Six-part series on the '72 Olympic fiasco (men's hoops)

[NMSooner'80]

http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/...us-olympic-squad-40-years-later-three-endings


If you were around back then, you'll never forget this theft of the USA's gold medal game win. I was 14 then, and I couldn't believe it.

HBO did a feature on it, and it made me retroactively madder than I was at the time in '72. That ending was right out of the Oregon/Texas Tech crooked refs' playbook, but the true thief was a mole-like turd named William Jones, the head of the FIBA. He'd been outspoken about how the rest of the world needed to have the USA lose, and he personally took care of it.

The link above goes into greater detail than what I'm posting.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

Iba should have never been on the bench at that point, I blame him. Nothing about OU/oSu either, he was out of touch with the times.

 

[playmakr]

Doug Collins should be USA's coach in Rio.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

Just to add, but Iba was about 25 years from being relevant on the national scene, I know that oSu "claims" two championships under him and regrettably the NCAA recognizes them, but draft dodgers and ineligible "draftable" players really shouldn't count. His alleged titles came when it was "agricultural exemptions" vs. "contentious objectors". The "ags" won, but it was the battle of cowards either way. I'd be ashamed to claim them as a fan, but it is what is. Smith, Wooden and about 10 other guys bring home the gold.

 

[sdcloud9]

I was 10 years old when that happened and I can remember my Dad (a pastor and a man who never got upset at sports) absolutely going crazy.

That game was amazing in so many ways.

I am so glad the current players have love for Doug Collins for his heartbreak that day in Munich.

 

[MsProudSooner]

The main thing I seem to remember is that the clock ran out a couple of times, but the officials kept putting more time on the clock until the USSR finally won. Had Iba made coaching mistakes that kept the game too close?

 

[sdcloud9]

Some of the players thought that Iba's deliberate offensive style hurt the team because an up tempo game would have been tougher for the Russians to play.

It sounds like at the end of the game, the officials were going to keep giving the Russians the ball until they scored and not much Iba could have done late in the game to stop it.

 

[MsProudSooner]

Some of the players thought that Iba's deliberate offensive style hurt the team because an up tempo game would have been tougher for the Russians to play.

It sounds like at the end of the game, the officials were going to keep giving the Russians the ball until they scored and not much Iba could have done late in the game to stop it.

Unless an uptempo game would have given us such a big lead that the clock shenanigans wouldn't have won the game for the Russians.

 

[SuperHoops]

Did it say anything about what happened to the silver medals? I know our guys refused to accept them at the time.

 

[vbdad]

Did it say anything about what happened to the silver medals? I know our guys refused to accept them at the time.

The IOC still has them.

It hurt us that Walton wouldn't play for USA. I don't remember why he chose not to be on the team.

 

[sdcloud9]

Unless an uptempo game would have given us such a big lead that the clock shenanigans wouldn't have won the game for the Russians.

Some of the players have stated this publicly that the USA played into the Russians hands by playing slow down.

 

[BoulderSooner]

The main thing I seem to remember is that the clock ran out a couple of times, but the officials kept putting more time on the clock until the USSR finally won. Had Iba made coaching mistakes that kept the game too close?

we had so much more talent .. and iba played a slow down grind it out game ..

he did a horrible job as the head coach of the team

the hbo doc on that team from a few years ago shows that IBA did a poor job

 

[Big Old Booger]

The IOC still has them.

It hurt us that Walton wouldn't play for USA. I don't remember why he chose not to be on the team.

He chose not to be on the team because he didn't want to play for Iba, at least that's what the article said. Had they chosen Wooden to coach, who should have been chosen considering he was in the middle of his incredible run at UCLA, then Walton plays and this controversy never happens.

 

[BoulderSooner]

He chose not to be on the team because he didn't want to play for Iba, at least that's what the article said. Had they chosen Wooden to coach, who should have been chosen considering he was in the middle of his incredible run at UCLA, then Walton plays and this controversy never happens.

and the usa wins in a route

 

[stoops4pres]

I wasn't around then, but my mother and grandfather still become angry looking back on it. Haha

Also, I love how the players still refuse to accept the silver medal. As they should refuse.

 

[OKCThunder]

Just to add, but Iba was about 25 years from being relevant on the national scene, I know that oSu "claims" two championships under him and regrettably the NCAA recognizes them, but draft dodgers and ineligible "draftable" players really shouldn't count. His alleged titles came when it was "agricultural exemptions" vs. "contentious objectors". The "ags" won, but it was the battle of cowards either way. I'd be ashamed to claim them as a fan, but it is what is. Smith, Wooden and about 10 other guys bring home the gold.

Wow ... not really accurate. There were some guys on OSU's Championship teams that did great things for our country and served in the military during the war. To paint a whole team with that broad brush because you hate OSU is just downright silly. I'm thankful for everyone who has served in the armed forces and protected our freedoms, whether they be Cowboy, Sooner, Longhorn or anything else. Was Sam Aubrey a draft dodger and coward as you claim? Below is a blurb about his service.

After his junior year in which he garnered another varsity letter, Aubrey entered the United States Army in the spring of 1943. He was ranked a First Lieutenant upon his discharge and was awarded a Purple Heart and Silver Star for service in the Arno-Po campaign in Italy. He was wounded on Sept. 18, 1944, when a German bullet shattered his hip and was told he would be in a wheelchair by the time he was 35.

