| FINAL STANDINGS 1. U.S.A. 2. Soviet Union 3. Uruguay 4. France 5. Bulgaria 6. Brazil 7. Philippines 8. Chile 9. CANADA 10. Japan 11. Formosa 12. Australia 13. Singapore 14. Korea 15. Thailand | CANADIANS Don MacIntosh (Calgary, Alta.) Al Brown (Vancouver, B.C.) Doug Brinham (Vancouver, B.C.) Ed Wild (Vancouver, B.C.) Ron Bissett (Vancouver, B.C.) Coulter Osborne (Hamilton, Ont.) George Stulac (Toronto, Ont.) Ron Stuart (Nelson, B.C.) Bob Pickel (Kovna, Lithuania) John McLeod (Vancouver, B.C.) Ed Lucht (Jeffrey, Alta.) Bob Burtwell (Vancouver, B.C.) Lance Hudson – coach Norm Gloag – manager |
| POOL A | USA | PHI | JPN | THL | Record | ||
| United States | —– | 121-53 | 98-40 | 101-29 | (3-0) | ||
| Philippines | 53-121 | —– | 77-61 | 94-55 | (2-1) | ||
| Japan | 40-98 | 61-77 | —– | 70-50 | (1-2) | ||
| Thailand | 29-101 | 55-94 | 50-70 | —– | (0-3) | ||
| POOL B | FRA | SOV | CAN | SIN | Record | ||
| France | —– | 76-67 | 79-62 | 81-54 | (3-0) | ||
| U.S.S.R. | 67-76 | —– | 97-59 | 91-42 | (2-1) | ||
| Canada | 61-79 | 59-97 | —– | 85-58 | (1-2) | ||
| Singapore | 54-81 | 42-91 | 58-85 | —– | (0-3) | ||
| POOL C | URU | BUL | FOR | KOR | Record | ||
| Uruguay | —– | 70-65 | 85-62 | 83-60 | (3-0) | ||
| Bulgaria | 65-70 | —– | 88-71 | 89-58 | (2-1) | ||
| Formosa | 62-85 | 71-88 | —– | 83-76 | (1-2) | ||
| Korea | 60-83 | 58-89 | 76-83 | —– | (0-3) | ||
| POOL D | BRA | CHI | AUS | Record | |||
| Brazil | —– | 78-59 | 89-66 | (2-0) | |||
| Chile | 59-78 | —– | 78-56 | (1-1) | |||
| Australia | 66-89 | 56-78 | —– | (0-2) | |||
| CLASSIFICATION C | FOR | AUS | SIN | THL | Record | ||
| Formosa | —– | 86-73 | 67-64 | 65-52 | (3-0) | ||
| Australia | 73-86 | —– | 98-74 | 87-48 | (2-1) | ||
| Singapore | 64-67 | 74-98 | —– | 62-50 | (1-2) | ||
| Thailand | 52-65 | 48-87 | 50-62 | —– | (0-3) | ||
| CLASSIFICATION D | CAN | JPN | KOR | Record | |||
| Canada | —– | 73-60 | 74-63 | (2-0) | |||
| Japan | 60-73 | —– | 83-67 | (1-1) | |||
| Korea | 63-74 | 67-83 | —– | (0-2) | |||
| MEDALS POOL A | FRA | URU | CHI | PHI | Record | ||
| France | —– | 66-62 | 71-60 | 65-58 | (2-1) | ||
| Uruguay | 62-66 | —– | 80-73 | 79-70 | (2-1) | ||
| Chile | 60-71 | 73-80 | —– | 88-69 | (1-2) | ||
| Philippines | 58-65 | 70-79 | 69-88 | —– | (1-2) | ||
| MEDALS POOL B | USA | SOV | BUL | BRA | Record | ||
| United States | —– | 85-55 | 85-44 | 113-51 | (3-0) | ||
| Soviet Union | 55-85 | —– | 66-56 | 87-68 | (2-1) | ||
| Bulgaria | 44-85 | 56-66 | —– | 82-73 | (1-2) | ||
| Brazil | 51-113 | 68-87 | 73-82 | —– | (0-3) | ||
| 13-16th | Korea 61 Thailand 47 | |
| 13-16th | Singapore (bye) | |
| 9-12th | Japan 82 Formosa 61 | |
| 9-12th | Canada 83 Australia 38 | |
| 5-8th | Brazil 89 Chile 64 | |
| 5-8th | Bulgaria 80 Philippines 72 | |
| Semi | Soviet Union 56 France 49 | |
| Semi | United States 101 Uruguay 38 | |
| 15th | Thailand (placed) | |
| 13th | Singapore 92 Korea 79 | |
| 11th | Formosa 87 Australia 70 | |
| 9th | Canada 75 Japan 60 | |
| 7th | Philippines 75 Chile 68 | |
| 5th | Bulgaria 64 Brazil 52 | |
| Bronze | Uruguay 71 France 62 | |
| Final | United States 89 U.S.S.R. 55 | |
In 1956, international rules add 30 second shot clock.
The Olympic basketball committee was chaired by Norm Gloag. Nev Munro, a Vancouver lawyer and a member of the 1948 Olympic team devised a plan that would “create zones or conferences to which registration of players within the zones to a representative team would be permitted. In the national playoffs, the B.C. Totems defeated the Edmonton Towne Hallers in double elimination tournament final. The Totems had Ron Stuart, Mel Brown, Bob Burtwell, Bob Pickel and Ted Ball of the Vancouver C-Fun Team, John McLeod from UBC, Ed Wild from UBC, Ron Bissett, Joe Samarin and Doug Brinham from the Alberni Athletics, John Forsythe from the Vancouver Eilers and Leo Mulhern from the Clover Leafs. The Olympic team was chosen from that group, after Ed Lucht and Don MacIntosh from the Town Hallers, as well as George Stulac from the University of Toronto, were selected for the squad. Manager Norm Gloag later became CABA president.
