@@buddyfats4768 my guy if the refs cheated it was for the usa because they didn’t restart the timer and give them a second chance. the ussr team coach was just smart to notice that and that’s why they won
if it wasn't for this video.. i wouldn't know Doug Collins was an Olympian , he was stoned face no hesitation for sinking that 2 free throws .with 3 seconds left
I've actually seen him speak on this. Also, I don't remember if it was 2008 or 2012, but one of those years he was the commentator for Olympic basketball and then after the USA won, all the players put their gold medals around his neck.
Hi. something that not a lot of people know, about Olympic basketball is, by rule , the free throw shooter has only, 5 seconds to shoot the free throw. After that is a violation. Many years later, USA Olympian Harold miner had that exact problem in the games bcuz he had a very odd pre shot routine and when the Olympics started the USA Coach told him he did not have time to go through his routine then shoot the ball. He did it anyway and was whistled for a free throw violation.
I was 10 years old and watched it with my 8-year-old brother and my aunt, who was babysitting when we lived in Redondo Beach, Calif.. We all watched the robbery.
I remember watching this 30 something years ago when it originally aired. I think it was a Sunday afternoon. Really got me into the Olympic basketball.
I was born in Seattle in 1973, where I grew up. I thought the refs on the FLOOR did all this. Then I've learned that it was an Olympic official in the STANDS who kept ordering these re-dos of that final play.
I'm American and I understand the ref calls at the end were terrible. But what's forgotten and never mentioned in these 'look back' shows is the game was moved from local 8PM Munich time to MIDNIGHT Munich time. This was to accommodate US television. And the Russkies were justifiably angry. The game was more attuned to the Americans body clocks and it showed. The Russians took a lead but tired, and the Americans rallied.
@@stephaniegormley9982 thats because after one of their key players was fouled so hard, some believe deliberate forced him out of the game about midway in the 2nd half. The U.S. tm decided to turn up the tempo and the soviets couldn't keep up but still kept it close.
@@stephaniegormley9982 It wasn't the "ref's calls" that were bad. He made correct rulings, but was overruled by someone who had no right under the rules to interfere, Renato William Jones, Secretary-general of FIBA. He ordered the inbound attempt replayed twice, and the clock reset to 3 seconds.
To this day Our ‘72 Olympic Bb team continues their protest as to what happened in the Gold medal gm in Munich. Their Silver medals remain in a vault at the Intl Olympic Committee headquarters, Untouched. There was a story not too long ago that one of the members of that team made an attempt to retrieve his medal but was reminded that we will never accept the medal based on what happened on that day.
Keep in mind this was playing against a US team that didn't even have pro ballers. It's not even a hot take that this Soviet team would have been rekt if the US was allowed to use their professional players. Imagine this team going against a 72 Lakers. It would have been a blowout with the Soviets losing by 40 at least.
They won it gloriously in Montreal, with Adrian Dantley, Scott May and Dean's Smith's coaching. Of course, the USSR team was eliminated by Yugoslavia in the semifinals, fizzling a rematch after four years of frothing at the mouth by our fans. Still, the U.S. won, but we never avenged the Munich loss. We boycotted the Olympics in '80, they boycotted in '84 and the last Soviet team clobbered the U.S. in '88.
Don't forget they had Dean Smith as the head coach and John Thompson as his top assistant. Of course, John Wooden was the first choice to coach the 76 team, but he retired right after UCLA won their 10th NCAA title under him.
Funny you say that my dr is from Russia the urals and has an extremely heavy accent I can barely understand when she speaks and she has been here for a number of years
The stereotypical Russian male in U.S. accent is hilarious. The female accent (and most of the women), is Hot AF 😍 I’m saving up my money, in hopes that some day I can buy one of them mail order Russian brides 😂
@@clinicaltranscription1190I suggest you save a little extra money and get the upgrade to one without herpes. You have to keep an eye on the websites because they’re usually out of stock.
Germans are always thought as being precise but the way they ran that Olympics was crappy. Yes the Soviets were essentially professionals and the the protest committee was stacked three to two with communists judges. It was the Brit official Jones who screwed us over too,in the US. I'm completely against professionals thhat now play in the Olympics but I guess the US had to do that to even up the playing field in basketball at least.
not complaining or i'm sorry but don't mean to, the 1992 time it aired had beautiful just perfect music synced up with this exact story, just the music was removed. i thought it really complimented a well done journalistic piece, almost masterfully crafted. i can dig up my old vhs's but still haven't learned how to actually make it into a digital file. the halftime show featured a story in the same vein on the '88 that failed to win gold too and that was a great story as well, narrated by none other than the legend himself marv albert while set beautifully to the soundtrack of field of dreams.
At that timeouts were only allowed during stoppages in play. When the official handed the ball to Collins at the free throw line the ball was considered in play, no timeout allowed. It was a British member of the rules committee who came onto the floor and ordered 3 seconds placed on the game clock, this despite protests from the timekeeper
If the clock was not reset on the 2nd in bound who's fault was that, not the U.S or SOVIET tm. William Jones and the officials are responsible for this controversy, jones for interfering, the refs for not making sure the clock was reset to 3secs before the 2nd inbound.we already know who got caught in the middle and who benefited. it's hard to reset on defense when you've already beaten a team twice and you're celebrating only to learn that you have to do it a 3rd time,this was to the soviet tm advantage because they had nothing to celebrate therefore there attention span was not diverted. 1 question I ask myself is if the soviets missed the shot on the 3rd inbound play and the buzzer sounded ending the game. what actions would Mr.jones and the refs have taken then.
The Soviet team was winning literally ALL the game. Look at the score in the quarters. They made some mistakes at the end, but they corrected them. Moreover, the whining Americans (in the apilia invented their own rules, which were not in the rules of FIBA) were considered at the meeting of FIBA officials. And now the question is, would they consider the appeal of the USSR, if the referees refused to change the time on the scoreboard? I repeat, the appeal of the USA was just a fiction of the new rules and whining from the point of view of "the USSR has no right to take timeout (only USA can do so)".
Bottom line is the game was so mismanaged at the end it looked atrocious, the ending will forever be scared and raise questions as to the decisions made in the so called 3secs, like it or not thats the way it is.
An incredibly stupid opinion that has literally nothing to do with what actually stole the win from the Americans. Please pay attention the next time you read or watch something
@user-dz1cd6zx9t Quite the contrary, the United States protest was *ENTIRELY BASED ON FIBA RULES.* Under FIBA rules, Secretary General Jones had to stay out of a game in progress; yet he interfered the whole of the controversy. Under FIBA rules, when the Soviets requested a timeout, it was outside the time allocated by rules. The United States, incidentally, couldn't call one, either (and didn't even attempt to). *NO TIMEOUT WAS GRANTED TO THE SOVIETS AFTER THE SAVAGE FOUL BY SEKANDELIDZE.* The United States protest, including the Soviet insertion of Ivan Edeschko into the lineup for the 2nd and 3rd inbound attempts, was valid and should have been upheld. Three years after the game, Jones (when confronted by video of his actions that night) ADMITTED he interfered and shouldn't have. Lastly, if the Soviets dominated the game as you're saying, then why did they need this desperation play to be awarded a victory? A team that "dominates" its opponent doesn't fall behind on the scoreboard at the end of a game, needing a desperation play to salvage its "victory." The truth is, the Soviets deserved to lose. With a 10 point lead with 8 minutes left, the Soviets failed to adjust to a change in tactics by the US team, which started using pressure defense and uptempo offense. With 6 minutes left, the Soviets led, 44-36; and were outscored, 14-5, the rest of the way. The Soviets had cracked under the pressure and lost their composure, culminating in Sekandelidze's savage action in undercutting Doug Collins as he drove to the basket with 3 seconds left.
Soviet top-scorer Sergei Belov (@ 1:42) earned the high honor of lighting the Olympic Cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the 22nd Olympiad in Moscow, 1980--the Games we, the USA, boycotted.
Randy Harvey of the LA Times, *_"The Americans thought at every turn they had been cheated. They probably hadn't been but they still haven't acknowledged that."_* *1.* The Soviet's bench called a timeout when Collins was on the court's floor running into the scaffolding, after being fouled. 3 seconds remain. *2.* The Soviet bench *did not* call timeout between Collins' two foul shots, or after when the Soviets went up the court. It was *before* these two events. *3.* The Soviet coaches were indicating clearly to the scorer's desk they called and wanted a timeout. They were being ignored. The officiating mechanism was malfunctioning. *4.* Collins puts the USA ahead with his two baskets. *5.* The horn sounds before Collins pops the second - an odd time for the horn to sound. The horn sounded as the ball had left Collins' hands. *6.* The sounding horn was an acknowledgement that a Soviet timeout should have been awarded earlier. The Soviets did not call timeout illegally between Collins' two shots. Soviet coaches were on the line indicating they want a timeout. *7.* Play _quickly_ resumed after Collins scores, with 3 seconds remaining, with a Soviet inbound *_(1st)._* The Soviet bench were still on the line rightly protesting that they wanted a timeout (called before Collins' baskets & acknowledged by the horn) and that was being ignored. *8.* There was 1 second left. The ref stops play at 1 second left seeing the Soviet bench pointing to him making "T" signs with their hands. *9.* The ref saw this error then compensated slightly setting the clock back to 3 secs taking the ball back to the line for another Soviet inbound, *_(2nd),_* resetting play. 3 seconds now remain. The ref could have started the game at 1 sec remaining, however taking the ball back to the line means resetting the time back to 3 seconds. Now back to the state of play and time after Collins scored. *10.* The ref never gave the Soviet timeout, which he should have done. At this point the Soviets are being cheated. *11.* The Bulgarian umpire, not the Brazilian ref, resumed play before the clock was reset to 3 secs, allowing play to resume at 1 sec on the unset clock with the *_(2nd)_* Soviet inbound. *12.* The US thought the game was over with them winning as the horn was sounded after 1 second. *13.* The Ref saw the errors of: a) not resetting the clock b) resuming play without his authority. He is in charge not the umpire. *14.* The ref puts matters right, resetting the clock to 3 secs taking the ball back to the line for another Soviet inbound, the *_(3rd)._* *There is nothing wrong with that decision.* *15.* The US players fully understood that the clock had not been reset and why play was being resumed. *16.* The Soviets threw the ball up the court from their *_(3rd)_* inbound popping the winning basket within 3 secs. *Winners !!* *The ref did most right - he saw two errors and put matters right.* He should have done more, annulled Collins scores and taken play back to the point that Collins was on the floor when the Soviets called timeout, giving the Soviets the timeout they called for. After the Soviet timeout Collins could take his two free throws again. Or the Soviets could have the timeout between Collins' two throws. The ref was unaware that the Soviets called timeout when Collins was on the floor, the scorer on the desk never informed him. The Soviet coaches were indicating clearly to the scorer's desk they called for a timeout. The USA team were beaten fairly. *The USA gripe -* was that Jones the FIBA head, went down to the scorers table and suggested that the clock be reset to 3 secs from 1 sec, as it should have been. The ref was doing this anyhow. He could have suggested taking the play back to the Soviet timeout call, which would have been the fair and right thing to do. He never. The ref had no need to take any notice of anyone, he was 100% in command. The Soviet timeout was called when Collins was on the floor. *The Soviet gripe -* was that their timeout call, when Collins was on the floor, was ignored. They only got 2 seconds more in compensation - that was it - well it was just taking play and time back to the point Collins scored. They never got the timeout they called for with even a horn sounding for it. They got nothing. They made full use of the 3 seconds by putting play back to position after Collins' scored, so were satisfied. .
