SWC75
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Years of Frustration
The Nats first came into their own as perennial contenders in the 1948-49 season, when they were still in the old NBL. They improved from 24-36 under Benny Borgmann the previous year to 40-23 under Al Cervi, who was a player-coach, starting in the backcourt with Billy Gabor. Paul Seymour backed them up. Dolph Schayes was the only big man of note but it was enough to have the league’s second best record. They lost to the Anderson “Duffy Packers”, who had the best record, in the second round of the playoffs. The Nats would never miss the playoffs during the rest of their tenure in Syracuse.
51-13
The next season, their first in the NBA, the Nats achieved the best record in the circuit, in fact the best record they ever had, going an impressive 51-13, including an awesome 31-1 at home. No NBA team would top that record until the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers, (who, of course, would have been the Nats if the team hadn't moved).
There were 17 teams in the league that year, in three different divisions. The Minneapolis Lakers and Rochester Royals tied for the second best record and the Central Division crown at 51-17 while the “Western” Division was won by the Indianapolis Olympians at 39-25. The Royals lost a single game play-off for first place then got upset in the second round by Ft. Wayne. The Lakers then swept the Pistons and faced the Nats in the NBA Final, which had come to be called “The World Series of Basketball”.
The Nats had been bolstered by the arrival of two 6-7 225 big men, Alex Hannum, who would later be their coach, and George Ratkovicz, but neither they nor anybody else were a match for the mighty Lakers up front. They had the “Shaq” of his day, the 6-10 245lb George Mikan up front, who lead the league in scoring with 27.4 points per game. His playoff average was 31.3, (Schayes led the Nats with 16.8/17.1). Next to Mikan was tough, strong Vern Mikkelsen, 6-7 230 and 6-5 jumping jack Jim Pollard. Together they scored 54 points a game, (the Nat’s front court, even with Schayes, scored 33).Slater Martin was the point guard. It didn’t much matter who the other guard was but sometimes it was Bud Grant, who later coached the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to four Grey Cup titles and the Minnesota Vikings to four Super Bowl appearances.
Cervi’s strategy was to try to run the Lakers off the court before they could set up in their half-court game. Mikan ladeled in 37 points in the opener in Syracuse. Still, the Nats led 64-61 later in the game when Cervi stole the ball from Pollard and went in for a lay-up. But the refs called a foul on another Nat off the ball which negated the play. Grant scored to tie it at 66 with 1:12 left. The Nats held the ball until Cervi appeared to be fouled on a drive with 12 seconds left. But there was no call and Laker guard Bobby Harrison swished a 40 foot prayer at the buzzer to win it, 66-68.
Mikan scored 32 in the next game but the Nats won, 91-85, a high score for the pre-clock era. Gabor was benched with the flu and the Nats lost the third game, now in Minneapolis, 77-91. The Lakers also won game four there, 77-69, behind Mikan’s 28 points. The Nats pulled out game five, 83-76 and headed back to Syracuse down 2-3. Cervi got two technicals and an ejection in the sixth and final game as Mikan scored 40 and the Lakers won the title, 95-110.
The Nats and Goliath
It’s too bad the Royals and Nats couldn’t have been in the same division. It would have been an obvious rivalry. Not only are the cities so close to each other but Rochester had the reputation of a city where fans attended games in mink coats while Syracuse was more of a blue-collar town. Instead the Nats the next year found themselves in the same division with Boston, New York Philadelphia and Baltimore. Instead of the focus being on a Thruway series, the Nats and their fans developed a “David and Goliath” mentality, seeing their team as a means of sticking it to the metropolises of Boston, New York and Philly.
The Nats slumped to 4th in 1950-’51 but beat the regular season Eastern winner, the Philadelphia Warriors in the playoffs before losing to the Knicks in the next round after blowing a 12 point lead with 10 minutes left in the final game. Knicks coach Joe Lapchick said after the game, “I still don’t believe pros of that caliber could let a big lead melt away.” The Royals won their only title that year.
