1947–48 Providence Steamrollers season

1947–48 Providence Steamrollers season
Head coachAlbert Soar (2–17)
Nat Hickey (4–25)
Owner(s)Louis Pieri
ArenaRhode Island Auditorium
Results
Record6–42 (.125)
PlaceDivision: 4th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball Reference
RadioWPRO

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. Player Height Weight DOB From
G 3 Ernie Calverley 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 145 lb (66 kg) 1924-01-30 Rhode Island
C Bill Downey 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1923-11-11 Marquette
G/F 10 Johnny Ezersky 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-3-21 Rhode Island
F 16 Dick Fitzgerald 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1920-11-18 Seton Hall
F/C 11 Pop Goodwin 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 1920-12-22 St. John's Prep (NY)
G/F Wyndol Gray 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-03-20 Harvard
G/F 11 Nat Hickey 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1902-01-30
F/C 9 Bob Hubbard 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1922-12-27 Springfield
G/F John Janisch 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1920-03-15 Valparaiso
F 13 Jerry Kelly 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 1918-06-14 Marshall
G 4 Dino Martin 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1920-05-25 Georgetown
F 10 George Mearns 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-04-18 Rhode Island
F/C 9–14 George Nostrand 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1924-01-25 Wyoming
F 7–9 Lee Robbins 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-02-11 Colorado
G 5 Ken Sailors 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1921-01-14 Wyoming
G/F 12 Earl Shannon 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1921-11-23 Rhode Island
G Mel Thurston 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1919-01-16 Canisius
F/C Jack Toomay 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1922-08-09 Pacific
G 8 Ray Wertis 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

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