John Burns and they beat a bunch of college boys. The Soviet "pros" would have lost by 30-40 points if they played the American pros. See, that's the biggest gripe I have with this fiasco: Soviet and East German athletes were paid by the government - they were pros. Meanwhile, our pros didn't get to compete until what, 1992? They destroyed everyone. Did you address the absurdity of letting that British chap make all the calls, though he had NO AUTHORITY TO DO SO? I can't remember, and it won't let me scroll up to check. Honestly, what a travesty. Too bad the NBA Commish wasn't present - maybe he could have given insight into what needed to be done, lol.
@Elaine Snow US players were _officially_ amateurs. Jones saw confusion and held up three fingers. Just about everyone in the arena was shouting advice at the referee. He was only one of them. The ref calls the shots. No one else.
soviets had 3 attempts at the last 3 seconds, ironic that their player said in an interview that in order to settle this they should play again hence getting the 4th attempt at the last 3 seconds.
This is not true reporting. The Soviets had called a Time Out to be taken between the two free shots, but the referee was not informed and handed the ball to Collins for the second free throw. The game should actually have been taken back to that point with the scores on 49-49 and Collins with one shot to take. That was the first cock-up. The second was to restart the game while the time-keeper was resetting the clock and not actually keeping time. The third restart was legitimate since all parties accepted the decisions and play was resumed with all officials and players engaged in their roles - as required. In the event, whatever mistakes were made by the officials, all parties agreed to the point at which the game was to be resumed and how many seconds were on the clock: 3 seconds with the USA having a 1-point advantage. What happened then was entirely the result of the players playing the rest of the game without any controversial rulings by officials. The USA, who had enjoyed a lead for less than 3 seconds throughout the entire game, and only then because they had been awarded a point for a free throw that was taken during what officially should have been a Soviet Time Out, were the architects of their own downfall in that final abysmal 3 seconds, and they should have turned up for their runners up medals. This is sport. Sometimes in sport, officials make mistakes. Sportsmen worthy of the name take it on the chin and play on. There was no bias shown by officials. Indeed they awarded the USA a 1-point advantage, their only advantage of the entire game, when that second throw should have been discounted and replayed, leaving just 3 seconds to go. The Russians did not agree that the point should have stood but took that decision on the chin and tried to reverse the infraction by doing what sportsmen should do and playing on with hope and determination till the very end, despite the referee's decision. The fact that the USA team did not turn up for their medals shows irrefutably that the best team won, because the only team won. The Soviets were an actual sports team that fought to the end despite the officials' erroneous decision to put them a point behind with 3 seconds to go. That makes them a sports team by definition. They took that decision on the chin and faced the harder challenge that it presented without complaining. That is what a sports team does. If you are not players who play by the decisions on the field, court or track then you are not sportsmen so how can you feel entitled to win any colour of 'sports' medal? The fact that they still refuse their silver medals says it all. Many years ago they should have been stripped of any claim. I hear that Kenny Davis has written into his will that his wife and children cannot even accept the Silver medal on his behalf posthumously. The IOC should take the issue out of their hands and Cuba should be officially awarded Silver. They, like everyone in that tournament, other than the USA, played like true sportsmen should. The fourth-placed Italians should be awarded Bronze. I'm sure they'd all appreciate it.
@@mrrolight The Soviets had called a timeout when Collins was on the floor. It was not given, so the Soviet camp protested at the bench. Realising the mistake, the horn was sound at an odd time - when Collins was throwing the second ball. Seeing the mistake the ref should have annulled Collins' scores, taking play back to when the Soviets called a timeout. *The Soviets never got any timeout.* All they got was an extra 2 seconds.
@@johnburns4017 I completely agree. Apparently there was no 'official' time out taken, since to make the Soviet Time Out official the scores should have gone back to the 49-49 score line. The Soviets had informed the officials of the Time Out before the free throws, intending, as was their right, to exercise their Time Out between the two Collins free throws, knowing whether or not the first had been scored. This was their prerogative. However, instead of going back to the 49-49 scoreline, the officials seemed to realise that for the USA's illegitimate 1-point lead, to stand, they could not officially allow the Time Out. This would have been seen as out and out cheating. It seems they somehow realised this since they allowed Edeshko to make the final inbound, even though this substitution could only have been allowed during the Soviet Time Out. The fact is that the official 51-50 result is an impossible result. If the USA's 50th point stood, then Edeshko was not allowed to make the inbound for the Soviet's 51st point. The point is that officials made several errors. The balance of errors was hugely to the USA's advantage, and the Soviets had a far greater case for contesting the errors. Firstly, their Time Out was not recognised, then a lead was wrongly given to the USA with 3 seconds to go, and finally, to rub salt into the wound, the end of game hooter sounded after only one of those three seconds, because the timekeeper was not ready. Had the USA been awarded the victory at the point they celebrated, without playing the full playing time the very moment the USA gained an illegitimate lead, there would be no point in playing sport ever again. Obviously the game had to go back to play the final 3 seconds properly. The officials made the 'right' call (for once) bringing the game back to play those unplayed 3 seconds and officially end the game after the full playing time. Both sides accepted the error at the time, and agreed to play the final 3 seconds. In the event those 3 seconds mattered. The game is 48 minutes long, not 47 minutes and 57 seconds. The game does not just end the first moment you have a lead. You have to play the allotted playing time. Belov scored, and the USA couldn't legitimately hold on to their illegitimate advantage, not even for three seconds. That is no case for victory. They should have turned up for their losers medals The Soviet team pulled a rabbit out of the hat and against all odds (and even despite disadvantages served up by poor decisions by officials) they halted a USA 63 game winning streak. That is sport for you. Step up and recognise the truly heroic achievements of the opposing side or, if you can't play by the rules, be stripped of any medals and banned for all subsequent Olympic competition. The USA's unsporting petulance continues to disrespect the Herculean efforts of the Soviet players, who did not cheat, but played up, played up, and played the game. The disrespect the USA showed at the time by not turning up, was frankly disgusting. That they continue to bleat about not having the gold medals they didn't deserve, shows perpetual disrespect and dishonour. They are neither sportsmen, nor men.
@@mrrolight Correct. The team that was disadvantaged by incorrect application of the rules was the USSR. Three Soviet inbounds: *1)* After Collins puts the USA ahead. Soviet bench protest at not being awarded their called timeout after inbound taken. Play stopped. Ref realises a mistake awarding the USSR 2 seconds extra not the timeout. Ref orders to retake the inbound and reset the clock to 3 seconds; *2)* Retaken before clock was reset to 3 seconds. Play stopped. Ref orders inbound to be retaken again; *3)* Retaken again with the clock reset to 3 seconds. Soviet inbound down the court, they score.
All the USA needed to do was unleash the 1972 UCLA Bruins and they would've run the Soviets out of the arena. But the ass hats at the AAU chose Hank Iba and a team that was second rate.
Considering that the Soviets and their bloc's countries sent athletes that were professionals, the U.S. should have been permitted to send an NBA team to represent the U.S. Even the lowly (18 wins) Portland Trailblazers would have chewed up the Soviets and spat them out by halftime.
Chris Fioravanti Gerardo Santana Tj Mckenzie fine. you know who played for the Soviets (not Russians)? their BEST SEASONED VETERAN PROS. who played for the US? AMATEURS. SOVIETS CHEATED THEIR WAY TO GOLD.
My family back in 72 we watched this game on the main Family TV and it was astatic. I'm not here to write about the history of what is and what is not..." that reality happened 50 years ago."
When sporting officials act in such a manner that their activities result in a reversal of an athletic outcome. The players who were victimized by that outcome are under no obligation to respect or acknowledge that result. It is called "The Universal Law Of Justice And Fair Play."
Fun fact - the first game that USA Olympic basketball team ACTUALLY lost was in 1988 Olympics. They lost to "ussr" team that was more of a Lithuanian team as 62 out of 82 points were scored by Lithuanians, 67 by Baltic players and 70 out of 82 by non-ruSSian players. You can say that after ~80 straight wins by USA their first legit upset was by Lithuania (not ussr) :)
Maybe you could argue the second and third throws were fine, but that first one was illegal since the coach couldn't call a timeout during USA's free throws. Also, why did that random dude from Britain put three seconds on the clock when there should have only been one left?
I've never really disagreed with that. It's like the US team had grown complacent. It's just the screwy do-overs from the final seconds that I find unsettling. I've even heard some assert that the final two-pointer was executed via an offensive foul. Whatever. Let's not blame the athletes for bad calls.
@@Candywarhol The "bad cals" were due to interference by a man who violated rules he swore to uphold. That was Renato William Jones, Secretary-general of FIBA.
Going back to the first error, they should have allowed the ball to be advanced to half court, then Soviets took a timeout, so there would have been one second left.
If the USSR was not allowed to call timeout during a free throw, then there should have only been one second left when the legal timeout was called. USSR should have inbounded the ball from near half court with one second left not from full court with three seconds left. Who knows what would have happened after that.
That was the initial ruling of Renato Rhigetto, the referee. He was (illegally) overruled by Renato William Jones, the Secretary General of FIBA. That "timeout" was never actually granted.
@@ujohnlynch2341 1972 international rules had play restart where it stopped. Rhigetto's initial ruling was the Soviets would inbound the ball with 1 second left at the point where play stopped. He was overruled by R. William Jones, Secretary General of FIBA, in direct violation of FIBA rules he swore to uphold. He admitted to it 3 years later.
Correction: the Soviets were declared the winners in a game wrought with controversy. Even the review committee can't escape the taint of corruption. The on-court officials publicly disagreed with the final "decision" of the review committee.
First of all, stop calling them Russians, they were Soviet team. Maybe only half of the team were Russians, the rest of the team was compiled from non-Russian Soviet countries - Georgia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. Talking about the game being rigged, how can you even talk about any cheating when the score is 51:50 in a basketball match? How could someone know that the USA team would be leading only by one point in the last seconds?
The use of Russians is an old gripe; it used to annoy me. The source is that U.S. journalism -- guided by the Associated Press Stylebook -- always allowed either "Russia" or the "Soviet Union" as the name for the whole nation. The AP was probably pressed by the Red Scare mentality into minimizing use of "Soviet."
As for your other point, I have always pointed out to U.S. fans aggrieved by the game's outcome that we had the poorest performance we had ever put forth in Olympic basketball. We trailed all game. Can't blame that on the refs.
