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Almost everything is known about the 1960 US Olympic team that won the gold medal in Rome, rolling over every opponent and averaging over 100 points in eight games with a 40-point margin. Definitely the best array of amateurs ever assembled by the US in international competitions.
For facts and figures of the 1960 Olympic “Dream Team” see: https://www.usab.com/history/nationa...piad-1960.aspx
Less known, perhaps, is the fact that the US team additionally played as many as nine exhibition games, six tune-ups prior to the Olympics (August 6-22) and three post Olympic exhibitions (September 12-14).
Four pre-Olympic tune-up games were played in the US against AAU-NIBL teams (consisting of ex college players that didn’t join the pros and competed in the Industrial League retaining their amateur status) and two in Europe against Switzerland and Spain. The three post-Olympic exhibitions were played in Paris on a four-country tournament also fielding the Philippines, Uruguay and a Paris All-Stars selection comprising several French NT members.
Pacific Stars& Stripes – July 27, 1960 – Page 13
Pre-Olympic exhibitions
One of the major challenges of head coach Pete Newell was to blend so many individual stars into an organized unit in less than one month, as practice did not begin until Aug 1.
Beckley Post-Herald (Beckley, West Virginia) • Wed, Aug 10, 1960 • Page 8
First two games were scheduled against the Cleveland Pipers, coached by legendary John McLendon, and the others against the Denver Truckers and the New York Tuck Tapers. The Pipers had already sparred the US Pan American team the previous year. Both Pipers and Tapers would join the newly formed ABL pro league in the 1961-62 inaugural season.
Game 1 – Canton, Oh., August 6, 1960 - Att. 4,700.
Cleveland Pipers 101 – US Olympic Team 96 (OT), 88-88 (38-41 at halftime).
Pipers: Ben Warley 26, John Barnhill 21, Dan Swartz 19, Lloyd Sharrar 12, Jack Adams 10, Ron Hamilton 6, Willie Akers 3, Bucky Bolyard 2, Joe Roberts & Roger Taylor 1, Mel Davis, Bob Whaley 0.
US: Oscar Robertson 20, Jerry West 17, Walt Bellamy 13, Adrian Smith 12, Terry Dischinger 11, Jerry Lucas 10, Bob Boozer 6, Lester Lane 5, Jay Arnette 2, Burdie Haldorson, Darrall Imhoff and Al Kelley 0.
With just five practice days under their belt, the US Olympians were upset by the more organized Cleveland Pipers who rallied in the second half to even the score at the regulation and dominated the overtime. Both teams had good scoring percentages, with the US team averaging nearly 50% of FG, but showing flaws in defense. Robertson was held to just 6 points in the 1st half, mostly guarded by Adams, an Olympic alternate from Eastern Kentucky (1956). Lack of a nucleus of seasoned players and erratic conditioning were felt by observers as a major weakness of the US Olympic team.
The Philadelphia Inquirer • Sun, Aug 7, 1960 • Page 71, The Austin American (Austin, Texas) · Tue, Aug 23, 1960 · Page 20
Game 2 – Morgantown, WVa. August 10, 1960 – Att. 6,500
US Olympic Team 91 – Cleveland Pipers 69 (41-34).
US: Robertson 26, Bellamy 18, West 12, Dischinger & Lane 9, Lucas 8, Boozer 4, Haldorson 3, Arnette 2, Smith, Imhoff and Kelley 0.
Pipers: Swartz 14 Adams 13, Warley 12, Sharrar 10, Barnhill 8, Roberts 5, Akers 4, Bolyard 3, Davis, Hamilton and Taylor 0.
US Olympians avenged the earlier defeat with an easy victory, paced by Robertson and Bellamy. For a while it looked as if the Pipers would repeat their upset in Canton rushing to a 11-6 lead, before Big “O” and Lane tied the score at 15. Then Bellamy scored eight straight points to put the Olympians ahead for good. West, who played forward at college was shifted to guard by head coach Newell and he responded with four assists, same as Robertson.
Olympic coach Newell was pleased with his team progress in play and conditioning.
The Terre Haute Star • Thu, Aug 11, 1960 • Page 12, The Daily Times (New Philadelphia, Ohio) • Thu, Aug 11, 1960 • Page 14
Game 3 – Cincinnati, Oh., August 14, 1960 – Att. 12,838.