Canada opened pool play by getting pummeled by 38 points at the hands the powerful Russians. The Canadians were badly out-rebounded and outmuscled. Stasys Stonkous paced Russia with 19 points. Mikhail Semyonov added 18, Yuri Ozerov 13, Arkady Bochkaryov 10, Kazys Petkevicius 10, Vladimir Torban 10, Algirdas Lauritenas 8, Valdi Muiznieks 4, Maigonis Valdmanis 4 and Mikhail Studenetsky 1. Bob Pickel paced Canada with 26. John McLeod added 12, Doug Brinham 7, Don MacIntosh 4, Ed Wild 3, Coulter Osbourne 2, Bob Burtwell 2 George Stulac 2 and Ron Bissett 1, while Mel Brown was scoreless.
Canada defeated Singapore 85-58 but appeared unimpressive. The Canadians led 51-30 at the half despite their erratic shooting. Starting centre Ed Lucht sat out the match with an injured ankle. John McLeod paced Canada with 20. Bob Pickel added 15, Melvin Brown 10, Don MacIntosh 10, Ed Wild 8 (alternately reported as 8), Ron Bissett 7, Doug Brinham 7 and Bob Burtwell 6. Tit Kwan Yee led Singapore with 25. Tai Chuen Ko added 12, Jerome Henderson 11, Kim Poh Wong 6 and Tian Siak Wee 4, while Sho Fa Chen, Lien Siew Ho, Chak Men Lee, Kiat Guan Ong and Gek Huat Yeo were scoreless. To advance to the medals round, Canada needed to beat France and coach Lance Hudson expressed confidence. “I am sure we can beat France. We are not playing as we should but I think the boys will snap out of it by Monday.”
Canada was eliminated from medal contention with a 79-62 loss to France. Henry Grange paced France with 25. Robert Monclar added 13, Roger Antoine 12, Roger Haudegand 7, Jean-Paul Beugnot 6, Henri Rey 5, Andre Schlupp 3, Roger Veyron 3, Christian Baltzer 2, Gerald Sturla 2 and Maurice Buffiere 1, while Yves Gominon was scoreless. Bob Pickel paced Canada with 19. Bob Burtwell added 10, John McLeod 8, Ron Bissett 5, Doug Brinham 5, Ed Lucht 4, Coulter Osborne 4, Ron Stuart 4 and Ed Wild 3, while Mel Brown, Don Macintosh and George Stulac were scoreless.
Later the same day, Canada opened consolation pool play by defeating Korea 74-63 in overtime. Canada led 32-31 at the half and the score was knotted at 62 in regulation. Bob Pickel paced Canada with 27. Ron Stuart 12, Ed Wild 10, Bob Burtwell 8, Coulter Osbourne 8, Doug Brinham 3, Don MacIntosh 3, Melvin Brown 2 and John McLeod 1. Yeong-Sik An paced Korea with 20. It is alternately reported that Yeong-Sik An and Byeong-Seok An each scored 17 to pace Korea, which also included Jeong-Nam Baek, Tae-Gon Choi, Se-Tae Go, Beyong-Hyeon Jo, Chun-Bae Kim, Heong-Il Kim, Yeong-Gi Kim and Yeong-Su Kim.
Canada then defeated Japan 73-60 to finish atop their consolation pool with a 2-0 record. Canada led 40-26 at the half and by as many as 32. Bob Pickell paced Canada with 17. John McLeod added 15, Bob Burtwell 10, Ron Stuart 9, Ed Lucht 7, Don MacIntosh 6, Coulter Osbourne 5 and Ron Bissett 4. Hiroshi Saito paced Japan with 18. Shutaro Shoji added 15, Takeo Sugiyama 15, Takashi Itoyama 7, Kenichi Imaizumi 3 and Riichi Arai 2.
In the 9-12th playoffs, Canada whipped Australia 83-38. Canada led 30-18 at the half and pulled away down the stretch as they dominated the boards and hit .500 from the floor. Bob Burtwell led Canada with 20. John MacLeod added 18, Don Macintosh 10, Coulter Osborne 9, Ron Stuart 8, Ron Bissett 6, Doug Brinham 4, Ed Lucht 4 and Bob Pickel 4, while Mel Brown, George Stulac and Ed Wild were scoreless. Juris (George?) Dancis led Australia with 15. Peter Demos added 6, Inge Friedenfelds 6, Peter Bumbers 4, Stan Dargis 3, Bruce Flick 2 and Algis Ignatavicius 2, while Colin Burdett, Ken Finch, Geoff Heskett, Merv Moy and Peter Sutton were scoreless.
In the ninth-place playoff, Canada defeated Japan 75-60. Canada led 39-34 at the half and coasted to the easy win as John McLeod scored 30 and Ron Stuart 22. Alternately, it is reported that Bob Burtwell scored 30, Ron Stuart 22, John McLeod 10, Don Macintosh 5, Ed Wild 4, Doug Brinham 3 and Ed Lucht 1, while Ron Bissett, Mel Brown, Coulter Osborne, Bob Pickel and George Stulac were scoreless. Takeo Sugiyama led Japan with 17. Shutaro Shoji added 12, Kenichi Imaizumi 11, Hiroshi Saito 10, Takashi Itoyama 9 and Hitoschi Konno 1, while Riichi Arai, Manabu Fujita, Setsuo Nara, Tetsuro Noborisaka and Reizo Ohira were scoreless.