There were mistakes made prior to the games. The biggest one was not naming John Wooden coach of the US men's team. Everyone forgets that the US was BEHIND at the half thanks to Hank Iba going with a half court game instead of using the US's natural ability and playing more up tempo. Also, this was essentially a B-team we sent. Imagine what a US team with Bill Walton, Keith (Jamaal) Wilkes, Henry Bibby and Bob McAdoo coached by John Wooden would have done. They would have mopped up the floor with the Soviets.
@@Sargebri - I was being flippant, Brian. Actually I was shocked to discover that recently, unanimously, they decided to reaffirm their decision not to accept their silver medals, even without anyone re-offering them. Apparently the IOC have said they wouldn't consider re-offering without a unanimous request from the US team. Personally I would go ahead and disqualify the US team for not behaving in the spirit of Olympic competition and award the Cubans who came third the Silver. The fourth-placed Italians should get bronze. They all entered into the spirit of the contest and deserve more than these petulant arseholes with an inflated sense of entitlement. I mean they were ahead in the game for two seconds. Then they didn't defend a long pass in the last second that any donkey knew was coming. I mean how can they even suggest that they deserved better?
@@mrrolight okie doke. That's one of the reasons I wish rhey would have asked Coach Wooden to coach the team. Hank Iba had been retired for more than a couple of years and probably figured he could put anyone on the floor. Wooden would have had his team prepared for anything.
@@Sargebri You know far more than I do on the hypothetical talking points. I have no reason to doubt you, and I cannot comment further. Certainly something wasn't right. I just wish they would take the responsibility of admitting they lost.
Stop. The Russians outplayed the US in every aspect of the game. Yes, it was a hard foul but he's not going to try to hurt Collins with 3 seconds left and the gold medal on the line.
JustDex you're naive to think that officials acted on their own. they were bribed by the Soviet party because they needed 50 gold medals to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union.
Tj Mckenzie fine. you know who played for the Soviets (not Russians)? their BEST SEASONED VETERAN PROS. who played for the US? AMATEURS. SOVIETS CHEATED THEIR WAY TO GOLD.
What I was thinking is what if USA won gold every Olympics up to 2004 when they only won bronze and what the media would make of it especially when internet was finally common.
Why did they hand the ball to the Russian player to inbound it for the second time if they weren't ready? This solely lies on the officials. Regardless the USSR were definitely were the winners here. Even considering these colossal fuckups, not going to the medal ceremony is an very disrespectful and unsporting gesture.
I'll remind you that the actual fault for all this was the interference of Renato William Jones, Secretary General of FIBA. According to his own organization's rules, all in-game rulings are made by on-court officials. Jones overruled the on-court officials, in direct violation of FIBA rules.
The refs defntly gave the game to the Russians. There was no reason for the last play to be given to ussr. The US did not accept the silver medals and told their fams not to accept them after they die. They still sit in a safe at loc the last I knew.
It wasn't the Refs, the issue was the time on the clock. That's comes down to the Score Keeper. A International Judge made sure that 3 seconds was added on the clock. The USA appealed, but 3 Eastern Bloc Judges upheld Russias win. Russia led most of the entire game. The Russian team didn't cheat. The Refs didn't cheat, it all came down to the Score Keeper and those 3 seconds.
@@Buildsolarhomes In actual fact, it was a man with no authority under the rules who ordered all this. According to FIBA rules, the game officials have complete authority. FIBA secretary general, Renato William Jones, came to the scorer's table and ordered the clock and game reset to the point after Collins made his second foul shot after being savagely undercut by a Soviet player.
Go to the video tape. Only once in the end the clock was placed accurately to @ seconds. The Russian coach asked in advance for a time-out, when Collins was throwing two shots. The game was supposed to be stopped at 3 seconds left in the game for the time-out. But the Soviet player didn't hear about it, so put the ball in the court. But the ref immediately stopped them, and gave the Russians their time-out. But after the time-out the clock guy advanced the clock by accident to 01 sec, he didn't hear about the time-out. He was supposed to bring the clock back to 03 sec remaining in the game. Obviously the siren got off after 1 sec of play - that was an error. So, only once the final 3 sec were placed accurately - at the end. So, the Russians won correctly, they were given only one accurate chance with 3 second remaining on the clock. I have to add, that American players and their administrators were the big distraction on the court at those final moments. they were supposed to be sitting still until the end of the game. Soviet Union beat USA correctly. The Soviets got the gold - no controversy. The final accurate score : 51-50. USA lost the final game at the Olympics 1972 to the Soviet Union. Nobody in the world cares if the USA didn't take the silver medals. The second place means nothing for the endorsements. Only gold medals could make the players famous in the USA. The loss in the game for the gold was a terrible blow to their careers.
"Nobody in the world cares if the USA didn't take the silver medals" - I do care. And I think their attitude not to abide by the rulings of officials brings the Olympic basketball competition into disrepute for which they should be disqualified, and the silver medals awarded to the original bronze medalists, Cuba. Italy who finished fourth should get bronze. I'm sure all these 'sportsmen' who are worthy of the term would be appreciative
@@mrrolight The end of the game was played under the orders of R. William Jones, not the game officials. His interference was in direct violation of FIBA rules he swore to uphold. Period.
@@mrrolight exactly! That is FAIR PLAY. Every and each sportsman should accept the losses with respect. Disrespecting the opponent should be the reason to be disqualified.
@@golomidovd If the Americans lost, then it should be accepted, but USA did not lose, their players felt they got cheated. Russia should have immediately handed their gold medals to the American team. America didn't win the silver medal, they won the gold.
The Soviets called for time out instantly after the free throws with 3 seconds left, not “during” the free throws like video says. This is how the game works. The clock never should have gone to 1 second before being reset. Doctor Jones never should have had to do anything. If the clock had been run properly, the game would have ended the same way, and there would be nothing for the Americans to complain about even unjustifiably; the guy didn’t even travel. To boycott the medal ceremony over an obvious rule that you’re on the losing side of is pathetic.
My apologies, incorrect. Not under 1972 international rules. The timeout had to be signalled to the scorer's table, who alerted the referee to the request, during a stoppage. This had to be done, in this case, prior to Collins shooting his second free throw. Once the ball was in Collins hands for that second foul shot, no more timeouts were permitted. Make or miss, the Soviets would have three seconds WITH THE PLAYERS ON THE FLOOR to attempt a score.
The fact is that once Collins second free throw was made, NO TIMEOUT REQUEST COULD BE HONORED. The rules forbade it. Artnik Arabadjian, the umpire, ordered Alzhan Zarmalokumedov (the Soviet center) to inbound the ball after the made free throw, which was correct, under the 1972 international rules. He did so, to Sergei Belov, who dribbled toward mid court, where play was stopped by the referee, Renato Rhigetto. This was because Sergei Bashkin, an assistant Soviet coach, had rushed the scorer's table, causing a scene. Rhigetto could have assessed a technical foul on the Soviets (leaving the bench area), which would have certainly ended the game with Team USA the winner. But, Rhigetto was an even tempered official and didn't like games decided by technical fouls by coaches. After hearing the Soviets out, he ruled that no timeout request could be honored, nor would be granted, and play would resume with 1 second remaining at the point it was stopped. Enter R. William Jones...
Jones, in direct violation of FIBA rules he installed (under FIBA rules, on-court officials have absolute authority over a game in progress), came down to the scorer's table and overruled Rhigetto. He ordered the clock reset to 3 seconds and play resumed from the endline. Again, in direct violation of FIBA rules (once time was off the clock, it was gone). We saw what happened next. The clock was still being reset when Arabadjian handed Ivan Edeschko the ball. He failed to notice something: Edeschko wasn't officially in the game. He'd entered during the time that Jones was issuing orders to reset the clock, without checking in at the scorer's table (required under international rules), meaning he was illegally substituted into the game and knew it. THIS ALONE NULLIFIES THE SOVIET SCORE. We know what happened next. An inbound before the clock was reset, followed by another reset, ordered (illegally, mind you) by Jones. Then came that infamous pass from Edeschko (still illegally in the game) to Alexandr Belov for the illegal score. Yes, ILLEGAL score. Edeschko was in the game in direct violation of the rules and undeniably directly participated in the play. After Jones illegal interference. He then illegally interfered one more time. The US and Soviet members of the appeal board were (for obvious reasons) recused from the panel hearing the American appeal. They were replaced, although one them was an illegal appointment by Jones: Farenc Hepp of Hungary. To sit on the appeal committee, FIBA rules required that the member represent a country with a team in the tournament. Hungary had no basketball team in the 1972 Olympics. His appointment was another violation by Jones, which under any fair system nullifies their decision (Hepp was he tiebreaker vote to reject the protest). Bottom line, if Jones doesn't interfere, the Soviets lose.
The USA players have still never accepted the silver medal, nor should they. At least one of the players went so far as to put a clause into his will forbidding any of his family members from accepting the medal.
@@dgtwo3724 I was 14 years old in 92 and I remember during the Olympics this was a big story because it was the 20th year anniversary for lack of a better word.
a lot of people operate under the notion that the Soviets tried to score, failed, let's give them another chance, fail, let's give them another. It was not insiduous cheating like that. There was really just a sh1tload of chaos. The first attempt was the most sketchy one. Did the Soviets call the time-out? It really comes down to that. They claim they did, and it makes sense from a logical view (that plus the fact that the horn sounded while Collins was shooting his second). However, even if a timeout was requested, it was not granted. And this starts the B.S. According to international rules at the time, you couldn't take a time-out following the 2nd free throw. It would be a live ball. A time out had to happen before the first free throw, or between the first and the second. That supposed timeout was not granted. Play becomes live after Collins made the second, live ball, game over. But, even though they were not granted a time out, the clock was reset, and they were allowed to inbounds the ball again (after sneaking in a sub,which was also against the rules), and having a minute of time during the chaos, to devise a strategy. The second attempt being reset makes sense. They were still in process of setting the clock. The clock showed something like 50 seconds, and the horn then sounded almost immediately upon inbounds. It was basically a false start, and even if the Soviets had thrown that ball in on the second time, it likely would not have counted (which would have resulted in a whole nother sh1tstorm.
To me I think that the IOC could give the 1972 US men basketball teams gold medal a duplicate like they did in the 2002 Winter Olympics games in Salt Lake City in ice dancing.
And I just noticed something I had never seen before: It certainly looks like a the inbound passer stepped over the line when he threw that final pass. Furthermore, this thought also occurs to me: How many chances would the cheating officials given the Soviets? The obvious answer to that is “However many it was going to take!” And here’s what the Soviet coach really said to his team in that huddle: “Just keep plugging away, Boys! We are guaranteed victory. All we have to do is make it official by eventually making the basket.” 😂
exactly where can you hear those words? there is only one tape of this game and those words or in general any words can't be heard while teams where discussing there stuff because of the huge crowed noise
Bro the game happened 50 years ago. He threw the ball before he stepped the line anyways. USA ended up winning the next Olympics anyways. Lets call it gg
@trwent Stepped on the line attempting to inbound the ball. Using higher definition footage, it's clear he (Ivan Edeschko) didn't. However, the violation was that Edeschko was in the game at all. He wasn't in the game during Collins' foul shots, and since no timeout was granted, he couldn't enter the game legally. He didn't even check in at the scorer's table. Both are violations of FIBA rules.
