Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Basketball contests at the 2008 Olympic Games were held from August 9, 2008 to August 24, 2008. Competitions were held at the Wukesong Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China. The United States claimed the gold medals in both the Men's and Women's competitions.

Medalists

Men
Women

Medal count

1		2	0	0	2
2		0	1	0	1
		0	1	0	1
4		0	0	1	1
		0	0	1	1

Flag bearers

Basketball players that carried their flags at the opening ceremony were Yao Ming (for the People's Republic of China), Šarūnas Jasikevičius (for Lithuania), Dirk Nowitzki (for Germany), Andrei Kirilenko (for the Russian Federation), and Manu Ginóbili (for Argentina). The Chinese contingent traditionally assigns basketball players as their flag bearers at the opening ceremonies.

Events

Two sets of medals were awarded in the following events:

• Basketball - Men
• Basketball - Women

Qualification

An NOC may enter up to one men's team with 12 players and up to one women's team with 12 players. The reigning world champions and the host country qualify automatically, as do the winners of the five continental championships (plus the men's runners-up from Europe and the Americas).

The best teams from the continental championships that did not automatically qualify participated in the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament or FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women to determine the final spots in Beijing.

Italicized teams qualified via the wildcard tournaments.

Basketball - Men

Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania	Automatic qualifiers
					– World champions – Olympic hosts

Basketball - Women

Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania	Automatic qualifiers
					– World champions – Olympic hosts

Format

• Twelve teams are split into two preliminary round groups of six teams each.
• The top four teams from both groups qualify for the knockout stage.
• Fifth-placed teams from both groups are ranked 9th-10th by basis of their records.
• Sixth-placed teams from both groups are ranked 11th-12th by basis of their records.
• In the quarterfinals, the matchups are as follows: A1 vs. B4, A2 vs. B3, A3 vs. B2 and A4 vs. B1.
• The eliminated teams at the quarterfinals are ranked 5th-8th by basis of their preliminary round records
• The winning teams from the quarterfinals meet in the semifinals as follows: A1/B4 vs. A3/B2 and A2/B3 vs. A4/B1.
• The winning teams from the semifinals contest the gold medal. The losing teams contest the bronze.

Tie-breaking criteria:

1. Head to head results
2. Goal average (not the goal difference) between the tied teams
3. Goal average of the tied teams for all teams in its group

Calendar

	Preliminary round		Quarterfinals		Semifinals	M	Event finals

August	9th S	10th S	11th M	12th T	13th W	14th T	15th F	16th S	17th S	18th M	19th T	20th W	21st T	22nd F	23rd S	24th S	Gold medals
Men																M	1
Women															M		1

Rosters

Each team is limited to twelve players on its roster.

Men

Preliminary round

	Qualified for the quarterfinals

The four best teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinal round.

Group A

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
	4	1	425	400	+25	9
	4	1	425	361	+64	9
	3	2	399	380	+19	8
	3	2	457	405	+52	8
	1	4	387	406	-19	6
	0	5	323	464	-141	5

2008-08-10
	71 – 49
	79 – 75
	82 – 97
2008-08-12
	67 – 99
	85 – 78
	85 – 68
2008-08-14
	106 – 68
	86 – 79
	77 – 53
2008-08-16
	80 – 95
	73 – 86
	82 – 97
2008-08-18
	57 – 91
	106 – 75
	91 – 79

Group B

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
	5	0	515	354	+161	10
	4	1	418	369	+49	9
	3	2	415	375	+40	8
	2	3	366	400	-34	7
	1	4	330	390	-60	6
	0	5	321	477	-156	5

2008-08-10
	95 – 66
	81 – 66
	101 – 70
2008-08-12
	87 – 64
	75 – 85 (OT)
	76 – 97
2008-08-14
	59 – 72
	68 – 85
	92 – 69
2008-08-16
	102 – 61
	59 – 55
	82 – 119
2008-08-18
	91 – 77
	50 – 98
	106 – 57

Tournament bracket

Women

Preliminary round

	Qualified for the quarterfinals

The four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Group A

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
	5	0	349	264	+85	10
	4	1	278	258	+20	9
	2	3	320	332	-12	7
	2	3	352	360	-8	7
	1	4	266	315	-49	6
	1	4	337	354	-17	6

2008-08-09
	64 – 83
	68 – 62 (OT)
	57 – 62
2008-08-11
	72 – 77
	57 – 79
	80 – 65
2008-08-13
	65 – 71
	78 – 79
	62 – 90
2008-08-15
	73 – 96
	74 – 64
	53 – 63
2008-08-17
	75 – 55
	72 – 68
	68 – 53

Group B

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
	5	0	491	276	+215	10
	4	1	358	346	+12	9
	3	2	350	354	-4	8
	2	3	353	326	+27	7
	1	4	320	423	-103	6
	0	5	255	402	-147	5

2008-08-09
	72 – 76
	67 – 64
	57 – 97
2008-08-11
	62 – 85
	81 – 47
	63 – 108
2008-08-13
	74 – 55
	80 – 63
	41 – 97
2008-08-15
	90 – 59
	69 –48
	93 – 55	'''
2008-08-17
	47 – 79
	79 – 63
	60 – 96

Tournament bracket

References

External links

• FIBA's Complete coverage of the Olympic Basketball Tournament
• Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
• International Basketball Federation
• FIBA-Results of the Draw for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Basketball tournaments
• Updated Women's Draw after Qualifying Tournament