Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics took place at the indoor arena in the Helliniko Olympic Complex for the preliminary rounds, with the latter stages being held in the Olympic Indoor Hall at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex.

Men's

Final ranking

• Argentina
• Italy
• United States of America
• Lithuania
• Greece
• Puerto Rico
• Spain
• People's Republic of China
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Serbia and Montenegro
• Angola

Tournament Summary

Pool Play: Group A

Spain was one of two teams to go undefeated in the preliminary round – the other being Lithuania in Group B. World champions Serbia & Montenegro played its worst Olympic performance ever, finishing last in the pool having lost to all but Italy.

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Pool Play: Group B

Lithuania, like Spain, went undefeated in the preliminaries. The United States, the defending champions, overcame losses to Puerto Rico and Lithuania to advance to the quarter finals.

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9th to 12th place classification

Serbia and Montenegro's 11th-place finish is their worst in Olympic history.

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Leading scorers for 9th to 12th place classification:

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• Serbia and Montenegro: Vlado Scepanovic 18 pts
• Angola: Gerson Monteiro 26 pts
• Australia: Shane Heal 30 pts
• New Zealand: Phillip Jones 18 pts

Quarter Finals

In spite of an undefeated preliminary round, the Spaniards were ousted by the "Dream Team" to the jeers of the crowd assembled in the arena and to the chagrin of Spanish head coach Mario Pesquera.

Related Topics:
Dream Team - Mario Pesquera

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

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

Related Topics:
Emanuel Ginóbili - Fabricio Oberto - Nikolaos Chatzivrettas

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Leading scorers for the quarter finals:

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• Spain: Pau Gasol 29 pts
• United States: Stephon Marbury 31 pts
• Lithuania: Arvydas Macijauskas 32 pts
• China, People's Republic of: Yao Ming 29 pts
• Italy: Massimo Bulleri 20 pts
• Puerto Rico: Elias Ayuso 24 pts

5th to 8th place classification

Leading scorers for 5th to 8th place classification:

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• China: Li Nan 16 pts
• Spain: Jose Garbajosa 20 pts
• Puerto Rico: Elias Ayuso 14 pts
• Greece: Mikhail Kakiouzis 20 pts

Semi Finals

It is not clear which of the two above games provided the most surprising defeat.

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Leading scorers for the semi finals:

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• United States: Stephon Marbury 18 pts
• Argentina: Manu Ginobili 29 pts
• Lithuania: Arvydas Macijauskas 26 pts
• Italy: Gianluca Basile 31 pts

Bronze Medal Match

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

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Leading scorers:

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• United States: Shawn Marion 22 pts
• Lithuania: Arvydas Macijauskas 24 pts

Final

Argentina won its first ever Olympic gold medal in basketball and became the first nation other than the United States to win the gold medal since 1988.

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Leading scorers:

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• Argentina: Luis Alberto Scola 25 pts
• Italy: Matteo Soragna and Gianmarco Pozzecco 12 pts