1947–48 Providence Steamrollers season

1947–48 Providence Steamrollers season
Head coachAlbert Soar (2–17)
Nat Hickey (4–25)
ArenaRhode Island Auditorium
Results
Record6–42 (.125)
PlaceDivision: 4th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
RadioWPRO
< 1946–47 1948–49 >

The 1947–48 Providence Steamrollers season was the second season of the Providence Steamrollers.[1] This season is also infamous for the lowest number of wins by a team in BAA/NBA history with only six total wins recorded by the Steamrollers throughout this entire season. The only other NBA teams to end their seasons with single-digit victories as of 2023 are the 1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers, the 1998–99 Vancouver Grizzlies, the 1998–99 Los Angeles Clippers, and the 2011–12 Charlotte Bobcats, who hold the worst win percentage in NBA history. This season is also noteworthy for featuring the oldest player in BAA/NBA history, with head coach Nat Hickey suiting up for two games with the Steamrollers near his 46th birthday, making him the oldest player in league history at 45 years, 363 days old. That record still stands as of 2024.

Draft picks

Main article: 1947 BAA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 4 Walt Dropo –  United States Connecticut
– – Joe Barry – – –
– – Dick Furey –  United States St. Thomas
2 14 Bob Hubbard F/C  United States Springfield
– – Bob Joyce –  United States Bates
– – Roy Lipscomb –  United States St. Mary's
– – John Mills –  United States Hofstra
– – Al Nichols –  United States Rhode Island

Roster

Providence Steamrollers 1947–48 roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From
G 3 Calverley, Ernie 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 145 lb (66 kg) 1924-01-30 Rhode Island
C Downey, Bill 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1923-11-11 Marquette
G/F 10 Ezersky, Johnny 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-3-21 Rhode Island
F 16 Fitzgerald, Dick 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1920-11-18 Seton Hall
F/C 11 Goodwin, Pop 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 1920-12-22 St. John's Prep (NY)
G/F Gray, Wyndol 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-03-20 Harvard
G/F 11 Hickey, Nat 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1902-01-30
F/C 9 Hubbard, Bob 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1922-12-27 Springfield
G/F Janisch, John 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1920-03-15 Valparaiso
F 13 Kelly, Jerry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 1918-06-14 Marshall
G 4 Martin, Dino 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1920-05-25 Georgetown
F 10 Mearns, George 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-04-18 Rhode Island
F/C 9–14 Nostrand, George 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1924-01-25 Wyoming
F 7–9 Robbins, Lee 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-02-11 Colorado
G 5 Sailors, Ken 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1921-01-14 Wyoming
G/F 12 Shannon, Earl 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1921-11-23 Rhode Island
G Thurston, Mel 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1919-01-16 Canisius
F/C Toomay, Jack 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1922-08-09 Pacific
G 8 Wertis, Ray 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 1922-01-01 St. John's
Head coach

Nat Hickey

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

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

1947–48 BAA records
Team BAL BOS CHI NYK PHI PRO STL WAS
Baltimore — 5–1 5–3 5–1 2–4 6–0 3–5 2–6
Boston 1–5 — 3–3 1–7 4–4 6–2 2–4 3–3
Chicago 3–5 3–3 — 6–0 4–2 4–2 3–5 5–3
New York 1–5 7–1 0–6 — 4–4 7–1 4–2 3–3
Philadelphia 4–2 4–4 2-4 1–7 — 8–0 3–3 2–4
Providence 0–6 2–6 2–4 1–7 0–8 — 0–6 1–5
St. Louis 5–3 4–2 5–3 2–4 3–3 6–0 — 4–4
Washington 6–2 3–3 3–5 3–3 4–2 5–1 4–4 —