US Olympic Team 83 – Denver Truckers 72 (44-29)
US: Robertson 20, Dischinger 16, Bellamy 10, West 9, Lane, Lucas and Smith 7, Kelley 4, Arnette 2, Imhoff 1, Boozer and Haldorson 0.
Truckers: Horace Walker 19, George Lee 17, Walt Mangham 10, Joe Belmont and Bob Wilkinson 6, Mike Moran 5, George Bon Salle 4, Dave Denton 3, Mike Graney 2, Don Ogorek 0. Coach: Johnny Dee.
US Olympians went ahead earlier and dominated the first half and part of the second to build up a 62-41 lead just to allow the Truckers to rally within 5 points (73-68) with 4’ left. Walker (Michigan State 1960) and Lee (Michigan 1960) led the Truckers surge. Then Robertson and Dischinger straightened matters with their touch and team work, “making head coach Newell smile”. The game, played like the others under international rules and with the small and awkward soccer-style “Olympic” ball, was rough and plenty of errors. Dischinger finished with an excellent 7 on 10 FG, while Truckers’ high scorer Walker made 8 FG on 25 attempts, once missing nine in a row in the first half. Mangham (Marquette 1960), the US interscholastic high jump record-holder went too high on two shots by Lane and Robertson and was called for goal tending. Lucas was bothered by head cold and fouled out early, while two other Olympians were airsick after their DC-3 trip from West Point.
The Indianapolis News – Mon, Aug 15, 1960 - page 16, The Tribune • Mon, Aug 15, 1960 • Page 10
Game 4 - New York, NY, 69th Regiment Armory, August 16, 1960 – Att. 4,523.
US Olympic Team 83 – New York Tuck Tapers 79 (39-35).
US: Robertson 26, West 17, Bellamy & Lucas 10, Smith 8, Dischinger 4, Arnette, Haldorson, Kelley and Lane 2, Boozer and Imhoff 0.
Tuck Tapers: Chuck Curtis 16, Frank Keitt 11, Sylvester Blye 10, Rudy Davalos, Wayne Lawrence and Paul Wilcox 8, Wilbur Trosch 6, Bobby Clarke, Paul Neumann and Lee Shaffer 3, Jim Daniels 2, Leroy Wright 1, Vince Albanese, Will Johns and Ed Willis 0.
In the final tune-up on American soil, the Olympians earned an uninspiring win against surprisingly tough Tuck Tapers that had a couple of former colleges stars who would later establish in the NBA with solid careers (Neumann of Stanford and Shaffer of North Carolina). It was another rough exhibition “with the Olympians out hustled throughout most of the game”. US team margin of +11 was reduced to two points with 17 seconds left but Lucas and Robertson sealed the narrow win with key baskets. Bellamy provided good assistance off the backboards, while Dischinger left the game early due to a knee injury. Newell admitted that his Olympians still had a vast room of improvement but was confident they would provide a good display in Rome.
The Indianapolis Star • Wed, Aug 17, 1960 • Page 22, Courier-Post • Wed, Aug 17, 1960 • Page 34
Game 5 – Geneva (SUI), August 20, 1960
US Olympic Team 122 – Switzerland Selection 37 (60-23)
In its first European workout game US Olympians won “with disarming ease, nonchalantly piling up points…and their outclassed opponent s never had a chance”. US team was paced by Bellamy and Boozer with 23 and 21 points respecitvely, others scoring in double digits were Robertson and Smith (16), West (13) and Lane (10). Out of 10 players who entered in the game only Imhoff went scoreless. Lucas and Kelley did not play. The Swiss club was a strange aggregation including three French players and five Geneva University students, among them their game high scorer, ex Duquesne Fletcher Johnson with 12 points. (1)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) • Sun, Aug 21, 1960 • Page 85
Game 6 – Lugano (SUI), August 22, 1960
US Olympic Team 91 – Spain 59 (49-22)
The Americans again won without apparent difficulty against the exhausted Spaniards, who had just qualified for the Olympics finishing third in Bologna pre-Olympic tournament. US Olympians outclassed Spain in all departments and in the second half they too began tiring and slowed down their pace. Unbearable heat inside the sports palace added fatigue to both teams.
Robertson led US team with 18 points, followed by Dischinger (12), Bellamy (11), Boozer and Smith (10). Lucas and Kelley again dnp and all 10 players scored at least four points. Alfonso Martinez (18 points), Emiliano Rodriguez and Francisco Buscatò (16) paced the Spanish team.
Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona) · Tue, Aug 23, 1960 · Page 25
Post-Olympic Exhibitions, Paris (FRA).
