| FINAL STANDINGS 1. Soviet Union 2. Yugoslavia 3. U.S.A. 4. Australia 5. Brazil 6. CANADA 7. Puerto Rico 8. Spain 9. Korea 10. Central Africa 11. China 12. Egypt | CANADIANS Norman Clarke (Maypen, Jamaica) David Turcotte (Ottawa, Ont.) Eli Pasquale (Sudbury, Ont.) Karl Tilleman (Ogden, Utah) Alan Kristmanson (Vancouver, B.C.) Jay Triano (Tillsonburg, Ont.) Dwight Walton (Montreal, Que.) John Hatch (Calgary, Alta.) Barry Mungar (Ottawa, Ont.) Romel Raffin (Toronto, Ont.) Wayne Yearwood (Montreal, Que.) Gerald Kazanowski (Nanaimo, B.C.) Jack Donohue – coach Steve Konchalski – assistant coach Doc Ryan – assistant coach |
| GROUP A | YUG | SOV | AUS | PUR | CAF | KOR | Record | ||
| Yugoslavia | —– | 92-79 | 98-78 | 72-74 | 102-61 | 104-92 | (4-1) | ||
| Soviet Union | 79-92 | —– | 91-69 | 93-81 | 87-78 | 110-73 | (4-1) | ||
| Australia | 78-98 | 69-91 | —– | 81-77 | 106-67 | 95-75 | (3-2) | ||
| Puerto Rico | 74-72 | 81-93 | 77-81 | —– | 71-67 | 79-74 | (3-2) | ||
| Central Africa | 61-102 | 78-87 | 67-106 | 67-71 | —– | 73-70 | (1-4) | ||
| Korea | 92-104 | 73-110 | 75-95 | 74-79 | 70-73 | —– | (0-5) | ||
| GROUP B | USA | SPN | BRA | CAN | CHN | EGY | Record | ||
| United States | —– | 97-53 | 102-87 | 76-70 | 108-57 | 102-35 | (5-0) | ||
| Spain | 53-97 | —– | 118-110 | 94-84 | 106-74 | 113-70 | (4-1) | ||
| Brazil | 87-102 | 110-118 | —– | 125-109 | 130-108 | 138-85 | (3-2) | ||
| Canada | 70-76 | 84-94 | 109-125 | —– | 99-96 | 117-64 | (2-3) | ||
| China | 57-108 | 74-106 | 108-130 | 96-99 | —– | 98-84 | (1-4) | ||
| Egypt | 35-102 | 70-113 | 85-138 | 64-117 | 84-98 | —– | (0-5) | ||
| QFs | Yugoslavia 95 Canada 73 | |
| QFs | Soviet Union 110 Brazil 105 | |
| QFs | United States 94 Puerto Rico 57 | |
| QFs | Australia 77 Spain 74 | |
| 9-12th | Central Africa 63 Egypt 57 | |
| 9-12th | Korea 93 China 90 | |
| 5-8th | Brazil 104 Puerto Rico 86 | |
| 5-8th | Canada 96 Spain 91 | |
| Semi | Yugoslavia 91 Australia 70 | |
| Semi | U.S.S.R. 82 United States 76 | |
| 11th | Korea 89 Central Africa 81 | |
| 9th | China 97 Egypt 75 | |
| 7th | Puerto Rico 93 Spain 92 | |
| 5th | Brazil 106 Canada 90 | |
| Bronze | United States 78 Australia 49 | |
| Final | U.S.S.R. 76 Yugoslavia 63 | |
In pool B round robin play, Canada opened with a 125-109 loss to Brazil, as the South Americans hit 15 treys, including a 75-foot buzzer beater by guard Jorge Guerrinha. Wayne Yearwood came off the bench and banged a few bodies en route to a 21-point night. Yearwood likened Canadians basketball to an old boy’s network and coach Jack Donahue’s boys looked very old indeed. “I’ve got nothing against my teammates,” said Yearwood. “They’re great people but they can only carry us so far. We’ve got to fight fire with fire. We’ve got to have some younger players.” Canada started Rommel Raffin, Barry Mungar, Jay Triano, John Hatch. Brazil finished 15-24 from the arc. Canada was 5-17. Canada closed to within 87-80 with eight minutes left but Marcel Souza drilled a pair of threes to put the game away. Oscar Schmidt led Brazil with 36, along with 10 boards. Marcel added 30, Gerson 28, along with 10 boards, Maury 14, Jorge Guerrinha 8, Israel 4, Rolando 4 and Luiz de Azevedo 1. Brazil garnered 43 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals, 8 blocks and 17 turnovers. Alan Kristmanson led Canada with 25. Wayne Yearwood added 21, along with 7 boards. Jay Triano scored 14, while nabbing 2 boards, dishing 3 assists and stealing 3 balls. David Turcote added 13, Barry Mungar 10, John Hatch 6, Eli Pasquale 6, along with 2 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals, Karl Tilleman 6, Gerald Kazanowski 4, Romel Raffin 2 and Dwight Walton 2, while Norman Clarke was scoreless. Canada notched 30 boards, 11 assists, 10 steals and 6 turnovers. “We played harder than they did,” said Yearwood, who shot 8-11 in the second half before fouling out. “We worked our tail off. Those guys are so nonchalant. They kept jacking up threes, and they canned every one of them.” Assistant coach Steve Konchalski said “when we lose, we look old. When we win, we look experienced.”
