1947–48 St. Louis Bombers season
NBA professional basketball team season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1947–48 BAA season was the Bombers' second season in the BAA (which later became the NBA).[1] Entering this season, St. Louis would continue to utilize the coaching system that made head coach Ken Loeffler successful under his first season with the Bombers, which involved a retrogressive philosophy of speedy play on both ends of the court that would make players feel like they wanted to hate their head coach at times.[2] However, this season would be seen as even better for them than their first season was due to them being the only team in the BAA to finish with a record under 20 losses in a season that only had 48 total games played this season with a 29–19 record, which was the best record in the entire BAA and barely earned them the best record in a Western Division that involved tiebreaker rounds throughout the rest of that division otherwise. Despite their success, however, they would be upset in the BAA Semifinals 4–3 by the defending champion Philadelphia Warriors, who themselves were later upset by the eventual champion Baltimore Bullets (who originally defected from the American Basketball League to the BAA starting this season). Following this season's conclusion, Loeffler would resign from his position as head coach on May 28, 1948 due to a dispute with the team's management involving a $1,000 bonus for the work he did in the two seasons he did as the head coach for the team,[3] with his position being replaced by Grady Lewis for the rest of their existence going forward and Loeffler later being a head coach for the Providence Steamrollers in the BAA before eventually finding his best work with La Salle College (now La Salle University).
| 1947–48 St. Louis Bombers season | |
|---|---|
Division champions | |
| Head coach | Ken Loeffler |
| Arena | St. Louis Arena |
| Results | |
| Record | 29–19 (.604) |
| Place | Division: 1st (Western) |
| Playoff finish | Lost in BAA Semifinals (eliminated 3-4) |
Stats at Basketball Reference | |
| Local media | |
| Television | KSD-TV |
| Radio | WIL |
Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Jack Underman | C |  United States | Ohio State |
| 2 | 17 | Jack Knopf | G | United States | Louisville |
| 3 | 27 | Herb Wilkinson | G/F | United States | Iowa |
| 4 | 37 | Bob Kurland | C | United States | Oklahoma A&M |
| 5 | 46 | Bill Strannigan | – | United States | Wyoming |
| 6 | 54 | Paul Napolitano | G/F | United States | San Francisco |
| 7 | 60 | Jim Pollard | F/C | United States | Stanford |
St. Louis would also later acquire future Hall of Famer Red Rocha from the Toronto Huskies months after the inaugural BAA/NBA draft concluded.
Roster
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Head coach
Legend
|
Regular season
Season standings
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Game log
| # | Date | Opponent | Score | High points | Record |
| 1 | November 13 | @ Chicago | 70–80 | Red Rocha (17) | 0–1 |
| 2 | November 15 | @ New York | 67–73 | Red Rocha (26) | 0–2 |
| 3 | November 18 | @ Boston | 65–50 | Logan, Smawley (14) | 1–2 |
| 4 | November 20 | Providence | 73–67 | Red Rocha (16) | 2–2 |
| 5 | November 22 | Washington | 70–62 | Belus Smawley (17) | 3–2 |
| 6 | November 26 | @ Washington | 64–83 | Johnny Logan (16) | 3–3 |
