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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 2176610, member: 289"] THE PLAYERS I covered Benny Borgmann, who still leads the historical parade and Carl Husta last time. Here is the rest of the 1931-37 Top Ten: MOE SPAHN was no Moe Howard. He played for Nat Holman early in his tenure at CCNY and led the team to a combined 32-2 record as a junior and senior. He was an All-American and All-Metropolitan player both years, (in those days, that was almost synonymous). He wanted to get a master’s degree in education and Homan thought so much of him he made Moe and assistant coach the moment he graduated. (At least Boeheim waits a few years). He later got a PHD in education from NYU. Then he became a pro basketball player and played for four ABL teams, including the Brooklyn Visitations and Philadelphia SPHAs, the strong teams in the league at its inception. He was one of the league’s top scorers and it’s MVP in 1937-38, after finishing second the previous two years. His team, the Jersey Reds, won the AABL title that year. He played until 1943 and was the 5th leading scorer in ABL history. “Spahn was the consummate offensive player. He moved well with the ball, was a fine set-shooter and was adept at driving to the basket.” [URL='http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/moe-spahn/']MOE SPAHN - Pro Basketball Encyclopedia[/URL] Moe is in the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame: [URL='http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/MorrisSpahn.htm']Morris “Moe” Spahn[/URL] That’s the only picture I could find of him. “He later became a camp director and private-school headmaster.[6] He was headmaster of the Franklin School (later known as the Anglo-American International School) in Manhattan from 1950 to 1975, director of Camp Winaukee in New Hampshire from 1938 to 1975, and director of the Tripp Lake Camp in Maine from 1958 to 1982.[6] He was also a president of the Association of Private Camps.[6] In addition, he coached basketball teams at West Point.” (Wikipedia) MAC KINSBRUNER briefly attended Syracuse in 1927 but must have gotten homesick so he returned to his hometown of Brooklyn and enrolled at St. John’s where he became part of the “Wonder Five, a team that was not only dominant in college basketball but moved into professional basketball as a unit after graduation, named themselves the “Brooklyn Jewels” and promptly won two Metropolitan League titles. Then they moved in the ABL, now called the “New York Jewels”. They tied Trenton for the first half title and lost a playoff. In their second season the won the first half outright but were beaten by the Brooklyn Visitations in the final. They were back in the finals in 1938, losing to Moe Spahn’s Jersey Reds. The Jewels finally won the ABL title in 1939. They are still primarily known for their exploits at St. John’s. They were still called the “Redmen” in those days and carried around a cigar store Indian as a mascot. Their record from 1929-31 was 23-2, 24-1, 21-1. The Premo-Poretta Poll, (a retroactive top 25 in ESPN’s College Basketball Encyclopedia) ranks them #14 in in 1929 but #2 in the country the next two years. They had the highest ranking of any NYC area team in each of those years. Nat Holman called them “the smartest college club in the country”. They were noted for using a lot of strategies attributed to the Original Celtics, including switching defenses, the “give and go” and using the center as a “pivot”, feeding the ball to cutters. In fact, they did something else the Celtics did – they played professional teams on the side, which caused the NCAA to declare them ineligible, ending their senior season prematurely. “At St. John's, he was a five letterman: guard on the basketball team, catcher in baseball, a goalie in soccer, quarterback in football and a, sprinter in track.” [URL]http://www.nytimes.com/1972/02/18/archives/mac-kinsbruner-star-athlete-at-st-johns-in-1930s-dead.html?