Regardless of how they felt about whether they should have won, getting a silver medal at the Olympics is still a big deal, so I can't imagine not wanting to have it. I found an upload of the full game that I can hopefully get around to watching, since I wasn't born yet in 1972 and have never seen the full replay. Up until that point the USA basketball had never lost so I'm interested in seeing why the score was so close in the first place for the game to be decided on a buzzer beater. It's understandable that this segment aired during the Barcelona Olympics as it had only been 20 years since it happened. It is not understandable why there are long comment threads under this video still arguing about what happened now that it's been close to 50 years since that game.
you raise a very interesting topic that's more than about this story actually. were the '72 american squad behind the scenes acting like bullying jerks? was that how americans saw themselves at the time as olympic participants that they simply had to show up and the gold was as good as theirs? raises questions about how contemptuous other countries must've regarded the against united states. also, a good example of it's not if you win or lose and if winning is the universal singular most important thing.
@@allclassallthetime4739 What is commonly forgotten in all this is that the US team was also given the wrong venue and time for the ceremony by the IOC. This cemented the idea in the minds of Americans interested that the conspiracy was real. Given the actions of FIBA Secretary General Jones during and after the game (in violation of rules he swore to uphold), it's been proven that the conspiracy was real. As Hans Tenschert, the official score keeper, said after the appeal jury's decision, "under FIBA rules, the United States won."
If the officials or someone makes a mistake and the clock does not go properly why would this effect the winning team? who the fuck cares if the clock did not go? it should not harm any team
I’m going to shock people when I say this: I don’t think the Soviet Union of 1972 can beat a single NBA team or an All NBA team. It will be like men against boys.
There is a certain heart condition, Marfan Syndrome, that affects people taller than usual. I've heard of basketball players dying young from heart attacks.
Incorrect. Once the U.S. went to pressure defense, the Soviets cracked. In fact, the last Soviet field goal before the controversial last play was around the 6 minute mark. As the Soviets were, for all intents and purposes, professionals, had the U.S. been permitted to send professionals, even the lowly Portland Trailblazers (winners of only 18 games in the 1971-72 season) would have sunk the Soviets by halftime.
Ok [redacted] They barely beat an amateur team and had to cheat in order to do it. Had they played american pros it would have been what happened in 1992.
When I first heard about this I thought there must be something to the Americans being cheated but genuinely I don’t see how anyone can think this is anything other than a fair victory with a few mistakes by officials causing confusion. The first inbound doesn’t count because they’d signalled for a time out, the second doesn’t because there were 3 seconds supposed to be on the clock and it blew up early, the third inbound was the only legitimate one and it was entirely fair.
Entirely inaccurate, from the jump. The first inbound *DID* count. No timeout request could be honored when the Soviets requested it. The umpire, Artenik Arabadjian, ordered the Soviets to inbound the ball. They did. Sergei Belov dribbled to near midcourt, next to the Soviet bench, when Rhigetto noticed a disturbance at the scorer's table. Soviet assistant coach Sergei Bashkin had run over to the table, upbraiding Tenschert for not granting a timeout request. After hearing the Soviets protest, Rhigetto ruled no timeout request could be honored, and the ball would be inbounded at the point play was stopped with one second remaining. It was here the real chaos began. The American players had been demanding an explanation, because the rules forbade timeouts at this point. Nobody saw the Soviets slip Ivan Edeschko into the lineup, the man who would inbound the ball for the next two attempts (he didn't check in at the scorer's table, and wasn't officially entered into the game, which is a blatant violation and further proof that the Soviets didn't call a timeout). Enter Renato William Jones, Secretary General of FIBA. According to FIBA rules, he has zero authority over a game in progress, but he ordered the clock reset (against FIBA rules) to 3 seconds and the inbound play from the end line. This was such an unusual procedure that the timekeeper, Andre Chopard, would say later that he'd never heard of this being done during live play of a game, and had never done so in his 14 years of working international games. Jones ruled FIBA with an iron fist, and anyone disobeying him would be dismissed from working international games again. Rhigetto, Chopard, Tenschert, and Arabadjian dutifully (if reluctantly) complied. However, the second inbound was guarded aggressively by U.S. center Tom McMillan, forcing Edeschko to pass to Sergei Belov nearby, whose long shot was off the mark. Game over. Enter Jones again. Jones, still at the scorer's table, ordered the second inbound replayed because the scoreboard clock wasn't reset. Clearly, Jones was giving the Soviets every chance he could. We saw what happened on the third (and entirely illegal) inbound attempt. Edeschko passed floor length to Alexandr Belov, who scored the (controversial) basket. Team USA filed a protest, which was heard by the FIBA review committee. However, this, too, smacked of Jones interference. Farenc Hepp was illegally appointed by Jones; as FIBA rules required a member of the committee to represent a team in the tournament. The American and Soviet members were excused, obviously because they were parties to the dispute. Jones appointed the Cuban member and Hepp to the committee, with Hepp's appointment in violation of rules Jones swore to uphold. The vote was along cold war lines, with Hepp, the Cuban and Polish members voting to disallow the American protest, and members from Italy and Puerto Rico voting to uphold the protest. Obviously, Jones's malfeasance throughout this episode forever tainted the 1972 final game. The chief on-court officials (Rhigetto, Tenschert, and Chopard) agree that the U.S. won the game under FIBA rules. That's how this game can be seen, and the reason the American players refused those medals. They earned gold, not silver, no matter what the haters say.
If the roles were reversed people would be calling it the biggest thing in Basketball History. Just get over the loss and see it for what is, the best 3 seconds of Basketball we will be ever able to witness. I couldn't care less who wins but this was beyond epic and something that people will remember. Also not showing up to an Olympic reward ceremony is just poor sportsmanship.
"I wasn't surprised but it was a little bit insulting", give me a break. When it doesn't happen to you like it did in 72 of course you will act like nothing happened and it was fair and square.
the man that didnt block that last shot is my history teacher, coach forbes, and that play will forever haunt him
Haunt or angers?
Also he that Russian elbowed him.
@@anwjuice
Look again.
No reason for that they won the game, the refs cheated the game away, I will always consider the U.S. winners that day.
@@buddyfats4768 my guy if the refs cheated it was for the usa because they didn’t restart the timer and give them a second chance. the ussr team coach was just smart to notice that and that’s why they won
if it wasn't for this video.. i wouldn't know Doug Collins was an Olympian , he was stoned face no hesitation for sinking that 2 free throws .with 3 seconds left
Neither did I
I've actually seen him speak on this. Also, I don't remember if it was 2008 or 2012, but one of those years he was the commentator for Olympic basketball and then after the USA won, all the players put their gold medals around his neck.
And then 3 seconds and 3 seconds and 3 seconds and 3 seconds…
Hi. something that not a lot of people know, about Olympic basketball is, by rule , the free throw shooter has only, 5 seconds to shoot the free throw. After that is a violation.
Many years later, USA Olympian Harold miner had that exact problem in the games bcuz he had a very odd pre shot routine and when the Olympics started the USA Coach told him he did not have time to go through his routine then shoot the ball. He did it anyway and was whistled for a free throw violation.
@@jonathanwilliams5235 I don't think doug Collins took 5 secs to shoot his free throws he shot pretty quick about 3 secs
I was 10 years old and watched it with my 8-year-old brother and my aunt, who was babysitting when we lived in Redondo Beach, Calif.. We all watched the robbery.
I remember watching this 30 something years ago when it originally aired. I think it was a Sunday afternoon.
Really got me into the Olympic basketball.
The refs screwed everything up, thats why all the chaos happened.
It was a fixed game
William jones is what caused the chaos, he hated anerican BB
The best team won, let's be honest
I was born in Seattle in 1973, where I grew up. I thought the refs on the FLOOR did all this. Then I've learned that it was an Olympic official in the STANDS who kept ordering these re-dos of that final play.
You are an idiot if you think it was JUST bad referees!!! This game, Hell the ENTIRE '72 Olympics were fixed by the Soviets!!!
Thank you for the explanation of what happened and why there were 3 attempts.
A very poor explanation, I might add.
They say get over it and life will go on but everyone knows they’ would have been pissed off if the tables were turned
I'm American and I understand the ref calls at the end were terrible. But what's forgotten and never mentioned in these 'look back' shows is the game was moved from local 8PM Munich time to MIDNIGHT Munich time. This was to accommodate US television. And the Russkies were justifiably angry. The game was more attuned to the Americans body clocks and it showed. The Russians took a lead but tired, and the Americans rallied.
@@stephaniegormley9982 thats because after one of their key players was fouled so hard, some believe deliberate forced him out of the game about midway in the 2nd half. The U.S. tm decided to turn up the tempo and the soviets couldn't keep up but still kept it close.
@@stephaniegormley9982
It wasn't the "ref's calls" that were bad. He made correct rulings, but was overruled by someone who had no right under the rules to interfere, Renato William Jones, Secretary-general of FIBA. He ordered the inbound attempt replayed twice, and the clock reset to 3 seconds.
You have to accept things as they are in life
Also USSR: No! it should have been a timeout!!!
To this day Our ‘72 Olympic Bb team continues their protest as to what happened in the Gold medal gm in Munich. Their Silver medals remain in a vault at the Intl Olympic Committee headquarters, Untouched. There was a story not too long ago that one of the members of that team made an attempt to retrieve his medal but was reminded that we will never accept the medal based on what happened on that day.
Keep in mind this was playing against a US team that didn't even have pro ballers. It's not even a hot take that this Soviet team would have been rekt if the US was allowed to use their professional players. Imagine this team going against a 72 Lakers. It would have been a blowout with the Soviets losing by 40 at least.
Why is that?
@John Fremont what is why?
@John Fremont Ohh Is that why?
If... only... would have....
@John Fremont well, not this match, definitely!!!
I'm way over this. If I remember correctly, the United States men's basketball team won back the Olympic gold medal in Montreal 1976.
It has won it almost every time in fact.
They won it gloriously in Montreal, with Adrian Dantley, Scott May and Dean's Smith's coaching. Of course, the USSR team was eliminated by Yugoslavia in the semifinals, fizzling a rematch after four years of frothing at the mouth by our fans. Still, the U.S. won, but we never avenged the Munich loss. We boycotted the Olympics in '80, they boycotted in '84 and the last Soviet team clobbered the U.S. in '88.
Don't forget they had Dean Smith as the head coach and John Thompson as his top assistant. Of course, John Wooden was the first choice to coach the 76 team, but he retired right after UCLA won their 10th NCAA title under him.
@@Sargebri EUA era melhor 😐
@@sandroalves8290 What?
I'm russian, and finding this hilarious - how correctly were translated comments from soviet team players, with stereotyping russian accent
Funny you say that my dr is from Russia the urals and has an extremely heavy accent I can barely understand when she speaks and she has been here for a number of years
The stereotypical Russian male in U.S. accent is hilarious. The female accent (and most of the women), is Hot AF 😍 I’m saving up my money, in hopes that some day I can buy one of them mail order Russian brides 😂
@@clinicaltranscription1190I suggest you save a little extra money and get the upgrade to one without herpes. You have to keep an eye on the websites because they’re usually out of stock.