In their second game, Canada fell 76-70 to the U.S. despite leading by two at the half. “It was a heartbreaker,” said forward Wayne Yearwood. “We had a lot of chances to keep the lead and we didn’t take the opportunities to do it. We got a little bit too anxious; we let our emotions get away from us just a little bit, but we gave them a tough fight – I’m sure more than they thought.” Guard Jay Triano said Canada “played a perfect game plan. We were all prepared. I think we just had a couple of bad breaks. I think we gained some respect for the way played but, had we won, we would have had people all over the world watching us.” Canada led 42-40 at the half by dominating the boards and outhustling the Americans. Canada exploded to a 6-0 lead on treys by Triano and Eli Pasquale. Hersey Hawkins paced the U.S. with 13. Danny Manning added 12, Dan Majerle 11, Charles E Smith IV 10, Bimbo Coles 8, Jeff Grayer 6, Charles D Smith 6, David Robinson 4, Willie Anderson 2, Mitch Richmond 2, Stacey Augmon 1 and J.R. Reid 1. The Americans garnerd 32 boards, 5 assists, 4 steals, 8 blocks and 8 turnovers. Alan Kristmanson paced Canada with 25. Eli Pasquale added 17, along with 3 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals, Jay Triano 15, Gerald Kazanowski 4, Barry Mungar 3, Romel Raffin 2, David Turcotte 2 and Wayne Yearwood 2, along with 11 boards, while John Hatch and Karl Tilleman were scoreless. Hatch nabbed 6 boards.
Canada earned its first win by stomping Egypt 117-64. Karl Tilleman paced Canada with 29, including seven from beyond the arc, along with 4 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. John Hatch added 15, along with 4 boards, Barry Mungar 15, along with 3 boards and 2 steals, Jay Triano 12, along with 4 boards, Dwight Walton 12, along with 5 boards, Romel Raffin 7, along with 5 boards and 3 assists, David Turcotte 6, along with 2 boards, Wayne Yearwood 6, along with 4 boards and 2 assists, Gerald Kazanowski 5, along with 4 boards and 2 assists, Alan Kristmanson 5, along with 2 boards, and Eli Pasquale 5, along with 2 assists, while Norman Clarke was scoreless and dished 2 assists. Canada garnered 38 boards, 18 assists, 10 steals, 2 blocks and 11 turnovers. Coach Jack Donohue was pleased with Canada’s tenacity, especially after an emotional, hard-fought 76-70 loss to the U.S. just 24 hours earlier. “We were concerned that after the great effort we had against the States that there would be a letdown. All we asked of our guys was to give us that kind of an effort you saw today, and that’s what they did. Obviously, Egypt is not as tough a team as the USA or Brazil. But they’re a national team, and if we had made a lot of mistakes we would have been in a lot of trouble.” Egypt made a lot of mistakes. When they weren’t tripping over their own feet, they tripped over those of their teammates and constantly argued on the floor with coach Ahmed Ahmed. Canada led 61-32 at the half. Veteran guard Jay Triano, celebrating his 30th birthday, felt the most beneficial aspect of the game was allowing so many players court time. “It was a great game for us because everybody got to play. We moved the ball really well against their zone. Sometimes there were plays with eight or nine passes involved, and guys feel good when they get to touch the ball a lot. It’ll be good for the other guys, for when they’ll have to come in and make that important shot in these next games. Especially for (guard Eli Pasquale) and I, the rest we got today might help us down the road for the next two games.” Amir Abdel Meguid paced Egypt with 12. Mohamed Ismail added 11, Alain Attalah 10, Hisham Khalil 10, Mohamed El-Shakeri 8, Ashraf El-Kordy 4, Hany Moussa 4, Emad El-Din Mahmoud Ali 3 and El-Sayed Mohamed 2, while Alaa El-Din Abdoun, Ashraf Sedky and Ahmed Soliman were scoreless. Egypt garnered 19 boards, 5 assists, 8 steals, 2 blocks and 21 turnovers.
