SWC75
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The NBA should have been riding high at this time, as the only major league in the sport, with the Mikan Lakers having gathered much attention for it, a reasonable number of teams and the beginning of integration, which ensured good competition and a high level of play, big city franchises, and the college game still reeling from the scandals. The league had a new national TV contract with NBC. The only problem was the game itself.
The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Basketball: “The widening of the foul lane from six feet to twelve feet opened the game up a bit, but roughhouse tactics were still the order of the day close to the basket…..The area under the basket was a no man’s land with guards rarely daring to drive in close to the hoop.. Hot-handed shooters were often cooled off with heavy handed policing. (By ‘goons’, who would either intimidate, injure or get the other team’s star thrown out of the game for responding in kind), Officials tried to keep order by calling fouls but a steady succession of charity throws reduced action to a yawn. Indeed, coaches found it best to have their players repeatedly foul the enemy in the final minutes to a contest, giving up a probable one point in return for a chance at two… Action ground to a virtual halt toward the end of many games, when tension should have been at its highest. Strategic fouling and seemingly endless trips to the foul line gummed up the final minutes of games and freezing the ball frequently ended the day’s scoring with quite a bit of time left on the clock.” Beyond this, NBC’s contract stated that they would televise games for three hours and no more. (The Heidi game would be years later and in a more popular sport). If, due to the fouling the game hadn’t ended in three hours, the viewing audience never got to see the end of it!
Some legendary games occurred under these circumstances – legendarily bad games. An Illustrated History of Basketball: “A 1949 playoff game between the Knicks and Baltimore – an overtime yawner – saw a total of a hundred personal fouls called and three fist fights. With personal fouls becoming so important, intimidation of officials got little help from Podoloff and the league office because shortsighted owners wanted a ‘free let-em-play’ game.” Then there was the 1953 Celtics-Nats playoff game that went 4 overtimes and was won 105-111 by the Celtics thanks to Bob Cousy’s 50 points. That sounds like a tremendously exciting game but there were 107 fouls called and 107 foul shots taken. Cousy scored 30 of his points from the foul line. That was the game where Red Auerbach’s favorite ‘enforcer’, Bob Brannum picked a fight with Dolph Schayes which got them both thrown out. Advantage: Celtics, no doubt the desired result. There was a six overtime game. The final score of SU’s famous six overtime game with UCONN in 2009 was 127-117. The final score between Indianapolis and Rochester in 1951 was 75-73. In each of the six overtimes, the team that won the tip held the ball for the final shot!
But the most famous ‘bad’ game of the era was on November 22, 1950 in Minneapolis between the Pistons and the Lakers. AIHB: “The Lakers played on a smaller-than-standard floor that made their physical bulk so much more of a factor and also compensated for their slowness afoot PIston coach Murray Mendenhall was determined to end the Laker’s string of twenty-nine straight home court victories and also to publicize his complaint that Minneapolis used an illegal zone defense. Committed to making the huge Lakers leave their set defensive positons under the basket, Mendenhall had his team pass the ball back and forth near midcourt in an old-fashioned stall. The Lakers refused to budge and the Pistons led 8-7 after the first quarter. At halftime, the Lakers were up 13-11. By this time Lakers fans were showering Mendehall with abuse and debris in equal amounts and were hitting their target with both more frequently than the stalling Fort Wayne players were hitting the basket. They screamed they were being cheated and many demanded their money back. Going into the final period, the Lakers led, 17-16. In the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter each team made only a single free throw and Fort Wayne, with possession of the ball but trailing by a point, elected to play for a final shot. This meant a four minute freeze, which the Pistons pulled off. With only ten seconds remaining, Larry Foust put home a hook shot. The Lakers had time to retaliate but Slater Martin’s long shot bounced off the rim and Fort Wayne had scored a controversial victory.” The Pistons had violated no rules but Commissioner Podoloff passed the word among the owners he didn’t want to see a game like that again. It wasn’t enough.
It was Syracuse’s owner, Danny Biasone who came up with one of the two new rules that made all the difference. One idea was limit a team to five fouls a period, after which the fouled team would get an additional “bonus” shot, which negated the “1 for 2” strategy of fouling to limit a team to that one attempt before getting a chance to score two points at the other end with a field goal. But the team that was behind might still foul to get the ball back. That’s where little Danny’s big idea came in. Danny wanted a shot clock. He thought that a game should have at least 60 shots per team. Nats GM Leo Ferris did some figuring: he divided the numbers of seconds in 48 minutes, (2880) by 120 shots, (the total for two teams), and the result was 24. So Danny wanted a 24 second clock. He wasn’t looking for racehorse basketball: the average number of shots per team in 1953-54 was 75. He just wanted to prevent stalling and reduce the fouling. Together these rules created the NBA game we see today.
With Mikan gone from the Lakers, the favorites role went to the Nats, who had lost to them in the previous year’s finals. Syracuse had strengthened itself by obtaining a new center, Johnny Kerr, a 6-9 high post player who could both score (13.8ppg for his career) and rebound (11.2). With 6-9 defensive specialist Red Rocha and 6-8 star forward Dolph Schayes as well as 6-8 Connie Simmons, who was picked up after the Baltimore Bullets folded, the team had the best front line it had ever had.
Earl Lloyd, known as the “Big Cat” at 6-6 220 added strength and toughness. 6-7 Jim Tucker gave them more depth. Al Cervi’s playing career had ended but his protégé Paul Seymour was still on the court and had his best year with 14.6 points and 7.3 assists per game while playing tough Cervi-style defense. Unfortunately, Billy Gabor’s season came to an end after only three games due to an attack of hepatitis and his career ended when he decided at the end of the season to retire. But George King was a double-figure scorer, (10.3), and Billy Kenville, Wally Osterkorn and Dick Farley provided depth, although Wally would play in only 19 games due to injury.
(The quotes in the following section are from my tribute to the Nat’s championship team “Syracuse Wins World Series” which I first posted on the 50th anniversary of their achievement in 2005 and then reposted in 2015. The internal quotes are either from the Herald Journal or Post Standard at the time or from David Ramsey’s “Nats” or Mark Allen Baker’s “Hoops Roots”)
The Nats had an impressive exhibition season, winning all 6 games. But it was just the beginning under the new shot clock. “The Nats had averaged 97 points a game in the exhibitions. They would go on to average 91 points a game in the regular season. Yet that was only 6th in an 8 team league. The Nats were considered more of a defensive team, leading the league with an 89.7 defensive average. As a matter of fact it was the two best defensive teams, (Fort Wayne averaged 90.0) that met for the title at the end of the year. That year the league average per team per game was 93.1 points: the previous year it was 79.5.” Red Auerbach’s Celtics were the highest scoring team with a record 101.5 ppg. They also set a record by giving up 101.5 ppg. If only they could play defense….
The regular season proved a different story than the exhibition games. It opened with a desultory 69-67 win over the Baltimore Bullets, a team that would shortly cease to exist. So would the Nat’s victory over them as it was decided that games against the Bullets wouldn’t even count, (the NCAA would love it). They came home to play the Mikan-less Lakers, who beat them anyway, 94-97. (The Lakers would beat the Nats 6 times in 9 games with 6-9 235 Clyde Lovelette doing a reasonable Mikan imitation). Then came a disastrous trip to Boston, ending in a 84-107 defeat. They didn’t know it at the time but the league favorites had begun the season 0-2.
The came home to get a win that counted, 97-80 over the Milwaukee Hawks and their prized rookie, Bob Pettit. Then came their first encounter with the Pistons. Fred Zollner had heard referee Charlie Eckman say to George Mikan, “If I was coaching the Pistons, I’d beat you big clowns!” Impulsively, he hired this referee to coach his team. “He was a terrible coach”, said George Yardley in David Ramsey’s book. “He had no idea what was going on.” Eckman said “I was a cheerleader and I kept everybody happy. It’s a simple game…we had only two plays and when we ran them I didn’t even know where the ball was.” That was helpful to the Nats, who beat the Pistons 88-86, for the first of 7 times in 9 games and would beat them for the title afterwards.
They then went to Milwaukee, where they were 0 for 20 in the first quarter, fell behind 5-25 and lost 72-85 to the team that would finish with the worst record in the league. They then lost to the Lakers again, this time in Minneapolis, 92-99 after leading most of the game. The Nats then righted the ship with 7 wins in a row to move to 9-4, including another win over the Pistons and a wild 110-104 win over the Celtics in the War Memorial, led by Dolph Schayes’ 39 points. The streak ended with the third of three straight games against the Knicks, (one on each home court and one at a neutral court- with 8 teams the NBA did a lot of that sort of thing), with a 86-88 loss in Philadelphia. After a win over Rochester, the Nats then played three straight against the Warriors, losing the first but winning the last two. Neil Johnston keyed the Warriors lone win with an incredible 27 points and a league record 39 rebounds.
Then came a strange game in Rochester where the Nats led by 13 in the first half, fell behind but by only 46-52 at the half only to lose 78-105. “You would have liked to have been a flea on the wall in Cervi’s locker room after that game- it sure beat being one of the players”.
Those players responded by running Red Auerbach’s Celtics out of the War Memorial, 120-107, (12/9), setting a War Memorial record for points in regulation, (they’d scored 121 on the road, 125 in overtime while the Celtics had the league record of 128). The home team scored 66 points in the second half, a team record. They hit 36 of 40 free throws. Rocha, Lloyd and Kenville scored 20 each while Schayes had 19 and Seymour 18. Paul also had 11 assists. Unfortunately, only 2,052 fans saw the display. Over 5,000 saw LeMoyne, (which played some big-time teams in those days), upset nationally ranked Western Kentucky in the same building two days later.” That left the Nats in first place in the East but a rough stretch was coming.