Germans are always thought as being precise but the way they ran that Olympics was crappy. Yes the Soviets were essentially professionals and the the protest committee was stacked three to two with communists judges. It was the Brit official Jones who screwed us over too,in the US. I'm completely against professionals thhat now play in the Olympics but I guess the US had to do that to even up the playing field in basketball at least.
They definitely needed that win more than us.
They should have won it legitimate and not because officials was cheating to give them the game
Another wrong done was allowing an illegal substitution of the inbounder to Ivan Edeshko. Refs missed that too!
That was because he never checked in at the scorer's table (yes, a violation of the rules).
There was definitely corruption in this game!
Dream team 😂
Wrong
not complaining or i'm sorry but don't mean to, the 1992 time it aired had beautiful just perfect music synced up with this exact story, just the music was removed. i thought it really complimented a well done journalistic piece, almost masterfully crafted. i can dig up my old vhs's but still haven't learned how to actually make it into a digital file. the halftime show featured a story in the same vein on the '88 that failed to win gold too and that was a great story as well, narrated by none other than the legend himself marv albert while set beautifully to the soundtrack of field of dreams.
At that timeouts were only allowed during stoppages in play. When the official handed the ball to Collins at the free throw line the ball was considered in play, no timeout allowed. It was a British member of the rules committee who came onto the floor and ordered 3 seconds placed on the game clock, this despite protests from the timekeeper
Great victory. Its not sin to lose.
@John Fremont Yeah
@John Fremont soo baaad OMEGALUL
@John Fremont They won what twice?
@John Fremont Cavic won against Phelps in Bejing 2008...
@John Fremont !?
Anyone have a link to the actual medal ceremony not just a snippet?
They should have given the USA the appeal based on referee error and then make them play a five minute OT period to determine the winner
Why? The game was clearly over on the second reset....
If the clock was not reset on the 2nd in bound who's fault was that, not the U.S or SOVIET tm. William Jones and the officials are responsible for this controversy, jones for interfering, the refs for not making sure the clock was reset to 3secs before the 2nd inbound.we already know who got caught in the middle and who benefited. it's hard to reset on defense when you've already beaten a team twice and you're celebrating only to learn that you have to do it a 3rd time,this was to the soviet tm advantage because they had nothing to celebrate therefore there attention span was not diverted. 1 question I ask myself is if the soviets missed the shot on the 3rd inbound play and the buzzer sounded ending the game. what actions would Mr.jones and the refs have taken then.
Best comment yet....
The Soviet team was winning literally ALL the game. Look at the score in the quarters. They made some mistakes at the end, but they corrected them. Moreover, the whining Americans (in the apilia invented their own rules, which were not in the rules of FIBA) were considered at the meeting of FIBA officials. And now the question is, would they consider the appeal of the USSR, if the referees refused to change the time on the scoreboard? I repeat, the appeal of the USA was just a fiction of the new rules and whining from the point of view of "the USSR has no right to take timeout (only USA can do so)".
Bottom line is the game was so mismanaged at the end it looked atrocious, the ending will forever be scared and raise questions as to the decisions made in the so called 3secs, like it or not thats the way it is.
An incredibly stupid opinion that has literally nothing to do with what actually stole the win from the Americans. Please pay attention the next time you read or watch something
@user-dz1cd6zx9t
Quite the contrary, the United States protest was *ENTIRELY BASED ON FIBA RULES.* Under FIBA rules, Secretary General Jones had to stay out of a game in progress; yet he interfered the whole of the controversy.
Under FIBA rules, when the Soviets requested a timeout, it was outside the time allocated by rules. The United States, incidentally, couldn't call one, either (and didn't even attempt to). *NO TIMEOUT WAS GRANTED TO THE SOVIETS AFTER THE SAVAGE FOUL BY SEKANDELIDZE.*
The United States protest, including the Soviet insertion of Ivan Edeschko into the lineup for the 2nd and 3rd inbound attempts, was valid and should have been upheld. Three years after the game, Jones (when confronted by video of his actions that night) ADMITTED he interfered and shouldn't have.
Lastly, if the Soviets dominated the game as you're saying, then why did they need this desperation play to be awarded a victory? A team that "dominates" its opponent doesn't fall behind on the scoreboard at the end of a game, needing a desperation play to salvage its "victory." The truth is, the Soviets deserved to lose. With a 10 point lead with 8 minutes left, the Soviets failed to adjust to a change in tactics by the US team, which started using pressure defense and uptempo offense. With 6 minutes left, the Soviets led, 44-36; and were outscored, 14-5, the rest of the way. The Soviets had cracked under the pressure and lost their composure, culminating in Sekandelidze's savage action in undercutting Doug Collins as he drove to the basket with 3 seconds left.
Between this scandal and the Israeli athlete hostage crisis...I would say this was the worst olympics and cursed from the beginning smh
Another example was U.S. boxer Reggie Jones being ripped off in a decision. You can find the video elsewhere on RUclips.
Not an exemplary Olympics, to be sure.
@@roberteugene7295 The Olympics from 1968 to 1988 was troubled for sure but damn Munich was just idk how to describe it.
and that imposter who crossed the finished line ahead of Frank Shorter in the mens marathon
Soviet top-scorer Sergei Belov (@ 1:42) earned the high honor of lighting the Olympic Cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the 22nd Olympiad in Moscow, 1980--the Games we, the USA, boycotted.
Randy Harvey of the LA Times, *_"The Americans thought at every turn they had been cheated. They probably hadn't been but they still haven't acknowledged that."_*
*1.* The Soviet's bench called a timeout when Collins was on the court's floor running into the scaffolding, after being fouled. 3 seconds remain.
*2.* The Soviet bench *did not* call timeout between Collins' two foul shots, or after when the Soviets went up the court. It was *before* these two events.
*3.* The Soviet coaches were indicating clearly to the scorer's desk they called and wanted a timeout. They were being ignored. The officiating mechanism was malfunctioning.
*4.* Collins puts the USA ahead with his two baskets.
*5.* The horn sounds before Collins pops the second - an odd time for the horn to sound. The horn sounded as the ball had left Collins' hands.
*6.* The sounding horn was an acknowledgement that a Soviet timeout should have been awarded earlier. The Soviets did not call timeout illegally between Collins' two shots. Soviet coaches were on the line indicating they want a timeout.
*7.* Play _quickly_ resumed after Collins scores, with 3 seconds remaining, with a Soviet inbound *_(1st)._* The Soviet bench were still on the line rightly protesting that they wanted a timeout (called before Collins' baskets & acknowledged by the horn) and that was being ignored.
*8.* There was 1 second left. The ref stops play at 1 second left seeing the Soviet bench pointing to him making "T" signs with their hands.
*9.* The ref saw this error then compensated slightly setting the clock back to 3 secs taking the ball back to the line for another Soviet inbound, *_(2nd),_* resetting play. 3 seconds now remain. The ref could have started the game at 1 sec remaining, however taking the ball back to the line means resetting the time back to 3 seconds. Now back to the state of play and time after Collins scored.
*10.* The ref never gave the Soviet timeout, which he should have done. At this point the Soviets are being cheated.
*11.* The Bulgarian umpire, not the Brazilian ref, resumed play before the clock was reset to 3 secs, allowing play to resume at 1 sec on the unset clock with the *_(2nd)_* Soviet inbound.
*12.* The US thought the game was over with them winning as the horn was sounded after 1 second.
*13.* The Ref saw the errors of:
a) not resetting the clock
b) resuming play without his authority.
He is in charge not the umpire.
*14.* The ref puts matters right, resetting the clock to 3 secs taking the ball back to the line for another Soviet inbound, the *_(3rd)._* *There is nothing wrong with that decision.*
*15.* The US players fully understood that the clock had not been reset and why play was being resumed.
*16.* The Soviets threw the ball up the court from their *_(3rd)_* inbound popping the winning basket within 3 secs.
*Winners !!*
*The ref did most right - he saw two errors and put matters right.* He should have done more, annulled Collins scores and taken play back to the point that Collins was on the floor when the Soviets called timeout, giving the Soviets the timeout they called for. After the Soviet timeout Collins could take his two free throws again. Or the Soviets could have the timeout between Collins' two throws. The ref was unaware that the Soviets called timeout when Collins was on the floor, the scorer on the desk never informed him. The Soviet coaches were indicating clearly to the scorer's desk they called for a timeout. The USA team were beaten fairly.
*The USA gripe -* was that Jones the FIBA head, went down to the scorers table and suggested that the clock be reset to 3 secs from 1 sec, as it should have been. The ref was doing this anyhow. He could have suggested taking the play back to the Soviet timeout call, which would have been the fair and right thing to do. He never. The ref had no need to take any notice of anyone, he was 100% in command. The Soviet timeout was called when Collins was on the floor.
*The Soviet gripe -* was that their timeout call, when Collins was on the floor, was ignored. They only got 2 seconds more in compensation - that was it - well it was just taking play and time back to the point Collins scored. They never got the timeout they called for with even a horn sounding for it. They got nothing. They made full use of the 3 seconds by putting play back to position after Collins' scored, so were satisfied.
.
John Burns and they beat a bunch of college boys. The Soviet "pros" would have lost by 30-40 points if they played the American pros. See, that's the biggest gripe I have with this fiasco: Soviet and East German athletes were paid by the government - they were pros. Meanwhile, our pros didn't get to compete until what, 1992? They destroyed everyone.
Did you address the absurdity of letting that British chap make all the calls, though he had NO AUTHORITY TO DO SO? I can't remember, and it won't let me scroll up to check. Honestly, what a travesty. Too bad the NBA Commish wasn't present - maybe he could have given insight into what needed to be done, lol.
@Elaine Snow
US players were _officially_ amateurs. Jones saw confusion and held up three fingers. Just about everyone in the arena was shouting advice at the referee. He was only one of them. The ref calls the shots. No one else.
John Burns again the Russians barely beat some college boys. Hardly impressive as the Russians trained year round with far more experienced players
Elaine Snow
The Russians were the better team all through the game and deserved to win.
John Burns Hardly, if the US was ahead at the end of regulation time - y'know before new rules and unauthorized persons were allowed to intervene
soviets had 3 attempts at the last 3 seconds, ironic that their player said in an interview that in order to settle this they should play again hence getting the 4th attempt at the last 3 seconds.
Bob Costas had the nerve to lecture the Canadian Women's soccer team that complaining about an official's decision was against the Olympic ideal.
All Costas did here was get the Russians' impression of the end of the game. He did not take sides.
The sad part about this is that USA had to pay the price for someone else's mistake! I don't blame them for not excepting the silver medal!
This is not true reporting. The Soviets had called a Time Out to be taken between the two free shots, but the referee was not informed and handed the ball to Collins for the second free throw. The game should actually have been taken back to that point with the scores on 49-49 and Collins with one shot to take. That was the first cock-up. The second was to restart the game while the time-keeper was resetting the clock and not actually keeping time. The third restart was legitimate since all parties accepted the decisions and play was resumed with all officials and players engaged in their roles - as required.