In their fourth game, Canada squandered a 13-point lead and fell 94-84 to Spain despite 37 points from Karl Tilleman, including 10 treys. “We were never in control of the game in the second half,” said coach Jack Donohue. “And at the end of the first half, we were sloppy. We got taken to school near the basket.” Point guard Eli Pasquale, scored 19, added that “in the first half, we had everything going. In the second half, they got us inside and we didn’t get any type of rhythm.” Spain took a 56-53 lead in the second half before Tilleman hit a pair from beyond the arc as Canada regained the lead. But Gerald Kazanowski missed a layup and Spain hit two consecutive buckets to inch ahead 76-71 and then maintained a comfortable lead until the final buzzer. Canada led 51-45 at the half. Andres Jimenez led Spain with 23, along with 9 boards. Jose Maria Margall added 21, Antonio Martin 17, Juan Antonion San Epifanio 8, Ignacio Solozabal 8, Jose Antonio Montero 6, Jose Biriukov 4, Ferran Martinez 4 and Fernando Arcega 3, while Jordi Villacampa was scoreless. Spain garnered 36 boards, 15 assists, 6 steals, 7 blocks and 11 turnovers. Eli Pasquale added 19 for Canada, Barry Mungar 8, along with 5 boards and 2 steals, Alan Kristmanson 6, Jay Triano 6, Romel Raffin 4, Gerald Kazanowski 2 and Wayne Yearwood 2, along with 6 boards, while John Hatch, David Turcotte and Dwight Walton were scoreless. Canada garnered 27 boards, 4 assists, 5 steals, 1 block and 10 turnovers.
Canada closed out round robin play by defeating China 99-96 as Eli Pasquale hit a trey with six seconds left on the clock. Canada had led for most of the affair before China rallied to take the lead with two minutes to play. But Canada knotted the score at 96 with 23 seconds left, setting the stage for Pasquale’s heroics. Canada had led 56-52 at the half and by as many as 12 in the second half but Chinese used stellar defence and deadly perimeter shooting to take a 93-92 lead with 1:21 to play. Jay Triano paced Canada with 20, along with 3 boards. Wayne Yearwood added 15, along with 3 boards, John Hatch 14, along with 8 boards and 3 steals, David Turcotte 14, Dwight Walton 13 (also reported as 17), along with 7 boards and 2 steals, Barry Mungar 8, along with 4 boards, Eli Pasquale 6, along with 6 assists, Karl Tilleman 4, Gerald Kazanowski 2, along with 2 boards, Alan Kristmanson 2 and Romel Raffin 1. Canada garnered 31 boards, 11 assists, 7 steals and 17 turnovers. Zhang Yongjun paced China with 34. Li Yaguang added 18, Song Ligang 12, Gong Luming 8, Wang Libin 8, Zhang Bin 6, Huang Yunlong 4, Sha Guoli 2, Wang Fei 2 and Xu Xiaoliang 2, while Sun Fengwu was scoreless. China garnered 18 boards, 6 assists, 6 steals, 1 block and 14 turnovers.
