Olympic Legends - 1952 Helsinki Games

LONDON (Olympics) - Bob Kurland towered above the opposition.

He dominated American college basketball while playing for the legendary Oklahoma A&M coach Hank Iba, and also as a player with the Phillips Petroleum Company in AAU  (Amateur Athletic Union) hoops.

Kurland was also a beast on two United States Olympic teams.

A giant, 2.1m center, Kurland was the first player in American college basketball to regularly dunk during games.

Defensively, the opposition couldn't keep him away from the rim where he blocked one shot after another.

Because of this, the NCAA ruled in 1945 that defensive goaltending was no longer allowed.

Kurland and his college side, the Aggies, won NCAA crowns in 1945 and ’46.

The center turned down offers to play professional hoops with the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League, the two of which later merged to form the NBA, and instead kept his amateur status and suited up for the Phillips.

Since he didn’t turn professional, Kurland was allowed to play for the United States Olympic team, which he did in both 1948 and 1952 and won gold each time.

When he travelled to Helsinki in 1952, no American player was as famous as Kurland.

As good as Kurland, however, there was another standout in the USA team who went by the name Clyde Lovellette.

One of seven players from the University of Kansas in the USA side, Lovellette was also big at 2.08m in height.

Having played for Forrest "Phog" Allen, an assistant coach of the 1952 USA Olympic side, and won a national title with the Kansas Jayhawks, he would go on to become the first player to win NCAA, Olympic and NBA championships.

Both players were key as the American side coached by Warren Womble marched to the gold medal in Finland.

These were different times.

The United States and the Soviet Union were engaged the Cold War in 1952, so there was a political backdrop to the sporting contests when the two nations squared off.

Helsinki was the first Olympics in which the Soviet Union sent teams.

In basketball, the Americans and Soviets met twice, including in the gold-medal game.

The Soviets opted for a ‘stall-ball’ strategy, which was allowed in those days since there was no shot-clock, and extremely close man-marking.

The strategy worked for a while as after 10 minutes, the favored Americans only led, 4-3, and at half-time Womble’s side was on top, 17-15.

Early in the second half, with the Soviet players keeping the defensive pressure on, the European team went in front.

The United States eventually found some space to maneuver and started to hit some shots from outside.

They went in front, and then turned the tables on the Soviets by employing their own brand of ‘stall ball’.

One Soviet player actually sat down at mid-court as a form of protest over the Americans’ tactics.

The United States ended up winning, 36-25.

The best two players in the American side lived up their pre-Olympic hype.

Lovellette had nine points and Kurland eight in the title game.

Uruguay were the bronze-medal winners in 1952.