The Celtics got revenge in a nationally televised game in the Boston Garden, 90-94. “Dolph Schayes tied the game at 88 all with 75 seconds left. Steals by Sharman and Cousy in the final minute sealed the deal. Cousy even had a dunk! It was small consolation but it was only the 3rd time in 21 games the Celtics had scored under 100 points. Schayes had 28 and Seymour 21 but it wasn’t enough. Lloyd and McCauley renewed the tradition of fights breaking out in Nats-Celts game with a brawl in the second quarter.”
“The Warriors broke the National’s 8 game home winning streak on the 12th, 87-96, despite 32 points and 16 rebounds by Dolph Schayes. Neil Johnston had 25/16. Syracuse had a 50-40 lead but it melted away until the Warriors took over in the fourth period. Cervi’s verdict: “it seems our fellows were too content”. He said they lacked hustle and threatened to shake up his line-up.”
After splitting two games with the Knocks, the Nats took another frustrating trip to Minneapolis. “It was their third loss in three games with the Lakers, who led 52-73 before the visitors rallied to make it respectable (83-86). The two teams then boarded trains and traveled all day to get back to Syracuse for a game at the War Memorial. The trip seemed to do the Nats more good: they reversed the previous day’s result with a resounding 108-93 win…. The Nats used what the Herald-Journal called “a small man pivot attack and a fast break” to jump out to an early lead, which they never lost. Seymour had 28 points to tie his career high. The Lakers’ John Kundla went to a small line-up and the Nat’s lead shrunk from 81-60 to 90-83. But Dick Farley came off the bench to score five points down the stretch as the Nats beat the still-powerful Lakers for the first time all season.”
The Nats were still clinging to first place at 15-11 on Christmas Eve but it was hardly the start they had hoped for. Things didn’t get any better in New York on Christmas day as the Nats fell to the Knicks 103-109. The two teams took the train for Syracuse to play in a nationally televised game in the War Memorial, (which, between the Nats and Carmen Basilio, was becoming a famous venue in its own right). “The Knicks led 83-85 after a Gene Shue free throw with 9 seconds left in regulation. Earl Lloyd tipped in a Connie Simmons hook shot with three seconds left and Carl Braun of the Knicks barely missed a 90 footer at the buzzer. Billy Kenville tipped in another miss to give Syracuse the lead for good with 1:16 left. Rocha scored 22, Seymour 21 and Schayes 20 in what New York writer Leonard Koppett called the “most exciting and best played game of the season.” (Syracuse won 97-92.)
The year ended with a victory over the Royals but a loss to the Warriors, Neil Johnston scoring the last 10 points of the game for Philly. The Nats were still in first place at 17-13 and the Knicks and Celtics tied at 14-14. It was always fun to beat the Celtics, especially on New Year ’s Day in Syracuse 108-102. “The Celtics had a “phenomenal” first half, actually shooting 50% from the field but the Nats kept up with them, being behind only 58-59 at halftime. But they were down 79-85 entering the final quarter before putting on a rush to win, 108-102. Six men were in double figures, led by Dolph Schayes with 25. Earl Lloyd had 18 and 12 rebounds and Paul Seymour 10 points and 11 assists. It was the third straight game the Nats and Celts had both exceeded 100 points against each other. It was also a typically rough game between them with a season high 63 fouls called. One fan came to the game with a supply of paper “hatchets” which he kept tossing at the Celtic’s “hatchet man”, Bob Brannum.”
But the Nat 19-17 Nats lost first place to the Celtics. They were short-handed due to injuries, which reduced them to 8 available players. (You don’t need more than do you Jim?). The red hot Pistons came to town with a 25-10 record, easily the best in the league. And the Nats beat them, 100-83. “A 9-0 first period run gave the Nats the lead for good. They were up by 17 at the half and as much as 19 in the second half. Dolph Schayes just missed a triple double with 15 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists.” It was their eighth straight win over the “Zollners”. (Including the playoffs, the Pistons would be 44-23 against everybody else in the league that season – and 5-11 against the Nats, who would be 39-28 against everybody else. Their totals were 49-34 and 50-33, respectfully and the difference would be the one point win by the Nats in game seven.)
Another win over the Royals closed out the first half with the Nats at a disappointing 21-17, just behind the Celtics 21-16. “Al Cervi’s Eastern team won the NBA All-Star game, 100-91, in Madison Square Garden on 1/18/55, with his own star, Dolph Schayes, playing a big role with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Charley Eckman, coach of the West team, said “It seemed that every time we missed, Schayes was there to get the ball”. Vern Mikkelsen said “I’ve never seen Dolph play harder. He was responsible for our loss.”
The Nats then took back first place with a 92-87 win over the Celtics in the War Memorial. “Schayes continued his intense play from the All-Star game with 23 points and 23 rebounds. So did Bill Sharman, who scored 26. But Bob Cousy was out with an injury and that was too much to overcome. But it was the boards where the Nats dominated as Rocha and Kerr added another 23 rebounds. What the Celts really needed was a good big man….”
But the bad times were far from over. A loss to the Knicks was followed by a 66-69 loss to the Pistons in Buffalo. “Schayes scored 19 but didn’t get much help from his teammates. Frank Brian put the Pistons ahead with a free throw with 15 seconds left and the Nats threw the ball away on their last possession.” The Nats then beat the Warriors as part of a double-header in Boston and the came home to start a new winning streak against the Pistons, 94-79. “Dick Farley helped break it open in the second period with 11 points but Schayes again led the Nats in scoring with 22 points to go with 14 rebounds. Earl Lloyd also helped out with 15 boards. The Nats hit an amazing, (for the time) 57% in the second half.”
Then came a four game losing streak. Two unpleasant losses to the Cetlics in Boston bracketing defeats by the Warriors at at Fort Wayne. Most disturbing was the margins of these games: 11, 10, 19 and 26 points. The Celtics led by as many as 19 in the first one. The loss to the Warriors featured an 8-27 start. “The Pistons broke away from a 28-28 tie to take a 50-40 halftime lead and then scored the first seven points of the second half. The Nats never got within 8 after that. The home team put 6 men in double figures and made a phenomenal 36 of 38 free throws.”
“But the bottom had not yet been reached: it was in Boston the next night as Red Auerbach was able to light up one of his victory cigars while looking at a scoreboard that said his Celtics had handled the Nats, 88-114. 10,274 fans saw the blow out, 2-3 times what the Nats were drawing. Billy Kenville and Red Rocha had 21 points each but it wasn’t nearly enough. The record fell to 25-23, including 16 losses in the last 27 games. Cervi told Biasone “We’re gone. These fellows are in a slump and we can’t shake it. On top of that we’re tired. He told friends that this was “His worst year in basketball.”
“At this point, the team held a meeting before the next day’s game in Rochester. Cervi’s summary of the encounter was that the team had decided to concentrate of defense. “Let’s get together and play both ends of the court and let the shots fall where they may. Don’t look for one man but rather for the easy shot. David Ramsey wrote: “Cervi, a pessimist by nature, worked best under adversity. Then, his players listened to his ‘voice of doom’. Then he could push them and mold them into the team he wanted. The Nats became almost exactly what he wanted during the winter of 1954-55. They would finish second to last in the league in scoring and shooting percentage but as a unit they were one of the better defensive teams in the history of the NBA. From here on, the Nats would close out the regular season on an 18-6 run, playing the style and quality of ball that would make them champions.”
They beat the Royals and the Knicks, then had two straight games with the Celtics, both in Gardens, as part of a New York double-header and then on to Boston. The Celtic played the first one without Macauley, Sharman and Ramsay and the Nats ran them off the court, 115-88. But the Celtic beat them in Boston, 94-104 behind 33 points from Cousy and a 34 for 37 free throw performance. Four of the next five games were at home and the Nats won all five, bracketed by a rare win over the Lakers, 85-81 and a 107-93 victory over the Celtics, both in the War Memorial.
“It was a grand time at the War Memorial on February 17, 1955, as the Nats blew out the hated Celtics, 107-93 in a game that wasn’t nearly that close. 3,602 fans saw the home team blow out to a 56-37 halftime lead. They didn’t stop there, pushing it out to an amazing 77-45 margin before the Celtics had a too-little-too late comeback to make it respectable. Unlike the Celtic team that the Nats handled in New York, this team was full strength. Cousy had 21, McCauley 18, Sharman 17 and Frank Ramsey had 8. It wasn’t nearly enough. Syracuse had five guys with at least 15 points, led by Schayes with 29. The only thing that marred the game was excessive fouling down the stretch, what Cervi decried as the Celtic “holding tactics”, which he said resulted injuries to both Dolph Schayes and Johnny Kerr. Particularly active was Bob Brannum, who “managed to smash Schayes a couple of times”. Dolph suffered a thigh injury and Kerr hurt his left heal. “If we ever played that kind of game in Boston, we’d need a police escort out of the building”, said Cervi.“ He spoke from experience, as that had happened a couple of times over the years.
“Schayes and Kerr didn’t even have time to get treated in Syracuse. Arrangements were made for them to be looked at the YMCA in Philadelphia, where the Warriors awaited the next night. The team wasn’t up to the challenge: the Warriors sent them packing with a 86-110 defeat. This one was 41-62 at the half. Schayes and Kerr were patched up well enough to score 22 points each but Neil Johnston, whom the Nationals could never seem to stop, scored 35, 29 in the first half.” Syracuse came back with two wins over the Knicks before losing to the hated Celtics, 95-97 in another game played in New York. “Bob Cousy made a driving lay-up with 4 seconds left to win the thriller. The Nats had erased an 8 point deficit to tie with 20 seconds left. Johnny Kerr scored a career-high, (to date) 28 points and Schayes added 24 but it wasn’t enough as Cousy scored 23 and McCauley 25.“
“The Nats got back on track by beating Rochester, 97-83 at home on 2/25. They had an incredible 8 players in double figures, led by Schayes with 17. Les Harrison admitted after the game that he’d stayed with the players who had won the 1951 title a bit too long. It must have warmed Danny Biasone’s heart to see the Nats surpass Harrison’s team, remembering the days when the NBL champion Royals couldn’t even be persuaded to come to Syracuse for an exhibition game.” Then they demolished the Warriors, 105-77 and nipped the Knicks 105-102. The Nats were now 38-26, five games ahead of the Celtics in the East. Then came two straight games against the Pistons who were leading the West at 42-24.
