SWC75
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March
The Nationals opened the stretch drive with a 105-102 win over the Knicks in Madison Square Garden, a game broadcaster Jimmy Gordon called “the best basketball game I ever witnessed”. The game was tied 17 times until Earl Lloyd broke the last tie and put the Nats ahead for good at 95-94. Dolph Schayes added two quick baskets to give the Nats a 99-94 lead. He wound up with 31 points. Johnny Kerr added 22.
Jack Slattery asked Danny Biasone at this point if this year’s Nats were the best team the franchise had ever had, knowing that five years before the team had run up an impressive 51-13 record before losing in the playoffs. Biasone picked the ’54-’55 team, due to “teamwork, playing hard on both ends of the court, confidence and Coach Al Cervi”, who he said was the best in the game. Slattery asked Biasone if he thought his team could beat the Pistons, (who were still ahead of the Nationals, 42-24 vs. 38-26), in the playoffs. Danny said the key was to be able to win on the road. Of course, if the Pistons stayed ahead of the Nats, they would get 4 home games to the Nats’ three.
A High School Gym
It was mentioned that Ft. Wayne’s home games, should they reach the finals would be played in the Elkhart High School Gymnasium because the American Bowling Congress was holding it’s championships in Ft. Wayne that week and that was considered a more important event, so the ABC got the War Memorial Coliseum the Pistons normally played in. Imagine the NBA Finals being played in a high school gym! That shows you where the league was in 1955. As it turned out this so peeved Pistons owner Fred Zollner, he had his team’s playoff games moved to Indianapolis- and moved his team to Detroit a year later.
The Nationals got a taste of the Elkhart Gym when they played the Pistons there on March 2 and beat them, 103-90. A 35-20 second period was the big factor. It gave the Nats a 55-38 halftime lead, which they extended to 69-42. Schayes and Kerr again played well with 18 points each but “Little George King” lead the team in scoring with 21 points. This game clinched at least a playoff spot for Syracuse.
The next night they beat the Pistons again, this time in the Coliseum and this time in a nail-biter, 83-81. Schayes and Red Rocha both fouled out but Jim Tucker’s three point play with 1:25 left gave the Nats an 83-77 lead and they held on to win. Still, the Pistons were beginning to look very beatable- even in Indiana.
The Nats are Coming!
On March 4th, 1955, the Nationals concluded a fabulous road trip by beating Milwaukee, 99-96. Syracuse bolted out to a 25-10 lead but the Hawks tied it by halftime. Johnny Kerr, who had 26 points and Earl Lloyd put it away with foul shots down the stretch. Paul Seymour added 25 points. Minneapolis crushed the Celtics in Boston the same day, 121-106. With those results, the Syracuse Nationals became the Eastern Division champions of the NBA. The team got $4,000.00 for winning that title and was guaranteed another $2,500.00, which was the loser’s share for the first round of the playoffs. Big money in those days, especially for a struggling franchise playing in a small city with a small arena.
On March 6th, the Herald-Journal featured a picture of the team grinning happily but tiredly after the long trip back from Milwaukee. They flied back but had to land in Rochester due to bad weather and bus in from there. The paper asked “Why the Reawakened Interest in Syracuse Pro Basketball?” Bud Vander Veer answered that it was due to (1) “The team is working as a unit, displaying the spirit and will to win”; (2) “Everyone is chipping in”. Contributions were being made that were key to various wins by Schayes, Kerr, Lloyd, Rocha, Seymour, Farley, King and Kenville; (3) The Nat’s rookies were so good there was no letdown when Cervi went to his bench; (4) “There had been a decided concentration on defense”; (5) Larger crowds have showed up to support the team since the team went to Sunday matinees and half price for kids. The increased use of Kerr after Simmons went down was also noted. Cervi said the team had adopted a motto: “The Nats are Coming!” (Not “The ‘Cuse is in the house”?). Cervi insisted, however, that the Nats were not “coming”. They were here!
