| FINAL STANDINGS 1. U.S.A. 2. Yugoslavia 3. Soviet Union 4. CANADA 5. Italy 6. Czechoslovakia 7. Cuba 8. Australia 9. Puerto Rico 10. Mexico 11. Japan 12. Egypt | CANADIANS Alex Devlin (Edmonton, Alta.) Martin Riley (Winnipeg, Man.) Bill Robinson (Chemainus, B.C.) John Cassidy (Calgary, Alta.) Derek Sankey (Vancouver, B.C.) Robert Sharpe (Guelph, Ont.) Cameron Hall (Hamilton, Ont.) Jamie Russell (Burlington, Ont.) Robert Town (Winnipeg, Man.) Romel Raffin (Toronto, Ont.) Lars Hansen (Copenhagen, Denmark) Phil Tollestrup (Raymond, Alta.) Jack Donohue – coach Steve Konchalski – coach Ed Browne – manager |
| POOL B | USA | YUG | ITA | CZE | PUR | EGY | Record | ||
| United States | —– | 112-93 | 106-86 | 81-76 | 95-94 | 2-0 | (5-0) | ||
| Yugoslavia | 93-112 | —– | 88-87 | 99-81 | 84-63 | 2-0 | (4-1) | ||
| Italy | 86-106 | 87-88 | —– | 79-69 | 95-81 | 2-0 | (3-2) | ||
| Czechoslovakia | 76-81 | 81-99 | 69-79 | —– | 89-83 | 103-64 | (2-3) | ||
| Puerto Rico | 94-95 | 63-84 | 81-95 | 83-89 | —– | 2-0 | (1-4) | ||
| Egypt | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 64-103 | 0-2 | —– | (0-5) | ||
| POOL A | SOV | CAN | CUB | AUS | MEX | JPN | Record | ||
| U.S.S.R. | —– | 108-85 | 98-72 | 93-77 | 120-77 | 129-63 | (5-0) | ||
| Canada | 85-108 | —– | 84-79 | 81-69 | 92-84 | 104-76 | (4-1) | ||
| Cuba | 72-98 | 79-84 | —– | 111-89 | 89-75 | 97-56 | (3-2) | ||
| Australia | 77-93 | 69-81 | 89-111 | —– | 120-117 | 117-79 | (2-3) | ||
| Mexico | 77-120 | 84-92 | 75-89 | 117-120 | —– | 108-90 | (1-4) | ||
| Japan | 63-129 | 76-104 | 56-97 | 79-117 | 90-108 | —– | (0-5) | ||
| 9-12th | Mexico 2 Egypt 0 | |
| 9-12th | Puerto Rico 111 Japan 91 | |
| 5-8th | Czechoslovakia 91 Cuba 76 | |
| 5-8th | Italy 79 Australia 72 | |
| Semi | Yugoslavia 89 Soviet Union 84 | |
| Semi | United States 95 Canada 77 | |
| 11th | Japan 2 Egypt 0 | |
| 9th | Puerto Rico 89 Mexico 84 | |
| 7th | Cuba 92 Australia 81 | |
| 5th | Italy 98 Czechoslovakia 75 | |
| Bronze | Soviet Union 100 Canada 72 | |
| Final | United States 95 Yugoslavia 74 | |
Canada qualifies automatically as host.
Hours before the opening tip against Japan, John Cassidy was at his family’s cottage near Pugwash, N.S. and received a phone call suggesting he hustle to Montreal. ‘Many people felt I shouldn’t have been there. I played a bit, performed fairly well but it was thrill of my life.” Cassidy had learned the game from coach Jock Simpson at Ridgemont High and then enrolled at Dalhousie.