“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 then beat the Hawks in Milwaukee and the Warriors back home in the War Memorial, completing a 7 game winning streak and clinching the Eastern title. But there was still something to play for: home field advantage for the final. The Nats seemed to have fumbled their chances with three losses in four games to end the regular season, by a total of 7 points to the Royals, Lakers and Hawks. But the one win was over the slumping Pistons, who lost 5 of their last 6. This game was in the War Memorial and the Nationals won it. “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.” Both teams wound up 43-29 but the Nationals had won the season’s series 7-2 and so they would get four home games if the finals went to seven. They did and the home team would win every game of that series.
Six of the eight teams made the playoffs with the Nationals and the Pistons getting a bye into the semi-finals. The Celtics beat the Knicks 2 games to 1 and the Lakers did the same to the Royals. The Pistons managed to eliminate the Lakers 3-1 in the western semis, meaning that Syracuse would face a team they had “owned” during the regular season rather than a team that had owned them for the tile- if they could get by the Celtics. “The Celtics had not only split with the Nats (on the season) but had outscored them, 1193-1198. The Nats had won no games in Boston that year and the Celtics had averaged 111 points a game in beating the Knicks.”
“No matter. The Nats won the opener, 110-100, on March 23, before 6,360 at the War Memorial. Johnny Kerr scored 27 points on 11 for 17 from the field. George King scored 21 and played good defense against Bob Cousy, (who liked playing against bigger, slower guards, not smallish quick guys like King). A 37 point third quarter put the home team in command…. The Nats took the second game, 116-110, before 8,181 fans. Scoring 41 points in the second quarter, they led by 16 points on several occasions but an eight minute streak without a field goal allowed the Celtics to take a 93-96 lead with 10 minutes left. King scored twice and Seymour once to take the lead back at 99-96. After Bill Sharman, who was high man with 32 points, scored but Wally Osterkorn came roaring off the bench to score three baskets in a row, his first points in the playoffs. After that, the Nats were in command. Schayes had 22, Rocha 21 and Seymour 18 to lead the home team to a 2-0 lead.”
“Two nights later, on 3/26/55, before 13,091 fans in Boston, the Celtics put the breaks on with a 97-100 win. The Nats trailed most of the game but tied it at 77 and went ahead, 88-87 with 4:45 left. Easy Ed McCauley answered with a score and George King tied again at 89. Neither team scored in an agonizing last 2:25. The Nats held for the last shot but Schayes and Lloyd on a follow shot both missed. The home team pulled it out in overtime, scoring the first five points and leading to the end. Former UCLA star Don Barksdale came off the bench to score 17 points and grab 17 rebounds, while McCauley had 21 and Cousy 23. Johnny Kerr led the Nats with 20 while Dolph Schayes was held to 14. In the second quarter of this one Bob Brannum nailed Paul Seymour with two punches and sent him sprawling to the parquet floor. Seymour was so incensed he invaded the Celtics locker room at the half and had to be escorted out by police. ”Brannum insisted it was accidental that both fists hit Paul in the forehead”, according to the Herald Journal, which said that, after the incident, “Paul could never find the range so again Brannum’s hatchet tactics hurt the Nats.”
“This put the Nationals in a determined mood for game four of the best of five series. “It is doubtful that the squad will again reach the pinnacle of determination exhibited in ousting the Celtics and only overconfidence could deprive them of being the first Eastern team to win a championship since Minneapolis, Rochester and Ft. Wayne joined the league.” David Ramsey in his book “Nats”, was more succinct. He said the Nats slapped the Celtics around, 110-94. Dolph Schayes, despite being hounded by Auerbach’s defense, scored 28, many on his “rainmaker” outside shots, after being 5 for 22 from the field in game three. Earl Lloyd took advantage of the lack of defensive possessions to score 22 himself, and helps Syracuse dominate the boards. The Nats led by 7 at the half and 12 after three periods. Frustrated Boston fans started chanting for Brannum to smack somebody. “If we’re going to die, let’s die right”, shouted one of them. According to Ramsey, “near the end, Celtics fans began to jeer Auerbach. He coached a team that could run and score, but why was it so soft in the middle? When would Red go out and get a center?” A couple of them invaded the Boston locker room after the game and went after Red, who was saved by Brannum, who acted as a bouncer. But it was the Celtics who had been bounced by the Nats- in their own place, for the first time all season. “
Now the Pistons came to Syracuse for the first two games of the finals. “The Nats blew out to a 31-10 lead and it all seemed so easy. But the Pistons fought back. The Nats went cold and fell behind 72-75 with 8 ½ minutes left. Dick Farley then came off the bench to tie the game on a tip-in and foul shot. Rocha gave the team the lead for good taking a pass from Farley. Still, the team needed Lloyd to bank a jump shot with 30 seconds to go and Seymour to hit a couple of free throws with 3 seconds left to clinch it. Rocha played good defense on Yardley, who had 13 points and led his own team in scoring with 19. Larry Foust had 27 for the Pistons but it wasn’t enough as only one other Piston, (Mel Hutchins), reached double figures. Schayes had a quiet game with only 10 points.”
“The second game was similar to the first. The Nats fell behind 1-7 this time but Johnny Kerr led a come-back, scoring 10 first quarter points to push him team to a 20-13 lead and on to a 49-38 halftime lead. The team came out flat again in the third quarter, getting outscored 14-27 to fall behind by two. It set the stage for the final fireworks. Syracuse surged to a 76-69 lead with a 13-4 run to open the final period. The Pistons came back to make it 78-75. The Nats pushed it to 82-75. The Pistons came charging back to make it 85-84 with 34 seconds left. They held the ball for virtually the entire 24 second clock. Red Rocha, who had scored only 9 in this one, launched a desperation 30 footer jumper. He nailed it. The Pistons couldn’t score in the last 10 seconds and Syracuse had “held serve” with two home victories to give them a 2-0 lead. With the next three games being played in Indianapolis, where ticket sales were poor, rather than Ft. Wayne, the possibility of wrapping it up before they even had to come back to Syracuse presented itself.”
But it didn’t happen. Instead the Pistons totally turned the series around. “There were 3200 fans in a 13,000 seat arena. They saw the “hometown” Pistons win, 89-96. For Johnny Kerr, this game was total frustration. He was held to three baskets, missing four lay-ups. He was 2 for 8 from the line. A late rally, led by Billy Kenville with 9 points and some key rebounds, sliced a 63-78 deficit to 84-87. The Pistons then got a couple of baskets but Red Rocha scored 5 straight to make it close- but not close enough- at the end. Red and Dolph Schayes had 21 points each. Cervi was so unimpressed with his team’s performance he scheduled an extra practice before game four… The Pistons made mincemeat of the National’s vaunted defense in game four, winning 102-109. Charley Eckman crowed to Bud Vander Meer, “Our bench is killing you. We are moving better than we did all year and it looks like we really have you fellows on the run.” The Nats again fell way behind, by 18 points this time and rallied, getting it within five before running out of time. The big failure was of the Syracuse backcourt. Seymour and King were 4 for 25 from the field. The Pistons outshot the Nationals, 31%-45%... Again the Nationals fell way behind, 45-60 with ten minutes left. Once again the visitors made a late run of 26-12, sparked by Billy Kenville who seemed to be a big part of nearly every Syracuse rally. It was 71-72 with 1:16 left. Farley got hacked by Phillip on a follow shot with 27 seconds left but there was no call. Instead, Frank Brian got fouled at the buzzer and made two free throws to make the final score 71-74. “Phillip was so elated he walked off the floor repeating to his joyful mates ‘I fouled him and got away with it!”
The shell-shocked Nationals returned home to Syracuse, now down 2-3 and facing elimination instead of a title clincher. “Saturday, April 9, 1955 was a wild scene at the War Memorial as the Nats evened the series, 109-104 before 4,997 fans and “millions” on NBC. The Nats broke their “longest slump of the season”. They were again behind most of the game. The Pistons, shrugging off their lack of previous success in Syracuse, took a 27-19 first quarter lead. The Nats tied it at 43 but the Pistons led at the half, 55-53 and built up a ten point lead at 72-82 late in the third quarter. Billy Kenville scored from the line. Earl Lloyd scored a three point play and then Dolph Schayes, who led the Nats with 28 points, got a couple of freebies to make it 78-82 before George Yardley closed out the quarter with a basket for a 78-84 Pistons lead. They were 12 minutes from a title.
The Nationals came back to tie it at 86 on Lloyd’s jump shot. It was again tied at 94. The Piston’s last lead came at 96-97 on a series of three free throws, (there were 64 fouls called in this game). Lloyd hit another long jumper and free throws by Farley and Schayes game the Nats a 101-97 lead with 3:35 left. But Yardley tied it again at 103 on a three point play by George Yardley. A Johnny Kerr hook shot broke that tie with 35 seconds left and Dick Farley then stole Frank Brian’s inbounds pass from Andy Phillip. The Nats held the ball for the full 24 seconds when Schayes’ set shot hit the rim but Farley was there to tip it in for the clincher. Yardley led the Pistons with 31 points and Brian, a Nat killer, had 24. Kerr had 20 points, second to Schayes.”
So the season came down to one last game at the Syracuse War Memorial for the NBA championship. “Again the Pistons came out playing like a team that expected to win the title, regardless of where the game was played or against whom. They blew out to a 41-24 lead with 3:46 left in the second period. The home team then woke up with a 23-8 run to make it 47-49 with 38 seconds left. But the Pistons scored the last two buckets for a 47-53 halftime lead.
