History

Basketball was invented by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891 and quickly took off, first across the United States and internationally.

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) was set-up in 1932 in Geneva and they organised the first Olympic tournament in Berlin in 1936 where Naismith presented the medals.

In keeping up with the Olympic tradition, all of the competitors were amateurs, and FIBA introduced the indoor game in the 1948 Games in London.

The United States proved its dominance, winning all of the tournaments until 1972 in Munich when the Soviet Union won the gold medal match in highly controversial circumstances.

The US refused to accept their silver medals and the International Olympic Committee still possesses them.

The Americans reclaimed the gold medal at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal but with the 1980 Olympics boycott, Yugoslavia became the first team coming outside the USA or the USSR to win the title after beating the Soviets in the semi-finals.

The Yugoslavs would later lose their gold medal to the Americans in at Los Angeles in 1984, with the Soviets boycotting.

In 1988 in Seoul, with the Americans sending in a young team, the Soviets reclaimed the gold medal, beating the Yugoslavs in the gold medal game.

In 1989, FIBA through the leadership of Boris Stankovic approved the rule in which professionals were allowed to compete in international tournaments, including the Olympics.

In the next Olympics in Barcelona, the United States debuted their "Dream Team" and won the gold medal without calling a time out.

Their new-found dominance ended at Athens in 2004 when they were beaten in the semi-finals by Argentina, who went on to win the gold medal.

However, in 2008, the US defeated Spain to reclaim Olympic gold, and their first in any major international tournament since the 2000 Olympics.

Technical

The object of the game is to outscore one's opponents by throwing the ball through the opponents' basket from above while preventing the opponents from doing so on their own.

A successful shot is worth two points, or three points if it is taken from beyond the three-point arc which is 6.25 meters (20 ft 6 in) from the basket in international games.

Games are played in four quarters of 10 with 15 minutes allowed for a half-time break, and two minutes are allowed at the other breaks.

Overtime periods are five minutes long.

Teams exchange baskets for the second half.

The time allowed is actual playing time; the clock is stopped while the play is not active.

Five players from each team (out of a twelve player roster) may be on the court at one time.

Substitutions are unlimited but can only be done when play is stopped.

Major players

The United States men have won the gold medal on 13 occasions out of the 17 occasions basketball has been contested in the Olympics with the Soviet Union having won it twice.

A women's tournament was introduced in 1976 and was won by the Soviet Union.

They went on to retain the title in Moscow four years later but since the gold medal has been seven times out of eight by the US - the exception being in Barcelona in 1992 when the Unifed Team, formed following the break-up of the Soviet Union, triumphed.

Bluffer's guide

The tallest members of a team will play centre or one of two forward positions, while shorter players or those who possess the best ball handling skills and speed, play the guard positions.

Useless fact

During the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, members of the gold-medal winning United States "Dream Team" with personal sponsorship from Nike, including Michael Jordan, threatened to boycott the medal presentation rather than wear the official team uniform featuring Nike's rival, Reebok. In the end they appeared but covered up the Reebok logo.