Questions of team morale and dissension swirled across the Canadian team before their opener with Japan, who Canada crushed 104-76. Several players seemed disgruntled with coach Jack Donahue, who assumed the national reins in 1972 and had shortly before the games been verbally slammed by Ken McKenzie. The 6-10 centre had left the team with a knee injury suffered in an exhibition match with the Americans just before the Games started and said that Donahue could neither communicate with, nor care to recognize, players unless they were of use to him.” McKenzie told Canadian Press that “when I got hurt in the game, Donahue’s attitude was like it was nothing. He shook my hand goodbye like he was shaking a washcloth … a dirty one, at that. He treated me like I was not good to him now, like waste material.” Centre Lars Hansen added that “the general consensus on the team is that we’re putting up with Donahue until after the Olympics.” Donahue, who was embroiled in a contract dispute with CABA and expected to leave, said before the Japan game, “I haven’t seen them (comments of players) and I don’t intend to look at them.” Hansen told reporters with Donahue standing near “there’s nothing we can do about the administration now.” Team captain Phil Tollestrup, who scored 26, acknowledge the problems with Donahue but said “I don’t think it has affected the ball club. The thing that (we have got going for us is that we’ve been together so long.” Forward Romel Raffin said he still found Donahue effective and compared the McKenzie incident with the recent one in which Liz Silcott was asked to leave because she couldn’t get along with coach Brian Heaney. “We pick up our pay slips and other instructions from them and go our own way,” Raffin said. “That’s about all we have to do with them (administration). I think the players have been together so long that they won’t let the situation affect them.” Against Japan, Donahue said “it was a good effort. The defence could have been a little better but we played as good as we had to.” The game was played before a crowd of 8,000 at the Etienne Desmarteau Centre. Phil Tollestrup scored 26 on 10-12 from the floor and 6-6 from the line. Lars Hansen added 16, Martin Riley 14, Jamie Russell 12, Bill Robinson 11, Cameron Hall 8, Romel Raffin 8, Derek Sankey 6, Robert Sharpe 2 and Robert Town 1, while Alex Devlin and John Cassidy were scoreless. Canada hit 36-64 (.590) from the floor and 28-32 from the line, while committing 4 turnovers. Shigeaki Abe scored 18 to lead Japan (coached by Iyochi Kanaka). Norihiko Kitchara added 13, Nobuo Chigusa 12, Shoji Yuki 10, Yutaka Fujimoto 8, Satoshi Mori 6, Hirofumi Numata 6, Shigeto Shimizu 2 and Kiyohide Kuwata 1, while Yamamoto, Fumio Saito and Hideki Hamaguchi were scoreless. Japan committed 24 turnovers. Martin Riley told the Montreal Gazette that “what was really surprising was how slow they were. We thought they’d be a lot quicker.” Japanese coach Iyoichi Kanana said his troops were “unable to rebound with Canada.” Romel Raffin said “as a matter of fact, Jack (Donahue) was saying early in the game that we’d probably have to slow them down or we’d be in trouble. But when we saw that we were faster than they were, we started to run on them. What really surprised us, though, is how well they were hitting their shots from outside. We shouldn’t have let them take that many and if we play that loosely versus the rest of these teams, we’re going to be in trouble.” Donahue said “we had never seen them and knew almost nothing about them. We won our first game today and that’s all we could do today. We’re just going to have keep playing like that. We just can’t afford to lose to anybody.”