Game 1, Sept 12
US Olympic Team 96 – Philippines 61 (47-28)
US team was without Lucas and headcoach Newell, who had to rush back to the US to resume his duties at the University of California.
Americans were sparked by Robertson, West, Lane and Bellamy, who completely outclassed the Philippine team, hitting the hoop regularly. Philipino guard Geronimo Cruz, who entered just late in the first half, almost single-handedly maintained his team’s offense alive with spectacular shots and fine dribbling ability.
Anderson Herald (Anderson, Indiana) • Tue, Sep 13, 1960 • Page 6
Game 2, Sept 13
US Olympic Team 89 – Paris All-Stars 56 (39-39)
US team started sluggish and the Parisians, full of French Olympic team players, held the lead in the early stages (10-4, 24-17). Then the Americans went ahead 38-32, before the French team drew the score at half-time. US team surged after the intermission and easily took control of the game scoring virtually at will in running up a 50-17 second half margin. 19-year old Dischinger scored 21 points and Bellamy 19 to lead the Americans.
Beckley Post-Herald (Beckley, West Virginia) • Wed, Sep 14, 1960 • Page 9, The Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) • Wed, Sep 14, 1960 • Page 55
Game 3, Sept 14
US Olympic Team 100 – Uruguay 58 (47-26)
Uruguay applied the pressure early and quickly built a 7-2 edge, but US players, taller, faster and stronger, came back with 15 straight points to virtually wrap up the game. Dischinger again paced the Olympic champs with 28 points, Robertson scored 15 and Bellamy, Boozer and Haldorson each contributed 8 points. High men for the South Americans were Carlos Blixen and Hector Costa with 15 points and Milton Scaron with 14. The Philippines placed second in the tournament, followed by Paris selection and by Uruguay, all with one win.
Winning the Paris tournament the US Olympic Team therefore closed its official and exhibition games with an overall 16-1 record, the only loss coming in the very first tune-up game against the Cleveland Pipers.
___________________
(1) Fletcher Johnson came to Europe on a medical scholarship granted by Virtus Bologna (Italy), where he played two seasons (1957-59) establishing as one of the best scorers in Italian League. He then transferred to Geneva to complete his studies becoming a renowned surgeon in the US. See also this interesting story: https://nypost.com/2008/10/14/hoop-w...tcher-johnson/
For facts and figures of the 1960 Olympic “Dream Team” see: https://www.usab.com/history/nationa...piad-1960.aspx
Less known, perhaps, is the fact that the US team additionally played as many as nine exhibition games, six tune-ups prior to the Olympics (August 6-22) and three post Olympic exhibitions (September 12-14).
Four pre-Olympic tune-up games were played in the US against AAU-NIBL teams (consisting of ex college players that didn’t join the pros and competed in the Industrial League retaining their amateur status) and two in Europe against Switzerland and Spain. The three post-Olympic exhibitions were played in Paris on a four-country tournament also fielding the Philippines, Uruguay and a Paris All-Stars selection comprising several French NT members.
Pacific Stars& Stripes – July 27, 1960 – Page 13
Pre-Olympic exhibitions
One of the major challenges of head coach Pete Newell was to blend so many individual stars into an organized unit in less than one month, as practice did not begin until Aug 1.
Beckley Post-Herald (Beckley, West Virginia) • Wed, Aug 10, 1960 • Page 8
First two games were scheduled against the Cleveland Pipers, coached by legendary John McLendon, and the others against the Denver Truckers and the New York Tuck Tapers. The Pipers had already sparred the US Pan American team the previous year. Both Pipers and Tapers would join the newly formed ABL pro league in the 1961-62 inaugural season.
Game 1 – Canton, Oh., August 6, 1960 - Att. 4,700.
Cleveland Pipers 101 – US Olympic Team 96 (OT), 88-88 (38-41 at halftime).
Pipers: Ben Warley 26, John Barnhill 21, Dan Swartz 19, Lloyd Sharrar 12, Jack Adams 10, Ron Hamilton 6, Willie Akers 3, Bucky Bolyard 2, Joe Roberts & Roger Taylor 1, Mel Davis, Bob Whaley 0.
US: Oscar Robertson 20, Jerry West 17, Walt Bellamy 13, Adrian Smith 12, Terry Dischinger 11, Jerry Lucas 10, Bob Boozer 6, Lester Lane 5, Jay Arnette 2, Burdie Haldorson, Darrall Imhoff and Al Kelley 0.
