1947–48 Providence Steamrollers season

1947–48 Providence Steamrollers season
1947–48 Providence Steamrollers season
Head coach	Albert Soar (2–17); Nat Hickey (4–25)
Owner	Louis Pieri
Arena	Rhode Island Auditorium
Results
Record	6–42 (.125)
Place	Division: 4th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	Stats at Basketball Reference
Radio	WPRO
< 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 2026 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 2026, though the current oldest player that's poised to threaten that record (if he's willing to do so) is future legendary Hall of Famer LeBron James. While the Steamrollers would, in effect, be eliminated from playoff contention by December 1947 due to all three of the defending champion Philadelphia Warriors, New York Knicks, and Boston Celtics each getting seven wins within that month, Providence wouldn't officially be eliminated from qualifying for the 1948 BAA playoffs until February 1948 due to the Steamrollers getting their 29th loss of the season, which would subsequently become the point where Providence would fail to qualify for the playoffs that season over the nearby Boston Celtics.

Head coachAlbert Soar (2–17)
Nat Hickey (4–25)

OwnerLouis Pieri

ArenaRhode Island Auditorium

Record6–42 (.125)

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Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	4	Walt Dropo	–	United States	Connecticut
–	–	Joe Barry	–	United States	Unknown
–	–	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

#	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

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

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

1947–48 Providence Steamrollers season

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Game log

Player statistics

Transactions

Trades

Purchases

Sales

Free agency

Subtractions

References

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