Canada defeated a tall, quick Cuban squad 84-79. Led by the man the team called “the Sheriff”, team captain Phil Tollestrup from Raymond, Alberta, scored 25 and played with passion. “This is the end,” assistant coach Steve Konchalski told Canadian Press. “It’s the highlight of his basketball career and of his life so far. He’s 27. He’s got a wife and two kids. He hasn’t been making much money the last few years because he’s chosen to train with us rather than teach. And now he can smell it. He is at a mental and physical peak. He is playing the best basketball he has ever played.” Tollestrup drilled a pair of threes to start the game as Canada got off to a quick start. They led 28-16 after the first quarter but the Cubans rallied to within 44-37 at the half. But Canada went on a tear to start the second half. Guard Bill Robinson drilled four from the perimeter as Canada built a 62-41 lead and cruised, though Cuba briefly rallied within five down the stretch. Donahue called it a “pivotal game” and said the squad controlled the ball, stymied the Cuban fastbreak and had no trouble getting the ball up court. “I hope you noticed Robinson on that. I don’t think we lost it once on the way up.” As for Robinson’s shooting, “it’s a good thing Billy never does what I tell him or we probably wouldn’t win a game,” Donahue added. Tollestrup, who once had a tryout with the NBA’s Buffalo Braves, was asked to explain his success. “Well, it’s what I’ve been waiting for, you know,” he said. “I’ve been able to get the ball a lot and it’s been going in for me. I just hope it keeps up. My hometown of Raymond might even hear about it.” Bill Robinson added 16 for Canada, Jamie Russell 16, Robert Sharpe 15, Martin Riley 6, Lars Hansen 4 and Romel Raffin 2, while Bruce Devlin, John Cassidy, Derek Sankey, Cameron Hall and Robert Town were scoreless. Ruperto Herrera led Cuba with 31. Alejando Urgelles (Vagelles?) added 10, Felix Morales 10, Pedro Chappe 6, Alejandro Ortiz 5 (alternately reported as 2), Daniel Scott 4, Rafael Canizares 3 and Angel Padron 2, while Juan Domecq, Roca and Varone were scoreless. Cuba outrebounded Canada 39-36. Canada had 15 assists and 13 turnovers. Cuba dished 8 assists and committed 10 turnovers. Donahue told the Montreal Gazette that “if anyone was at fault (for Cuba’s comeback), it would have to be the coaches. We told them to play conservative and it sort of got us off track. … (Bill Robinson), I don’t care if he scored at all. It was the way he handled the ball that made a big difference in this game. Usually, they’ll force at least a dozen turnovers in your backcourt but Billy never lost the ball once. I’ll tell you, he can play with anyone, the pros or anywhere. … We started playing man-to-man just to see how it would go. But we kind of knew they didn’t like the zone. But when we got in foul trouble, it’s important to hide a few people and you can do that with a zone. And the Cubans would rather play inside. They don’t like to shoot over a zone.” Tollestrup said “One of the things about this team is that we are capable of adjusting to almost any kind of game. We also have a bunch of guys on the bench who can help us a lot.”
Canada got a rude awakening against the Soviet Union and 7-3 centre Volodomyr Tkachenko and were outclassed 108-85. Tkachenko scored 22 in three quarters of play. “But worse,” coach Jack Donahue told Canadian Press “was the fact that he intimidated us. I mean running up against about 400 pounds of that has got to get tough on our guys. On offence, he gets the ball every time he wants. It’s as simple as that. My strategy against him didn’t help us any. I wanted to try a running game and tire him out but it didn’t work. Another great coaching strategy down the drain.” Canada took a 2-0 lead but quickly looked flat and disorganized. “We didn’t have to win,” said Donahue. “But what it does is really put the pressure on us to win the next two. I’m confident we’ll be there, though and seeing those guys again.” Russia led 51-31 at the half. Vladimir Arzamaskov added 16 for the Soviets, Aleksandr Belov 15, Oleksandr Salnykov 14, Ivan Yedeshko 8, Valery Miloserdov 6, Alzhan Zharmukhamedov 6, Sergey Belov 6, Vladimir Zhibily 5, Andrey Makeyev 4, Mikheil Korkia 4 and Anatoly Myshkin 2. The Soviet Union nabbed 33 boards, dished 21 assists and committed 14 turnovers. Derek Sankey led Canada with 18. Bill Robinson added 10, Lars Hansen 10. Jamie Russell 8, Romel Raffin 8, Phil Tollestrup 8, Martin Riley 7, Cameron Hall 7, Alex Devlin 5 and Robert Town 4, while John Cassidy and Robert Sharpe were scoreless. Canada nabbed 34 boards, dished 10 assists and committed 17 turnovers. The 5-10 Robinson ran into Tkachenko repeatedly. Russia shot .580 from the floor. Donahue told the Montreal Gazette that “they might be the best team in the world. They have the size and the depth and as a team, they just may be better than anything I know. … (Tkachenko), any time he got the ball, he could do anything he wanted to. I don’t think he missed a shot any time he moved to the basket with the ball.”
