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 Furlong, playing with Gimnasia y Esgrima de Villa del Parque, circa 1950–1953. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1927-10-22)22 October 1927 Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Died | 11 June 2018(2018-06-11) (aged 90) |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2.75 in (1.90 m) |
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | SMU (1953–1956) |
| Playing career | 1944–1957 |
| Position | Power forward /center |
| Career history | |
| 1944–1957 | Gimnasia V. Parque |
| Career highlights | |
As player:
| |
| FIBA Hall of Fame | |
Óscar Alberto Furlong Chretienneau (22 October 1927 – 11 June 2018) was an Argentinebasketball player, andtennis player andcoach. He was born inBuenos Aires, Argentina. As a basketball player, he was aFIBA World Cup champion in 1950, who also competed at the1948 Summer Olympic Games, and at the1952 Summer Olympic Games.[1] Furlong was inducted into theFIBA Hall of Fame in September 2007.
NicknamedPillín andEl Primer Crack, Furlong started playingbasketball andtennis at the Gymnastics and Tennis Club of Villa del Parque. He later concentrated inbasketball, in the youth divisions ofClub Gimnasia y Esgrima de Villa del Parque. After his debut with the first team in 1944, Furlong won 6 Torneo Metropolitano Buenos Aires League titles (1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1951, and 1954), in theamateur league that was run by theArgentine Basketball Federation. In 1953, Furlong began attendingSouthern Methodist University, where he playedcollege basketball with theSMU Mustangs. He graduated in 1956, after reaching the1956 NCAA Final Four, while playing alongsideAll American, and futureNBA player,Jim Krebs.
At the1948 London Summer Olympic Games, after a continued dominance by theUnited States in theSummer Olympics basketball competition, his 18 points scored, while playingcenter, helped the seniorArgentine national basketball team stay within a basket of the US, during a 59–57 loss. After the game, the United States'head coach,Omar Browning, called him, "one of the finest ball players I ever saw".[2] The Argentine national team finished in fifteenth place in the1948 Summer Olympics basketball tournament, after not being able to qualify to the eight-team second phase. Afterwards, Furlong also received and declined offers to play in the United States, for theNBA'sMinneapolis Lakers, andBaltimore Bullets, and forAdolph Rupp, of theUniversity of Kentucky.
Furlong was a member of the Argentine team that won the gold medal at the1950 FIBA World Championship, being the second top-scorer, a member of theAll-Tournament Team, and theMVP of the tournament. He also scored 20 points in the final against theUnited States. In the1951 Pan American Games, he helped Argentina win the silver medal in basketball. At the1952 Helsinki Summer Olympics, his team earned a fourth-place finish in thebasketball tournament, after losing in the semifinals, against the United States, 85–76.
In 1953, after his team won the gold medal at theWorld University Games, he received a scholarship to play basketball forSouthern Methodist University, in the United States. In 1955, he helped the Argentina squad repeat the silver medal result, at the1955 Pan American Games.
In 1957, while playingclub basketball for Villa del Parque, Furlong was forced to take an early retirement from the sport, at the age of 30, after the new Argentine military government and Amador Barros Hurtado (President of theArgentine Basketball Federation), made the controversial decision that all members ofArgentina'sFIBA World Cup team should be consideredprofessional, as they had breached the 'Amateurism Code' of theIOC, after receiving cars as gifts. On 8 January 1957, all the members of the Argentine FIBA World Cup team were banned for life, from participation in basketball.Juan Perón had previously left the country, to escape thecoup d'état of his presidency.
Furlong later playedtennis, where he eventually attained a seventh place in the Argentine national rankings. In 1966, he joined the committee of the Argentine Tennis Association (AAT), becoming vice-president, and eventually coach of theArgentine Davis Cup team. In 1977, his last year as a tenniscoach, his team reached the semifinals of the1977 Davis Cup.
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