Basketball at the 1988 Summer Olympics

12th Basketball Olympic Tournament Seoul 1988
Tournament details
Olympics	1988 Summer Olympics
Host nation	South Korea
City	Seoul
Duration	September 17 - September 30
Men's teams	12
Men's medals:
Gold medalists	Soviet Union
Silver medalists	Yugoslavia
Bronze medalists	United States
Women's teams	8
Women's medals:
Gold medalists	United States
Silver medalists	Yugoslavia
Bronze medalists	Soviet Union

Basketball at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place at the Jamsil Gymnasium in Seoul, South Korea. The United States won the gold medal in the women's competition, thus repeating their performance from the 1984 tournament. In the men's tournament, the Soviet Union took home their second gold medal in the team's history for this event. This was the last Olympic Basketball Tournament where NBA players were not allowed to participate, although professionals were allowed in other sports.

Medalists

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men's	Soviet Union (URS) Aleksandr Volkov Tiit Sokk Sergei Tarakanov Šarūnas Marčiulionis Igors Miglinieks Valeri Tikhonenko Rimas Kurtinaitis Arvydas Sabonis Viktor Pankrashkin Valdemaras Chomičius Aleksandr Belostennyi Valeri Goborov	Yugoslavia (YUG) Dražen Petrović Zdravko Radulović Zoran Čutura Toni Kukoč Žarko Paspalj Željko Obradović Jure Zdovc Stojko Vranković Vlade Divac Franjo Arapović Dino Rađa Danko Cvjetičanin	United States (USA) Mitch Richmond Charles Smith IV Bimbo Coles Hersey Hawkins Jeff Grayer Charles D. Smith Willie Anderson Stacey Augmon Dan Majerle Danny Manning J. R. Reid David Robinson
Women's	United States (USA) Teresa Edwards Kamie Ethridge Cynthia Brown Anne Donovan Teresa Weatherspoon Bridgette Gordon Victoria Bullett Andrea Lloyd Katrina McClain Jennifer Gillom Cynthia Cooper Suzanne McConnell	Yugoslavia (YUG) Stojna Vangelovska Mara Lakić Zana Lelas Eleonora Wild Kornelija Kvesić Danira Nakić Sladjana Golić Polona Dornik Razija Mujanović Vesna Bajkuša Andjelija Arbutina Bojana Milošević	Soviet Union (URS) Olga Zhevkova Irina Gerlits Olessya Barel Irina Sumnikova Olga Buyakina Olga Yakovleva Irina Minkh Aleksandra Leonova Elena Kudashova Vitalija Tuomaite Natalya Zasulskaya Galina Savitskaya

Qualification

A NOC could enter one men's team with 12 players and one women's team with 12 players. For both tournaments, automatic qualifications were granted to the host country and the winners from the previous edition. For the men's tournament, the remaining teams were decided by the corresponding continental championships, plus the second and third places from Europe and the Americas, and the runner-up from Africa. For the women's tournament, qualification was decided by a tournament held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where the top six teams earned a spot.

Men

Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania	Automatic qualifiers
Central African Republic  Egypt	Puerto Rico  Brazil  Canada	China	Soviet Union  SFR Yugoslavia  Spain	Australia	United States – Olympic Champions  Korea – Olympic hosts

Women

Asia	Europe	Oceania	Automatic qualifiers
China	Soviet Union  SFR Yugoslavia  Czechoslovakia  Bulgaria	Australia	United States – Olympic Champions  Korea – Olympic hosts

Format

Men's tournament:

• Two groups of six teams are formed, where the top four from each group advance to the knockout stage.
• Fifth and sixth places from each group form an additional bracket to decide 9th–12th places in the final ranking.
• In the quarterfinals, the matchups are as follows: A1 vs. B4, A2 vs. B3, A3 vs. B2 and A4 vs. B1.
  • The four teams eliminated from the quarterfinals form an additional bracket to decide 5th–8th places in the final ranking.
• The winning teams from the quarterfinals meet in the semifinals as follows: A1/B4 vs. A3/B2 and A2/B3 vs. A4/B1.
• The winning teams from the semifinals contest the gold medal. The losing teams contest the bronze.