Against Australia, guard Bill Robinson ignited a second-half rally that carried Canada to an 81-69 victory. Australia led 42-40 at the half over the seemingly lethargic Canadians. But then Robinson began hitting tough shots, hitting five in a row over three minutes to put Canada up by 10, and hitting for 14 as Canada took a 54-50 lead. Jamie Russell dunked the ball to extend the lead to six and Canadian romped home. “Thank God for Bill,” coach Jack Donahue told Canadian Press. “What else can you say about that game. Thank God, he does more than I expect him to do. We didn’t get him free in the first half and that was my fault. For the second, we switching things around and let him take over.” Robinson scored 18 in the second half to finish with 23. Phil Tollestrup added 19, along with 12 boards, Lars Hansen 18, along with 10 boards, Jamie Russell 15, Martin Riley 4 and Bob Sharpe 2, while John Cassidy, Alex Devlin, Cameron Hall, Romel Raffin, Derek Sankey and Bob Town were scoreless. Canada nabbed 41 boards, dished 15 assists and committed 20 turnovers. Eddie Palubinskas paced Australia with 28 before fouling out with six minutes to play. Tony Barnett added 17, John Maddock 6, Andy Campbell 4, Michael Tucker 4, Ian Watson 4, Perry Crosswhite 2, Russell Simon 2 and Peter Walsh 2, while Andris Blicavs, Robbie Cadee and Ray Tomlinson were scoreless. Australia nabbed 22 boards, dished 13 assists and committed 8 turnovers. Canada’s strategy was to key on star guard Eddie Palubinskas, who’d scored 50 against Mexico. “But in doing that we left Tony Barnett open and he started really hurting us,” Donahue said. “So, between halves we switched things so we could handle him. We knew Eddie was going to hurt us but didn’t expect it from the other guy.” Donahue told the Montreal Gazette that “we knew we had to generate more offence in the second half and also find a way to stop their number seven (Tony Barnett). We shifted Jamie Russell onto Barnett and he shut him down in the second half. … It was really my fault we didn’t play differently in the first half, that he (Robinson) didn’t have the freedom to shoot as much. It was dumb on my part to leave him with so little help in the backcourt.”
Canada defeated Mexico 92-84 as Phil Tollestrup scored 29, Lars Hansen 18, Robert Sharpe 18, Cameron Hall 12, Jamie Russell 10, Martin Riley 6 and Romel Raffin 4, while Alex Devlin, Bill Robinson, John Cassidy, Derek Sankey and Robert Town were scoreless. Canada nabbed 34 boards, dished 17 assists and committed 15 turnovers. Arturo Guerrero paced Mexico with 32. Samuel Campis added 15, Manuel Raga 12, Antonio Ayala 10, Hector Rodriguez 9 and Manuel Saenz 6, while Jesus Garcia, Flores, Palomar, Anastacio Reyes, Nava and Alcaia were scoreless. Mexico nabbed 34 boards, dished 5 assists and committed 15 turnovers. Canada led 23-10 early and 45-43 at the half and then Tollestrup took command, scoring 24 in the second half. Coach Jack Donahue told the Montreal Gazette that “we played pretty decent ball. It was a tough game to play knowing they didn’t have to win (having already qualified for the semis). We were worried about losing the game.”
Prior to the semis, American coach Dean Smith told the Montreal Gazette that “three great teams are left, while Canada is an average team that got there through the luck of the draw. If they had been in the B section, they wouldn’t have won a game.”