In the event, whatever mistakes were made by the officials, all parties agreed to the point at which the game was to be resumed and how many seconds were on the clock: 3 seconds with the USA having a 1-point advantage.
What happened then was entirely the result of the players playing the rest of the game without any controversial rulings by officials.
The USA, who had enjoyed a lead for less than 3 seconds throughout the entire game, and only then because they had been awarded a point for a free throw that was taken during what officially should have been a Soviet Time Out, were the architects of their own downfall in that final abysmal 3 seconds, and they should have turned up for their runners up medals.
This is sport. Sometimes in sport, officials make mistakes. Sportsmen worthy of the name take it on the chin and play on. There was no bias shown by officials. Indeed they awarded the USA a 1-point advantage, their only advantage of the entire game, when that second throw should have been discounted and replayed, leaving just 3 seconds to go.
The Russians did not agree that the point should have stood but took that decision on the chin and tried to reverse the infraction by doing what sportsmen should do and playing on with hope and determination till the very end, despite the referee's decision.
The fact that the USA team did not turn up for their medals shows irrefutably that the best team won, because the only team won. The Soviets were an actual sports team that fought to the end despite the officials' erroneous decision to put them a point behind with 3 seconds to go. That makes them a sports team by definition. They took that decision on the chin and faced the harder challenge that it presented without complaining. That is what a sports team does.
If you are not players who play by the decisions on the field, court or track then you are not sportsmen so how can you feel entitled to win any colour of 'sports' medal?
The fact that they still refuse their silver medals says it all. Many years ago they should have been stripped of any claim.
I hear that Kenny Davis has written into his will that his wife and children cannot even accept the Silver medal on his behalf posthumously. The IOC should take the issue out of their hands and Cuba should be officially awarded Silver. They, like everyone in that tournament, other than the USA, played like true sportsmen should. The fourth-placed Italians should be awarded Bronze. I'm sure they'd all appreciate it.
@@mrrolight
Excellent post.
@@mrrolight
The Soviets had called a timeout when Collins was on the floor. It was not given, so the Soviet camp protested at the bench. Realising the mistake, the horn was sound at an odd time - when Collins was throwing the second ball.
Seeing the mistake the ref should have annulled Collins' scores, taking play back to when the Soviets called a timeout. *The Soviets never got any timeout.* All they got was an extra 2 seconds.
@@johnburns4017 I completely agree. Apparently there was no 'official' time out taken, since to make the Soviet Time Out official the scores should have gone back to the 49-49 score line. The Soviets had informed the officials of the Time Out before the free throws, intending, as was their right, to exercise their Time Out between the two Collins free throws, knowing whether or not the first had been scored. This was their prerogative.
However, instead of going back to the 49-49 scoreline, the officials seemed to realise that for the USA's illegitimate 1-point lead, to stand, they could not officially allow the Time Out. This would have been seen as out and out cheating. It seems they somehow realised this since they allowed Edeshko to make the final inbound, even though this substitution could only have been allowed during the Soviet Time Out.
The fact is that the official 51-50 result is an impossible result. If the USA's 50th point stood, then Edeshko was not allowed to make the inbound for the Soviet's 51st point.
The point is that officials made several errors. The balance of errors was hugely to the USA's advantage, and the Soviets had a far greater case for contesting the errors. Firstly, their Time Out was not recognised, then a lead was wrongly given to the USA with 3 seconds to go, and finally, to rub salt into the wound, the end of game hooter sounded after only one of those three seconds, because the timekeeper was not ready. Had the USA been awarded the victory at the point they celebrated, without playing the full playing time the very moment the USA gained an illegitimate lead, there would be no point in playing sport ever again.
Obviously the game had to go back to play the final 3 seconds properly. The officials made the 'right' call (for once) bringing the game back to play those unplayed 3 seconds and officially end the game after the full playing time. Both sides accepted the error at the time, and agreed to play the final 3 seconds.
In the event those 3 seconds mattered. The game is 48 minutes long, not 47 minutes and 57 seconds. The game does not just end the first moment you have a lead. You have to play the allotted playing time.
Belov scored, and the USA couldn't legitimately hold on to their illegitimate advantage, not even for three seconds.
That is no case for victory.
They should have turned up for their losers medals
The Soviet team pulled a rabbit out of the hat and against all odds (and even despite disadvantages served up by poor decisions by officials) they halted a USA 63 game winning streak. That is sport for you.
Step up and recognise the truly heroic achievements of the opposing side or, if you can't play by the rules, be stripped of any medals and banned for all subsequent Olympic competition.
The USA's unsporting petulance continues to disrespect the Herculean efforts of the Soviet players, who did not cheat, but played up, played up, and played the game.
The disrespect the USA showed at the time by not turning up, was frankly disgusting. That they continue to bleat about not having the gold medals they didn't deserve, shows perpetual disrespect and dishonour.
They are neither sportsmen, nor men.
@@mrrolight
Correct. The team that was disadvantaged by incorrect application of the rules was the USSR.
Three Soviet inbounds:
*1)* After Collins puts the USA ahead. Soviet bench protest at not being awarded their called timeout after inbound taken. Play stopped. Ref realises a mistake awarding the USSR 2 seconds extra not the timeout. Ref orders to retake the inbound and reset the clock to 3 seconds;
*2)* Retaken before clock was reset to 3 seconds. Play stopped. Ref orders inbound to be retaken again;
*3)* Retaken again with the clock reset to 3 seconds. Soviet inbound down the court, they score.
He used the German 3. He must be a spy 3:00
Inglorious bastard 😏
In international basketball, that's how you signal 3
@@Daoibhéar
That's how Europeans in general signal '3.'
Um. now that you mentioned that 🤔
All the USA needed to do was unleash the 1972 UCLA Bruins and they would've run the Soviets out of the arena. But the ass hats at the AAU chose Hank Iba and a team that was second rate.
Considering that the Soviets and their bloc's countries sent athletes that were professionals, the U.S. should have been permitted to send an NBA team to represent the U.S. Even the lowly (18 wins) Portland Trailblazers would have chewed up the Soviets and spat them out by halftime.
No shit. I was a better player than most of those Russians on that 72 team.
Thank you! I’ve watched several videos and nobody ever explained why they gave them another shot! This video explains it all!! still some BS
The team didn't cheat, it was the eastern block officals
Chris Fioravanti the ref was brazilian
Chris Fioravanti Gerardo Santana Tj Mckenzie fine. you know who played for the Soviets (not Russians)? their BEST SEASONED VETERAN PROS. who played for the US? AMATEURS. SOVIETS CHEATED THEIR WAY TO GOLD.
My family back in 72 we watched this game on the main Family TV and it was astatic. I'm not here to write about the history of what is and what is not..." that reality happened 50 years ago."
When sporting officials act in such a manner that their activities result in a reversal of an athletic outcome. The players who were victimized by that outcome are under no obligation to respect or acknowledge that result. It is called "The Universal Law Of Justice And Fair Play."
Universal law means that Americans are always the winners? You have to think something more serious. Ah, wait you created Wada for that already
Fun fact - the first game that USA Olympic basketball team ACTUALLY lost was in 1988 Olympics. They lost to "ussr" team that was more of a Lithuanian team as 62 out of 82 points were scored by Lithuanians, 67 by Baltic players and 70 out of 82 by non-ruSSian players.
You can say that after ~80 straight wins by USA their first legit upset was by Lithuania (not ussr) :)
bill walton didn't want to play for the usa
Maybe you could argue the second and third throws were fine, but that first one was illegal since the coach couldn't call a timeout during USA's free throws. Also, why did that random dude from Britain put three seconds on the clock when there should have only been one left?
The time out was called right after the ball was thrown.
They took a timeout after the shots. According to the rules, time stops during free throws, and after them the ball goes to the other team
@@кто-то-б2г
1972 international rules didn't allow timeouts AFTER free throws. Only prior to or between the two.
СССР доминировала всю игру и заслуженно выиграла матч. Великая команда.
I've never really disagreed with that. It's like the US team had grown complacent. It's just the screwy do-overs from the final seconds that I find unsettling. I've even heard some assert that the final two-pointer was executed via an offensive foul. Whatever. Let's not blame the athletes for bad calls.
@@Candywarhol
The "bad cals" were due to interference by a man who violated rules he swore to uphold. That was Renato William Jones, Secretary-general of FIBA.
if the Russian had missed that last shot I'm sure there was someone somewhere waving frantically to stop play and reset the clock yet again
where you see russian
Mantas Jan Alexander belov is not Russian?
Gato probably not, the would more likely accepted the loss and the silver medal undlike whiny americans
не пизди!
Uhh, YOU are SURE. Well, if mr. Gato is sure, i agree.
Who went here after watching Redeem team?
Going back to the first error, they should have allowed the ball to be advanced to half court, then Soviets took a timeout, so there would have been one second left.
If the USSR was not allowed to call timeout during a free throw, then there should have only been one second left when the legal timeout was called. USSR should have inbounded the ball from near half court with one second left not from full court with three seconds left. Who knows what would have happened after that.
That was the initial ruling of Renato Rhigetto, the referee. He was (illegally) overruled by Renato William Jones, the Secretary General of FIBA. That "timeout" was never actually granted.
Olympic rules don't give you the ball at halfcourt after a timeout. Similar to college rules.
@@ujohnlynch2341
1972 international rules had play restart where it stopped. Rhigetto's initial ruling was the Soviets would inbound the ball with 1 second left at the point where play stopped. He was overruled by R. William Jones, Secretary General of FIBA, in direct violation of FIBA rules he swore to uphold. He admitted to it 3 years later.
They had to get two do overs in order to win. Meanwhile the Americans won the 1980 Gold Medal in hockey fair and square without do overs.
Soviet "Miracle on Ice". Legendary victory.
Who else is watching this because of 'The Redeem Team' ?
The soviets won that game man. We all know that.
Correction: the Soviets were declared the winners in a game wrought with controversy. Even the review committee can't escape the taint of corruption. The on-court officials publicly disagreed with the final "decision" of the review committee.
First of all, stop calling them Russians, they were Soviet team. Maybe only half of the team were Russians, the rest of the team was compiled from non-Russian Soviet countries - Georgia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.
Talking about the game being rigged, how can you even talk about any cheating when the score is 51:50 in a basketball match? How could someone know that the USA team would be leading only by one point in the last seconds?
The use of Russians is an old gripe; it used to annoy me. The source is that U.S. journalism -- guided by the Associated Press Stylebook -- always allowed either "Russia" or the "Soviet Union" as the name for the whole nation. The AP was probably pressed by the Red Scare mentality into minimizing use of "Soviet."
As for your other point, I have always pointed out to U.S. fans aggrieved by the game's outcome that we had the poorest performance we had ever put forth in Olympic basketball. We trailed all game. Can't blame that on the refs.
Don't call american citizen americans, cause real americans are indian
Brian Arbenz The Soviets were in control for most of the game. That always gets ignored and I’m American.
