up to one men's team with 12 players and up to one women's team with 12 players. The reigning world champions and the host country qualify automatically, as do the winners of the five continental championships (plus the men's runners-up from Europe and the Americas).

The best teams from the continental championships that did not automatically qualify participated in the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament or FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women to determine the final spots in Beijing.

Italicized teams qualified via the wildcard tournaments.

Basketball – Men

Main article: Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification

Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania	Automatic qualifiers
Angola	United States Argentina	Iran	Russia Lithuania Croatia Greece Germany	Australia	Spain – World champions China – Olympic hosts

Basketball – Women

Main article: Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's qualification

Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania	Automatic qualifiers
Mali	United States Brazil	South Korea	Russia Spain Czech Rep. Latvia Belarus	New Zealand	Australia – World champions China – Olympic hosts

Format

• Twelve teams are split into two preliminary round groups of six teams each.
• The top four teams from both groups qualify for the knockout stage.
• Fifth-placed teams from both groups are ranked 9th–10th by basis of their records.
• Sixth-placed teams from both groups are ranked 11th–12th by basis of their records.
• In the quarterfinals, the matchups are as follows: A1 vs. B4, A2 vs. B3, A3 vs. B2 and A4 vs. B1.
  • The eliminated teams at the quarterfinals are ranked 5th–8th by basis of their preliminary round records
• The winning teams from the quarterfinals meet in the semifinals as follows: A1/B4 vs. A3/B2 and A2/B3 vs. A4/B1.
• The winning teams from the semifinals contest the gold medal. The losing teams contest the bronze.

Tie-breaking criteria:

1. Head to head results
2. Goal average (not the goal difference) between the tied teams
3. Goal average of the tied teams for all teams in its group

Calendar

Preliminary round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

M

Event finals

August	9th S	10th S	11th M	12th T	13th W	14th T	15th F	16th S	17th S	18th M	19th T	20th W	21st T	22nd F	23rd S	24th S	Gold medals
Men																M	1
Women															M		1

Rosters

Main articles: Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's team rosters and Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's team rosters

Each team is limited to twelve players on its roster.

Men

Main article: Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men

Preliminary round

Qualified for the quarterfinals

The four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Group A

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Lithuania	4	1	425	400	25	9
Argentina	4	1	425	361	64	9
Croatia	3	2	399	380	19	8
Australia	3	2	457	405	52	8
Russia	1	4	387	406	−19	6
Iran	0	5	323	464	−141	5

August 10, 2008
Russia	71 – 49	Iran
Lithuania	79 – 75	Argentina
Australia	82 – 97	Croatia
August 12, 2008
Iran	67 – 99	Lithuania
Croatia	85 – 78	Russia
Argentina	85 – 68	Australia
August 14, 2008
Australia	106 – 68	Iran
Lithuania	86 – 79	Russia
Argentina	77 – 53	Croatia
August 16, 2008
Russia	80 – 95	Australia
Croatia	73 – 86	Lithuania
Iran	82 – 97	Argentina
August 18, 2008
Iran	57 – 91	Croatia
Australia	106 – 75	Lithuania
Argentina	91 – 79	Russia

Group B

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
United States	5	0	515	354	161	10
Spain	4	1	418	369	49	9
Greece	3	2	415	375	40	8
China	2	3	366	400	−34	7
Germany	1	4	330	390	−60	6
Angola	0	5	321	477	−156	5

2008-08-10
Germany	95 – 66	Angola
Spain	81 – 66	Greece
United States	101 – 70	China
2008-08-12
Greece	87 – 64	Germany
China	75 – 85 (OT)	Spain
Angola	76 – 97	United States
2008-08-14
Germany	59 – 72	Spain
Angola	68 – 85	China
United States	92 – 69	Greece
2008-08-16
Greece	102 – 61	Angola
China	59 – 55	Germany
Spain	82 – 119	United States
2008-08-18
Greece	91 – 77	China
Angola	50 – 98	Spain
United States	106 – 57	Germany

Tournament bracket

Quarterfinals (2008-08-20)

Semifinals (2008-08-22)