“There wasn’t a single selfish guy…”
Sunday 3/6/55 was “Bill Gabor Day” at the War Memorial. It served as an opportunity to thank one of Syracuse’s greatest sports heroes for his efforts both for Syracuse University and the Nats. It also served as a celebration for the clinching of the title. Vic Hansen and Lew Andreas represented the university and Danny Biasone Nationals. Billy got a new car and $887 in cash (887?) from it, as well as an assortment of minor gifts, including a pair of socks! A season high 7,116 fans showed up. The Philadelphia Warriors furnished the opposition but the Nats were able to win their 18th game in 21 tried, 107-101. With the win the Nats for the first time passed the slumping Pistons for the league’s best record, 42-26 to 42-27. Jack Slattery pronounced the team “the greatest basketball team I’ve ever watched”. Dick Farley told him “there wasn’t a single selfish guy on the entire team”.
That was the end of the hot streak, in more ways than one. An article was published about the mild winters Syracuse had had in the previous decade. On March 7th a blizzard hit that dumped 40 inches of snow in some spots. From now on, things would be a struggle on the court. But it always had been. The Nats were 7th in an eight team league in field goal percentage and had only one of the league’s top ten scorers. They won with defense and depth.
Rochester ended the Nat’s 7 game winning streak, 97-100. Schayes and Seymour had 24 each but the Royals put 7 guys in double figures. Then the Nats “booted” a 93-96 game against the Lakers as part of a doubleheader in New York. The Nats failed to control the boards and lost an 82-72 lead. Schayes appeared to be fouled on a lay-up attempt in the late going but there was no foul. Then came the most important game of the regular season.
The Pistons came to town with a 43-28 record to the Nat’s 42-28. It was Ft. Wayne’s last regular season game. If the Nats could win they would clinch at least a tie with the “Zollners” for the best record in the league and the fact that they would have won the season’s series would give the Nationals home field advantage if both teams made it to the finals. The Pistons had never won in Syracuse and they didn’t come close this night, 112-92. It was 45-40 at the half but a 67-52 second half clinched everything for the Nationals. Six guys were in double figures, including Paul Seymour who led with 21 and Billy Kenville who got 14 points in 13 minutes.
No MVP
All of this made the regular season finale against the Hawks in the War Memorial an anti-climax- and the Nats played like it. Bill Reddy, the Post Standard sports editor, called it the Nats “poorest game of the season”, and lamented that they “blew their chance to grab sole possession of the Nationals Basketball Association’s overall-championship”. But, of course they’d done nothing of the sort, having won the season’s series from the Pistons. The Nats held a slim lead much of the game but never put the lowly Hawks, who wound up with the league’s worst record at 26-46, caught them at 76. Bob Harrison then hit a foul shot with 2 minutes left that was the last scoring in a pathetic game in which no player topped 17 points.
Bob Cousy was voted the League MVP. He averaged 21 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists a game. Al Cervi insisted that his own Paul Seymour was as good, just less flashy. But on a defense oriented team, it’s hard to put up MVP numbers. Seymour averaged 15-4-7 and Dolph Schayes 19-12-3. Actually the best players were probably Neil Johnston, (23-15-3) and Bob Pettit, (20-14-3) but their teams were in last place.
The Nationals had finished with the best home record in the league at 25-7. They also tied for the most wins in an opponent’s arena at 10-16, although the Pistons and Lakers had slightly better percentages at 9-14 and 10-14, respectively. The Pistons did well in neutral arenas, 14-9. The Nationals won 8 of 12 from the second place Knicks, split a dozen games with Boston, beat the Warriors 7 times to 5 losses, owned the Pistons at 7-2, could not handle the Lakers’ front line, 3-6, dominated their upstate rival, the Royals, 7-2 but had some trouble with the Hawks, 5-4. Not only was home field advantage important but I’m sure the team wanted someone to get rid of the Lakers, a team Syracuse just couldn’t seem to match up against.