The Nationals tied it up at 57-57 on a Schayes drive and a Seymour jumper. After a Frank Brian basket, King again tied it with a jump shot. On the same play Red Rocha, having set a pick, was fouled by Brian, trying to fight his way to King. Rocha’s free throw gave the Nats the lead at 60-59. Brian now lost his temper and, upon taking the ball for the inbounds pass, drop-kicked it into the stands, drawing a technical. Seymour cashed in from the line. Kenville hit Lloyd for a lay-up and the Nationals had a five point lead. The Pistons surged back to tie it at 74 at the end of the quarter. The last 12 minutes of the season would decide the title.
Lloyd scored off the fast break and Rocha hit his first field goal to give the Nats the lead back at 78-74. A three point play by big Larry Foust, the Piston’s center, got the Pistons back within one at 79-80. Rocha and Lloyd scored again but again the Pistons came back to tie it at 86 on Foust’s turn-around jumper. He hit another to put Ft. Wayne back in the lead but Earl Lloyd tied it again at 89 on two foul shots. King tied up Hutchins and Dolph Schayes got his hands on the jump ball, (they actually had them in those days), but was hit and lost control of it. Schayes then fouled Phillip trying to get the ball back and Andy’s free throw put the Pistons on top, 89-90 with 2:16 left. Two Syracuse free throws and one by Yardley set the stage for the heroics that finally decided the issue.”
Years later, after witnessing a series of NCAA championship games that came down to the last possession with either team having a chance to win, I wondered how often that had happened in the NBA Finals. It would require a seven game series with the final game decided by a point, (or in the era of the arc, 2 points or less). If found one such game. This one.
“The game was still tied at 91 with a minute left and 6,697 fans going crazy. Earl Lloyd’s shot went around and out with 42 seconds left. George Yardley was called for palming the ball- an NBA star called for palming (!)- at 18 seconds. Frank Brian then fouled George King, who had been in a long slump at the line. He hit one shot of two to put the Nats up 92-91, with 12 seconds left. Andy Phillip decided to dribble the ball the length of the floor to avoid the turnover and put the shot for all the marbles up by himself, as a veteran point guard tends to do. Cervi put Paul Seymour on him, rather than the smaller King who had tended to be pushed around by the bigger Piston guards. Per David Ramsey, “King had been the victim of Phillip’s elbows and knees…’Andy kicked the hell out of me all the time, tripping me, kneeing me’”. “I bumped the crap out of Andy”, Seymour said. Ramsey said “He bumped him and shoved him but did it in an expert way.” Seymour smiled when recalling the play “They didn’t call the foul.” Ex-ref Charley Eckman, the Piston’s coach, said, “It was there, (the ref), choked up and lost his guts”. Seymour forced Phillip into the corner. Phillip reversed his dribble and turned away from Seymour. King, covering Brian at the foul line, instinctively decided to abandon his man and go after the ball. He got there just as Phillip was completing his turn and just grabbed the ball out of Phillips’ hands. The fastest man on the court, King, immediately began dribbling down court. By the time he had reached the frontcourt, the Syracuse Nationals were the NBA champions.”
This clip has highlights of Game 2, then shows the end of game 7 followed by some comments from Dolph Schayes:
“The next day there was a parade from City Hall to the Hotel Syracuse, (virtually the opposite of the route Jim Boeheim and his crew took 48 years later), where a banquet was held by the Optimists club. And there was plenty of optimism. Dolph Schayes was only 27, as were Seymour and Lloyd. King was 26, Kenvile 25 and Kerr 23, (the “K” boys?). Then there were the other rookies, Farley and Tucker. The team seemed, for once, to be on solid financial footing with the city and their fans fully behind them. George Mikan was gone and no one like him seemed to be on the horizon, although the University of San Francisco had just won the NCAA title with some skinny kid named Bill Russell playing center. There was no reason to think there weren’t going to be other parades…..
Perhaps the hardest thing for a championship team is the year after. The players, coaches, fans and journalists now realize that any goal is obtainable and lose their tolerance for failure. They fell from first, (with a 43-29 record) to last, (35-37) in the Eastern Division in 1955-56 and the last place Philadelphia Warriors, (33-39) of the previous year became the Eastern champions at 45-27 and went on to win the NBA title. It was a close-packed, highly competitive league and the difference between last and first just wasn’t all that great. “
Players who have yet to win a championship are willing to take a lot form their coach. After they win one, it can be a different story. “After the final loss to the Warriors, the Nats did something petty that every player, according to Ramsey’s book, came to regret, although no one spoke up at the time. They voted not to give a playoff share to their coach, Al Cervi. Only one of them voted in his favor. Danny Biasone forked up the money himself to give Cervi the equivalent of a share. Cervi was the Bobby Knight of his time and his aggressive “in your face” style of coaching had worn on the players. With the disappointing season, they no longer had any tolerance for him. Cervi gave a speech before one game, saying, in typical fashion, “This is the BIG one!” Red Rocha said “This makes the 78th big one in a row. When do we get a little one?” Typically Cervi had another explanation for the problem: he had grown soft, lightened up on his players. “I blame myself because I let go.” He admitted that “They felt like I had an attitude where I was winning all the games and they were losing all the games”. He also said that he’d grown tired of hearing from the team’s many stockholders. “Every player had a different stockholder’s ear” He resigned 12 games into the 1956-57 season. The Nats continued to contend for the title but never won another.
The Warriors won the 1955-56 title, the first by an original BAA team since the league was founded ten seasons before, (the Baltimore Bullets, who won the second BAA title, started in the ABL and then the NBL’s Lakers, Royals and Nationals took over). This was a last-to-first team but in the balanced league of those days, that wasn’t all that outlandish. They improved from a 33-39 last place team to 45-27 while everyone else in the league was between 31-41, (the Royals), and 39-33, (the Celtics). The league would remain 8 teams until the 1961-62 season, although the Hawks moved to St. Louis this season, the Pistons to Detroit and the Royals to Cincinnati two years later and the Lakers to Los Angeles two years after that.
The Warriors sudden improvement was due to their acquisition of Tom Gola to go with their 1-2 punch of Paul Arizin and Neil Johnston. Gola had been a 6-6 forward with all-around skills at LaSalle, where he led LaSalle to an NIT title, and NCAA title and another NCAA championship game, where the Explorers lost to Bill Russell’s San Francisco Dons, something he would have to get used to doing. With the Warriors, who had Arizin, Johnston and 6-8 225 power forward Joe Grabowski, Gola moved into the backcourt a sa 6-6 guard, the biggest in the league and a sort of 50’s version of Magic Johnson’s point forward. He only scored 11 points a game but Arizin scored 24 and Johnston 22 while Graboski and the other guard, Jack George scored 14 apiece. Gola was second on the in rebounding with 9 a game and his 6 assists per game match George, who was the nominal point guard. It was a combination the league could not match.
The Nats had a classic post championship season, beginning with a thrilling 114-113 win over the Pistons in the War Memorial. But that generated no momentum at all: the team was 14-14 by New Year’s Day. At that point things began to fall part. Only a seven game winning streak late in the season enable the Nats to tie the Knicks for 3rd and last place at 35-37. A big problem is that they were not the defensive team they were in 1955, giving up 96.9 points per game, the same amount they scored. They then won a one game playoff with the Knicks, 82-77, which got them a three game series with their old buddies, the Celtics, with the first and second games in Boston.
The Celtics won the first one easily, 93-110. In Syracuse, the Nats had a 90-78 lead with 8 minutes left but barely held on to win 101-98, a George King tip-in being the clincher. Dolph Schayes ended a slump with 27 points and Paul Seymour 21 as the Nationals shocked the Celtics in Boston, 102-97 to make it to the Eastern finals. Ramsey: Cousy wouldn’t speak to anyone after the game, not even to close friends who came to the locker room after the game to offer their sympathy. Owner Walter Brown didn’t say a word to Red Auerbach. The year before it had been rumored that Auerbach would be fired. In 1956 many wondered if Auerbach would be fired. In 1956 many wondered if Auerbach would resign to take a college coaching job. In his six seasons of coaching the Celtics, he had never moved his team to the title series. He had a 10-17 record in the playoffs. Cervi liked to call him ‘loudmouth’ and ‘loser’.”
There was talk in in Syracuse of repeating, despite the dismal regular season. But the Warriors were in the way and in 1956 they were the better team. They crushed the Nationals 87-109 in game one behind 29 points from Arizin, 21 from Graboski, 19 from George and 16 from Johnston. Dolph Schayes, with 19 points, was the only Nat with more than 13. Schayes scored 33 in the second game, leading Syracuse to an exciting 122-118 win in the War Memorial. The Nats had 6 men in double figures, overcoming incredible 43 and 37 point games by Johnston and Arizin. Johnny Kerr complained that his body was covered with bruises from Johnston’s bony elbows. Jim Tucker said he’d received a head but from Johnston, a versatile player.
The Warriors again crushed the Nationals in Philly, 96-119. Ramsey: “The Warriors gathered tightly around the basket in game three, hoping to stop the National’s inside game. It worked.” (Isn’t that called…a zone?) The Herald Journal asked “How can a team of professionals be so unbelievably woeful in their shooting from the outside?” This time it was the Warriors who had six guys in double figures, Graboski being the leader with just 20 points. Again the defending champs responded with a close victory in Syracuse, this time 108-104. Again, Johnston and Arizin were amazing with 35 and 32 points, respectively but the Warriors again had only one other double figure scorer while King scored 25, Schayes 21 and rookie Ed Conlin 19. King, a very under-rated player, also had 15 assists. The Nats overcame a technical called on Danny Biasone for excoriating the referees. Johnston seemed to have tied the game at 104 with a hook shot but the refs waved it off because the 24 second clock had expired. Danny must have loved that.
But that was it. The Warriors closed out the series at home, 109-104 and the Nat’s reign as NBA champions was over. Arizin scored 35 and Johnston 25 as the Warriors led all the way but the Nationals kept it close. Schayes scored 28, including 10 of 11 from the line. The Warriors then took care of the Pistons in five games in the finals, losing just one game by a single point. They seemed like a dynasty in the making. There was one in the wings but it was not in Philadelphia.
