Buddy Jeannette

Buddy Jeannette
Jeannette in 1948
Personal information
Born(1917-09-15)September 15, 1917
New Kensington, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedMarch 11, 1998(1998-03-11) (aged 80)
Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S.
Listed height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolNew Kensington
(New Kensington, Pennsylvania)
CollegeWashington & Jefferson (1934–1938)
Playing career1938–1950
PositionGuard
Number26, 6, 14
Career history
As player:
1938–1939Cleveland White Horses
1939–1941Detroit Eagles
1942–1943Sheboygan Red Skins
1943–1946Fort Wayne Pistons
1946–1950Baltimore Bullets
As coach:
1946–1951Baltimore Bullets
1952–1956Georgetown Hoyas
1964–1965,
1966–1967		Baltimore Bullets
1969–1970Pittsburgh Pipers
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Basketball Hall of Fame
Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame

Harry Edward "Buddy" Jeannette (September 15, 1917 – March 11, 1998)[1] was an American professional basketball player and coach.

Biography

Jeannette was widely regarded as the premier backcourt player between 1938 and 1948. He was named to the First Team of the National Basketball League (NBL) four times, and won titles with the NBL's Sheboygan Red Skins in 1943 and Fort Wayne Pistons in 1944 and 1945. Jeannette also won a title with the American Basketball League's Baltimore Bullets in 1948.

Most of his playing career came prior to the formation of the modern National Basketball Association (NBA) in its predecessor leagues the National Basketball League (NBL) and Basketball Association of America (BAA) including three years as a player-coach for the original Baltimore Bullets of the Basketball Association of America (BAA). In the 1948 BAA playoffs, he became the first player-coach to win a professional championship. After his playing career ended in 1950, he coached the original Bullets for one more season. He then became the head coach at Georgetown University for four seasons, leading the team to an appearance in the 1953 National Invitation Tournament.

Jeannette returned to the ranks of professional coaching in the NBA to lead the modern Baltimore Bullets twice, once for a full season and once as an interim coach. He later would coach the American Basketball Association's Pittsburgh Pipers for part of a season.

In 1994, Jeannette was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Jeannette attended Washington and Jefferson College, in Washington, Pennsylvania.[2]

Career playing statistics

NBL

Legend
  GP Games played  FGM  Field goals made
 FTM  Free throws made  FTA  Free throws attempted
 FT%  Free throw percentage  PTS  Total points
 PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
† Denotes seasons in which Jeannette's team won an NBL championship

NBL

Source[3]

Regular season

Year Team GP FGM FTM FTA FT% PTS PPG
1938–39 Cleveland 26 54 65 173 6.7
1939–40 Detroit 26 46 54 146 5.6
1940–41 Detroit 23 75 54 86 .628 204 8.9
1942–43† Sheboygan 4 24 14 17 .824 62 15.5
1943–44† Fort Wayne 22 68 48 65 .738 184 8.4
1944–45† Fort Wayne 27 85 82 111 .739 252 9.3
1945–46 Toledo 34 99 105 136 .772 303 8.9
Career 162 445 422 415 .730 1,324 8.2

Playoffs

Year Team GP FGM FTM FTA FT% PTS PPG
1940 Detroit 3 6 8 20 6.7
1941 Detroit 3 8 5 21 7.0
1943† Sheboygan 5 16 17 49 9.8
1944† Fort Wayne 5 12 10 34 6.8
1945† Fort Wayne 7 22 23 67 9.6
1946 Fort Wayne 4 7 5 6 .833 19 4.8
Career 27 71 68 6 .833 210 7.8

BAA/NBA

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  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship  *  Led the league

Regular season

Year Team GP FG% FT% APG PPG
1947–48† Baltimore 46 .349* .758 1.5 10.7
1948–49 Baltimore 56 .367 .784 2.2 5.6
1949–50 Baltimore 37 .284 .820 2.5 5.2
Career 139 .341 .781 2.1 7.2

Playoffs

Year Team GP FG% FT% APG PPG
1948† Baltimore 11 .492 .881 1.1 8.8
1949 Baltimore 3 .154 1.000 1.7 2.7
Career 14 .432 .891 1.2 7.5

Head coaching record

Sources[4]

BAA/NBA/ABA

Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Baltimore 1947–48 28 20 48 .583 2nd in Western 11 8 3 .727 Won BAA Championship
Baltimore 1948–49 60 29 31 .483 3nd in Eastern 3 1 2 .333 Lost in Division Semifinals
Baltimore 1949–50 68 25 43 .368 5th in Eastern – – – – Missed playoffs
Baltimore 1950–51 37 14 23 .378 – – – – – Fired
Baltimore 1964–65 80 37 43 .463 3rd in Western 10 5 5 .500 Lost Division Finals
Baltimore[5][note 1] 1966–67 16 3 13 .188 – – – – – Interim
Pittsburgh[6][note 2] 1969–70 45 15 30 .333 – – – – – Missed playoffs
Career (BAA/NBA) 309 136 173 .440 24 14 10 .583
Career (overall) 573 326 247 .569 24 14 10 .583

College

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Georgetown Hoyas (college independent) (1952–1956)
1952–53 Georgetown
13–7
–
–
NIT First Round
1953–54 Georgetown
11–18
–
–
none
1954–55 Georgetown
12–13
–
–
none
1955–56 Georgetown
13–11
–
–
none
Total:
49–49

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Notes

  1. ^ Jeannette was one of three head coaches for Baltimore during the season. Mike Farmer had coached Baltimore to a 1–8 record in its first nine games when Jeannette took over. Jeannette served as interim head coach for the next 16 games. Gene Shue then took over as head coach, posting a 16–40 record to lead Baltimore to a 20–61 finish.
  2. ^ Jeannette was Pittsburgh's second head coach of the season, taking over the team from John Clark after it had gone 14–25 in its first 39 games. Jeannette coached Pittsburgh's remaining 45 games, leading the team to a 29–55 finish.

References

  1. ^ "Hall of Famer Buddy Jeannette, Bullets player-coach, dies at 80 He won pro championship with Baltimore in '48". The Baltimore Sun. March 12, 1998. Archived from the original on January 4, 2010.
  2. ^ "Buddy Jeannette". basketball-reference.
  3. ^ "Buddy Jeannette NBL stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  4. ^ "Buddy Jeannette: Coaching Record, Awards". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  5. ^ "1966–67 Baltimore Bullets Roster and Stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  6. ^ "1969–70 Pittsburgh Pipers Roster and Stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 23, 2024.

Further reading

  • Peterson, Robert W. (2002). "Seeds of the NBA". Cages to Jump Shots: Pro Basketball's Early Years. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 124–141. ISBN 0-8032-8772-0.