That 1972 basketball team

FOR the record, the Philippine national team last competed in Olympic men’s basketball during the terrorism-marred 1972 Games in Munich, Germany.
That year, the homegrown Filipinos finished with a 3-6 record to rank 13th among 16 participating nations.  (The Olympic men’s basketball cast has since been reduced to 12 teams.)
Only Japan (14th), Senegal (15th) and Egypt (16th) fared worse than the Philippines, whose victories came against Senegal (68-62, preliminary round), Egypt (2-0 by forfeiture, 13th-to-16th classification round) and 1971 Asian Basketball Confederation (now known as the FIBA Asia Championship) titlist Japan (82-73, in the 13th-place contest).
The losses, all in lopsided fashion, came at the hands of Poland (90-75), Puerto Rico (92-72), West Germany (93-74), SFR Yugoslavia (117-76), eventual gold medalist Soviet Union (111-80) and Italy (101-81).
The 1972 Philippine Olympic men’s basketball squad consisted of Jaime Mariano (who averaged a team-best 13.9 points per game), Danilo Florencio (13.1 ppg), Adriano (Jun) Papa Jr. (9.3 ppg), Manuel Paner (7.9 ppg), Rogelio (Tembong) Melencio (6.3 ppg), Narciso Bernardo (6.3 ppg), Rosalio (Yoyong) Martirez (6.0 ppg), Freddie Webb (5.3 ppg), William (Bogs) Adornado (4.0 ppg), Ricardo (Joy) Cleofas (3.7 ppg), Marte Samson (3.4 ppg) and skipper Edgardo Ocampo (2.1 ppg).
Ignacio (Ning) Ramos was the team’s head coach.
Of the dozen basketball Olympians that saw action in the Munich Games, four have crossed the Great Divide – Papa, Melencio, Bernardo and Ocampo.
* * *
Overall, the Philippines has qualified for the Olympic men’s basketball tournament on seven occasions, but not one after the violence-marred 1972 Games in Munich, Germany.
The Filipino cagers’ inaugural Olympic appearance came in Berlin, Germany in 1936 as they ranked fifth overall with a 4-1 win-loss record.
Then it was London, England in 1948 (12th, 4-4 record); Helsinki, Finland in 1952 (tied for 9th to 16th, 3-2); Melbourne, Australia in 1956 (7th, 4-4); Rome, Italy in 1960 (11th, 4-4), Mexico City, Mexico in 1968 (13th, 3-6); and finally Munich, Germany in 1972 (13th, 3-6).
There were no Olympic Games in 1940 and 1944 due to World War II. The competitions resumed in 1948 in London.
During the inaugural modern-day Summer Olympics in Berlin in 1936, the Filipinos settled for fifth place among the 21 participating nations even though they lost just once in five assignments.
The Philippines, which was skippered by (future Senator) Ambrosio Padilla, drew a bye in the first round.
It nipped Mexico, 32-30, in the second round and blasted Estonia, 39-22, in the Round of 14.
During the knockout quarterfinals, the United States sent the Filipinos out of medal contention with an emphatic 56-23 victory (28-20 at halftime, meaning our boys scored a measly three points in the entire second half).
In their first assignment during the classification phase, the Filipinos crushed Italy, 32-14, to advance to the 5th-6th-place game where we downed Uruguay, 33-23.
The Philippines’ fifth-place performance remains the highest finish ever by an Asian country in Olympic men’s basketball history.
The United States defeated Canada, 19-8, in the gold-medal game while Mexico (which the Philippines whipped in the second round) crushed Poland, 26-12, for the bronze.
Aside from Padilla, who later won a seat in the Philippine Senate, the members of the 1936 PH Olympic men’s basketball unit were Charles Borck, Jacinto Ciria Cruz, Franco Marquicias, Primitivo Martinez, Jesus Marzan, Amador Obordo, Bibiano Ouano, John Worrell and Fortunato Yambao.
The national team head coach was Dionisio (Chito) Calvo.
In addition to the fifth-place finish in the 1936 Berlin Games, the Filipinos also ranked seventh during the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, having beaten such teams as France and Chile.
Our boys dropped a 121-53 decision to the United States in preliminary-round action as the greatest Filipino cager ever, Carlos (Caloy) Loyzaga, tangled with American star Bill Russell, who eventually went on to earn 11 title rings (in a dozen Finals trips) during a distinguished 13-year pro career in the National Basketball Association.
In contrast to the Filipinos’ past exploits, the best finish to date by the People’s Republic of China in Olympic men’s basketball history is eighth place, which the Chinese initially set during the 1996 Atlanta Games and then duplicated during the 2004 Athens Games (under former NBA head coach Del Harris) and 2008 Beijing Games.
China, after topping the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship on its home soil, will be the sole Asian country to take part in the upcoming 31st Summer Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Four years ago during the London Games, the Chinese lost all their five assignments and placed last among the 12 participants. The Asian titlists are 0-4 after four games in the ongoing Rio Olympics and will face Serbia in their final assignment in the elimination phase.