Turkel Effendi Also one of the players was from Byelorussia.
RIP REF's / Timer/operator
The refs: "Let's just keep giving them three seconds until they get it right."
Such tough guy language. You mad bro?
I didn't know that Dominion also ran basketball clocks.
My guess is we'd still be sitting there adding seconds to the clock till Jones got what he wanted.
If Dr J and Walton had played it would have been a 76-45 waxing.
There were mistakes made prior to the games. The biggest one was not naming John Wooden coach of the US men's team. Everyone forgets that the US was BEHIND at the half thanks to Hank Iba going with a half court game instead of using the US's natural ability and playing more up tempo. Also, this was essentially a B-team we sent. Imagine what a US team with Bill Walton, Keith (Jamaal) Wilkes, Henry Bibby and Bob McAdoo coached by John Wooden would have done. They would have mopped up the floor with the Soviets.
Sounds like the US intended to lose.
So why don't they want their losers' medals?
@@mrrolight no. They didn't. They were just sore losers.
@@Sargebri - I was being flippant, Brian. Actually I was shocked to discover that recently, unanimously, they decided to reaffirm their decision not to accept their silver medals, even without anyone re-offering them. Apparently the IOC have said they wouldn't consider re-offering without a unanimous request from the US team. Personally I would go ahead and disqualify the US team for not behaving in the spirit of Olympic competition and award the Cubans who came third the Silver. The fourth-placed Italians should get bronze. They all entered into the spirit of the contest and deserve more than these petulant arseholes with an inflated sense of entitlement. I mean they were ahead in the game for two seconds. Then they didn't defend a long pass in the last second that any donkey knew was coming. I mean how can they even suggest that they deserved better?
@@mrrolight okie doke. That's one of the reasons I wish rhey would have asked Coach Wooden to coach the team. Hank Iba had been retired for more than a couple of years and probably figured he could put anyone on the floor. Wooden would have had his team prepared for anything.
@@Sargebri You know far more than I do on the hypothetical talking points. I have no reason to doubt you, and I cannot comment further. Certainly something wasn't right. I just wish they would take the responsibility of admitting they lost.
5150 criminally insane
A third throw in???? Would they have given the 🇺🇸 a third throw in?
I’m misreading shocked that at 72 this reporter still looked the same to this day. Wtf is he on
Lol he says “with their perspective 20 years later” so that was in 1992
This recording was literally done in a retrospective and several Soviet players are literally shown to be older than in their prime
3 chances that sad but if russia needed that many to beat the USA it shows we were better but we got them in hockey in 1980
Score should’ve never been that low and we’re complaining about a basketball game when at that Olympics 8 Israeli athletes died
the russians did nothing wrong, the officials just fucked the game up
JustDex in fact they did. How about an Unsporting foul on Collins at the 3 sec mark.
Stop. The Russians outplayed the US in every aspect of the game. Yes, it was a hard foul but he's not going to try to hurt Collins with 3 seconds left and the gold medal on the line.
Somebody did f#cked the game, it is true. But not the officials. And not the russians. You know the truth now.
JustDex you're naive to think that officials acted on their own. they were bribed by the Soviet party because they needed 50 gold medals to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union.
Tj Mckenzie fine. you know who played for the Soviets (not Russians)? their BEST SEASONED VETERAN PROS. who played for the US? AMATEURS. SOVIETS CHEATED THEIR WAY TO GOLD.
Imagine if this happened now. What an uproar😅😇😋
What I was thinking is what if USA won gold every Olympics up to 2004 when they only won bronze and what the media would make of it especially when internet was finally common.
naw it was 1 second left when the timeout was called not 3
Why did they hand the ball to the Russian player to inbound it for the second time if they weren't ready? This solely lies on the officials. Regardless the USSR were definitely were the winners here. Even considering these colossal fuckups, not going to the medal ceremony is an very disrespectful and unsporting gesture.
I'll remind you that the actual fault for all this was the interference of Renato William Jones, Secretary General of FIBA. According to his own organization's rules, all in-game rulings are made by on-court officials. Jones overruled the on-court officials, in direct violation of FIBA rules.
The refs defntly gave the game to the Russians. There was no reason for the last play to be given to ussr.
The US did not accept the silver medals and told their fams not to accept them after they die.
They still sit in a safe at loc the last I knew.
It wasn't the Refs, the issue was the time on the clock. That's comes down to the Score Keeper. A International Judge made sure that 3 seconds was added on the clock. The USA appealed, but 3 Eastern Bloc Judges upheld Russias win. Russia led most of the entire game. The Russian team didn't cheat. The Refs didn't cheat, it all came down to the Score Keeper and those 3 seconds.
@@Buildsolarhomes
In actual fact, it was a man with no authority under the rules who ordered all this. According to FIBA rules, the game officials have complete authority. FIBA secretary general, Renato William Jones, came to the scorer's table and ordered the clock and game reset to the point after Collins made his second foul shot after being savagely undercut by a Soviet player.
Just like Chernobyl...We'll never know...
Go to the video tape. Only once in the end the clock was placed accurately to @ seconds. The Russian coach asked in advance for a time-out, when Collins was throwing two shots. The game was supposed to be stopped at 3 seconds left in the game for the time-out. But the Soviet player didn't hear about it, so put the ball in the court. But the ref immediately stopped them, and gave the Russians their time-out. But after the time-out the clock guy advanced the clock by accident to 01 sec, he didn't hear about the time-out. He was supposed to bring the clock back to 03 sec remaining in the game. Obviously the siren got off after 1 sec of play - that was an error. So, only once the final 3 sec were placed accurately - at the end. So, the Russians won correctly, they were given only one accurate chance with 3 second remaining on the clock. I have to add, that American players and their administrators were the big distraction on the court at those final moments. they were supposed to be sitting still until the end of the game. Soviet Union beat USA correctly. The Soviets got the gold - no controversy. The final accurate score : 51-50. USA lost the final game at the Olympics 1972 to the Soviet Union. Nobody in the world cares if the USA didn't take the silver medals. The second place means nothing for the endorsements. Only gold medals could make the players famous in the USA. The loss in the game for the gold was a terrible blow to their careers.
"Nobody in the world cares if the USA didn't take the silver medals" - I do care.
And I think their attitude not to abide by the rulings of officials brings the Olympic basketball competition into disrepute for which they should be disqualified, and the silver medals awarded to the original bronze medalists, Cuba. Italy who finished fourth should get bronze. I'm sure all these 'sportsmen' who are worthy of the term would be appreciative
@@mrrolight
The end of the game was played under the orders of R. William Jones, not the game officials. His interference was in direct violation of FIBA rules he swore to uphold. Period.
@@mrrolight exactly! That is FAIR PLAY. Every and each sportsman should accept the losses with respect. Disrespecting the opponent should be the reason to be disqualified.
As stated in the video, the rules didn’t allow a timeout to be called during the free throw.
@@golomidovd If the Americans lost, then it should be accepted, but USA did not lose, their players felt they got cheated. Russia should have immediately handed their gold medals to the American team. America didn't win the silver medal, they won the gold.
The Soviets called for time out instantly after the free throws with 3 seconds left, not “during” the free throws like video says. This is how the game works. The clock never should have gone to 1 second before being reset. Doctor Jones never should have had to do anything.
If the clock had been run properly, the game would have ended the same way, and there would be nothing for the Americans to complain about even unjustifiably; the guy didn’t even travel. To boycott the medal ceremony over an obvious rule that you’re on the losing side of is pathetic.
My apologies, incorrect. Not under 1972 international rules. The timeout had to be signalled to the scorer's table, who alerted the referee to the request, during a stoppage. This had to be done, in this case, prior to Collins shooting his second free throw. Once the ball was in Collins hands for that second foul shot, no more timeouts were permitted. Make or miss, the Soviets would have three seconds WITH THE PLAYERS ON THE FLOOR to attempt a score.
The fact is that once Collins second free throw was made, NO TIMEOUT REQUEST COULD BE HONORED. The rules forbade it. Artnik Arabadjian, the umpire, ordered Alzhan Zarmalokumedov (the Soviet center) to inbound the ball after the made free throw, which was correct, under the 1972 international rules. He did so, to Sergei Belov, who dribbled toward mid court, where play was stopped by the referee, Renato Rhigetto.
This was because Sergei Bashkin, an assistant Soviet coach, had rushed the scorer's table, causing a scene. Rhigetto could have assessed a technical foul on the Soviets (leaving the bench area), which would have certainly ended the game with Team USA the winner. But, Rhigetto was an even tempered official and didn't like games decided by technical fouls by coaches.
After hearing the Soviets out, he ruled that no timeout request could be honored, nor would be granted, and play would resume with 1 second remaining at the point it was stopped. Enter R. William Jones...
Jones, in direct violation of FIBA rules he installed (under FIBA rules, on-court officials have absolute authority over a game in progress), came down to the scorer's table and overruled Rhigetto. He ordered the clock reset to 3 seconds and play resumed from the endline. Again, in direct violation of FIBA rules (once time was off the clock, it was gone). We saw what happened next. The clock was still being reset when Arabadjian handed Ivan Edeschko the ball. He failed to notice something: Edeschko wasn't officially in the game. He'd entered during the time that Jones was issuing orders to reset the clock, without checking in at the scorer's table (required under international rules), meaning he was illegally substituted into the game and knew it. THIS ALONE NULLIFIES THE SOVIET SCORE.
We know what happened next. An inbound before the clock was reset, followed by another reset, ordered (illegally, mind you) by Jones. Then came that infamous pass from Edeschko (still illegally in the game) to Alexandr Belov for the illegal score.
Yes, ILLEGAL score. Edeschko was in the game in direct violation of the rules and undeniably directly participated in the play. After Jones illegal interference.
He then illegally interfered one more time. The US and Soviet members of the appeal board were (for obvious reasons) recused from the panel hearing the American appeal. They were replaced, although one them was an illegal appointment by Jones: Farenc Hepp of Hungary. To sit on the appeal committee, FIBA rules required that the member represent a country with a team in the tournament. Hungary had no basketball team in the 1972 Olympics. His appointment was another violation by Jones, which under any fair system nullifies their decision (Hepp was he tiebreaker vote to reject the protest).
Bottom line, if Jones doesn't interfere, the Soviets lose.
The USA players have still never accepted the silver medal, nor should they. At least one of the players went so far as to put a clause into his will forbidding any of his family members from accepting the medal.
I think several of them put it in their wills.
@louiehernandez1477 I think you're right. I knew at least 1 or 2 of them did but likely more. Who could blame them?
@@dgtwo3724 I was 14 years old in 92 and I remember during the Olympics this was a big story because it was the 20th year anniversary for lack of a better word.
Why is the translator accentuating the Russians?
He says get over it lol maybe he should have a conversation with the,1980 soviet hockey team
They were ROBBED.
Thank goodness they had the guts to say no to second place
a lot of people operate under the notion that the Soviets tried to score, failed, let's give them another chance, fail, let's give them another.