In the semis, the American overwhelmed Canada 95-77 with superior height, depth and accuracy. They opened a 10-point lead in the first five minutes and then toyed with Canada for the rest of the game. They led 16-4 early and pulled away. Canada rallied no closer than 82-69 in the second half. Phil Tollestrup scored 25 for Canada, which shot .430 from the floor. The 6-6 Tollestrup scored three buckets in the second half as Canada cut a 24-point margin to 82-69 with eight minutes to play. Starters Martin Riley and Lars Hansen both fouled out in the second half, as did reserve Cameron Hall. Hansen did a good job on defence against Mitch Kupchak. “We all thought we could beat the U.S. if we played a good slow game,” Tollestrup told Canadian Press. “But you get one like that every three years. We tried to run them and there’s no way you can run the U.S. We didn’t play our game. We should have slowed it down and we didn’t.” Robinson said the squad’s lack of experience against high-calibre teams was evident. “Canadian basketball players need 50 games a year like that if they want to get anywhere. You don’t see that many 6-4 backcourt men and you need three or four times up the court just to know what you can do against them.” Coach Jack Donahue said his squad didn’t play an intelligent game and blamed himself for that. “That was such an unusual crowd for Canada that it may have thrown them off their game. We weren’t doing what we wanted to do and our shot selection in the first half was terrible.” The game was held at the Forum in Montreal before a packed crowd. Scott May led the Americans with 24. Tom Lagaarde added 16, Adrian Dantley 12, Quinn Buckner 12, Phil Ford 9, Kenny Carr 6, Mitch Kupchak 6, Walter Davis 4, Phil Hubbard 4, Tate Armstrong 2 and Ernie Grunfeld 2, while Steve Sheppard was scoreless. Lars Hansen added 18 for Canada, while nabbing 12 boards. Bill Robinson scored 16, John Cassidy 4, Romel Raffin 4, Martin Riley 4, Cameron Hall 2, Jamie Russell 2 and Bob Sharpe 2, while Alex Devlin, Derek Sankey and Bob Town were scoreless. Canada nabbed 23 boards, dished 8 assists and committed 20 turnovers. Canadian assistant Steve Konchalski told the Montreal Gazette that “I’ll tell you what happened. The guys got so worked up and carried away by the crowd that they forgot about our game plan and started to run with the US. We just can’t do that. We knew we had to slow the game down.” Donahue said “I wasn’t surprised at the outcome. I saw that the game plan wasn’t being followed very closely and I knew we were in trouble.” American coach Dean Smith said “the Canadian team played well and our team played well. And we managed to stay out of foul trouble.”
In the bronze medal match, after being thumped by 28, Canadian coach Jack Donahue told Canadian Press that “we came up against superior players. …Those guys broke their hearts out there. They are 12 young men who have given up three and a half years of their lives. We have some kids down there who are in a very emotional state. But let me say how proud I am …I am very proud to live in Canada and know that these people have the future of Canada in their hands. …We came very, very close and the next best thing to getting there is coming very, very close.” Canada played a slow deliberate game and kept in the contest through the first half. They shot well and with 20,000 fans jammed into the Forum were eager for an upset. But the Soviets bolted to an 11-point lead late in the half and then ripped off 10 unanswered points in the final two minutes of the half to put the game out of reach. The Russians had superior size, shooting ability, experience and composure. Aleksandr Belov led the Soviets with 23, while nabbing 14 boards and dishing 10 assists. His brother, Sergey Belov, added 22, Vladimir Arzamaskov 18, Alzhan Zharmukhamedov 14, 7-4 centre Volodymyr Tkachenko 8 before fouling out early in the second half, Anatoly Myshkin 8, Vladimir Zhigily 4 and Ivan Yedeshko 3, while Salnikov, Valery Miloserdov, Makeev and Mikheil Korkia were scoreless. The Soviets nabbed 50 boards, dished 32 assists and committed 25 turnovers. Bill Robinson led Canada with 24. Phil Tollestrup added 17, Lars Hansen 12, Jamie Russell 7, Derek Sankey 4, Martin Riley 2, Robert Sharpe 2, Cameron Hall 2 and Robert Town 2, while Alex Devlin, John Cassidy and Romel Raffin were scoreless. Canada nabbed 32 boards, dished 19 assists and committed 20 turnovers. “For us to beat a club like that, everything has to go right,” said Donahue. “Today, everything didn’t go right.” Assistant coach Steve Konchalski told the Montreal Gazette that “yes, we could have shot a lot better. And if it looked like we were taking bad shots, I think part of the reason is that the Soviets forced us to. They beat us very, very well. The score was indicative.” The Canadian men’s Olympic team was subsequently selected as Canada’s 1976 Team of the Year,