Women's tournament:

• Two groups of four teams are formed, where the top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage.
• Third and fourth places from each group form an additional bracket to decide 5th–8th places in the final ranking.
• In the semifinals, the matchups are as follows: A1 vs. B2, A2 vs. B1.
• The winning teams from the semifinals contest the gold medal. The losing teams contest the bronze.

Tie-breaking criteria:

1. Head to head results
2. Goal average (not the goal difference) between the tied teams
3. Goal average of the tied teams for all teams in its group

Men's Tournament

Preliminary Round

The top four places in each of the preliminary round groups advanced to the eight team, single-elimination knockout stage, where Group A teams would meet Group B teams. Hosts Korea couldn't advance, finishing at the bottom of their group. The other Asia representative, China, met the same fate, together with the two African teams, Egypt and Central African Republic.

Group A

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Tie
SFR Yugoslavia	4	1	468	384	+84	9	1W–0L
Soviet Union	4	1	460	393	+67	9	0W–1L
Australia	3	2	429	408	+21	8	1W–0L
Puerto Rico	3	2	382	387	−5	8	0W–1L
Central African Republic	1	4	346	436	−90	6
Korea	0	5	384	461	−77	5

September 18		Australia	81–77	Puerto Rico		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 50–36, 31–41

September 18		Central African Republic	73–70	Korea		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 47–30, 26–40

September 18		Soviet Union	79–92	SFR Yugoslavia		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 33–39, 46–53

September 20		Korea	74–79	Puerto Rico		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 30–38, 44–41

September 20		Central African Republic	79–92	SFR Yugoslavia		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 33–39, 46–53

September 20		Australia	69–91	Soviet Union		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 35–53, 34–38

September 21		Korea	92–104	SFR Yugoslavia		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 46–48, 46–56

September 21		Puerto Rico	81–93	Soviet Union	OT	Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 39–37, 37–39 OT: 5–17

September 21		Australia	106–67	Central African Republic		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 57–35, 49–32

September 23		Central African Republic	67–71	Puerto Rico		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 41–27, 26–34

September 23		Korea	73–110	Soviet Union		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 38–59, 35–51

September 23		Australia	78–98	SFR Yugoslavia		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 43–52, 35–46

September 24		Australia	95–75	Korea		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 51–39, 44–36

September 24		Central African Republic	78–87	Soviet Union		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 31–40, 47–47

September 24		Puerto Rico	74–72	SFR Yugoslavia		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 36–37, 38–35

Group B

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
United States	5	0	485	302	+183	10
Spain	4	1	484	435	+49	9
Brazil	3	2	590	522	+68	8
Canada	2	3	479	455	+24	7
China	1	4	433	527	−94	6
Egypt	0	5	338	568	−230	5

September 17		China	98–84	Egypt		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 47–43, 51–41

September 17		Brazil	125–109	Canada		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 56–45, 69–64

September 18		Spain	53–97	United States		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 32–48, 21–49

September 20		Brazil	130–108	China		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 72–61, 58–47

September 20		Canada	70–76	United States		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 42–40, 28–36

September 20		Egypt	70–113	Spain		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 44–57, 26–56

September 21		Brazil	87–102	United States		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 55–63, 32–39

September 21		Canada	117–64	Egypt		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 61–32, 56–32

September 21		China	74–106	Spain		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 43–59, 31–57

September 23		Canada	84–94	Spain		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 51–45, 33–49

September 23		Brazil	138–85	Egypt		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 66–38, 72–47

September 23		China	57–108	United States		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 26–59, 31–49

September 23		Canada	99–96	China		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 56–52, 43–44

September 24		Egypt	35–102	United States		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 21–62, 14–40

September 24		Brazil	110–118	Spain		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 57–61, 53–57

Knockout Stage

Championship bracket

Quarterfinals (September 26)

Semifinals (September 28)

Gold medal (September 30)

A1

SFR Yugoslavia

95

B4

Canada

73

A1

SFR Yugoslavia

91

A3

Australia

70

B2

Spain

74

A3

Australia

77

A1

SFR Yugoslavia

63

A2

Soviet Union

76

B1

United States

94

A4

Puerto Rico

57

B1

United States

76

Bronze medal (September 29)