The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Basketball: “The widening of the foul lane from six feet to twelve feet opened the game up a bit, but roughhouse tactics were still the order of the day close to the basket…..The area under the basket was a no man’s land with guards rarely daring to drive in close to the hoop.. Hot-handed shooters were often cooled off with heavy handed policing. (By ‘goons’, who would either intimidate, injure or get the other team’s star thrown out of the game for responding in kind), Officials tried to keep order by calling fouls but a steady succession of charity throws reduced action to a yawn. Indeed, coaches found it best to have their players repeatedly foul the enemy in the final minutes to a contest, giving up a probable one point in return for a chance at two… Action ground to a virtual halt toward the end of many games, when tension should have been at its highest. Strategic fouling and seemingly endless trips to the foul line gummed up the final minutes of games and freezing the ball frequently ended the day’s scoring with quite a bit of time left on the clock.” Beyond this, NBC’s contract stated that they would televise games for three hours and no more. (The Heidi game would be years later and in a more popular sport). If, due to the fouling the game hadn’t ended in three hours, the viewing audience never got to see the end of it!
Some legendary games occurred under these circumstances – legendarily bad games. An Illustrated History of Basketball: “A 1949 playoff game between the Knicks and Baltimore – an overtime yawner – saw a total of a hundred personal fouls called and three fist fights. With personal fouls becoming so important, intimidation of officials got little help from Podoloff and the league office because shortsighted owners wanted a ‘free let-em-play’ game.” Then there was the 1953 Celtics-Nats playoff game that went 4 overtimes and was won 105-111 by the Celtics thanks to Bob Cousy’s 50 points. That sounds like a tremendously exciting game but there were 107 fouls called and 107 foul shots taken. Cousy scored 30 of his points from the foul line. That was the game where Red Auerbach’s favorite ‘enforcer’, Bob Brannum picked a fight with Dolph Schayes which got them both thrown out. Advantage: Celtics, no doubt the desired result. There was a six overtime game. The final score of SU’s famous six overtime game with UCONN in 2009 was 127-117. The final score between Indianapolis and Rochester in 1951 was 75-73. In each of the six overtimes, the team that won the tip held the ball for the final shot!
But the most famous ‘bad’ game of the era was on November 22, 1950 in Minneapolis between the Pistons and the Lakers. AIHB: “The Lakers played on a smaller-than-standard floor that made their physical bulk so much more of a factor and also compensated for their slowness afoot PIston coach Murray Mendenhall was determined to end the Laker’s string of twenty-nine straight home court victories and also to publicize his complaint that Minneapolis used an illegal zone defense. Committed to making the huge Lakers leave their set defensive positons under the basket, Mendenhall had his team pass the ball back and forth near midcourt in an old-fashioned stall. The Lakers refused to budge and the Pistons led 8-7 after the first quarter. At halftime, the Lakers were up 13-11. By this time Lakers fans were showering Mendehall with abuse and debris in equal amounts and were hitting their target with both more frequently than the stalling Fort Wayne players were hitting the basket. They screamed they were being cheated and many demanded their money back. Going into the final period, the Lakers led, 17-16. In the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter each team made only a single free throw and Fort Wayne, with possession of the ball but trailing by a point, elected to play for a final shot. This meant a four minute freeze, which the Pistons pulled off. With only ten seconds remaining, Larry Foust put home a hook shot. The Lakers had time to retaliate but Slater Martin’s long shot bounced off the rim and Fort Wayne had scored a controversial victory.” The Pistons had violated no rules but Commissioner Podoloff passed the word among the owners he didn’t want to see a game like that again. It wasn’t enough.
It was Syracuse’s owner, Danny Biasone who came up with one of the two new rules that made all the difference. One idea was limit a team to five fouls a period, after which the fouled team would get an additional “bonus” shot, which negated the “1 for 2” strategy of fouling to limit a team to that one attempt before getting a chance to score two points at the other end with a field goal. But the team that was behind might still foul to get the ball back. That’s where little Danny’s big idea came in. Danny wanted a shot clock. He thought that a game should have at least 60 shots per team. Nats GM Leo Ferris did some figuring: he divided the numbers of seconds in 48 minutes, (2880) by 120 shots, (the total for two teams), and the result was 24. So Danny wanted a 24 second clock. He wasn’t looking for racehorse basketball: the average number of shots per team in 1953-54 was 75. He just wanted to prevent stalling and reduce the fouling. Together these rules created the NBA game we see today.
With Mikan gone from the Lakers, the favorites role went to the Nats, who had lost to them in the previous year’s finals. Syracuse had strengthened itself by obtaining a new center, Johnny Kerr, a 6-9 high post player who could both score (13.8ppg for his career) and rebound (11.2). With 6-9 defensive specialist Red Rocha and 6-8 star forward Dolph Schayes as well as 6-8 Connie Simmons, who was picked up after the Baltimore Bullets folded, the team had the best front line it had ever had.
Earl Lloyd, known as the “Big Cat” at 6-6 220 added strength and toughness. 6-7 Jim Tucker gave them more depth. Al Cervi’s playing career had ended but his protégé Paul Seymour was still on the court and had his best year with 14.6 points and 7.3 assists per game while playing tough Cervi-style defense. Unfortunately, Billy Gabor’s season came to an end after only three games due to an attack of hepatitis and his career ended when he decided at the end of the season to retire. But George King was a double-figure scorer, (10.3), and Billy Kenville, Wally Osterkorn and Dick Farley provided depth, although Wally would play in only 19 games due to injury.
(The quotes in the following section are from my tribute to the Nat’s championship team “Syracuse Wins World Series” which I first posted on the 50th anniversary of their achievement in 2005 and then reposted in 2015. The internal quotes are either from the Herald Journal or Post Standard at the time or from David Ramsey’s “Nats” or Mark Allen Baker’s “Hoops Roots”)
The Nats had an impressive exhibition season, winning all 6 games. But it was just the beginning under the new shot clock. “The Nats had averaged 97 points a game in the exhibitions. They would go on to average 91 points a game in the regular season. Yet that was only 6th in an 8 team league. The Nats were considered more of a defensive team, leading the league with an 89.7 defensive average. As a matter of fact it was the two best defensive teams, (Fort Wayne averaged 90.0) that met for the title at the end of the year. That year the league average per team per game was 93.1 points: the previous year it was 79.5.” Red Auerbach’s Celtics were the highest scoring team with a record 101.5 ppg. They also set a record by giving up 101.5 ppg. If only they could play defense….
The regular season proved a different story than the exhibition games. It opened with a desultory 69-67 win over the Baltimore Bullets, a team that would shortly cease to exist. So would the Nat’s victory over them as it was decided that games against the Bullets wouldn’t even count, (the NCAA would love it). They came home to play the Mikan-less Lakers, who beat them anyway, 94-97. (The Lakers would beat the Nats 6 times in 9 games with 6-9 235 Clyde Lovelette doing a reasonable Mikan imitation). Then came a disastrous trip to Boston, ending in a 84-107 defeat. They didn’t know it at the time but the league favorites had begun the season 0-2.
The came home to get a win that counted, 97-80 over the Milwaukee Hawks and their prized rookie, Bob Pettit. Then came their first encounter with the Pistons. Fred Zollner had heard referee Charlie Eckman say to George Mikan, “If I was coaching the Pistons, I’d beat you big clowns!” Impulsively, he hired this referee to coach his team. “He was a terrible coach”, said George Yardley in David Ramsey’s book. “He had no idea what was going on.” Eckman said “I was a cheerleader and I kept everybody happy. It’s a simple game…we had only two plays and when we ran them I didn’t even know where the ball was.” That was helpful to the Nats, who beat the Pistons 88-86, for the first of 7 times in 9 games and would beat them for the title afterwards.
They then went to Milwaukee, where they were 0 for 20 in the first quarter, fell behind 5-25 and lost 72-85 to the team that would finish with the worst record in the league. They then lost to the Lakers again, this time in Minneapolis, 92-99 after leading most of the game. The Nats then righted the ship with 7 wins in a row to move to 9-4, including another win over the Pistons and a wild 110-104 win over the Celtics in the War Memorial, led by Dolph Schayes’ 39 points. The streak ended with the third of three straight games against the Knicks, (one on each home court and one at a neutral court- with 8 teams the NBA did a lot of that sort of thing), with a 86-88 loss in Philadelphia. After a win over Rochester, the Nats then played three straight against the Warriors, losing the first but winning the last two. Neil Johnston keyed the Warriors lone win with an incredible 27 points and a league record 39 rebounds.
Then came a strange game in Rochester where the Nats led by 13 in the first half, fell behind but by only 46-52 at the half only to lose 78-105. “You would have liked to have been a flea on the wall in Cervi’s locker room after that game- it sure beat being one of the players”.
Those players responded by running Red Auerbach’s Celtics out of the War Memorial, 120-107, (12/9), setting a War Memorial record for points in regulation, (they’d scored 121 on the road, 125 in overtime while the Celtics had the league record of 128). The home team scored 66 points in the second half, a team record. They hit 36 of 40 free throws. Rocha, Lloyd and Kenville scored 20 each while Schayes had 19 and Seymour 18. Paul also had 11 assists. Unfortunately, only 2,052 fans saw the display. Over 5,000 saw LeMoyne, (which played some big-time teams in those days), upset nationally ranked Western Kentucky in the same building two days later.” That left the Nats in first place in the East but a rough stretch was coming.
The Celtics got revenge in a nationally televised game in the Boston Garden, 90-94. “Dolph Schayes tied the game at 88 all with 75 seconds left. Steals by Sharman and Cousy in the final minute sealed the deal. Cousy even had a dunk! It was small consolation but it was only the 3rd time in 21 games the Celtics had scored under 100 points. Schayes had 28 and Seymour 21 but it wasn’t enough. Lloyd and McCauley renewed the tradition of fights breaking out in Nats-Celts game with a brawl in the second quarter.”