Cervi relegated himself to the bench and he and Biasone brought Rocha, Osterkorn and King in 1951-52 and the Nats won the Eastern Division title with a 40-26 record. It was the first year in the War Memorial. Unfortunately the Nats lost to the Knicks in the playoffs, losing the first game 85-87 after missing three open shots in the final seconds, and losing in four games in the best of five series. The highlight of the affair was when Al McGuire, sitting on the Knicks’ bench, saw a shoving match break out between Dolph Schayes and Harry Gallatin and, wanting to get into the action, ran onto the court and punched Schayes, only to be accosted by Dolph’s bigger father, Carl Schayes, a former boxer. Al returned to his spot on the bench and the situation calmed down.
The next year the Knicks barely beat the Nats out for the Eastern title, 47-23 to 47-24, (was there a rain out?), with Red Auerbach’s suddenly assertive Celtics in third at 46-25, (the Bullets were third at 16-54 and the Warriors fell all the way to last: 12-57; with Paul Arizin in the service). The Nats lost to the Celtics, 81-87, in Syracuse in a game plagued by 53 fouls called in the fourth quarter. They then lost an epic two over-time game in Boston, 105-111, as Bob Cousy scored 50 points, 30 from the line. As it was just a best of three series, the season was over.
The Bandage Brigade
Biasone almost sold the team in the offseason as fans were getting sick of the rough play and the parade to the foul line, but instead kept it and sold shares to local investors instead. In 1953-54, the “big three” were atop the East again, but the Nats tied the Celtics for second at 42-30, behind the Knicks, (44-26). This time the Nats beat the Knicks and then the Celtics, both series dramatic sweeps, to find themselves in the finals with Mikan’s Lakers in his last go-around.
But on the way there they sustained injuries that made them seemingly a shadow of the team that had gotten that far. In the third period of the final game against Boston, Red Auerbach sent one of his lesser goons, Bob Harris, into the game to deal with Schayes, who was killing the Celtics. Harris undercut Dolph on a drive to the basket and Schayes hit the floor hard, breaking his left wrist and losing consciousness. Wally Osterkorn went after Harris and “Easy” Ed McCauley of the Celtics tried to ward off Paul Seymour, saying “He got what he deserved!” Actually, he said “He got what he deser…” before Seymour gave McCauley what he deserved. The Boston police had to take to the court to restore order. A bleeding Schayes insisted on attempting two free throws. Al Cervi called five straight time-outs while Schayes was revived and stitched up. He missed both shots and went to the bench, as did Seymour who had hurt his thumb in the melee, which became known as the “Boston Massacre”. But their teammates, playing with fierce determination, came charging back from 10 points down to win 83-76.
Cervi came to call this team “the bandage brigade”. Schayes, with his left wrist bandaged, had to learn to shoot one-handed, (which he later said made him a better player). Seymour had a swollen thumb. Lloyd, Gabor, Osterkorn and King all suffered injuries against the Lakers. But the Nats persevered. The Lakers won game one, 68-79. Seymour, sore thumb and all, hit a 43 footer to win game two, 62-60. It was the first time the Lakers had lost a playoff game in the Minneapolis Auditorium. Cervi demanded to know why Seymour had taken such a long shot with time left on the clock. “I was open”, he replied.
The now aging Mikan only scored a total of thirty points in those games but doubled that total in a 67-81 game three win. Seymour led the Nats to a 80-69 win in game four with 25 points. The Lakers won game five in Syracuse 73-84. In game six, Mikan dominated the first half with 25 points but tired in the second and the Nats got their fast break going and tied the game at 63 with 30 seconds left. Schayes scored 15 after having only 32 in the first five games. Little used reserve Jim Neal came in for him, nearly fumbled the ball away the first time he got it but nailed a 2 hand set shot with 3 seconds left to win it. It was the Lakers’ second playoff loss in their home arena.
Unfortunately the dream ended as the Lakers won the final, 80-87. Mikan told the Post Standard’s Bud Vander Meer, “You have a great bunch of guys who gave us the scare of our lives. Make sure you give them the credit they deserve.” Schayes scored only 65 points in the 7 games and many felt he and his teammates deserved more than having Bob Harris undercut him.
In the offseason, Mikan retired and now the NBA title was up for grabs.
(You-Tube gives us a look at the 1954 finals, although it’s just the first game:
Note the reference to a 6th world championship in 7 years- they are counting the 1948 NBL title as a ‘world’ championship, as we should be doing today.)