| 7 | November 29 | Baltimore | 67–71 | Red Rocha (24) | 3–4 |
| 8 | December 2 | @ Providence | 86–66 | Don Putman (18) | 4–4 |
| 9 | December 4 | @ Baltimore | 65–51 | Red Rocha (21) | 5–4 |
| 10 | December 8 | @ New York | 56–71 | Red Rocha (14) | 5–5 |
| 11 | December 11 | @ Philadelphia | 74–69 | Belus Smawley (21) | 6–5 |
| 12 | December 12 | @ Chicago | 85–75 | Bob Doll (18) | 7–5 |
| 13 | December 18 | @ Baltimore | 67–74 | Johnny Logan (16) | 7–6 |
| 14 | December 19 | @ Boston | 70–78 | Grady Lewis (13) | 7–7 |
| 15 | December 20 | @ Washington | 55–52 | Belus Smawley (14) | 8–7 |
| 16 | December 25 | Washington | 56–73 | Bob Doll (17) | 8–8 |
| 17 | December 28 | Baltimore | 67–63 | Bob Doll (23) | 9–8 |
| 18 | January 1 | Boston | 58–48 | Johnny Logan (15) | 10–8 |
| 19 | January 4 | Philadelphia | 80–66 | Red Rocha (15) | 11–8 |
| 20 | January 8 | Washington | 76–73 | Don Putman (17) | 12–8 |
| 21 | January 11 | Baltimore | 69–54 | Red Rocha (14) | 13–8 |
| 22 | January 15 | New York | 55–59 | Red Rocha (11) | 13–9 |
| 23 | January 18 | Providence | 70–61 | Johnny Logan (18) | 14–9 |
| 24 | January 20 | @ Philadelphia | 59–82 | Don Putman (10) | 14–10 |
| 25 | January 21 | @ Washington | 74–81 | Johnny Logan (19) | 14–11 |
| 26 | January 22 | @ Baltimore | 71–68 | Doll, Logan, Smawley (11) | 15–11 |
| 27 | January 25 | Boston | 72–54 | Johnny Logan (15) | 16–11 |
| 28 | January 27 | @ Providence | 94–61 | Red Rocha (20) | 17–11 |
| 29 | January 29 | Chicago | 62–60 | Johnny Logan (17) | 18–11 |
| 30 | January 31 | Philadelphia | 60–66 | Bob Doll (17) | 18–12 |
| 31 | February 5 | Chicago | 71–77 | Doll, Smawley (13) | 18–13 |
| 32 | February 7 | Philadelphia | 67–54 | Don Putman (14) | 19–13 |
| 33 | February 11 | @ Chicago | 80–78 | Irv Rothenberg (23) | 20–13 |
| 34 | February 12 | Chicago | 74–80 | Irv Rothenberg (24) | 20–14 |
| 35 | February 15 | Baltimore | 69–63 | Johnny Logan (22) | 21–14 |
| 36 | February 19 | Providence | 78–69 | Red Rocha (20) | 22–14 |
| 37 | February 22 | New York | 80–71 | Red Rocha (19) | 23–14 |
| 38 | February 26 | Boston | 94–92 (2OT) | Belus Smawley (23) | 24–14 |
| 39 | February 28 | Washington | 82–61 | Logan, Rocha (18) | 25–14 |
| 40 | March 4 | @ Baltimore | 75–84 | Belus Smawley (17) | 25–15 |
| 41 | March 5 | @ Boston | 68–71 | Doll, Logan (14) | 25–16 |
| 42 | March 9 | @ Providence | 75–69 | Red Rocha (19) | 26–16 |
| 43 | March 10 | @ New York | 82–73 | Belus Smawley (20) | 27–16 |
| 44 | March 11 | @ Philadelphia | 74–92 | Ariel Maughan (13) | 27–17 |
| 45 | March 13 | @ Washington | 69–86 | Logan, Rocha, Smawley (13) | 27–18 |
| 46 | March 18 | New York | 80–91 | Belus Smawley (20) | 27–19 |
| 47 | March 20 | Chicago | 75–63 | Logan, Smawley (20) | 28–19 |
| 48 | March 21 | @ Chicago | 82–70 | Red Rocha (19) | 29–19 |
Playoffs
Semifinals
(W1) St. Louis Bombers vs. (E1) Philadelphia Warriors: Warriors win series 4-3
- Game 1 @ St. Louis (March 23): St. Louis 60, Philadelphia 58
- Game 2 @ St. Louis (March 25): Philadelphia 65, St. Louis 64
- Game 3 @ Philadelphia (March 27): Philadelphia 84, St. Louis 56
- Game 4 @ Philadelphia (March 30): St. Louis 56, Philadelphia 51
- Game 5 @ St. Louis (April 1): St. Louis 69, Philadelphia 62
- Game 6 @ Philadelphia (April 3): Philadelphia 84, St. Louis 61
- Game 7 @ St. Louis (April 6): Philadelphia 85, St. Louis 46