“The Warriors broke the National’s 8 game home winning streak on the 12th, 87-96, despite 32 points and 16 rebounds by Dolph Schayes. Neil Johnston had 25/16. Syracuse had a 50-40 lead but it melted away until the Warriors took over in the fourth period. Cervi’s verdict: “it seems our fellows were too content”. He said they lacked hustle and threatened to shake up his line-up.”
After splitting two games with the Knocks, the Nats took another frustrating trip to Minneapolis. “It was their third loss in three games with the Lakers, who led 52-73 before the visitors rallied to make it respectable (83-86). The two teams then boarded trains and traveled all day to get back to Syracuse for a game at the War Memorial. The trip seemed to do the Nats more good: they reversed the previous day’s result with a resounding 108-93 win…. The Nats used what the Herald-Journal called “a small man pivot attack and a fast break” to jump out to an early lead, which they never lost. Seymour had 28 points to tie his career high. The Lakers’ John Kundla went to a small line-up and the Nat’s lead shrunk from 81-60 to 90-83. But Dick Farley came off the bench to score five points down the stretch as the Nats beat the still-powerful Lakers for the first time all season.”
The Nats were still clinging to first place at 15-11 on Christmas Eve but it was hardly the start they had hoped for. Things didn’t get any better in New York on Christmas day as the Nats fell to the Knicks 103-109. The two teams took the train for Syracuse to play in a nationally televised game in the War Memorial, (which, between the Nats and Carmen Basilio, was becoming a famous venue in its own right). “The Knicks led 83-85 after a Gene Shue free throw with 9 seconds left in regulation. Earl Lloyd tipped in a Connie Simmons hook shot with three seconds left and Carl Braun of the Knicks barely missed a 90 footer at the buzzer. Billy Kenville tipped in another miss to give Syracuse the lead for good with 1:16 left. Rocha scored 22, Seymour 21 and Schayes 20 in what New York writer Leonard Koppett called the “most exciting and best played game of the season.” (Syracuse won 97-92.)
The year ended with a victory over the Royals but a loss to the Warriors, Neil Johnston scoring the last 10 points of the game for Philly. The Nats were still in first place at 17-13 and the Knicks and Celtics tied at 14-14. It was always fun to beat the Celtics, especially on New Year ’s Day in Syracuse 108-102. “The Celtics had a “phenomenal” first half, actually shooting 50% from the field but the Nats kept up with them, being behind only 58-59 at halftime. But they were down 79-85 entering the final quarter before putting on a rush to win, 108-102. Six men were in double figures, led by Dolph Schayes with 25. Earl Lloyd had 18 and 12 rebounds and Paul Seymour 10 points and 11 assists. It was the third straight game the Nats and Celts had both exceeded 100 points against each other. It was also a typically rough game between them with a season high 63 fouls called. One fan came to the game with a supply of paper “hatchets” which he kept tossing at the Celtic’s “hatchet man”, Bob Brannum.”
But the Nat 19-17 Nats lost first place to the Celtics. They were short-handed due to injuries, which reduced them to 8 available players. (You don’t need more than do you Jim?). The red hot Pistons came to town with a 25-10 record, easily the best in the league. And the Nats beat them, 100-83. “A 9-0 first period run gave the Nats the lead for good. They were up by 17 at the half and as much as 19 in the second half. Dolph Schayes just missed a triple double with 15 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists.” It was their eighth straight win over the “Zollners”. (Including the playoffs, the Pistons would be 44-23 against everybody else in the league that season – and 5-11 against the Nats, who would be 39-28 against everybody else. Their totals were 49-34 and 50-33, respectfully and the difference would be the one point win by the Nats in game seven.)
Another win over the Royals closed out the first half with the Nats at a disappointing 21-17, just behind the Celtics 21-16. “Al Cervi’s Eastern team won the NBA All-Star game, 100-91, in Madison Square Garden on 1/18/55, with his own star, Dolph Schayes, playing a big role with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Charley Eckman, coach of the West team, said “It seemed that every time we missed, Schayes was there to get the ball”. Vern Mikkelsen said “I’ve never seen Dolph play harder. He was responsible for our loss.”
The Nats then took back first place with a 92-87 win over the Celtics in the War Memorial. “Schayes continued his intense play from the All-Star game with 23 points and 23 rebounds. So did Bill Sharman, who scored 26. But Bob Cousy was out with an injury and that was too much to overcome. But it was the boards where the Nats dominated as Rocha and Kerr added another 23 rebounds. What the Celts really needed was a good big man….”
But the bad times were far from over. A loss to the Knicks was followed by a 66-69 loss to the Pistons in Buffalo. “Schayes scored 19 but didn’t get much help from his teammates. Frank Brian put the Pistons ahead with a free throw with 15 seconds left and the Nats threw the ball away on their last possession.” The Nats then beat the Warriors as part of a double-header in Boston and the came home to start a new winning streak against the Pistons, 94-79. “Dick Farley helped break it open in the second period with 11 points but Schayes again led the Nats in scoring with 22 points to go with 14 rebounds. Earl Lloyd also helped out with 15 boards. The Nats hit an amazing, (for the time) 57% in the second half.”
Then came a four game losing streak. Two unpleasant losses to the Cetlics in Boston bracketing defeats by the Warriors at at Fort Wayne. Most disturbing was the margins of these games: 11, 10, 19 and 26 points. The Celtics led by as many as 19 in the first one. The loss to the Warriors featured an 8-27 start. “The Pistons broke away from a 28-28 tie to take a 50-40 halftime lead and then scored the first seven points of the second half. The Nats never got within 8 after that. The home team put 6 men in double figures and made a phenomenal 36 of 38 free throws.”
“But the bottom had not yet been reached: it was in Boston the next night as Red Auerbach was able to light up one of his victory cigars while looking at a scoreboard that said his Celtics had handled the Nats, 88-114. 10,274 fans saw the blow out, 2-3 times what the Nats were drawing. Billy Kenville and Red Rocha had 21 points each but it wasn’t nearly enough. The record fell to 25-23, including 16 losses in the last 27 games. Cervi told Biasone “We’re gone. These fellows are in a slump and we can’t shake it. On top of that we’re tired. He told friends that this was “His worst year in basketball.”
“At this point, the team held a meeting before the next day’s game in Rochester. Cervi’s summary of the encounter was that the team had decided to concentrate of defense. “Let’s get together and play both ends of the court and let the shots fall where they may. Don’t look for one man but rather for the easy shot. David Ramsey wrote: “Cervi, a pessimist by nature, worked best under adversity. Then, his players listened to his ‘voice of doom’. Then he could push them and mold them into the team he wanted. The Nats became almost exactly what he wanted during the winter of 1954-55. They would finish second to last in the league in scoring and shooting percentage but as a unit they were one of the better defensive teams in the history of the NBA. From here on, the Nats would close out the regular season on an 18-6 run, playing the style and quality of ball that would make them champions.”
They beat the Royals and the Knicks, then had two straight games with the Celtics, both in Gardens, as part of a New York double-header and then on to Boston. The Celtic played the first one without Macauley, Sharman and Ramsay and the Nats ran them off the court, 115-88. But the Celtic beat them in Boston, 94-104 behind 33 points from Cousy and a 34 for 37 free throw performance. Four of the next five games were at home and the Nats won all five, bracketed by a rare win over the Lakers, 85-81 and a 107-93 victory over the Celtics, both in the War Memorial.
“It was a grand time at the War Memorial on February 17, 1955, as the Nats blew out the hated Celtics, 107-93 in a game that wasn’t nearly that close. 3,602 fans saw the home team blow out to a 56-37 halftime lead. They didn’t stop there, pushing it out to an amazing 77-45 margin before the Celtics had a too-little-too late comeback to make it respectable. Unlike the Celtic team that the Nats handled in New York, this team was full strength. Cousy had 21, McCauley 18, Sharman 17 and Frank Ramsey had 8. It wasn’t nearly enough. Syracuse had five guys with at least 15 points, led by Schayes with 29. The only thing that marred the game was excessive fouling down the stretch, what Cervi decried as the Celtic “holding tactics”, which he said resulted injuries to both Dolph Schayes and Johnny Kerr. Particularly active was Bob Brannum, who “managed to smash Schayes a couple of times”. Dolph suffered a thigh injury and Kerr hurt his left heal. “If we ever played that kind of game in Boston, we’d need a police escort out of the building”, said Cervi.“ He spoke from experience, as that had happened a couple of times over the years.
“Schayes and Kerr didn’t even have time to get treated in Syracuse. Arrangements were made for them to be looked at the YMCA in Philadelphia, where the Warriors awaited the next night. The team wasn’t up to the challenge: the Warriors sent them packing with a 86-110 defeat. This one was 41-62 at the half. Schayes and Kerr were patched up well enough to score 22 points each but Neil Johnston, whom the Nationals could never seem to stop, scored 35, 29 in the first half.” Syracuse came back with two wins over the Knicks before losing to the hated Celtics, 95-97 in another game played in New York. “Bob Cousy made a driving lay-up with 4 seconds left to win the thriller. The Nats had erased an 8 point deficit to tie with 20 seconds left. Johnny Kerr scored a career-high, (to date) 28 points and Schayes added 24 but it wasn’t enough as Cousy scored 23 and McCauley 25.“
“The Nats got back on track by beating Rochester, 97-83 at home on 2/25. They had an incredible 8 players in double figures, led by Schayes with 17. Les Harrison admitted after the game that he’d stayed with the players who had won the 1951 title a bit too long. It must have warmed Danny Biasone’s heart to see the Nats surpass Harrison’s team, remembering the days when the NBL champion Royals couldn’t even be persuaded to come to Syracuse for an exhibition game.” Then they demolished the Warriors, 105-77 and nipped the Knicks 105-102. The Nats were now 38-26, five games ahead of the Celtics in the East. Then came two straight games against the Pistons who were leading the West at 42-24.