It was not insiduous cheating like that. There was really just a sh1tload of chaos. The first attempt was the most sketchy one. Did the Soviets call the time-out? It really comes down to that. They claim they did, and it makes sense from a logical view (that plus the fact that the horn sounded while Collins was shooting his second). However, even if a timeout was requested, it was not granted. And this starts the B.S. According to international rules at the time, you couldn't take a time-out following the 2nd free throw. It would be a live ball. A time out had to happen before the first free throw, or between the first and the second. That supposed timeout was not granted. Play becomes live after Collins made the second, live ball, game over. But, even though they were not granted a time out, the clock was reset, and they were allowed to inbounds the ball again (after sneaking in a sub,which was also against the rules), and having a minute of time during the chaos, to devise a strategy.
The second attempt being reset makes sense. They were still in process of setting the clock. The clock showed something like 50 seconds, and the horn then sounded almost immediately upon inbounds. It was basically a false start, and even if the Soviets had thrown that ball in on the second time, it likely would not have counted (which would have resulted in a whole nother sh1tstorm.
So they put 50 seconds on clock should of meant nothing. They had time to inbound ball and try to score, which they did not.
To not accept a silver medal … that’s disgusting
Hardly.
The Brazilian referee didn't sign the score sheet
If I am not mistaken, that action makes the entire game non-official. So neither the USSR or the USA should have been given medals.
miracle in basket :) x miracle in ice
To me I think that the IOC could give the 1972 US men basketball teams gold medal a duplicate like they did in the 2002 Winter Olympics games in Salt Lake City in ice dancing.
It was Pairs Figure Skating in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, not ice dancing.
And I just noticed something I had never seen before: It certainly looks like a the inbound passer stepped over the line when he threw that final pass. Furthermore, this thought also occurs to me: How many chances would the cheating officials given the Soviets? The obvious answer to that is “However many it was going to take!” And here’s what the Soviet coach really said to his team in that huddle: “Just keep plugging away, Boys! We are guaranteed victory. All we have to do is make it official by eventually making the basket.” 😂
exactly where can you hear those words? there is only one tape of this game and those words or in general any words can't be heard while teams where discussing there stuff because of the huge crowed noise
Bro the game happened 50 years ago. He threw the ball before he stepped the line anyways. USA ended up winning the next Olympics anyways. Lets call it gg
@@BuggrilStepped the line?
@trwent
Stepped on the line attempting to inbound the ball. Using higher definition footage, it's clear he (Ivan Edeschko) didn't. However, the violation was that Edeschko was in the game at all. He wasn't in the game during Collins' foul shots, and since no timeout was granted, he couldn't enter the game legally. He didn't even check in at the scorer's table. Both are violations of FIBA rules.
@roberteugene7295 I know what stepped ON the line means, but velox8937 wrote "stepped the line". I do not know what THAT means.
belov ironically when into cardiac arrest 3 times before he finally died in 1978
This result was still more on the level than was the result of the 2020 election.
How could they lose for 3 seconds?
Horseshit - the Americans should have left the court after the first buzzer. A timeout isn't automatically granted whenever you try to call one.
To many Anabolic-androgenic steroids can cause heart attacks in young athletes.
The British guy got paid majorly..
4:49 -- America saw to it that the USSR's and R. William Jones' quest to have its proud country condone and succumb to Communism drastically failed
imagine soviets protest in day Miracle on ice? 😂
Regardless of how they felt about whether they should have won, getting a silver medal at the Olympics is still a big deal, so I can't imagine not wanting to have it.
I found an upload of the full game that I can hopefully get around to watching, since I wasn't born yet in 1972 and have never seen the full replay. Up until that point the USA basketball had never lost so I'm interested in seeing why the score was so close in the first place for the game to be decided on a buzzer beater.
It's understandable that this segment aired during the Barcelona Olympics as it had only been 20 years since it happened. It is not understandable why there are long comment threads under this video still arguing about what happened now that it's been close to 50 years since that game.
They was mad that the refs cheated them
you raise a very interesting topic that's more than about this story actually. were the '72 american squad behind the scenes acting like bullying jerks? was that how americans saw themselves at the time as olympic participants that they simply had to show up and the gold was as good as theirs? raises questions about how contemptuous other countries must've regarded the against united states. also, a good example of it's not if you win or lose and if winning is the universal singular most important thing.
ANY team that has won 7 times in a row is going to act like bullying jerks until they are knocked off their pedestal. That is just human nature.
@@allclassallthetime4739
What is commonly forgotten in all this is that the US team was also given the wrong venue and time for the ceremony by the IOC. This cemented the idea in the minds of Americans interested that the conspiracy was real. Given the actions of FIBA Secretary General Jones during and after the game (in violation of rules he swore to uphold), it's been proven that the conspiracy was real.
As Hans Tenschert, the official score keeper, said after the appeal jury's decision, "under FIBA rules, the United States won."
If the officials or someone makes a mistake and the clock does not go properly why would this effect the winning team? who the fuck cares if the clock did not go? it should not harm any team
I’m going to shock people when I say this: I don’t think the Soviet Union of 1972 can beat a single NBA team or an All NBA team. It will be like men against boys.
They wouldn't beat a single NBA team from 72.
They would have gotten molly whopped back to fucking siberia. Fuck russia. Terrorist assholes.
I am staggered a man of only 27 can pass away; I’m curious how a 27 year old can die of heart disease and how it happened.
There is a certain heart condition, Marfan Syndrome, that affects people taller than usual. I've heard of basketball players dying young from heart attacks.
karma
26 he was. Cardiac sarcoma.
soviet hackers did it
USSR team was the best of course. All during play soviet players teached american friends how to play basketball. And last 3 second as diamond point.
Incorrect. Once the U.S. went to pressure defense, the Soviets cracked. In fact, the last Soviet field goal before the controversial last play was around the 6 minute mark.
As the Soviets were, for all intents and purposes, professionals, had the U.S. been permitted to send professionals, even the lowly Portland Trailblazers (winners of only 18 games in the 1971-72 season) would have sunk the Soviets by halftime.
@@roberteugene7295 incorrect. Us cracked once they lose the game. And continuing moaning until now
@@golomidovd
Filing a protest for blatant violations of the rules cannot be characterized as "cracking." Unless one hates the rules.
Ok [redacted] They barely beat an amateur team and had to cheat in order to do it. Had they played american pros it would have been what happened in 1992.
The officials wanted to prevent a nuckear war.
The Americans just lost the game at the final death. It happens. It’s life. There’s always upsets in sport. Learn to be gracious and dignified.
I think we've all seen "winners" get cheated in events and not just sporting events. I can think of a few.
If the Russians hadn’t scored after the third attempt they definitely would have gotten a fourth try.
When I first heard about this I thought there must be something to the Americans being cheated but genuinely I don’t see how anyone can think this is anything other than a fair victory with a few mistakes by officials causing confusion. The first inbound doesn’t count because they’d signalled for a time out, the second doesn’t because there were 3 seconds supposed to be on the clock and it blew up early, the third inbound was the only legitimate one and it was entirely fair.
Entirely inaccurate, from the jump.
The first inbound *DID* count. No timeout request could be honored when the Soviets requested it. The umpire, Artenik Arabadjian, ordered the Soviets to inbound the ball. They did. Sergei Belov dribbled to near midcourt, next to the Soviet bench, when Rhigetto noticed a disturbance at the scorer's table. Soviet assistant coach Sergei Bashkin had run over to the table, upbraiding Tenschert for not granting a timeout request. After hearing the Soviets protest, Rhigetto ruled no timeout request could be honored, and the ball would be inbounded at the point play was stopped with one second remaining.
It was here the real chaos began. The American players had been demanding an explanation, because the rules forbade timeouts at this point. Nobody saw the Soviets slip Ivan Edeschko into the lineup, the man who would inbound the ball for the next two attempts (he didn't check in at the scorer's table, and wasn't officially entered into the game, which is a blatant violation and further proof that the Soviets didn't call a timeout).
Enter Renato William Jones, Secretary General of FIBA. According to FIBA rules, he has zero authority over a game in progress, but he ordered the clock reset (against FIBA rules) to 3 seconds and the inbound play from the end line. This was such an unusual procedure that the timekeeper, Andre Chopard, would say later that he'd never heard of this being done during live play of a game, and had never done so in his 14 years of working international games. Jones ruled FIBA with an iron fist, and anyone disobeying him would be dismissed from working international games again. Rhigetto, Chopard, Tenschert, and Arabadjian dutifully (if reluctantly) complied. However, the second inbound was guarded aggressively by U.S. center Tom McMillan, forcing Edeschko to pass to Sergei Belov nearby, whose long shot was off the mark. Game over. Enter Jones again. Jones, still at the scorer's table, ordered the second inbound replayed because the scoreboard clock wasn't reset.
Clearly, Jones was giving the Soviets every chance he could. We saw what happened on the third (and entirely illegal) inbound attempt. Edeschko passed floor length to Alexandr Belov, who scored the (controversial) basket.
Team USA filed a protest, which was heard by the FIBA review committee. However, this, too, smacked of Jones interference. Farenc Hepp was illegally appointed by Jones; as FIBA rules required a member of the committee to represent a team in the tournament. The American and Soviet members were excused, obviously because they were parties to the dispute. Jones appointed the Cuban member and Hepp to the committee, with Hepp's appointment in violation of rules Jones swore to uphold. The vote was along cold war lines, with Hepp, the Cuban and Polish members voting to disallow the American protest, and members from Italy and Puerto Rico voting to uphold the protest.
Obviously, Jones's malfeasance throughout this episode forever tainted the 1972 final game. The chief on-court officials (Rhigetto, Tenschert, and Chopard) agree that the U.S. won the game under FIBA rules.
That's how this game can be seen, and the reason the American players refused those medals. They earned gold, not silver, no matter what the haters say.
@@roberteugene7295 excellent, accurate response.
If the roles were reversed people would be calling it the biggest thing in Basketball History.
Just get over the loss and see it for what is, the best 3 seconds of Basketball we will be ever able to witness.
I couldn't care less who wins but this was beyond epic and something that people will remember.
Also not showing up to an Olympic reward ceremony is just poor sportsmanship.
And the U.S. men went on to win back Olympic Gold in men's basketball in Montreal 1976.
In fact, the Munich massacre was the biggest story in 1972.
Best 3 seconds of basketball? Lol
Yeah I'm gonna call bs on that
MJs numerous buzzer beaters are much better
I'm glad they protested. They were purposely cheated by the officials.
The Munich Massacre had nothing to do with the basketball game. The massacre was when 11 Israeli Olympians were killed.
Dude don't know shit about basketball
"I wasn't surprised but it was a little bit insulting", give me a break. When it doesn't happen to you like it did in 72 of course you will act like nothing happened and it was fair and square.
East block, West block
East coast, West coast
East side, West side
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
The Soviets should have never been close enough to win. The US team were not that good that year.
The Russians all learn English to milk this notoriety a lifetime.
It was an historical inevitability! Marx said so.
Damn Russian. Even to this day.
I had 10k on usa ml to win 500 bucks. I never paid my bookie. I ended up getting wacked. Always pay ur bookie.