A2

Soviet Union

82

A2

Soviet Union

110

A3

Australia

49

B3

Brazil

105

B1

United States

78

Classification brackets

5th–8th Place

	September 28					5th place (September 30)
	B3	Brazil	104
	A4	Puerto Rico	86
						B3	Brazil	106
						B2	Canada	90
	B2	Canada	96
	A4	Spain	91			7th place (September 29)
						A4	Puerto Rico	93
						B2	Spain	92

9th–12th Place

	September 26					9th place (September 29)
	A5	Central African Republic	63
	B6	Egypt	57
						A5	Central African Republic	81
						A6	Korea	89
	B5	China	90
	A6	Korea	93			11th place (September 29)
						B6	Egypt	75
						A6	China	97

Women's Tournament

Preliminary Round

The first two places in each of the preliminary round groups advanced to the semifinals, where Group A teams would meet Group B teams. Like their male counterparts, the Korea women's team didn't manage to advance to the knockout stage and ended up battling for 5th place against the other Asian representative, China and two of the European teams, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia.

Group A

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Tie
Australia	2	1	178	196	−18	5	1W–0L
Soviet Union	2	1	208	188	+20	5	0W–1L
Bulgaria	1	2	217	241	−24	4	1W–0L
Korea	1	2	244	222	−22	4	0W–1L

September 19		Bulgaria	62–91	Soviet Union		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 26−50, 36−41

September 19		Australia	55–91	Korea		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 20−41, 35−50

September 22		Korea	66–69	Soviet Union		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 35−33, 31−36

September 22		Australia	63–57	Bulgaria		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 31−30, 32−27

September 25		Bulgaria	98–87	Korea		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 48−51, 50−36

September 25		Australia	60–48	Soviet Union		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 30−30, 30−18

Group B

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
United States	3	0	282	234	+48	6
SFR Yugoslavia	2	1	199	211	−12	5
China	1	2	200	214	−14	4
Czechoslovakia	0	3	202	224	−22	3

September 19		Czechoslovakia	81–87	United States		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 39−37, 42−50

September 19		China	53–56	SFR Yugoslavia		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 32−35, 21−21

September 22		United States	101–74	SFR Yugoslavia		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 55−40, 46−34

September 22		China	68–64	Czechoslovakia		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 36−36, 32−28

September 25		Czechoslovakia	57–69	SFR Yugoslavia		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 15−41, 42−28

September 25		China	79–94	United States		Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul
		Scoring by half: 37−46, 42−48

Knockout Stage

Championship bracket

	Semifinals (September 27)					Gold medal (September 29)
	A1	Australia	56
	B2	SFR Yugoslavia	57
						B2	SFR Yugoslavia	70
						B1	United States	77
	B1	United States	102
	A2	Soviet Union	88			Bronze medal (September 28)
						A1	Australia	53
						A2	Soviet Union	68

Classification bracket

	September 27					5th place (September 29)
	A3	Bulgaria	81
	B4	Czechoslovakia	78
						A3	Bulgaria	102
						B3	China	74
	B3	China	97
	A4	Korea	95			7th place (September 28)
						A4	Korea	77
						B4	Czechoslovakia	59

Final Standings

Rank	Men				Women
	Team	Pld	W	L	Team	Pld	W	L
1 !	Soviet Union	8	7	1	United States	5	5	0
2 !	SFR Yugoslavia	8	6	2	SFR Yugoslavia	5	3	2
3 !	United States	8	7	1	Soviet Union	5	3	2
4th	Australia	8	4	4	Australia	5	2	3
Eliminated at the quarterfinals					Eliminated at the semifinals
5th	Brazil	8	5	3	Bulgaria	5	3	2
6th	Canada	8	3	5	China	5	2	3
7th	Puerto Rico	8	4	4	Korea	5	2	3
8th	Spain	8	4	4	Czechoslovakia	5	0	5
Preliminary round 5th placers
9th	Korea	7	2	5
10th	Central African Republic	7	2	5
Preliminary round 6th placers
11th	China	7	2	5
12th	Egypt	7	0	7

References

• Official Olympic Report
• USA Basketball
• 1988 Olympic Games: Tournament for Men, FIBA Archive
• 1988 Olympic Games: Tournament for Women, FIBA Archive

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