Gold medal game (2008-08-24)

A2

Argentina

80

B3

Greece

78

A2

Argentina

81

B1

United States

101

B1

United States

116

A4

Australia

85

B1

United States

118

B2

Spain

107

B2

Spain

72

A3

Croatia

59

B2

Spain

91

Bronze medal game

A1

Lithuania

86

A1

Lithuania

94

A2

Argentina

87

B4

China

68

A1

Lithuania

75

Women

Main article: Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women

Preliminary round

Qualified for the quarterfinals

The four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Group A

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Australia	5	0	349	264	85	10
Russia	4	1	278	258	20	9
Belarus	2	3	320	332	−12	7
South Korea	2	3	352	360	−8	7
Latvia	1	4	266	315	−49	6
Brazil	1	4	337	354	−17	6

2008-08-09
Belarus	64 – 83	Australia
South Korea	68 – 62 (OT)	Brazil
Latvia	57 – 62	Russia
2008-08-11
South Korea	72 – 77	Russia
Latvia	57 – 79	Belarus
Australia	80 – 65	Brazil
2008-08-13
Belarus	65 – 71	Russia
Brazil	78 – 79	Latvia
South Korea	62 – 90	Australia
2008-08-15
Latvia	73 – 96	Australia
Russia	74 – 64	Brazil
South Korea	53 – 63	Belarus
2008-08-17
Australia	75 – 55	Russia
South Korea	72 – 68	Latvia
Brazil	68 – 53	Belarus

Group B

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
United States	5	0	491	276	215	10
China	4	1	358	346	12	9
Spain	3	2	357	324	33	8
Czech Republic	2	3	346	356	−10	7
New Zealand	1	4	320	423	−103	6
Mali	0	5	255	402	−147	5

2008-08-09
Mali	72 – 76	New Zealand
China	67 – 64	Spain
Czech Republic	57 – 97	United States
2008-08-11
New Zealand	62 – 85	Spain
Czech Republic	81 – 47	Mali
China	63 – 108	United States
2008-08-13
Spain	74 – 55	Czech Republic
China	80 – 63	New Zealand
Mali	41 – 97	United States
2008-08-15
Czech Republic	90 – 59	New Zealand
China	69 –48	Mali
United States	93–55	Spain
2008-08-17
Mali	47 – 79	Spain
China	79 – 63	Czech Republic
New Zealand	60 – 96	United States

Tournament bracket

Quarterfinals (2008-08-19)

Semifinals (2008-08-21)

Gold medal game (2008-08-23)

A2

Russia

84

B3

Spain

65

A2

Russia

52

B1

United States

67

B1

United States

104

A4

South Korea

60

B1

United States

92

A1

Australia

65

B2

China

77

A3

Belarus

62

B2

China

56

Bronze medal game

A1

Australia

90

A1

Australia

79

A2

Russia

94

B4

Czech Republic

46

B2

China

81

Final standings

Rank	Men				Women
	Team	Pld	W	L	Team	Pld	W	L
	United States	8	8	0	United States	8	8	0
	Spain	8	6	2	Australia	8	7	1
	Argentina	8	6	2	Russia	8	6	2
4th	Lithuania	8	5	3	China	8	5	3
Eliminated at the quarterfinals
5th	Greece	6	3	3	Spain	6	3	3
6th	Croatia	6	3	3	Belarus	6	2	4
7th	Australia	6	3	3	Czech Republic	6	2	4
8th	China	6	2	4	South Korea	6	2	4
Preliminary round 5th placers
9th	Russia	5	1	4	Latvia	5	1	4
10th	Germany	5	1	4	New Zealand	5	1	4
Preliminary round 6th placers
11th	Iran	5	0	5	Brazil	5	1	4
12th	Angola	5	0	5	Mali	5	0	5

See also

• Wheelchair basketball at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

External links

• FIBA's Complete coverage of the Olympic Basketball Tournament
• Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
• International Basketball Federation
• FIBA-Results of the Draw for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Basketball tournaments
• Updated Women's Draw after Qualifying Tournament
• Basketball – Official Results Book