_r=0[/URL] “During the thirties, he became one of the most consistent scorers in the professional game with seven consecutive top ten finishes. He was also renowned for his dribbling and passing skills.” [URL='http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/mac-kinsbrunner/']MAC KINSBRUNNER - Pro Basketball Encyclopedia[/URL] “As a ball-handler, he has been compared to Bob Cousy”, (Who’s Who in basketball) Of course, you could compare me to Bob Cousy, too. I would lose the comparison but you could make one. But I don’t think that’s what they meant. He later went into hotel management, owning the Atlantis Hotel in Miami’ Beach and later managing the Concord Hotel in Kiamesha Lake, N. Y. Photo: [URL]http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Mac-Kinsbrunner.jpg[/URL] PHIL RABIN was the original “black hole” of basketball. When the ball went to him, it wasn’t coming back. After starring for Clair Bee at Long Island U., he scored 17 of his team’s 28 points in his pro debut in a minor league game. He joined the ABL for the 1935-36 season and finished second in scoring and then won three straight scoring titles. A wrist injury, a feud with teammate Moe Spahn, a trade to the SPHAs, who disliked his emphasis on own point totals and eventually military service brought an end to his meteoric career. [URL='http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/phil-rabin/']PHIL RABIN - Pro Basketball Encyclopedia[/URL] The picture there is the only I could find of Phil. Phil died in 2010 at age 97. He had been the oldest living professional basketball player, having outlasted all of his critics. His full name was Rabinowitz. This article discusses why so many of the early stars were of the Jewish religion, as well as the history of some of the early regional leagues. [URL='http://thorn s.blogspot.com/2005/05/hoops-hebrews-and-hudson-river-league.html']http://thorn s.blogspot.com/2005/05/hoops-hebrews-and-hudson-river-league.html[/URL] They dominated the sport the way African Americans do now and for some of the same reasons. CARL JOHNSON won the 1935 ABL scoring title and his team, the Brooklyn Visitations, won the conference title. Finding a description beyond the numbers is a hard thing to do: [URL='http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/carlie-johnson/']CARLIE JOHNSON - Pro Basketball Encyclopedia[/URL] And that’s the only photo of him I’ve been able to find. But in 1934-35, nobody was better. SHIKEY GOTTHOFFER, (yes, Shikey Gotthoffer) was the best player on the Philadelphia SHAs during their run of 7 ABL championships. It says so here: [URL="http://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/shikey-gotthoffer"]Shikey Gotthoffer by Douglas Stark and Lance Gotthoffer | Jewish Book Council[/URL] I don’t have that book but the summary makes a good point: the 1930’s were a time of growing anti-Semitism and basketball in general and the SPHAs in particular gave American Jews something to cheer about and some heroes when they needed them. Here’s another book I don’t have but if you are interested in the subject, it looks like a good one: [URL='http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1905_reg.html']Douglas Stark: The SPHAS[/URL] He and Hank Greenburg, (yes, that Hank Greenberg, who stood 6-4), led their high school, James Monroe, in the Bronx to three straight NY PSAL titles in 1927-29. He was ineligible for college ball as he’d played semi-pro. Instead he worked his way through what amounted to basketball’s minor leagues until Eddie Gottlieb signed him for the SHPAs. “Gotthoffer was a fine set shooter and a skilled passer.” He was a tough defensive player with good speed and great basketball instincts for the intricate pass-oriented offense that was the backbone of the SPHAS success.” He was league MVP in 1935-36. [URL='http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/shikey-gotthoffer/']SHIKEY GOTTHOFFER - Pro Basketball Encyclopedia[/URL] Here is an excellent picture and biographical article on Shikey: [URL='http://www.jvhri.org/stories/who-was-shikey-gotthoffer,5496']Who was Shikey Gotthoffer?[/URL]? But the glamour boy of the period was BOBBY MCDERMOTT. “He was known as an outstanding shooter and has been called "the greatest long-distance shooter in the history of the game" by contemporaries… During the 1940s the most common offenses were motion offenses that were supposed to open up players close to the goal. This was because most players were awful shooters. The most common defenses were zones that clogged passing lanes and packed the paint. For zone defenses to be successful, all the defenders have to be close together and close to the basket. McDermott spread the defenders like nobody ever did before…. he could score from anywhere within the half court. Al Cervi, a great defensive player who often had to guard him, said of McDermott, "Oh, he could shoot! If he shot ten times from thirty feet, I'd guarantee he'd make eight in game conditions." He could shoot from almost anywhere on the court. At a time when most teams played a deliberate slow-up style and scoring less than 30 wasn't just common, it was expected, McDermott frequently scored more than 20 points, and scored as many as 36.” [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_McDermott']Bobby McDermott - Wikipedia[/URL] He helped the Brooklyn Visitations