Game log

# Date Opponent Score High points Record
1 November 13 @ Philadelphia 64–79 Ernie Calverley (13) 0–1
2 November 15 Philadelphia 78–80 Earl Shannon (19) 0–2
3 November 18 New York 69–87 Ernie Calverley (24) 0–3
4 November 20 @ St. Louis 67–73 Calverley, Goodwin (19) 0–4
5 November 22 Boston 62–65 Ernie Calverley (14) 0–5
6 November 27 Baltimore 61–76 Calverley, Martin (12) 0–6
7 November 29 Washington 85–78 Ernie Calverley (21) 1–6
8 December 2 St. Louis 66–86 Ariel Maughan (15) 1–7
9 December 5 @ Boston 69–73 Ernie Calverley (23) 1–8
10 December 6 New York 85–114 Ken Sailors (22) 1–9
11 December 9 @ Philadelphia 74–78 Ken Sailors (22) 1–10
12 December 13 Washington 72–88 Ernie Calverley (18) 1–11
13 December 17 @ Boston 66–67 Ernie Calverley (23) 1–12
14 December 20 Philadelphia 74–80 Ken Sailors (20) 1–13
15 December 23 New York 66–58 Ernie Calverley (17) 2–13
16 December 25 @ New York 75–89 Ken Sailors (19) 2–14
17 December 26 @ Philadelphia 61–89 Earl Shannon (13) 2–15
18 December 27 Boston 63–74 George Nostrand (16) 2–16
19 December 30 Chicago 73–85 Dino Martin (19) 2–17
20 January 3 Chicago 76–79 George Nostrand (28) 2–18
21 January 6 @ Baltimore 64–82 Ernie Calverley (18) 2–19
22 January 10 Boston 70–57 Johnny Ezersky (20) 3–19
23 January 15 Baltimore 78–98 Ken Sailors (20) 3–20
24 January 18 @ St. Louis 61–70 Johnny Ezersky (14) 3–21
25 January 22 @ Chicago 56–50 George Nostrand (16) 4–21
26 January 24 @ Washington 60–69 Bob Hubbard (17) 4–22
27 January 27 St. Louis 61–94 George Nostrand (13) 4–23
28 January 28 @ New York 73–75 George Nostrand (27) 4–24
29 January 30 @ Boston 79–69 Ken Sailors (17) 5–24
30 January 31 Baltimore 62–68 Nostrand, Sailors (16) 5–25
31 February 3 New York 62–78 Lee Robbins (17) 5–26
32 February 4 @ New York 69–108 Johnny Ezersky (18) 5–27
33 February 5 @ Baltimore 74–100 Ken Sailors (21) 5–28
34 February 7 @ Washington 64–86 Johnny Ezersky (16) 5–29
35 February 10 Washington 60–79 George Nostrand (14) 5–30
36 February 11 @ New York 63–86 Bob Hubbard (14) 5–31
37 February 13 @ Boston 73–79 Ernie Calverley (20) 5–32
38 February 15 @ Chicago 85–79 Mel Thurston (21) 6–32
39 February 19 @ St. Louis 69–78 Jack Toomay (14) 6–33
40 February 21 Chicago 73–92 Ernie Calverley (20) 6–34
41 February 28 Philadelphia 82–83 Ken Sailors (19) 6–35
42 March 7 @ Chicago 81–89 Ken Sailors (19) 6–36
43 March 9 St. Louis 69–75 Ernie Calverley (20) 6–37
44 March 13 Boston 64–86 Ken Sailors (16) 6–38
45 March 16 Philadelphia 78–100 Jack Toomay (15) 6–39
46 March 17 @ Washington 67–82 Jack Toomay (18) 6–40
47 March 18 @ Philadelphia 57–88 Jack Toomay (17) 6–41
48 March 20 @ Baltimore 58–75 Jack Toomay (21) 6–42

Player statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
Player GP FG% FT% APG PPG
Hank Beenders 21 .265 .638 .3 6.8
Ernie Calverley 47 .271 .665 2.5 11.9
Bill Downey 3 .000 .000 .0 .0
Johnny Ezersky 25 .253 .606 .6 10.1
Dick Fitzgerald 1 .000 .000 .0 .0
Pop Goodwin 24 .232 .704 .3 3.8
Wyndol Gray 1 .000 .000 .0 0.0
Nat Hickey 2 .000 .667 .0 1.0
Bob Hubbard 28 .291 .692 .4 5.4
John Janisch 7 .302 .571 .3 4.9
Jerry Kelly 3 .300 .000 .0 2.0
Dino Martin 32 .238 .450 .4 3.2
Ariel Maughan 14 .242 .688 .1 3.9
George Mearns 24 .200 .484 .4 2.5
George Nostrand 45 .297 .540 .7 11.6
Lee Robins 31 .277 .548 .2 6.3
Kenny Sailors 41 .300 .692 1.4 12.7
Earl Shannon 45 .262 .634 1.1 8.0
Mel Thurston 14 .283 .500 0.3 5.6
Jack Toomay 14 .361 .690 0.4 10.9
Ray Wertis 7 .181 .429 0.9 4.6

Transactions

Trades

December 30, 1947
 To Providence Steamrollers
Wyndol Gray[2] 		To St. Louis Bombers
Ariel Maughan

Purchases

Player Date purchased Former team
Kenny Sailors[2] December 1, 1947 Philadelphia Warriors

Sales

Player Date sold New team
Coulby Gunther[2] November 9, 1947 St. Louis Bombers
Hank Beenders[2] January 15, 1948 Philadelphia Warriors

Free agency

Subtractions

Player Reason left New team
Elmore Morgenthaler[2] Waived Birmingham Skyhawks (PBLA)

References

  1. ^ "1947-48 Providence Steamrollers Roster and Stats".
  2. ^ a b c d e "1947–48 Providence Steamrollers Transactions". Basketball Reference. Retrieved September 19, 2017.