1948–49 Syracuse Nationals season

1948–49 Syracuse Nationals season
Head coachAl Cervi (player-coach)
PresidentDanny Biasone
General managerGeorge Mingin
OwnersDanny Biasone (majority)
George Mingin (minority)
ArenaWest Jefferson Street Armory
Results
Record40–23 (.635)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finishLost Eastern Division Semifinals to the Anderson Duffey Packers, 1–3
Stats at Basketball Reference
< 1947–48 1949–50 >

The 1948–49 Syracuse Nationals season was the third season of the franchise in the National Basketball League. The Nationals finished this season with their first winning season in franchise history, as well as their only winning season while in the NBL. Syracuse would sweep the Hammond Calumet Buccaneers 2–0 in the opening round, but lost to the eventual champion Anderson Duffey Packers 3–1 in the semifinal round of the final NBL Playoffs ever held. Months after the end of what became the final NBL season as a whole, the NBL officially agreed to merge operations with the more upstart Basketball Association of America to become the modern-day National Basketball Association, with the NBA ultimately keeping the history of the BAA around over that of the NBL despite it being the longer-lasting league, though the NBA would also keep every surviving NBL team from the previous season outside of the Dayton Rens, Hammond Calumet Buccaneers, and Oshkosh All-Stars (with Oshkosh being a last-minute subtraction on their end) alongside keeping the NBL's planned expansion team in the Indianapolis Olympians, while the BAA side also kept every team of theirs outside of the Indianapolis Jets (formerly the NBL's Indianapolis Kautskys) and the Providence Steamrollers for the merger. However, the Nationals and the Tri-Cities Blackhawks would become the only NBL teams in the NBL side of things by 1949 to survive to the present day, albeit as the Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks respectively.

Roster

Syracuse Nationals roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
G/F Bob Calihan 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1918-08-02 Detroit Mercy
G/F Al Cervi 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1917-02-12 East High School (NY)
G/F John Chaney 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1920-02-29 LSU
G/F Billy Gabor 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1922-05-13 Syracuse
G/F Jim Homer 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1921-12-05 Alabama
G/F Johnny Macknowski 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1923-01-07 Seton Hall
F Hank O'Keeffe 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1923-12-12 Canisius
C Ed Peterson 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1924-06-27 Cornell
G Jerry Rizzo 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1919-04-21 Fordham
F/C Dolph Schayes 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1928-05-19 NYU
G/F Paul Seymour 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1928-01-30 Toledo
F Paul Yesawich 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1923-11-27 Niagara
Head coach

Al Cervi

Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster

Season standings

NBL Schedule

Not to be confused with exhibition or other non-NBL scheduled games that did not count towards Syracuse's official NBL record for this season. An official database created by John Grasso detailing every NBL match possible (outside of two matches that the Kankakee Gallagher Trojans won over the Dayton Metropolitans in 1938) would be released in 2026 showcasing every team's official schedules throughout their time spent in the NBL. As such, these are the official results recorded for the Syracuse Nationals during their third and final season in the NBL before moving on into the NBA.