Aubrey returned to Oklahoma A&M in September of 1945 and was a starting forward on the 1946 team that went 31-2 and won its second-consecutive national championship. All five starters of that squad, including Aubrey, were named first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference.

 

[OKCThunder]

He chose not to be on the team because he didn't want to play for Iba, at least that's what the article said. Had they chosen Wooden to coach, who should have been chosen considering he was in the middle of his incredible run at UCLA, then Walton plays and this controversy never happens.

The article said he wouldn't play for any coach that wasn't Wooden, not specifically Iba. Wouldn't have played for Smith either. Said he had a bad experience at the 1970 World Championships and that soured him to anyone not named Wooden.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

Wow ... not really accurate. There were some guys on OSU's Championship teams that did great things for our country and served in the military during the war. To paint a whole team with that broad brush because you hate OSU is just downright silly. I'm thankful for everyone who has served in the armed forces and protected our freedoms, whether they be Cowboy, Sooner, Longhorn or anything else. Was Sam Aubrey a draft dodger and coward as you claim? Below is a blurb about his service.

After his junior year in which he garnered another varsity letter, Aubrey entered the United States Army in the spring of 1943. He was ranked a First Lieutenant upon his discharge and was awarded a Purple Heart and Silver Star for service in the Arno-Po campaign in Italy. He was wounded on Sept. 18, 1944, when a German bullet shattered his hip and was told he would be in a wheelchair by the time he was 35.



Aubrey returned to Oklahoma A&M in September of 1945 and was a starting forward on the 1946 team that went 31-2 and won its second-consecutive national championship. All five starters of that squad, including Aubrey, were named first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference.

Marist = Conscientious Objectors vs. oSu = Agricultural Exemptions. The deck was stacked. Ultimately I could really care less except to say that Iba had no business coaching anything for the United States in 1972 and the actual record reflects it. Do I think oSu has legitimate claims to championships during an era when most men were fighting for their country? Doesn't matter what I think, but purists "get it".

My alleged "hate" is more sympathy for Doug Collins and the rest of the Olympic athletes that deserved a competent coach instead of a fraud that nobody really wanted in the first place and who built his reputation on accolades that were only achieved as a result of substantially diminished competition and was too boneheaded to keep up with the times. Sorry if reality hurts your feelings, but Iba was overall a middling if not terrible coach and the record reflects it.

 

[OKCThunder]

I guess anyone who fielded a team in those days were cowards and their accomplishments shouldnt be counted (who cares that some served). Were the OU players from that era cowards and draft dodgers?

 

[HoHum]

Marist = Conscientious Objectors vs. oSu = Agricultural Exemptions. The deck was stacked. Ultimately I could really care less except to say that Iba had no business coaching anything for the United States in 1972 and the actual record reflects it. Do I think oSu has legitimate claims to championships during an era when most men were fighting for their country? Doesn't matter what I think, but purists "get it".

My alleged "hate" is more sympathy for Doug Collins and the rest of the Olympic athletes that deserved a competent coach instead of a fraud that nobody really wanted in the first place and who built his reputation on accolades that were only achieved as a result of substantially diminished competition and was too boneheaded to keep up with the times. Sorry if reality hurts your feelings, but Iba was overall a middling if not terrible coach and the record reflects it.

He had been the coach of the team that won the Gold in '64 and '68. And they had steamrolled the competition in both of those Olympic Games. With a point differential of +270 in 9 games in '64, and a point differential of +224 in 9 games in '68.

And in '72, they had annihilated every team they played, with the closest score (besides the Gold Medal game) a 7-point win against Brazil. Every other game was at least a 19 point victory.

But, he wasn't a competent coach? They won despite his coaching? I would think protocol would suggest that if a guy had won the Gold two Olympics in a row, you ask him again.

As for your opinion that was a 'terrible' coach, and his record reflects that. Have you seen his record? He had consistently good to great records from 1935 (BEFORE WW2) until 1958 (AFTER WW2). And then he started to fall off at OSU in large part because he refused to recruit, thinking good players would just make their way to Stillwater to be coached by him.

And, not this is the end-all of being good at what you do, but they named the freaking award for College Basketball's Coach of the Year after the guy. That doesn't make him the best, just like it doesn't make Cy Young the best pitcher of all time, but it sure doesn't make you 'terrible' or 'middling'.

Also, given your history (that I've observed) on message boards, and the sort of persona that I've gathered you having on the internet, yes, I do think it has something to do with OU/OSU, despite your denying it earlier in the thread.

EDIT - And I'd like to see your response about the point brought up earlier about Aubrey. Also, A.L. Bennett who was on the 1945-1946 championship team fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and received a Purple Heart. So, perhaps you shouldn't paint with such a broad brush, especially given the fact that you seem so enthusiastic about calling people "cowards' about whom you seem to know nothing about.

And the kicker to the whole thing is, I have just about ZERO emotional attachment to Henry Iba. He was coaching at OSU long before my time, my father was just out of high school when he retired from OSU, and he had no connection to Oklahoma State at the time. So, I would be as perplexed about your argument (which a few quick google searches found plenty of holes in) if it were about another coach from another school a thousand miles away from the state of Oklahoma.