With just five practice days under their belt, the US Olympians were upset by the more organized Cleveland Pipers who rallied in the second half to even the score at the regulation and dominated the overtime. Both teams had good scoring percentages, with the US team averaging nearly 50% of FG, but showing flaws in defense. Robertson was held to just 6 points in the 1st half, mostly guarded by Adams, an Olympic alternate from Eastern Kentucky (1956). Lack of a nucleus of seasoned players and erratic conditioning were felt by observers as a major weakness of the US Olympic team.
The Philadelphia Inquirer • Sun, Aug 7, 1960 • Page 71, The Austin American (Austin, Texas) · Tue, Aug 23, 1960 · Page 20
Game 2 – Morgantown, WVa. August 10, 1960 – Att. 6,500
US Olympic Team 91 – Cleveland Pipers 69 (41-34).
US: Robertson 26, Bellamy 18, West 12, Dischinger & Lane 9, Lucas 8, Boozer 4, Haldorson 3, Arnette 2, Smith, Imhoff and Kelley 0.
Pipers: Swartz 14 Adams 13, Warley 12, Sharrar 10, Barnhill 8, Roberts 5, Akers 4, Bolyard 3, Davis, Hamilton and Taylor 0.
US Olympians avenged the earlier defeat with an easy victory, paced by Robertson and Bellamy. For a while it looked as if the Pipers would repeat their upset in Canton rushing to a 11-6 lead, before Big “O” and Lane tied the score at 15. Then Bellamy scored eight straight points to put the Olympians ahead for good. West, who played forward at college was shifted to guard by head coach Newell and he responded with four assists, same as Robertson.
Olympic coach Newell was pleased with his team progress in play and conditioning.
The Terre Haute Star • Thu, Aug 11, 1960 • Page 12, The Daily Times (New Philadelphia, Ohio) • Thu, Aug 11, 1960 • Page 14
Game 3 – Cincinnati, Oh., August 14, 1960 – Att. 12,838.
US Olympic Team 83 – Denver Truckers 72 (44-29)
US: Robertson 20, Dischinger 16, Bellamy 10, West 9, Lane, Lucas and Smith 7, Kelley 4, Arnette 2, Imhoff 1, Boozer and Haldorson 0.
Truckers: Horace Walker 19, George Lee 17, Walt Mangham 10, Joe Belmont and Bob Wilkinson 6, Mike Moran 5, George Bon Salle 4, Dave Denton 3, Mike Graney 2, Don Ogorek 0. Coach: Johnny Dee.
US Olympians went ahead earlier and dominated the first half and part of the second to build up a 62-41 lead just to allow the Truckers to rally within 5 points (73-68) with 4’ left. Walker (Michigan State 1960) and Lee (Michigan 1960) led the Truckers surge. Then Robertson and Dischinger straightened matters with their touch and team work, “making head coach Newell smile”. The game, played like the others under international rules and with the small and awkward soccer-style “Olympic” ball, was rough and plenty of errors. Dischinger finished with an excellent 7 on 10 FG, while Truckers’ high scorer Walker made 8 FG on 25 attempts, once missing nine in a row in the first half. Mangham (Marquette 1960), the US interscholastic high jump record-holder went too high on two shots by Lane and Robertson and was called for goal tending. Lucas was bothered by head cold and fouled out early, while two other Olympians were airsick after their DC-3 trip from West Point.
The Indianapolis News – Mon, Aug 15, 1960 - page 16, The Tribune • Mon, Aug 15, 1960 • Page 10
Game 4 - New York, NY, 69th Regiment Armory, August 16, 1960 – Att. 4,523.
US Olympic Team 83 – New York Tuck Tapers 79 (39-35).
US: Robertson 26, West 17, Bellamy & Lucas 10, Smith 8, Dischinger 4, Arnette, Haldorson, Kelley and Lane 2, Boozer and Imhoff 0.
Tuck Tapers: Chuck Curtis 16, Frank Keitt 11, Sylvester Blye 10, Rudy Davalos, Wayne Lawrence and Paul Wilcox 8, Wilbur Trosch 6, Bobby Clarke, Paul Neumann and Lee Shaffer 3, Jim Daniels 2, Leroy Wright 1, Vince Albanese, Will Johns and Ed Willis 0.
