Games of the XVIIth Olympiad -- 1960
Rome, Italy • August 26 - September 10, 1960
Touted as the greatest basketball team in Olympic history, the 1960 U.S. squad was so perfectly balanced that, unlike previous USA Olympic cage teams, no one player emerged as a dominant star.
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1960 USA RESULTS (8-0)
1960 OLYMPIC GAMES FINAL STANDINGS
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Five USA players finished the Olympic competition averaging in double figures, paced by Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas who both averaged 17.0 points a game. Proof of the wealth of talent available to 1960 USA Olympic coach Pete Newell is found in the fact that 10 members of the 1960 12-man roster went on to play professionally in the NBA.
Opening against host Italy, the Americans posted an 88-54 win as Adrian Smith and Robertson each tallied 16 points. Japan was thumped 125-66 as Lucas scored 28 points, and the U.S. qualified for the semifinals with a 107-63 victory over Hungary as Robertson scored 22 and Lucas added 21 points.
Opening against Yugoslavia in the semifinal round, Terry Dischinger scored 12 points as the USA took command 32-1, and the U.S. went on to record a 104-42 win with Dischinger and Robertson each scoring 16. The USA surpassed the century mark for the fourth straight time when they dashed past Uruguay 108-50 and Smith finished as high scorer with 15 points.
With an overflow crowd in attendance, the USA closed out the semifinal action against the Soviet Union, which boasted a 7'3', 320-pound center named Jan Kruminsh. Leading 35-28 at half, the U.S. offense scored 20 points in the first five minutes of the second half to put the game out of reach as the U.S. went on to claim an 81-57 win. Jerry West paced the Americans to the win with 19 points.
In the final round, led by Lucas' 25 points, six U.S. players reached double figures as the Americans routed Italy 112-81 Only a victory over Brazil stood in the way of the U.S. and another Olympic title, and thanks to a strong Lucas performance, 25 points, the Americans recorded a 90-63 win to earn the Olympic gold.
Posting an 8-0 record and extending the USA Olympic winning streak to 36 games, how dominating was this USA team? Averaging 101.9 points a game, the USA average margin of victory in the 1960 Olympics was a whopping 42.4 points a game while opponents managed to average just 59.5 points a game.
1960 U.S. MEN'S OLYMPIC TEAM ROSTER
| NAME | POS | HGT | WGT | AGE | AFFILIATION (SCHOOL) | HOMETOWN |
| Jay Arnette | F | 6-2 | 175 | 21 | University of Texas | Austin, TX |
| Walter Bellamy | C | 6-11 | 217 | 21 | Indiana University | Baltimore, MD |
| Robert Boozer | F | 6-8 | 220 | 23 | Peoria Caterpillars (Kansas State) | Omaha, NE |
| Terry Dischinger | F | 6-6 | 190 | 19 | Purdue University | Terry Haute, IN |
| Burdette Haldorson | F | 6-7 | 207 | 26 | Phillips 66ers (Colorado) | Austin, MN |
| Darrall Imoff | C | 6-11 | 220 | 21 | University of California | Berkeley, CA |
| Allen Kelley | G | 5-11 | 164 | 27 | Peoria Caterpillars (Kansas) | McCune, KS |
| Lester Lane | G | 5-11 | 165 | 28 | Wichita Vickers (Oklahoma) | Purcell, OK |
| Jerry Lucas | F | 6-8 | 220 | 20 | Ohio State University | Middletown, OH |
| Oscar Robertson | F | 6-5 | 220 | 21 | University of Cincinnati | Indianapolis, IN |
| Adrian Smith | G | 6-0 | 175 | 23 | U.S. Armed Forces (Kentucky) | Farmington, KY |
| Jerry West | G | 6-2 | 185 | 22 | West Virginia University | Chelyan, WV |
| HEAD COACH: Pete Newell, University of California | ||||||
| ASSISTANT COACH: Warren Womble, Peoria Caterpillars | ||||||
| MANAGER: Arthur Lonborg, University of Kansas | ||||||
| ATHLETIC TRAINER: Dean Nesmith, University of Kansas | ||||||
1960 U.S. MEN'S OLYMPIC TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS
| NAME | G | FGM-FGA | PCT | FTM-FTA | PCT | PF | PTS/AVG |
| Oscar Robertson | 8 | 51- | |
34- 50 | .680 | 24 | 136/ 17.0 |
| Jerry Lucas | 8 | 66- | |
4- 6 | .667 | 23 | 136/ 17.0 |
| Jerry West | 8 | 46- | |
18- 27 | .667 | 19 | 110/ 13.8 |
| Terry Dischinger | 8 | 37- | |
20- 29 | .690 | 23 | 94/ 11.8 |
| Adrian Smith | 8 | 30- | |
27- 32 | .844 | 19 | 87/ 10.9 |
| Walter Bellamy | 8 | 25- | |
13- 19 | .684 | 22 | 63/ 7.9 |
| Robert Boozer | 8 | 23- | |
8- 13 | .615 | 18 | 54/ 6.8 |
| Lester Lane | 8 | 20- | |
7- 9 | .778 | 18 | 47/ 5.9 |
| Darrall Imoff | 8 | 18- | |
2- 7 | .286 | 20 | 38/ 4.8 |
| Jay Arnette | 8 | 9- | |
5- 6 | .833 | 16 | 23 / 2.9 |
| Burdette Haldorson | 8 | 11- | |
1- 4 | .250 | 12 | 23/ 2.9 |
| Allen Kelley | 5 | 2- | |
0- 0 | .--- | 7 | 4/ 0.8 |
| USA |
8 | 338- | |
139-202 | .688 | 221 | 815/101.9 |
| OPP. |
8 | 179- | |
118-205 | .576 | 221 | 476/ 59.5 |