# Date Opponent Score Record
1 November 7 Denver 54–40 1–0
2 November 11 Anderson 65–62 2–0
3 November 14 Sheboygan 53–45 3–0
4 November 17 Tri-Cities 58–56 4–0
5 November 21 Anderson 66–60 5–0
6 November 23 N Detroit 78–54 6–0
7 November 24 @ Waterloo 59–68 6–1
8 November 25 @ Sheboygan 65–63 7–1
9 November 27 @ Oshkosh 64–54 8–1
10 November 28 @ Hammond 65–71 8–2
11 November 29 @ Anderson 59–65 8–3
12 December 2 Waterloo 68–59 9–3
13 December 3 N Waterloo 72–71 10–3
14 December 5 Denver 76–64 11–3
15 December 12 Sheboygan 77–65 12–3
16 December 13 N Oshkosh 68–55 13–3
17 December 16 @ Sheboygan 46–67 13–4
18 December 18 @ Oshkosh 55–60 13–5
19 December 19 @ Tri-Cities 66–67 13–6
20 December 20 @ Denver 54–60 13–7
21 December 22 @ Denver 59–49 14–7
22 December 26 Anderson 57–73 14–8
23 December 28 N Tri-Cities 87–74 15–8
24 December 30 Tri-Cities 83–74 16–8
25 January 2 Hammond 59–70 16–9
26 January 6 Oshkosh 75–70 17–9
27 January 9 Sheboygan 65–57 18–9
28 January 13 Oshkosh 79–72 19–9
29 January 16 @ Tri-Cities 72–83 19–10
30 January 17 N Sheboygan 75–66 20–10
31 January 20 Denver 59–55 21–10
32 January 23 Denver 82–57 22–10
33 January 27 Tri-Cities 58–55 23–10
34 January 29 N Dayton 85–65 24–10
35 January 30 Dayton 78–68 25–10
36 January 31 N Dayton 65–55 26–10
37 February 3 Hammond 68–49 27–10
38 February 6 Waterloo 79–75 28–10
39 February 9 @ Hammond 67–76 28–11
40 February 13 Hammond 83–61 29–11
41 February 14 @ Anderson 61–71 29–12
42 February 16 @ Denver 71–66 30–12
43 February 18 @ Denver 54–71 30–13
44 February 20 @ Tri-Cities 66–75 30–14
45 February 21 N Waterloo 76–65 31–14
46 February 22 @ Oshkosh 38–61 31–15
47 February 24 Dayton 66–49 32–15
48 February 27 @ Tri-Cities 40–51 32–16
49 February 28 @ Anderson 69–72 32–17
50 March 3 Oshkosh 67–55 33–17
51 March 6 Dayton 61–57 34–17
52 March 9 N Waterloo 61–51 35–17
53 March 10 Waterloo 61–65 35–18
54 March 13 @ Hammond 73–64 36–18
55 March 14 @ Anderson 75–82 36–19
56 March 15 N Dayton 51–69 36–20
57 March 17 Oshkosh 61–63 36–21
58 March 20 Hammond 77–63 37–21
59 March 24 Sheboygan 79–73 38–21
60 March 27 Anderson 71–60 39–21
61 March 29 @ Hammond 74–69 (OT) 40–21
62 March 30 @ Sheboygan 66–91 40–22
63 March 31 @ Waterloo 68–69 40–23

A 64th game was intended to have been played for this season, but it was ultimately cancelled for whatever reason (likely due to the cancellation of the Detroit Vagabond Kings and the subsequent replacement of the Dayton Rens for the rest of the season).

Eastern Division standings

Pos. Eastern Division Wins Losses Win %
1 Anderson Duffey Packers 49 15 .766
2 Syracuse Nationals 40 23 .635
3 Hammond Calumet Buccaneers 21 41 .339
4 Dayton Rens‡ 14 26 .350
5 Detroit Vagabond Kings‡ 2 17 .105
‡ Dayton replaced Detroit, who disbanded during the season, and assumed Detroit's
record in the standings. Their combined record was 16–43.

[1]

Playoffs

Eastern Division Opening Round

(2E) Syracuse Nationals vs. (3E) Hammond Calumet Buccaneers: Syracuse wins series 2–0

  • Game 1: April 1, 1949 @ Hammond: Syracuse 80, Hammond 69[2]
  • Game 2: April 3, 1949 @ Syracuse: Syracuse 72, Hammond 66

Eastern Division Semifinals

(2E) Syracuse Nationals vs. (1E) Anderson Duffey Packers: Anderson wins series 3–1

  • Game 1: April 8, 1949 @ Syracuse: Anderson 89, Syracuse 74[2]
  • Game 2: April 10, 1949 @ Syracuse: Syracuse 80, Anderson 62
  • Game 3: April 11, 1949 @ Anderson: Anderson 76, Syracuse 59
  • Game 4: April 13, 1949 @ Anderson: Anderson 90, Syracuse 84

Awards and records

References

  1. ^ 1948–49 NBL season summary
  2. ^ a b Bradley, Robert; Grasso, John (2003). Total Basketball: The Ultimate Basketball Encyclopedia. SPORT Media Publishing, Inc. ISBN 1-894963-01-6., p. 423
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948%E2%80%9349_Syracuse_Nationals_season