The Nationals opened the stretch drive with a 105-102 win over the Knicks in Madison Square Garden, a game broadcaster Jimmy Gordon called “the best basketball game I ever witnessed”. The game was tied 17 times until Earl Lloyd broke the last tie and put the Nats ahead for good at 95-94. Dolph Schayes added two quick baskets to give the Nats a 99-94 lead. He wound up with 31 points. Johnny Kerr added 22.
Jack Slattery asked Danny Biasone at this point if this year’s Nats were the best team the franchise had ever had, knowing that five years before the team had run up an impressive 51-13 record before losing in the playoffs. Biasone picked the ’54-’55 team, due to “teamwork, playing hard on both ends of the court, confidence and Coach Al Cervi”, who he said was the best in the game. Slattery asked Biasone if he thought his team could beat the Pistons, (who were still ahead of the Nationals, 42-24 vs. 38-26), in the playoffs. Danny said the key was to be able to win on the road. Of course, if the Pistons stayed ahead of the Nats, they would get 4 home games to the Nats’ three.
A High School Gym
It was mentioned that Ft. Wayne’s home games, should they reach the finals would be played in the Elkhart High School Gymnasium because the American Bowling Congress was holding it’s championships in Ft. Wayne that week and that was considered a more important event, so the ABC got the War Memorial Coliseum the Pistons normally played in. Imagine the NBA Finals being played in a high school gym! That shows you where the league was in 1955. As it turned out this so peeved Pistons owner Fred Zollner, he had his team’s playoff games moved to Indianapolis- and moved his team to Detroit a year later.
The Nationals got a taste of the Elkhart Gym when they played the Pistons there on March 2 and beat them, 103-90. A 35-20 second period was the big factor. It gave the Nats a 55-38 halftime lead, which they extended to 69-42. Schayes and Kerr again played well with 18 points each but “Little George King” lead the team in scoring with 21 points. This game clinched at least a playoff spot for Syracuse.
The next night they beat the Pistons again, this time in the Coliseum and this time in a nail-biter, 83-81. Schayes and Red Rocha both fouled out but Jim Tucker’s three point play with 1:25 left gave the Nats an 83-77 lead and they held on to win. Still, the Pistons were beginning to look very beatable- even in Indiana.
The Nats are Coming!
On March 4th, 1955, the Nationals concluded a fabulous road trip by beating Milwaukee, 99-96. Syracuse bolted out to a 25-10 lead but the Hawks tied it by halftime. Johnny Kerr, who had 26 points and Earl Lloyd put it away with foul shots down the stretch. Paul Seymour added 25 points. Minneapolis crushed the Celtics in Boston the same day, 121-106. With those results, the Syracuse Nationals became the Eastern Division champions of the NBA. The team got $4,000.00 for winning that title and was guaranteed another $2,500.00, which was the loser’s share for the first round of the playoffs. Big money in those days, especially for a struggling franchise playing in a small city with a small arena.
On March 6th, the Herald-Journal featured a picture of the team grinning happily but tiredly after the long trip back from Milwaukee. They flied back but had to land in Rochester due to bad weather and bus in from there. The paper asked “Why the Reawakened Interest in Syracuse Pro Basketball?” Bud Vander Veer answered that it was due to (1) “The team is working as a unit, displaying the spirit and will to win”; (2) “Everyone is chipping in”. Contributions were being made that were key to various wins by Schayes, Kerr, Lloyd, Rocha, Seymour, Farley, King and Kenville; (3) The Nat’s rookies were so good there was no letdown when Cervi went to his bench; (4) “There had been a decided concentration on defense”; (5) Larger crowds have showed up to support the team since the team went to Sunday matinees and half price for kids. The increased use of Kerr after Simmons went down was also noted. Cervi said the team had adopted a motto: “The Nats are Coming!” (Not “The ‘Cuse is in the house”?). Cervi insisted, however, that the Nats were not “coming”. They were here!