The Nats first came into their own as perennial contenders in the 1948-49 season, when they were still in the old NBL. They improved from 24-36 under Benny Borgmann the previous year to 40-23 under Al Cervi, who was a player-coach, starting in the backcourt with Billy Gabor. Paul Seymour backed them up. Dolph Schayes was the only big man of note but it was enough to have the league’s second best record. They lost to the Anderson “Duffy Packers”, who had the best record, in the second round of the playoffs. The Nats would never miss the playoffs during the rest of their tenure in Syracuse.
51-13
The next season, their first in the NBA, the Nats achieved the best record in the circuit, in fact the best record they ever had, going an impressive 51-13, including an awesome 31-1 at home. No NBA team would top that record until the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers, (who, of course, would have been the Nats if the team hadn't moved).
There were 17 teams in the league that year, in three different divisions. The Minneapolis Lakers and Rochester Royals tied for the second best record and the Central Division crown at 51-17 while the “Western” Division was won by the Indianapolis Olympians at 39-25. The Royals lost a single game play-off for first place then got upset in the second round by Ft. Wayne. The Lakers then swept the Pistons and faced the Nats in the NBA Final, which had come to be called “The World Series of Basketball”.
The Nats had been bolstered by the arrival of two 6-7 225 big men, Alex Hannum, who would later be their coach, and George Ratkovicz, but neither they nor anybody else were a match for the mighty Lakers up front. They had the “Shaq” of his day, the 6-10 245lb George Mikan up front, who lead the league in scoring with 27.4 points per game. His playoff average was 31.3, (Schayes led the Nats with 16.8/17.1). Next to Mikan was tough, strong Vern Mikkelsen, 6-7 230 and 6-5 jumping jack Jim Pollard. Together they scored 54 points a game, (the Nat’s front court, even with Schayes, scored 33).Slater Martin was the point guard. It didn’t much matter who the other guard was but sometimes it was Bud Grant, who later coached the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to four Grey Cup titles and the Minnesota Vikings to four Super Bowl appearances.
Cervi’s strategy was to try to run the Lakers off the court before they could set up in their half-court game. Mikan ladeled in 37 points in the opener in Syracuse. Still, the Nats led 64-61 later in the game when Cervi stole the ball from Pollard and went in for a lay-up. But the refs called a foul on another Nat off the ball which negated the play. Grant scored to tie it at 66 with 1:12 left. The Nats held the ball until Cervi appeared to be fouled on a drive with 12 seconds left. But there was no call and Laker guard Bobby Harrison swished a 40 foot prayer at the buzzer to win it, 66-68.
Mikan scored 32 in the next game but the Nats won, 91-85, a high score for the pre-clock era. Gabor was benched with the flu and the Nats lost the third game, now in Minneapolis, 77-91. The Lakers also won game four there, 77-69, behind Mikan’s 28 points. The Nats pulled out game five, 83-76 and headed back to Syracuse down 2-3. Cervi got two technicals and an ejection in the sixth and final game as Mikan scored 40 and the Lakers won the title, 95-110.
The Nats and Goliath
It’s too bad the Royals and Nats couldn’t have been in the same division. It would have been an obvious rivalry. Not only are the cities so close to each other but Rochester had the reputation of a city where fans attended games in mink coats while Syracuse was more of a blue-collar town. Instead the Nats the next year found themselves in the same division with Boston, New York Philadelphia and Baltimore. Instead of the focus being on a Thruway series, the Nats and their fans developed a “David and Goliath” mentality, seeing their team as a means of sticking it to the metropolises of Boston, New York and Philly.
The Nats slumped to 4th in 1950-’51 but beat the regular season Eastern winner, the Philadelphia Warriors in the playoffs before losing to the Knicks in the next round after blowing a 12 point lead with 10 minutes left in the final game. Knicks coach Joe Lapchick said after the game, “I still don’t believe pros of that caliber could let a big lead melt away.” The Royals won their only title that year.
