Basketball has come a long way since Dr James Naismith, in 1891, nailed two peach baskets as goals to the balconies at each end of the YMCA gymnasium in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. Basketball and volleyball, which was also invented in Massachusetts, are just two of the international sports to be invented in the United States.

Basketball was a demonstration sport in St Louis 1904 and did not achieve full medal status until Berlin 1936. At each of the Olympics that were staged from Berlin until Mexico City 1968, the United States did not lose a match and consequently won seven straight gold medals. The USSR inflicted the first defeat on the United States in the final in Munich 1972. It was the sixty-third game of Olympic basketball that the United States had played. Because of the controversial nature of the finish to that game the members of the United States team refused to collect their silver medals. The women’s competition was introduced four years later in Montreal.

Professional players were permitted to play at the Barcelona Games in 1992 and as a result, the Dream Team from the United States made its all-conquering debut. The members of that team were Larry Bird, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Christopher Mullin, Charles Barkley and Christian Laettner. The next two ‘Dream Teams’ won in Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000. In Athens however the American team missing some of their NBA stars were upstaged by Argentina who won the gold with the Americans only good enough for bronze.

Each team consists of 12 players, with five players per team on the court at any one time. Olympic basketball matches consist of two 20-minute halves. If the score is tied at the end of 40 minutes of play, a five-minute overtime period is played. Further overtime periods are played until the deadlock is broken. There are twelve teams in both men’s and women’s Olympic tournaments. The teams are grouped into two pools of six, with an even spread of top seeded teams. The top four teams in each pool following the preliminary games progress to the quarter-finals where the elimination format begins.

It has been the Australian women who have produced the best results for Australia at the Olympic Games. Australian’s women’s team made its first appearance in Los Angeles 1984 and has qualified for every Olympics since, except for Barcelona 1992. The placings gained have been 5^th in Los Angeles, 4^th in Seoul, bronze in Atlanta was the first Olympic medal won by an Australian basketball team. They improved to silver medal performances in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 losing to the United States on both occasions.

Australia’s men first played in Melbourne 1956 and have qualified for every Olympics since, except for Rome in 1960 and Mexico City 1968. The best placings achieved have been fourths in Seoul (1988), Barcelona and Sydney (2000). Every one of those teams, except the first and in Athens 2004, had a member of the Gaze family associated with it. Lindsay was a player in 1964 and a coach from 1972 until 1984. Lindsay's son Andrew played in every team from 1984 until 2000. Lindsay was also a player in the 1960 and 1968 teams that were eliminated in the pre-Olympic qualifying tournaments. Andrew carried the Australian flag at the Opening Ceremony in Sydney. The Gaze family had a link with the Melbourne Olympics with Lindsay’s brother playing in the demonstration match of Australian Rules football and Lindsay himself being in the squad from which the players for that match were selected.

In Montreal, Ed Palubinskas, a shooting wizard, was the leading scorer in the Olympic basketball tournament, after being runner-up in Munich. Palubinskas was Australia’s first internationally rated basketballer.

Andrew Gaze is the second highest scorer in the history of the men's Olympic basketball competition with 789 points.

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