In the quarterfinals, Yugoslavia thumped Canada 95-73. “A medal is like having wedding pictures,” said coach Jack Donahue, who retired as national team coach after the Olympics. “They’re there for other people to look at. You’re no more married if you wear a wedding ring, and you’re no less a competitor if you don’t win a medal.” Tied 14-14 with 12 minutes left in the first half, Yugoslavia ripped off an 8-0 run and took command. Canada tried walking the ball up the floor but could hit nothing, shooting 8-35 in the first half, including 1-6 from the arc. Yugoslavia exploded for 55 points in the second half, while holding Jay Triano to five points and Eli Pasquale scoreless. Triano was philosophical, saying Donohue “teaches us life. A lot of guys are hurt now; a lot of guys are down. But coach Donohue taught us that success is not the destination, it’s the journey.” Donohue noted that the Yugoslavs deserved credit. “We didn’t lose to Joe’s Bar and Grill. We lost to Yugoslavia, who might have the best team in the tournament. We played hard. I feel sorry for the team. All you can ask of guys is that they play hard.” Vlade Divac led Yugoslavia with 17, along with 8 boards. Danko Cvjeticanin added 16, Dino Radja 16, Zarko Paspalj 13, Drazen Petrovic 11, Zoran Cutura 8, Zeljko Obradovic 8, Toni Kukoc 2, Zdravko Radulovic 2 and Stojko Vrankovic 2, while Franjo Arapovic and Jure Zdovc were scoreless. Yugoslavia garnered 36 boards, 9 assists, 8 steals, 11 blocks and 9 turnovers. Dwight Walton paced Canada with 17, along with7 boards. Alan Kristmanson added 14, along with 2 boards, John Hatch 13, along with 6 boards and 2 assists, Karl Tilleman 7, along with 2 steals, Barry Mungar 6, along with 7 boards, Wayne Yearwood 6, along with 5 boards, Jay Triano 5, Gerald Kazanowski 3, along with 3 boards, and David Turcotte 2, while Norman Clarke, Eli Pasquale and Romel Raffin were scoreless. Pasquale nabbed 2 boards and pilfered 2 balls. Raffin nabbed 3 boards. Canada garnered 38 boards, 5 assists, 6 steals, 2 blocks and 10 turnovers.
In the 5-8th classification bracket, Canada edged Spain 96-91. “We did what we wanted to do both times we played them,” said coach Jack Donahue. “But we did it for 40 minutes this time.” Jay Triano paced Canada with 27, along with 7 boards, John Hatch 19, along with 6 boards, Wayne Yearwood 13, along with 3 boards, Eli Pasquale 12, along with 2 boards and 3 assists, Barry Mungar 6, along with 2 boards, Romel Raffin 5, along with 8 boards and 4 assists, Karl Tilleman 4, Dwight Walton 4, and Gerald Kazanowski 2, along with 2 boards, while Alan Kristmanson and David Turcotte were scoreless. Canada garnered 32 boards, 11 assists, 6 steals and 12 blocks. Fernando Arcega paced Spain with 16. Andres Jimenez added 16, Juan Antonio San Epifanio 16, Antonio Martin 13, Jose Biriukov 11, Jose Maria Margall 8, Ignacio Solozabal 5, Ferran Martinez 4 and Jose Antonio Montero 2, while Jordi Villacampa was scoreless. Spain garnered 26 boards, 15 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks and 12 turnovers.
In the fifth-place match, Brazil defeated Canada 106-90 by dominating the paint. It was coach Jack Donohue’s last game at the helm for Canada. Oscar Schmidt paced Brazil with 41, along with 8 boards. Paulinho Villas Boas added 25, Pipoka 23, along with 17 boards, Israel 8, Luiz de Azevedo 3, Maury 2, Cadum 2 and Rolando 2, while Guerrinha, Marcel, Gerson and Paulo da Silva were scoreless. Brazil garnered 43 boards, 6 assists, 4 steals, 4 blocks and 7 turnovers. Jay Triano paced Canada with 29, along with 2 boards. John Hatch added 25, along with 10 boards and 2 assists, Wayne Yearwood 15, along with 7 boards and 3 assists, Eli Pasquale 11, along with 4 boards and 2 assists, Karl Tilleman 8, along with 2 boards, and Romel Raffin 2, along with 7 boards, while Norman Clarke, Gerald Kazanowski, Alan Kristmanson, Barry Mungar, David Turcotte and Dwight Walton were scoreless. Canada garnered 34 boards, 8 assists, 3 steals, 1 block and 7 turnovers.