The 1955–56 Fort Wayne Pistons season was the eighth season for the Pistons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 15th season as a franchise.

The Pistons would finish with a 37-35 (.514) record, 1st in the NBA Western Division and the only division team above .500 on the season. In the Western Division Finals the Pistons defeated the St. Louis Hawks in a best-of-five series 3–2 to reach the NBA Finals for the second straight season. They would go on to lose the Finals in five games to the Philadelphia Warriors.[1] The team was led by forward Mel Hutchins (12.0 ppg, 7. rpg, NBA All-Star), forward George Yardley (17.4 ppg, 9.7 rpg, NBA All-Star) and center Larry Foust (16.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg, NBA All-Star).[2]

The Pistons also drafted their first black player in the team's history, Jesse Arnelle out of Penn State in the 2nd round of the 1955 NBA draft. Arnelle initially refused to sign with Fort Wayne, playing for the Harlem Globetrotters, but signed with the Pistons after the conclusion of the Globetrotters European tour, played in 31 games, averaging 4.7 ppg and 5.5 rpg, before breaking his nose in February to end the season. Arnelle did not return to Fort Wayne the following season, ending his professional basketball career. He became a successful lawyer and would serve on the Penn State Board of Trustees.[3][4]

Roster

1955–56 Fort Wayne Pistons roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From
PF 15, 18 Arnelle, Jesse 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) December 30, 1933 Penn State
C 18 Bielke, Don 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (109 kg) May 10, 1932 Valparaiso
PG 7 Brian, Frankie 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) May 1, 1923 LSU
SF 6 Cooper, Chuck 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) September 29, 1926 Duquesne
SG 7, 8 Devlin, Corky 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) December 21, 1931 George Washington
C 16 Foust, Larry 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) June 24, 1928 La Salle
SF 10 Holstein, Jim 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) September 24, 1930 Cincinnati
F 15 Horan, Johnny 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 190 lb (86 kg) November 24, 1932 Dayton
C 17 Houbregs, Bob 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) March 12, 1932 Washington
PF 9 Hutchins, Mel 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) November 22, 1928 BYU
SG 5 Noble, Chuck 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) July 24, 1931 Louisville
PG 14 Phillip, Andy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) March 7, 1922 Illinois
SF 8, 15 Spears, Odie 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) June 17, 1924 Western Kentucky
SF 12 Yardley, George 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) November 3, 1928 Stanford
SG 10 Zaslofsky, Max 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) December 7, 1925 St. John's
Head coach

Charles Eckman

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

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Western Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Fort Wayne Pistons 37 35 .514 - 19-7 10-17 8-11 19-17
x-Minneapolis Lakers 33 39 .458 4 14-12 6-21 13-6 19-17
x-St. Louis Hawks 33 39 .458 4 15-11 11-17 7-11 18-18
Rochester Royals 31 41 .431 6 15-14 6-21 10-6 16-20
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1955-56 NBA Records
Team BOS FWP MIN NYK PHI ROC STL SYR
Boston — 4–5 7–2 5–7 5–7 5–4 5–4 8–4
Fort Wayne 5–4 — 5–7 5–4 4–5 7–5 7–5 4–5
Minneapolis 2–7 7–5 — 5–4 3–6 7–5 5–7 4–5
New York 7–5 4–5 4–5 — 6–6 6–3 4–5 4–8
Philadelphia 7–5 5–4 6–3 6–6 — 6–3 6–3 9–3
Rochester 4–5 5–7 5–7 3–6 3–6 — 6–6 5–4
St. Louis 4–5 5–7 7–5 5–4 3–6 6–6 — 3–6
Syracuse 4–8 5–4 5–4 8–4 3–9 4–5 6–3 —

