Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

The men's basketball tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece began on 15 August and ended on 28 August, when Argentina defeated Italy 84–69 for the gold medal. The games were held at the Helliniko Olympic Indoor Arena and Olympic Indoor Hall.

Medalists GoldSilverBronze

Qualification

Country Qualified as Date of qualification Previous appearance Olympics host 1996 World champion 2000 Asian champion 2000 Oceanian champion 2000 Oceanian runner-up 2000 African champion 2000 Americas champion 2000 Americas runner-up 1996 Americas third place 1996 European champion 2000 European runner-up 2000 European third place 2000

Format Twelve teams are split into two preliminary round groups of six teams each. The top four teams from both groups qualify for the knockout stage. Fifth-placed teams from both groups compete for ninth place in an additional game. Sixth-placed teams from both groups compete for 11th place in an additional game. In the quarterfinals, the matchups are as follows: A1 vs. B4, A2 vs. B3, A3 vs. B2 and A4 vs. B1. From the eliminated teams at the quarterfinals, the loser from A1 vs. B4 competes against the loser from B1 vs. A4 for seventh place in an additional game. The remaining two loser teams compete for fifth place in an additional game. 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.

Tie-breaking criteria: Head to head results Goal average (not the goal difference) between the tied teams Goal average of the tied teams for all teams in its group

Squads

Preliminary round Group A

All times are local (UTC+3)

Group B

All times are local (UTC+3)

Classification games All times are local (UTC+3)

Knockout stage

Quarterfinals In spite of an undefeated preliminary round, the Spaniards were defeated by the United States (3–2 in group play) to the chagrin of Spanish head coach Mario Pesquera.

Unlike their Spanish counterparts, however, the Lithuanians had an easy time disposing of the Del Harris-led Chinese squad.

Argentina, led by 13 points from both Manu Ginóbili and Fabricio Oberto, disposed of the home squad, led by the 12 points from Nikos Chatzivrettas.

All times are local (UTC+3)

Semifinals The United States was defeated by Argentina, suffering its third loss of the tournament, the most losses ever by the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team. Following the loss to Argentina, it was the first U.S. team to fail to win a gold medal since the 1988 Olympics. The United States would not lose three games in a major tournament again until the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

All times are local (UTC+3)

Bronze medal game The United States won its first bronze medal since 1988 by avenging the preliminary loss to Lithuania of one week earlier.

All times are local (UTC+3)

Gold medal game Argentina won its first ever Olympic gold medal in basketball and became the first Latin and Hispanic nation to obtain an Olympic gold medal in men's basketball.

All times are local (UTC+3)

Team details SF 7 Matteo Soragna PG 9 Gianmarco Pozzecco SG 11 Rodolfo Rombaldoni SG 5 Gianluca Basile PF 6 Giacomo Galanda C 8 Denis Marconato PG 12 Massimo Bulleri C 14 Roberto Chiacig SF 10 Alex Righetti C 15 Luca Garri PF 4 Nikola RadulovicDid not play: SG 13 Michele MianHead Coach: Carlo Recalcati PF 11 Luis Scola PG 6 Alejandro Montecchia SG 5 Manu Ginóbili C 15 Rubén Wolkowyski SF 13 Andrés Nocioni PG 4 Pepe Sánchez SG 10 Hugo Sconochini PF 9 Gabriel Fernández SF 14 Carlos DelfinoDid not play: C 7 Fabricio Oberto SF 8 Walter Herrmann PF 12 Leonardo GutiérrezHead Coach: Rubén Magnano

Awards MVP: Manu Ginóbili

Statistical leaders Top ten in points, rebounds and assists, and top 5 in steals and blocks.

Points Name PPG Pau Gasol 22.4 Phill Jones 21.0 Yao Ming 20.7 Manu Ginóbili 19.3 Carlos Arroyo 19.3 Elías Ayuso 18.8 Luis Scola 17.6 Shane Heal 16.7 Arvydas Macijauskas 15.9 Gianluca Basile 14.6

Rebounds Name RPG Yao Ming 9.3 Dejan Tomašević 9.2 Tim Duncan 9.1 Andrew Bogut 9.0 Pau Gasol 7.3 Sean Marks 7.0 Lazaros Papadopoulos 6.5 Carlos Boozer 6.1 Shawn Marion 5.9 Lamar Odom 5.8

Assists Name APG Šarūnas Jasikevičius 5.6 Carlos Arroyo 5.2 Mark Dickel 4.5 Gianmarco Pozzecco 4.3 Shane Heal 3.5 Stephon Marbury 3.4 Manu Ginóbili 3.3 Theodoros Papaloukas 3.0 Dimitris Diamantidis 2.8 Miguel Lutonda 2.7

Steals Name SPG Theodoros Papaloukas 2.8 Carlos Arroyo 2.3 Dwyane Wade 2.1 Lamar Odom 2.0 Dillon Boucher 1.8 Blocks Name BPG Pau Gasol 1.9 Tim Duncan 1.4 Eurelijus Žukauskas 1.1 Robertas Javtokas 1.0 Andrew Bogut 1.0

Game highs Department Name Total OpponentPoints Yao Ming 39 Rebounds Tim Duncan 16 Assists Gianmarco Pozzecco 12 Steals Tim Duncan Theodoros Papaloukas 5 Blocks Pau Gasol 5 Turnovers Tim Duncan Šarūnas Jasikevičius 7 (both players)

Final standings Rank Team Pld W LGold medal game participants 8 6 2 8 5 3Bronze medal game participants 8 5 3 4th 8 6 2Eliminated at the quarterfinals 5th 7 4 3 6th 7 3 4 7th 7 6 1 8th 7 2 5Preliminary round 5th placers 9th 6 2 4 10th 6 1 5Preliminary round 6th placers 11th 6 2 4 12th 6 0 6

Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

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