In the final tune-up on American soil, the Olympians earned an uninspiring win against surprisingly tough Tuck Tapers that had a couple of former colleges stars who would later establish in the NBA with solid careers (Neumann of Stanford and Shaffer of North Carolina). It was another rough exhibition “with the Olympians out hustled throughout most of the game”. US team margin of +11 was reduced to two points with 17 seconds left but Lucas and Robertson sealed the narrow win with key baskets. Bellamy provided good assistance off the backboards, while Dischinger left the game early due to a knee injury. Newell admitted that his Olympians still had a vast room of improvement but was confident they would provide a good display in Rome.
The Indianapolis Star • Wed, Aug 17, 1960 • Page 22, Courier-Post • Wed, Aug 17, 1960 • Page 34
Game 5 – Geneva (SUI), August 20, 1960
US Olympic Team 122 – Switzerland Selection 37 (60-23)
In its first European workout game US Olympians won “with disarming ease, nonchalantly piling up points…and their outclassed opponent s never had a chance”. US team was paced by Bellamy and Boozer with 23 and 21 points respecitvely, others scoring in double digits were Robertson and Smith (16), West (13) and Lane (10). Out of 10 players who entered in the game only Imhoff went scoreless. Lucas and Kelley did not play. The Swiss club was a strange aggregation including three French players and five Geneva University students, among them their game high scorer, ex Duquesne Fletcher Johnson with 12 points. (1)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) • Sun, Aug 21, 1960 • Page 85
Game 6 – Lugano (SUI), August 22, 1960
US Olympic Team 91 – Spain 59 (49-22)
The Americans again won without apparent difficulty against the exhausted Spaniards, who had just qualified for the Olympics finishing third in Bologna pre-Olympic tournament. US Olympians outclassed Spain in all departments and in the second half they too began tiring and slowed down their pace. Unbearable heat inside the sports palace added fatigue to both teams.
Robertson led US team with 18 points, followed by Dischinger (12), Bellamy (11), Boozer and Smith (10). Lucas and Kelley again dnp and all 10 players scored at least four points. Alfonso Martinez (18 points), Emiliano Rodriguez and Francisco Buscatò (16) paced the Spanish team.
Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona) · Tue, Aug 23, 1960 · Page 25
Post-Olympic Exhibitions, Paris (FRA).
Game 1, Sept 12
US Olympic Team 96 – Philippines 61 (47-28)
US team was without Lucas and headcoach Newell, who had to rush back to the US to resume his duties at the University of California.
Americans were sparked by Robertson, West, Lane and Bellamy, who completely outclassed the Philippine team, hitting the hoop regularly. Philipino guard Geronimo Cruz, who entered just late in the first half, almost single-handedly maintained his team’s offense alive with spectacular shots and fine dribbling ability.
Anderson Herald (Anderson, Indiana) • Tue, Sep 13, 1960 • Page 6
Game 2, Sept 13
US Olympic Team 89 – Paris All-Stars 56 (39-39)
US team started sluggish and the Parisians, full of French Olympic team players, held the lead in the early stages (10-4, 24-17). Then the Americans went ahead 38-32, before the French team drew the score at half-time. US team surged after the intermission and easily took control of the game scoring virtually at will in running up a 50-17 second half margin. 19-year old Dischinger scored 21 points and Bellamy 19 to lead the Americans.
Beckley Post-Herald (Beckley, West Virginia) • Wed, Sep 14, 1960 • Page 9, The Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) • Wed, Sep 14, 1960 • Page 55
Game 3, Sept 14
US Olympic Team 100 – Uruguay 58 (47-26)
Uruguay applied the pressure early and quickly built a 7-2 edge, but US players, taller, faster and stronger, came back with 15 straight points to virtually wrap up the game. Dischinger again paced the Olympic champs with 28 points, Robertson scored 15 and Bellamy, Boozer and Haldorson each contributed 8 points. High men for the South Americans were Carlos Blixen and Hector Costa with 15 points and Milton Scaron with 14. The Philippines placed second in the tournament, followed by Paris selection and by Uruguay, all with one win.
Winning the Paris tournament the US Olympic Team therefore closed its official and exhibition games with an overall 16-1 record, the only loss coming in the very first tune-up game against the Cleveland Pipers.
___________________
(1) Fletcher Johnson came to Europe on a medical scholarship granted by Virtus Bologna (Italy), where he played two seasons (1957-59) establishing as one of the best scorers in Italian League. He then transferred to Geneva to complete his studies becoming a renowned surgeon in the US. See also this interesting story: https://nypost.com/2008/10/14/hoop-w...tcher-johnson/