“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 then beat the Hawks in Milwaukee and the Warriors back home in the War Memorial, completing a 7 game winning streak and clinching the Eastern title. But there was still something to play for: home field advantage for the final. The Nats seemed to have fumbled their chances with three losses in four games to end the regular season, by a total of 7 points to the Royals, Lakers and Hawks. But the one win was over the slumping Pistons, who lost 5 of their last 6. This game was in the War Memorial and the Nationals won it. “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.” Both teams wound up 43-29 but the Nationals had won the season’s series 7-2 and so they would get four home games if the finals went to seven. They did and the home team would win every game of that series.
Six of the eight teams made the playoffs with the Nationals and the Pistons getting a bye into the semi-finals. The Celtics beat the Knicks 2 games to 1 and the Lakers did the same to the Royals. The Pistons managed to eliminate the Lakers 3-1 in the western semis, meaning that Syracuse would face a team they had “owned” during the regular season rather than a team that had owned them for the tile- if they could get by the Celtics. “The Celtics had not only split with the Nats (on the season) but had outscored them, 1193-1198. The Nats had won no games in Boston that year and the Celtics had averaged 111 points a game in beating the Knicks.”
“No matter. The Nats won the opener, 110-100, on March 23, before 6,360 at the War Memorial. Johnny Kerr scored 27 points on 11 for 17 from the field. George King scored 21 and played good defense against Bob Cousy, (who liked playing against bigger, slower guards, not smallish quick guys like King). A 37 point third quarter put the home team in command…. The Nats took the second game, 116-110, before 8,181 fans. Scoring 41 points in the second quarter, they led by 16 points on several occasions but an eight minute streak without a field goal allowed the Celtics to take a 93-96 lead with 10 minutes left. King scored twice and Seymour once to take the lead back at 99-96. After Bill Sharman, who was high man with 32 points, scored but Wally Osterkorn came roaring off the bench to score three baskets in a row, his first points in the playoffs. After that, the Nats were in command. Schayes had 22, Rocha 21 and Seymour 18 to lead the home team to a 2-0 lead.”
“Two nights later, on 3/26/55, before 13,091 fans in Boston, the Celtics put the breaks on with a 97-100 win. The Nats trailed most of the game but tied it at 77 and went ahead, 88-87 with 4:45 left. Easy Ed McCauley answered with a score and George King tied again at 89. Neither team scored in an agonizing last 2:25. The Nats held for the last shot but Schayes and Lloyd on a follow shot both missed. The home team pulled it out in overtime, scoring the first five points and leading to the end. Former UCLA star Don Barksdale came off the bench to score 17 points and grab 17 rebounds, while McCauley had 21 and Cousy 23. Johnny Kerr led the Nats with 20 while Dolph Schayes was held to 14. In the second quarter of this one Bob Brannum nailed Paul Seymour with two punches and sent him sprawling to the parquet floor. Seymour was so incensed he invaded the Celtics locker room at the half and had to be escorted out by police. ”Brannum insisted it was accidental that both fists hit Paul in the forehead”, according to the Herald Journal, which said that, after the incident, “Paul could never find the range so again Brannum’s hatchet tactics hurt the Nats.”
“This put the Nationals in a determined mood for game four of the best of five series. “It is doubtful that the squad will again reach the pinnacle of determination exhibited in ousting the Celtics and only overconfidence could deprive them of being the first Eastern team to win a championship since Minneapolis, Rochester and Ft. Wayne joined the league.” David Ramsey in his book “Nats”, was more succinct. He said the Nats slapped the Celtics around, 110-94. Dolph Schayes, despite being hounded by Auerbach’s defense, scored 28, many on his “rainmaker” outside shots, after being 5 for 22 from the field in game three. Earl Lloyd took advantage of the lack of defensive possessions to score 22 himself, and helps Syracuse dominate the boards. The Nats led by 7 at the half and 12 after three periods. Frustrated Boston fans started chanting for Brannum to smack somebody. “If we’re going to die, let’s die right”, shouted one of them. According to Ramsey, “near the end, Celtics fans began to jeer Auerbach. He coached a team that could run and score, but why was it so soft in the middle? When would Red go out and get a center?” A couple of them invaded the Boston locker room after the game and went after Red, who was saved by Brannum, who acted as a bouncer. But it was the Celtics who had been bounced by the Nats- in their own place, for the first time all season. “
Now the Pistons came to Syracuse for the first two games of the finals. “The Nats blew out to a 31-10 lead and it all seemed so easy. But the Pistons fought back. The Nats went cold and fell behind 72-75 with 8 ½ minutes left. Dick Farley then came off the bench to tie the game on a tip-in and foul shot. Rocha gave the team the lead for good taking a pass from Farley. Still, the team needed Lloyd to bank a jump shot with 30 seconds to go and Seymour to hit a couple of free throws with 3 seconds left to clinch it. Rocha played good defense on Yardley, who had 13 points and led his own team in scoring with 19. Larry Foust had 27 for the Pistons but it wasn’t enough as only one other Piston, (Mel Hutchins), reached double figures. Schayes had a quiet game with only 10 points.”
“The second game was similar to the first. The Nats fell behind 1-7 this time but Johnny Kerr led a come-back, scoring 10 first quarter points to push him team to a 20-13 lead and on to a 49-38 halftime lead. The team came out flat again in the third quarter, getting outscored 14-27 to fall behind by two. It set the stage for the final fireworks. Syracuse surged to a 76-69 lead with a 13-4 run to open the final period. The Pistons came back to make it 78-75. The Nats pushed it to 82-75. The Pistons came charging back to make it 85-84 with 34 seconds left. They held the ball for virtually the entire 24 second clock. Red Rocha, who had scored only 9 in this one, launched a desperation 30 footer jumper. He nailed it. The Pistons couldn’t score in the last 10 seconds and Syracuse had “held serve” with two home victories to give them a 2-0 lead. With the next three games being played in Indianapolis, where ticket sales were poor, rather than Ft. Wayne, the possibility of wrapping it up before they even had to come back to Syracuse presented itself.”
But it didn’t happen. Instead the Pistons totally turned the series around. “There were 3200 fans in a 13,000 seat arena. They saw the “hometown” Pistons win, 89-96. For Johnny Kerr, this game was total frustration. He was held to three baskets, missing four lay-ups. He was 2 for 8 from the line. A late rally, led by Billy Kenville with 9 points and some key rebounds, sliced a 63-78 deficit to 84-87. The Pistons then got a couple of baskets but Red Rocha scored 5 straight to make it close- but not close enough- at the end. Red and Dolph Schayes had 21 points each. Cervi was so unimpressed with his team’s performance he scheduled an extra practice before game four… The Pistons made mincemeat of the National’s vaunted defense in game four, winning 102-109. Charley Eckman crowed to Bud Vander Meer, “Our bench is killing you. We are moving better than we did all year and it looks like we really have you fellows on the run.” The Nats again fell way behind, by 18 points this time and rallied, getting it within five before running out of time. The big failure was of the Syracuse backcourt. Seymour and King were 4 for 25 from the field. The Pistons outshot the Nationals, 31%-45%... Again the Nationals fell way behind, 45-60 with ten minutes left. Once again the visitors made a late run of 26-12, sparked by Billy Kenville who seemed to be a big part of nearly every Syracuse rally. It was 71-72 with 1:16 left. Farley got hacked by Phillip on a follow shot with 27 seconds left but there was no call. Instead, Frank Brian got fouled at the buzzer and made two free throws to make the final score 71-74. “Phillip was so elated he walked off the floor repeating to his joyful mates ‘I fouled him and got away with it!”
The shell-shocked Nationals returned home to Syracuse, now down 2-3 and facing elimination instead of a title clincher. “Saturday, April 9, 1955 was a wild scene at the War Memorial as the Nats evened the series, 109-104 before 4,997 fans and “millions” on NBC. The Nats broke their “longest slump of the season”. They were again behind most of the game. The Pistons, shrugging off their lack of previous success in Syracuse, took a 27-19 first quarter lead. The Nats tied it at 43 but the Pistons led at the half, 55-53 and built up a ten point lead at 72-82 late in the third quarter. Billy Kenville scored from the line. Earl Lloyd scored a three point play and then Dolph Schayes, who led the Nats with 28 points, got a couple of freebies to make it 78-82 before George Yardley closed out the quarter with a basket for a 78-84 Pistons lead. They were 12 minutes from a title.
The Nationals came back to tie it at 86 on Lloyd’s jump shot. It was again tied at 94. The Piston’s last lead came at 96-97 on a series of three free throws, (there were 64 fouls called in this game). Lloyd hit another long jumper and free throws by Farley and Schayes game the Nats a 101-97 lead with 3:35 left. But Yardley tied it again at 103 on a three point play by George Yardley. A Johnny Kerr hook shot broke that tie with 35 seconds left and Dick Farley then stole Frank Brian’s inbounds pass from Andy Phillip. The Nats held the ball for the full 24 seconds when Schayes’ set shot hit the rim but Farley was there to tip it in for the clincher. Yardley led the Pistons with 31 points and Brian, a Nat killer, had 24. Kerr had 20 points, second to Schayes.”
So the season came down to one last game at the Syracuse War Memorial for the NBA championship. “Again the Pistons came out playing like a team that expected to win the title, regardless of where the game was played or against whom. They blew out to a 41-24 lead with 3:46 left in the second period. The home team then woke up with a 23-8 run to make it 47-49 with 38 seconds left. But the Pistons scored the last two buckets for a 47-53 halftime lead.
