1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team

none August 2023 1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team Bob Knight 1984 Summer Olympics 16px Michael Jordan USA 17.1 Wayman Tisdale USA 5.9 Leon Wood USA 7.9 1976 1988 The 1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, representing the United States. The USA's senior men's team was led by coach Bob Knight, who was also the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers at the time. The team won the tournament's championship. It was the last amateur-level U.S. team to win an Olympic championship in men's basketball. The team was considered to be one of the strongest in the U.S.A.'s history at that time, as it featured four of the five 1984 consensus first team All-Americans, in Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Wayman Tisdale, and Sam Perkins. Due to the 1984 Summer Olympic Games boycott, which was led by the Soviet Union and involved 14 Eastern Bloc countries and satellite states, the Soviet Union national team and the Hungarian national team withdrew from the tournament. However, the 1980 Summer Olympic Games gold medalists, Yugoslavia, defied the boycott to play at the tournament, and ultimately won the bronze medal. Roster Name "1984 USA Men's Olympic Games Roster & Results https://web.archive.org/web/20100716093231/http://www.usabasketball.com/mens/national/moly_1984.html 2010-07-16 ." usabasketball.com. Retrieved on August 18, 2012. Position Height Weight Age Home Town Team/School Steve Alford Guard 6'1" 163 19 New Castle, Indiana Indiana Patrick Ewing Center 7'0" 248 21 Cambridge, Massachusetts Georgetown Vern Fleming Guard 6'5" 184 22 Queens, New York Georgia Michael Jordan Guard 6'6" 199 21 Wilmington, North Carolina North Carolina Joe Kleine Forward 6'11" 269 22 Slater, Missouri Arkansas Jon Koncak Center 7'0" 250 21 Kansas City, Missouri Southern Methodist Chris Mullin Guard 6'6" 211 20 Brooklyn, New York St. John's Sam Perkins Forward 6'9" 233 23 Latham, New York North Carolina Alvin Robertson Guard 6'4" 193 21 Barberton, Ohio Arkansas Wayman Tisdale Forward 6'9" 259 20 Tulsa, Oklahoma Oklahoma Jeff Turner Forward 6'9" 229 22 Brandon, Florida Vanderbilt Leon Wood Guard 6'3" 190 22 Santa Monica, California Cal State Fullerton Olympic trials Trials for the team were held in April 1984 at Knight's regular base of operations at Indiana's campus in Bloomington. Seventy players attended the trials. Kentucky post players Sam Bowie and Melvin Turpin chose to skip the trials, in order to concentrate on the upcoming 1984 NBA draft,Bowie, Turpin to Skip TheDaily Times April 14, 1984 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bKpeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=F1MNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2391,1114495&dq=melvin+turpin+olympic&hl=en August 18, 2012 and Keith Lee of Memphis State, Len Bias of Maryland and Kenny Smith of North Carolina, ultimately pulled out as well.Olympic Cage Quest TheDaily Times April 14, 1984 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uRhZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ckYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4513,4868387&dq=kenny+smith+olympic&hl=en August 18, 2012 Knight led the trials with assistant coaches George Raveling, Don Donoher and C. M. Newton, whittling the prospects down to twenty, by the end of the first week of the trials.Cunningham Carson 2009 American Hoops: U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball From Berlin to Beijing University of Nebraska Press 978-0-8032-2293-9https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19840423&id=yxhXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8e4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6549,4369733 Spokesman-Review Blanchette John Stockton makes Olympic cut April 24, 1984 C1 During the trials, Auburn junior Charles Barkley impressed with his performance – most observers felt he and North Carolina shooting guard Michael Jordan were the two top performers. However, Barkley's and Knight's strong personalities did not mesh, and Barkley was one of the last cuts from the roster.Bondy Filip 2007 Tip-Off: How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever DaCapo Press 978-0-306-81486-0 Released along with Barkley, in the penultimate cut from 20 to 16 players in May, were John Stockton of Gonzaga, Terry Porter of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and Maurice Martin of Saint Joseph's.