“There wasn’t a single selfish guy…”
Sunday 3/6/55 was “Bill Gabor Day” at the War Memorial. It served as an opportunity to thank one of Syracuse’s greatest sports heroes for his efforts both for Syracuse University and the Nats. It also served as a celebration for the clinching of the title. Vic Hansen and Lew Andreas represented the university and Danny Biasone Nationals. Billy got a new car and $887 in cash (887?) from it, as well as an assortment of minor gifts, including a pair of socks! A season high 7,116 fans showed up. The Philadelphia Warriors furnished the opposition but the Nats were able to win their 18th game in 21 tried, 107-101. With the win the Nats for the first time passed the slumping Pistons for the league’s best record, 42-26 to 42-27. Jack Slattery pronounced the team “the greatest basketball team I’ve ever watched”. Dick Farley told him “there wasn’t a single selfish guy on the entire team”.
That was the end of the hot streak, in more ways than one. An article was published about the mild winters Syracuse had had in the previous decade. On March 7th a blizzard hit that dumped 40 inches of snow in some spots. From now on, things would be a struggle on the court. But it always had been. The Nats were 7th in an eight team league in field goal percentage and had only one of the league’s top ten scorers. They won with defense and depth.
Rochester ended the Nat’s 7 game winning streak, 97-100. Schayes and Seymour had 24 each but the Royals put 7 guys in double figures. Then the Nats “booted” a 93-96 game against the Lakers as part of a doubleheader in New York. The Nats failed to control the boards and lost an 82-72 lead. Schayes appeared to be fouled on a lay-up attempt in the late going but there was no foul. Then came the most important game of the regular season.
The Pistons came to town with a 43-28 record to the Nat’s 42-28. It was Ft. Wayne’s last regular season game. If the Nats could win they would clinch at least a tie with the “Zollners” for the best record in the league and the fact that they would have won the season’s series would give the Nationals home field advantage if both teams made it to the finals. The Pistons had never won in Syracuse and they didn’t come close this night, 112-92. It was 45-40 at the half but a 67-52 second half clinched everything for the Nationals. Six guys were in double figures, including Paul Seymour who led with 21 and Billy Kenville who got 14 points in 13 minutes.
No MVP
All of this made the regular season finale against the Hawks in the War Memorial an anti-climax- and the Nats played like it. Bill Reddy, the Post Standard sports editor, called it the Nats “poorest game of the season”, and lamented that they “blew their chance to grab sole possession of the Nationals Basketball Association’s overall-championship”. But, of course they’d done nothing of the sort, having won the season’s series from the Pistons. The Nats held a slim lead much of the game but never put the lowly Hawks, who wound up with the league’s worst record at 26-46, caught them at 76. Bob Harrison then hit a foul shot with 2 minutes left that was the last scoring in a pathetic game in which no player topped 17 points.
Bob Cousy was voted the League MVP. He averaged 21 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists a game. Al Cervi insisted that his own Paul Seymour was as good, just less flashy. But on a defense oriented team, it’s hard to put up MVP numbers. Seymour averaged 15-4-7 and Dolph Schayes 19-12-3. Actually the best players were probably Neil Johnston, (23-15-3) and Bob Pettit, (20-14-3) but their teams were in last place.
The Nationals had finished with the best home record in the league at 25-7. They also tied for the most wins in an opponent’s arena at 10-16, although the Pistons and Lakers had slightly better percentages at 9-14 and 10-14, respectively. The Pistons did well in neutral arenas, 14-9. The Nationals won 8 of 12 from the second place Knicks, split a dozen games with Boston, beat the Warriors 7 times to 5 losses, owned the Pistons at 7-2, could not handle the Lakers’ front line, 3-6, dominated their upstate rival, the Royals, 7-2 but had some trouble with the Hawks, 5-4. Not only was home field advantage important but I’m sure the team wanted someone to get rid of the Lakers, a team Syracuse just couldn’t seem to match up against.