The Nationals tied it up at 57-57 on a Schayes drive and a Seymour jumper. After a Frank Brian basket, King again tied it with a jump shot. On the same play Red Rocha, having set a pick, was fouled by Brian, trying to fight his way to King. Rocha’s free throw gave the Nats the lead at 60-59. Brian now lost his temper and, upon taking the ball for the inbounds pass, drop-kicked it into the stands, drawing a technical. Seymour cashed in from the line. Kenville hit Lloyd for a lay-up and the Nationals had a five point lead. The Pistons surged back to tie it at 74 at the end of the quarter. The last 12 minutes of the season would decide the title.
Lloyd scored off the fast break and Rocha hit his first field goal to give the Nats the lead back at 78-74. A three point play by big Larry Foust, the Piston’s center, got the Pistons back within one at 79-80. Rocha and Lloyd scored again but again the Pistons came back to tie it at 86 on Foust’s turn-around jumper. He hit another to put Ft. Wayne back in the lead but Earl Lloyd tied it again at 89 on two foul shots. King tied up Hutchins and Dolph Schayes got his hands on the jump ball, (they actually had them in those days), but was hit and lost control of it. Schayes then fouled Phillip trying to get the ball back and Andy’s free throw put the Pistons on top, 89-90 with 2:16 left. Two Syracuse free throws and one by Yardley set the stage for the heroics that finally decided the issue.”
Years later, after witnessing a series of NCAA championship games that came down to the last possession with either team having a chance to win, I wondered how often that had happened in the NBA Finals. It would require a seven game series with the final game decided by a point, (or in the era of the arc, 2 points or less). If found one such game. This one.
“The game was still tied at 91 with a minute left and 6,697 fans going crazy. Earl Lloyd’s shot went around and out with 42 seconds left. George Yardley was called for palming the ball- an NBA star called for palming (!)- at 18 seconds. Frank Brian then fouled George King, who had been in a long slump at the line. He hit one shot of two to put the Nats up 92-91, with 12 seconds left. Andy Phillip decided to dribble the ball the length of the floor to avoid the turnover and put the shot for all the marbles up by himself, as a veteran point guard tends to do. Cervi put Paul Seymour on him, rather than the smaller King who had tended to be pushed around by the bigger Piston guards. Per David Ramsey, “King had been the victim of Phillip’s elbows and knees…’Andy kicked the hell out of me all the time, tripping me, kneeing me’”. “I bumped the crap out of Andy”, Seymour said. Ramsey said “He bumped him and shoved him but did it in an expert way.” Seymour smiled when recalling the play “They didn’t call the foul.” Ex-ref Charley Eckman, the Piston’s coach, said, “It was there, (the ref), choked up and lost his guts”. Seymour forced Phillip into the corner. Phillip reversed his dribble and turned away from Seymour. King, covering Brian at the foul line, instinctively decided to abandon his man and go after the ball. He got there just as Phillip was completing his turn and just grabbed the ball out of Phillips’ hands. The fastest man on the court, King, immediately began dribbling down court. By the time he had reached the frontcourt, the Syracuse Nationals were the NBA champions.”
This clip has highlights of Game 2, then shows the end of game 7 followed by some comments from Dolph Schayes:
“The next day there was a parade from City Hall to the Hotel Syracuse, (virtually the opposite of the route Jim Boeheim and his crew took 48 years later), where a banquet was held by the Optimists club. And there was plenty of optimism. Dolph Schayes was only 27, as were Seymour and Lloyd. King was 26, Kenvile 25 and Kerr 23, (the “K” boys?). Then there were the other rookies, Farley and Tucker. The team seemed, for once, to be on solid financial footing with the city and their fans fully behind them. George Mikan was gone and no one like him seemed to be on the horizon, although the University of San Francisco had just won the NCAA title with some skinny kid named Bill Russell playing center. There was no reason to think there weren’t going to be other parades…..
Perhaps the hardest thing for a championship team is the year after. The players, coaches, fans and journalists now realize that any goal is obtainable and lose their tolerance for failure. They fell from first, (with a 43-29 record) to last, (35-37) in the Eastern Division in 1955-56 and the last place Philadelphia Warriors, (33-39) of the previous year became the Eastern champions at 45-27 and went on to win the NBA title. It was a close-packed, highly competitive league and the difference between last and first just wasn’t all that great. “
Players who have yet to win a championship are willing to take a lot form their coach. After they win one, it can be a different story. “After the final loss to the Warriors, the Nats did something petty that every player, according to Ramsey’s book, came to regret, although no one spoke up at the time. They voted not to give a playoff share to their coach, Al Cervi. Only one of them voted in his favor. Danny Biasone forked up the money himself to give Cervi the equivalent of a share. Cervi was the Bobby Knight of his time and his aggressive “in your face” style of coaching had worn on the players. With the disappointing season, they no longer had any tolerance for him. Cervi gave a speech before one game, saying, in typical fashion, “This is the BIG one!” Red Rocha said “This makes the 78th big one in a row. When do we get a little one?” Typically Cervi had another explanation for the problem: he had grown soft, lightened up on his players. “I blame myself because I let go.” He admitted that “They felt like I had an attitude where I was winning all the games and they were losing all the games”. He also said that he’d grown tired of hearing from the team’s many stockholders. “Every player had a different stockholder’s ear” He resigned 12 games into the 1956-57 season. The Nats continued to contend for the title but never won another.
The Warriors won the 1955-56 title, the first by an original BAA team since the league was founded ten seasons before, (the Baltimore Bullets, who won the second BAA title, started in the ABL and then the NBL’s Lakers, Royals and Nationals took over). This was a last-to-first team but in the balanced league of those days, that wasn’t all that outlandish. They improved from a 33-39 last place team to 45-27 while everyone else in the league was between 31-41, (the Royals), and 39-33, (the Celtics). The league would remain 8 teams until the 1961-62 season, although the Hawks moved to St. Louis this season, the Pistons to Detroit and the Royals to Cincinnati two years later and the Lakers to Los Angeles two years after that.
The Warriors sudden improvement was due to their acquisition of Tom Gola to go with their 1-2 punch of Paul Arizin and Neil Johnston. Gola had been a 6-6 forward with all-around skills at LaSalle, where he led LaSalle to an NIT title, and NCAA title and another NCAA championship game, where the Explorers lost to Bill Russell’s San Francisco Dons, something he would have to get used to doing. With the Warriors, who had Arizin, Johnston and 6-8 225 power forward Joe Grabowski, Gola moved into the backcourt a sa 6-6 guard, the biggest in the league and a sort of 50’s version of Magic Johnson’s point forward. He only scored 11 points a game but Arizin scored 24 and Johnston 22 while Graboski and the other guard, Jack George scored 14 apiece. Gola was second on the in rebounding with 9 a game and his 6 assists per game match George, who was the nominal point guard. It was a combination the league could not match.
The Nats had a classic post championship season, beginning with a thrilling 114-113 win over the Pistons in the War Memorial. But that generated no momentum at all: the team was 14-14 by New Year’s Day. At that point things began to fall part. Only a seven game winning streak late in the season enable the Nats to tie the Knicks for 3rd and last place at 35-37. A big problem is that they were not the defensive team they were in 1955, giving up 96.9 points per game, the same amount they scored. They then won a one game playoff with the Knicks, 82-77, which got them a three game series with their old buddies, the Celtics, with the first and second games in Boston.
The Celtics won the first one easily, 93-110. In Syracuse, the Nats had a 90-78 lead with 8 minutes left but barely held on to win 101-98, a George King tip-in being the clincher. Dolph Schayes ended a slump with 27 points and Paul Seymour 21 as the Nationals shocked the Celtics in Boston, 102-97 to make it to the Eastern finals. Ramsey: Cousy wouldn’t speak to anyone after the game, not even to close friends who came to the locker room after the game to offer their sympathy. Owner Walter Brown didn’t say a word to Red Auerbach. The year before it had been rumored that Auerbach would be fired. In 1956 many wondered if Auerbach would be fired. In 1956 many wondered if Auerbach would resign to take a college coaching job. In his six seasons of coaching the Celtics, he had never moved his team to the title series. He had a 10-17 record in the playoffs. Cervi liked to call him ‘loudmouth’ and ‘loser’.”
There was talk in in Syracuse of repeating, despite the dismal regular season. But the Warriors were in the way and in 1956 they were the better team. They crushed the Nationals 87-109 in game one behind 29 points from Arizin, 21 from Graboski, 19 from George and 16 from Johnston. Dolph Schayes, with 19 points, was the only Nat with more than 13. Schayes scored 33 in the second game, leading Syracuse to an exciting 122-118 win in the War Memorial. The Nats had 6 men in double figures, overcoming incredible 43 and 37 point games by Johnston and Arizin. Johnny Kerr complained that his body was covered with bruises from Johnston’s bony elbows. Jim Tucker said he’d received a head but from Johnston, a versatile player.
The Warriors again crushed the Nationals in Philly, 96-119. Ramsey: “The Warriors gathered tightly around the basket in game three, hoping to stop the National’s inside game. It worked.” (Isn’t that called…a zone?) The Herald Journal asked “How can a team of professionals be so unbelievably woeful in their shooting from the outside?” This time it was the Warriors who had six guys in double figures, Graboski being the leader with just 20 points. Again the defending champs responded with a close victory in Syracuse, this time 108-104. Again, Johnston and Arizin were amazing with 35 and 32 points, respectively but the Warriors again had only one other double figure scorer while King scored 25, Schayes 21 and rookie Ed Conlin 19. King, a very under-rated player, also had 15 assists. The Nats overcame a technical called on Danny Biasone for excoriating the referees. Johnston seemed to have tied the game at 104 with a hook shot but the refs waved it off because the 24 second clock had expired. Danny must have loved that.
But that was it. The Warriors closed out the series at home, 109-104 and the Nat’s reign as NBA champions was over. Arizin scored 35 and Johnston 25 as the Warriors led all the way but the Nationals kept it close. Schayes scored 28, including 10 of 11 from the line. The Warriors then took care of the Pistons in five games in the finals, losing just one game by a single point. They seemed like a dynasty in the making. There was one in the wings but it was not in Philadelphia.