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=H1hWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9u4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6603%2C8983107 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Blanchette Basketball school is over for Stockton May 14, 1984 13https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fJUpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tccEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2676%2C3604837 Times Daily Florence, Alabama staff, wire reports Barkley won't go for gold May 14, 1984 5B Knight's final cut to twelve players came in June, and the final four let go were Tim McCormick of Michigan, Lancaster Gordon of Louisville, Johnny Dawkins of Duke and Barkley's Auburn teammate Chuck Person (Dawkins and Person served as alternates for the team).Knight Makes Up His Mind Early, Announces Olympic Cage Squad TheDaily Times June 28, 1984 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4c8pAAAAIBAJ&sjid=s8kEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1422,6931392&dq=johnny+dawkins+chuck+person+olympics&hl=en August 18, 2012 The most controversial selection was Knight's own Indiana player, Steve Alford, who was the team's youngest member at 19 and not expected by most to make the team. Prior to the Olympics, the team played eight games against NBA All-Star teams including Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Isiah Thomas and Mark Aguirre and won all eight. NBA players played in their offseason.HOORAY FOR THE RED, WHITE, BLACK AND BLUE! by Curry Kirkpatrick Sports IllustratedRemembering Michael Jordan and the 1984 Olympic trials by Sean Deveney The Sporting NewsVIDEO: Michael Jordan lit up an NBA All-Star team in a pre-1984 Olympic exhibition win by Michael Hulse https://web.archive.org/web/20200606200647/https://www.theherdnow.com/video-michael-jordan-lit-up-an-nba-all-star-team-in-a-pre-1984-olympic-exhibition-win/ 2020-06-06 The Herd with Colin Cowherd Olympic tournament Basketball at the 1984 Summer Olympics The team went 8–0 in the Olympic tournament, averaging 95.4 points per game, and holding their opponents to 63.3. (Their closest contest was an 11-point win over West Germany in the quarterfinals; ironically, the Germans were only in Los Angeles as a replacement for the boycotting USSR.) Four players averaged double-figures in scoring: Michael Jordan (17.1), Chris Mullin (11.6), Patrick Ewing (11.0) and Steve Alford (10.3). Wayman Tisdale led the team in rebounding (5.9 per game),USA 12 - Wayman Tisdale. while Leon Wood led the team in assists (7.9 per game). Results USA 97, China 49 USA 89, Canada 68 USA 104, Uruguay 68 USA 120, France 62 USA 101, Spain 68 USA 78, Federal Republic of Germany 67; quarterfinals USA 78, Canada 59; semifinals USA 96, Spain 65; gold medal game Legacy The 1984 Summer Olympics was a coming-out party for Michael Jordan, who led Team USA in scoring and dazzled the worldwide viewing audience with his athleticism and speed, including during the sweep of the NBA All-Stars before the Olympics. In addition to Jordan, the team featured two other future Hall of Fame members in Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin (both of whom would later reunite with Jordan, as a part of the 1992 Dream Team). Jordan recalled that while this Olympic experience was exciting, it had also been demanding because of Knight: "I don't know if I would have done it if I knew what Knight was going to be like."Smith Sam The Jordan Rules 207 Simon and Schuster 1993 https://archive.org/details/jordanrules00smit registration bobby knight the jordan rules olympics. 9780671796662 March 27, 2015 The Olympics and trials helped the draft stock of several players. Vern Fleming and Jeff Turner parlayed their Olympic exposure into first-round spots in the 1984 NBA draft, while several players who were cut from the team, either received strong recommendations from Knight (future Hall of Fame member John Stockton and Tim McCormick), or benefited from exposure from the trials (Charles Barkley and Lancaster Gordon). See also 1984 Summer Olympics Basketball at the 1984 Summer Olympics United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics United States men's national basketball team References 2 External links Team profile at USA Basketball official site Category:United States at the Olympic men's basketball tournament United States Olympics