beat the mighty SPHAs for the 1935 ABL title. He then joined the Original Celtics to tour with them. He then joined the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons of the NBL. “The Pistons won over 80% of their games and made five consecutive NBL finals appearances. They won NBL titles in 1944 and 1945, as well as the World Professional Basketball Tournament in Chicago.” He then became the player-coach of the Chicago-American Gears, featuring a young big man named George Mikan and led the team with the 1947 NBL title. He won four consecutive NBL MVP awards and was named the greatest player in that loop’s history. He was something of a prodigy, begging hi pro basketball career after one year of high school. He won three scoring titles and was the first pro basketball player to average 20 points game with 20.1 in 1944-45. McDermott was a s famous for his temper as his shot: ”McDermott cut a swashbuckling path through life. On court he was an angry, combative, driven figure who rode teammates unmercifully and battled opponents ruthlessly in his unbridled desire to win. Off the court, he was a moody, brawling, hard-drinking man. As a player, McDermott accomplishments were huge.” [URL='http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/bobby-mcdermott/']BOBBY McDERMOTT - Pro Basketball Encyclopedia[/URL] Bobby did a lot to bring pro basketball to the forefront of the fan’s consciousness. He was not a former college star. He was a man who made his name as a pro player: [URL='https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/forgotten-man-bobby-mcdermott-and-the-rise-of-pro-basketball']Forgotten Man: Bobby McDermott And The Rise Of Pro Basketball | VICE Sports[/URL] Bobby died in an auto accident in 1963, at the age of 49. Here is a touching tribute by his brother, Jim, written when Jim was 95 years old: [URL='http://www.journalgazette.net/sports/professional/nba/Brother-recalls-basketball-s-McDermott-7983379']Brother recalls basketball's McDermott | NBA | Journal Gazette[/URL] I haven’t been able to find out much about NAT FRANKEL, beyond his numbers: [URL='http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/nat-frankel/']NAT FRANKEL - Pro Basketball Encyclopedia[/URL] He played for Brooklyn and several other clubs n the ABL and hung around long enough to play for the BAA in its first year. At 6-3 he probably played center in those days. The above link contains the only photo I could find of him. CY KASELMAN was “first among equals” on the SPHAs, their #1 scoring option on a balanced attack. “His skills as a shooter were such that he was the only player ever mentioned as a possible rival to Bobby McDermott as the best long-distance shooter of the 1930’s. He also possessed excellent quickness with the ball, was an accomplished passer and steadily improved during the course of his career as a defensive player.” [URL='http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/cy-kaselman/']CY KASELMAN - Pro Basketball Encyclopedia[/URL] He later became an assistant coach for Eddie Gottlieb’s Philadelphia Warriors of the BAA. He gets a mention at the end of this SI article on the SPHAs from 1979: [URL='https://www.si.com/vault/1979/05/14/823633/yesterday-the-sphas-did-some-fancy-stepping-down-at-the-broadwood-ballroom']THE SPHAs DID SOME FANCY STEPPING DOWN AT THE BROADWOOD BALLROOM[/URL] Cy set an ABL record with 27 points in the SPHA’s 64-47 win over the Jersey Reds on January 27, 1938. The game was starting to change. Photo: [URL]http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Cy-Kaselman.jpg[/URL] Cy, (on the left) as assistant coach of the 1947 Philadelphia Warriors, the first ever BAA, (soon to become the NBA) champions: [URL]http://static.wixstatic.com/media/16121e_534a9e5b5c6343c69ecb0f27c7b20c3a.jpg_srb_p_576_420_75_22_0.50_1.20_0.00_jpg_srb[/URL] RED ROSAN was the leader of the SPHAs during their championship years. “Rosan’s overall value to the SPHAS transcended his athletic skills. His exemplary work ethic, fiercely determined play, and intelligent, demanding leadership were one of the key elements of the SPHAS long, successful run….. Rosan was a versatile center- forward who stood out for his hustle and determination… Rosan was a good shooter and excellent passer, a trademark of all the SPHAS of the 1930s. He was also a standout on defense with his aggressive tactics.” [URL='http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/red-rosan/']RED ROSAN - Pro Basketball Encyclopedia[/URL] Rosen left the team late in his career to become the player-coach of the Baltimore and his team then beat the SPHAs for the ABL title in 1945. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?