Cervi relegated himself to the bench and he and Biasone brought Rocha, Osterkorn and King in 1951-52 and the Nats won the Eastern Division title with a 40-26 record. It was the first year in the War Memorial. Unfortunately the Nats lost to the Knicks in the playoffs, losing the first game 85-87 after missing three open shots in the final seconds, and losing in four games in the best of five series. The highlight of the affair was when Al McGuire, sitting on the Knicks’ bench, saw a shoving match break out between Dolph Schayes and Harry Gallatin and, wanting to get into the action, ran onto the court and punched Schayes, only to be accosted by Dolph’s bigger father, Carl Schayes, a former boxer. Al returned to his spot on the bench and the situation calmed down.
The next year the Knicks barely beat the Nats out for the Eastern title, 47-23 to 47-24, (was there a rain out?), with Red Auerbach’s suddenly assertive Celtics in third at 46-25, (the Bullets were third at 16-54 and the Warriors fell all the way to last: 12-57; with Paul Arizin in the service). The Nats lost to the Celtics, 81-87, in Syracuse in a game plagued by 53 fouls called in the fourth quarter. They then lost an epic two over-time game in Boston, 105-111, as Bob Cousy scored 50 points, 30 from the line. As it was just a best of three series, the season was over.
The Bandage Brigade
Biasone almost sold the team in the offseason as fans were getting sick of the rough play and the parade to the foul line, but instead kept it and sold shares to local investors instead. In 1953-54, the “big three” were atop the East again, but the Nats tied the Celtics for second at 42-30, behind the Knicks, (44-26). This time the Nats beat the Knicks and then the Celtics, both series dramatic sweeps, to find themselves in the finals with Mikan’s Lakers in his last go-around.
But on the way there they sustained injuries that made them seemingly a shadow of the team that had gotten that far. In the third period of the final game against Boston, Red Auerbach sent one of his lesser goons, Bob Harris, into the game to deal with Schayes, who was killing the Celtics. Harris undercut Dolph on a drive to the basket and Schayes hit the floor hard, breaking his left wrist and losing consciousness. Wally Osterkorn went after Harris and “Easy” Ed McCauley of the Celtics tried to ward off Paul Seymour, saying “He got what he deserved!” Actually, he said “He got what he deser…” before Seymour gave McCauley what he deserved. The Boston police had to take to the court to restore order. A bleeding Schayes insisted on attempting two free throws. Al Cervi called five straight time-outs while Schayes was revived and stitched up. He missed both shots and went to the bench, as did Seymour who had hurt his thumb in the melee, which became known as the “Boston Massacre”. But their teammates, playing with fierce determination, came charging back from 10 points down to win 83-76.
Cervi came to call this team “the bandage brigade”. Schayes, with his left wrist bandaged, had to learn to shoot one-handed, (which he later said made him a better player). Seymour had a swollen thumb. Lloyd, Gabor, Osterkorn and King all suffered injuries against the Lakers. But the Nats persevered. The Lakers won game one, 68-79. Seymour, sore thumb and all, hit a 43 footer to win game two, 62-60. It was the first time the Lakers had lost a playoff game in the Minneapolis Auditorium. Cervi demanded to know why Seymour had taken such a long shot with time left on the clock. “I was open”, he replied.
The now aging Mikan only scored a total of thirty points in those games but doubled that total in a 67-81 game three win. Seymour led the Nats to a 80-69 win in game four with 25 points. The Lakers won game five in Syracuse 73-84. In game six, Mikan dominated the first half with 25 points but tired in the second and the Nats got their fast break going and tied the game at 63 with 30 seconds left. Schayes scored 15 after having only 32 in the first five games. Little used reserve Jim Neal came in for him, nearly fumbled the ball away the first time he got it but nailed a 2 hand set shot with 3 seconds left to win it. It was the Lakers’ second playoff loss in their home arena.
Unfortunately the dream ended as the Lakers won the final, 80-87. Mikan told the Post Standard’s Bud Vander Meer, “You have a great bunch of guys who gave us the scare of our lives. Make sure you give them the credit they deserve.” Schayes scored only 65 points in the 7 games and many felt he and his teammates deserved more than having Bob Harris undercut him.
In the offseason, Mikan retired and now the NBA title was up for grabs.
(You-Tube gives us a look at the 1954 finals, although it’s just the first game:
Note the reference to a 6th world championship in 7 years- they are counting the 1948 NBL title as a ‘world’ championship, as we should be doing today.)
