Talk:Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics

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Contents 1 Intercepted? 2 Coach calling time out? 3 Last three seconds 4 More about the 1972 Game

[edit] Intercepted?

The notes say that the second inbounds pass was intercepted. I have never read that anywhere else. It is not mentioned in the ESPN article that is linked. Wouldn't that have made the clock a moot point?

[edit] Coach calling time out?

"USSR coach Vladimir Kondrashkin had attempted to call time out between Collins' free throws and it was awarded, although rules state that a coach cannot call a time out during free throws."

This statement needs to be referenced. I have read that the opposite was true. A coach could request a time out, and the game officials erred by not granting it before the Soviets inbounded the ball. In addition, while the clock was properly reset after the time out, the horn was not, thus necessitating a second reset (and thus a third opportunity) which led to the Soviets' winning basket at the horn. The head of FIBA at the time (R. William Jones), who ordered the clock reset in both cases, has insisted (in an article in Referee magazine many years ago) that, while Americans may not have liked the outcome, the Soviets would have had grounds to protest the game otherwise, thus his decision to correct the officials' errors at the time was justified and the outcome of the game was properly determined. (Given that, according to the Basketball Hall of Fame, Jones was a founder of FIBA in 1932, his knowledge of FIBA rules was probably all but impossible to dispute.)

The problem is that, as in the case of NCAA vs. high school vs. NBA basketball, there are many minor technical differences between FIBA and other rule codes with which fans (and players and coaches as well) may not be familiar. In addition, of course, FIBA rules themselves are changed periodically, so I don't know if the coach was within his rights to request a time out during a free-throw attempt (or between attempts, or after the last of a two-shot attempt). 4.243.227.32 07:59, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Last three seconds

Over the internet, this discussion has arose many times on many forums. As far as I can tell, it's impossible nowadays to determine if the timeout request is legal or not unless we have an legal rule book from 1972 or 1971, because FIBA rules (minor issues of them) are changed every two years or even every year.

There are more documentaries than the ESPN one. I think there's one from HBO and, at least, a couple more from outside the USA. Every one having a different POV, and available over the ed2k net.

[edit] More about the 1972 Game

For whatever it's worth, I am an American but I happened to be in Britain when I saw the game on the BBC. On British TV, with neutral announcers, the Americans appeared to have played very poorly against a tough opponent, and they appeared to have lost the game fair and square, the confusing ending notwithstanding. Timothy Horrigan (talk) 05:29, 19 March 2008 (UTC)