Game log

1955–56 Game log
# Date Opponent Score High points Record
1 November 5 @ Syracuse 113–114 (OT) Hutchins, Yardley (24) 0–1
2 November 6 Minneapolis 96–95 Larry Foust (25) 0–2
3 November 12 N Rochester 84–79 Larry Foust (14) 0–3
4 November 13 Syracuse 79–93 Bob Houbregs (22) 1–3
5 November 17 N New York 110–88 George Yardley (22) 1–4
6 November 19 @ Boston 102–104 Larry Foust (25) 1–5
7 November 20 New York 119–115 (OT) Larry Foust (30) 1–6
8 November 24 Rochester 93–104 George Yardley (28) 2–6
9 November 26 @ Philadelphia 82–87 George Yardley (22) 2–7
10 November 27 St. Louis 106–114 (OT) George Yardley (29) 3–7
11 November 29 @ New York 104–99 Larry Foust (28) 4–7
12 November 30 @ Rochester 76–87 Odie Spears (19) 4–8
13 December 4 Boston 90–111 Larry Foust (18) 5–8
14 December 6 N Syracuse 88–90 Larry Foust (18) 6–8
15 December 8 Syracuse 94–105 Chuck Noble (28) 7–8
16 December 10 @ Rochester 116–117 (OT) Bob Houbregs (26) 7–9
17 December 11 Philadelphia 91–96 George Yardley (23) 8–9
18 December 14 N Minneapolis 98–85 Larry Foust (22) 8–10
19 December 15 @ Philadelphia 73–80 Noble, Yardley (14) 8–11
20 December 17 New York 100–95 George Yardley (17) 8–12
21 December 18 Minneapolis 86–96 Larry Foust (33) 9–12
22 December 25 New York 87–92 Bob Houbregs (15) 10–12
23 December 26 N St. Louis 67–83 George Yardley (15) 11–12
24 December 29 Rochester 75–83 Bob Houbregs (14) 12–12
25 December 30 N St. Louis 89–90 Hutchins, Phillip (18) 13–12
26 January 1 St. Louis 68–85 Chuck Noble (21) 14–12
27 January 2 N Minneapolis 95–89 Larry Foust (25) 14–13
28 January 3 @ Philadelphia 82–102 George Yardley (22) 14–14
29 January 4 @ Rochester 88–86 George Yardley (25) 15–14
30 January 5 N Philadelphia 81–92 George Yardley (21) 16–14
31 January 7 @ St. Louis 108–97 Foust, Noble (22) 17–14
32 January 8 St. Louis 96–91 George Yardley (20) 17–15
33 January 10 Boston 89–105 Chuck Noble (21) 18–15
34 January 14 @ Minneapolis 94–117 Larry Foust (21) 18–16
35 January 15 Minneapolis 99–104 Bob Houbregs (24) 19–16
36 January 17 N Boston 85–91 Larry Foust (18) 19–17
37 January 18 N Boston 90–95 George Yardley (30) 19–18
38 January 19 N St. Louis 83–90 Hutchins, Yardley (18) 20–18
39 January 21 @ Philadelphia 92–91 George Yardley (27) 21–18
40 January 22 Rochester 93–111 Corky Devlin (18) 22–18
41 January 25 N Boston 101–100 Mel Hutchins (24) 23–18
42 January 27 @ Boston 106–97 George Yardley (23) 24–18
43 January 28 @ New York 92–91 (OT) George Yardley (25) 25–18
44 January 29 Philadelphia 85–99 Bob Houbregs (18) 26–18
45 February 2 @ St. Louis 90–98 Andy Phillip (17) 26–19
46 February 4 N St. Louis 98–94 George Yardley (23) 26–20
47 February 5 @ Syracuse 85–90 Bob Houbregs (19) 26–21
48 February 6 Syracuse 98–99 George Yardley (26) 27–21
49 February 8 @ Minneapolis 82–106 Larry Foust (17) 27–22
50 February 11 @ Rochester 93–97 Bob Houbregs (23) 27–23
51 February 12 Minneapolis 78–82 George Yardley (28) 28–23
52 February 13 N Philadelphia 105–94 Bob Houbregs (22) 28–24
53 February 15 N Philadelphia 101–78 George Yardley (19) 28–25
54 February 16 Rochester 81–93 Larry Foust (18) 29–25
55 February 18 @ Syracuse 84–85 George Yardley (30) 29–26
56 February 19 @ St. Louis 89–83 Mel Hutchins (18) 30–26
57 February 20 N St. Louis 84–82 Mel Hutchins (15) 30–27
58 February 21 Rochester 106–102 Larry Foust (22) 30–28
59 February 23 @ Syracuse 92–94 Larry Foust (19) 30–29
60 February 25 @ Rochester 97–72 Larry Foust (22) 31–29
61 February 26 @ Minneapolis 95–90 Larry Foust (25) 32–29
62 February 27 Syracuse 98–95 (OT) Larry Foust (28) 32–30
63 February 28 @ New York 99–95 Larry Foust (19) 33–30
64 February 29 @ Boston 99–106 Larry Foust (26) 33–31
65 March 2 N New York 97–104 Mel Hutchins (21) 34–31
66 March 3 @ St. Louis 86–92 Bob Houbregs (16) 34–32
67 March 4 Rochester 88–103 George Yardley (22) 35–32
68 March 7 @ Minneapolis 95–98 Corky Devlin (19) 35–33
69 March 8 Minneapolis 82–100 George Yardley (26) 36–33
70 March 10 N Boston 106–103 George Yardley (26) 37–33
71 March 11 New York 122–96 Spears, Yardley (20) 37–34
72 March 14 @ Minneapolis 96–100 Houbregs, Yardley (20) 37–35

Playoffs

1956 playoff game log
Division Finals: 3–2 (home: 2–1; road: 1–1)
Game Date Team Score High points Location Series
1 March 22 St. Louis L 85–86 George Yardley (23) War Memorial Coliseum 0–1
2 March 24 @ St. Louis L 74–84 Larry Foust (16) Kiel Auditorium 0–2
3 March 25 St. Louis W 107–84 Houbregs, Yardley (19) War Memorial Coliseum 1–2
4 March 27 @ St. Louis W 93–84 George Yardley (30) Kiel Auditorium 2–2
5 March 29 St. Louis W 102–97 Foust, Yardley (20) War Memorial Coliseum 3–2
NBA Finals: 1–4 (home: 1–1; road: 0–3)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 March 31 @ Philadelphia L 94–98 George Yardley (27) George Yardley (15) Hutchins, Phillip (6) Philadelphia Civic Center
4,128 		0–1
2 April 1 Philadelphia W 84–83 George Yardley (30) George Yardley (19) Andy Phillip (5) War Memorial Coliseum
6,976 		1–1
3 April 3 @ Philadelphia L 96–100 Larry Foust (19) Larry Foust (14) Chuck Noble (4) Philadelphia Civic Center
11,698 		1–2
4 April 5 Philadelphia L 105–107 George Yardley (21) Larry Foust (14) Andy Phillip (6) War Memorial Coliseum
7,852 		1–3
5 April 7 @ Philadelphia L 88–99 George Yardley (30) George Yardley (20) Corky Devlin (6) Philadelphia Civic Center
11,194 		1–4
1956 schedule

References

  1. ^ 1955–56 Fort Wayne Pistons
  2. ^ "1955-56 Fort Wayne Pistons Roster and Stats".
  3. ^ "Chevette to Corvette No. 20: The 1955-56 Fort Wayne Pistons". November 27, 2011.
  4. ^ "Jesse Arnelle, former Penn State All-American, dies at 86".
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955%E2%80%9356_Fort_Wayne_Pistons_season
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