WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CHILE 1959
However, the organisers' hopes and promises of success were not borne out by the reality of the
country. In Santiago, as well as in the other venues, no arena in conditions to hold the
tournament was completed on time. The danger of suspension was on everyone's minds and
when the organisers proposed holding the matches in the soccer stadiums of the host cities
William Jones and FIBA, reasoning that anything was better than no championship at all, agreed,
and for the very fist time fortune smiled on them. Good weather accompanied the entire
tournament making the fact that it was played outdoors a mere anecdote. It also allowed all
previous attendance records to be beaten thanks to the capacity of the stadiums. Several
matches during the final phase in Santiago recorded attendances of over 30,000, a truly unique
occurrence.
CALM AT THE START
The political problems that blighted the first two editions were absent from the start of this
competition although as we will see they put in an appearance towards the end.
At last, on January 16, the ball was thrown up for the first match. Uruguay had previously tried to
force a new draw because they were not happy with their group, but this was swiftly nipped in
the bud. William Jones stood firm against these over the top requests and the Uruguayans,
whose importance lay in the past, were firmly put in their place.
Concepcion was the venue for Group A, composed of USA, Formosa (Taiwan), Argentina and the
United Arab Republic (UAR). The USA, reigning champions, sent a team made up of Air Force
players while at the same time they were preparing the best team ever seen before for the
Olympic Games in Rome the following year. Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Walt Belamy and Jerry
Lucas were reserved for greater things, the Olympic gold, and as usual the top players did not
travel to the World Championship. Despite this the North Americans were very competitive in the
first phase and had no problems in winning their three games convincingly; scoring over 100
points against UAR (103-58). Formosa provided a surprise by beating Argentina (63-59) and the
weak UAR (71-69), accompanying the USA to the final phase as runners-up in the group. Political
problems were looming.
Temuco hosted Group B. The strongest team, Brazil, had been runners-up in the previous
edition, the USSR were current Olympic silver medallists from the Melbourne 1956 games
(although they had been swept aside in the final by the USA led by Bill Russell), and Canada
were a trio of top level contenders while Mexico simply made up the numbers. The progression
of the group was very tight. Brazil beat Canada (69-52) and lost to the USSR (73-64), but the
Soviet defeat to Canada (63-54) and there was a triple tie at the top of the group given that they
all beat Mexico. Point difference favoured Brazil and the USSR who went through to the final
phase.
Group C was held in Antofagasta, it was dominated by Bulgaria who easily beat Puerto Rico (67-
55), Philippines (85-61) and Uruguay (65-58). The Puerto Ricans got over their bad start against
Bulgaria and took second place by defeating Philippines (76-63) and Uruguay (78-64). Uruguay,
bronze medallists in Melbourne, were a big disappoitment and showed that their request for a
new draw was not backed up by the quality of the team.
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FUNDACIÓN PEDRO FERRÁNDIZ