1947–48 Rochester Royals season

1947–48 Rochester Royals season
Division champions
Head coachEddie Malanowicz
OwnersJack Harrison
Les Harrison
ArenaEdgerton Park Arena
Results
Record44–16 (.733)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishNBL Championship
(lost to Minneapolis Lakers 1–3)
Stats at Basketball Reference
RadioWHAM

The 1947–48 Rochester Royals season was the franchise's third season in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team finished with a 44–16 record, which became the best record in the NBL by one game over the upstart Minneapolis Lakers. Rochester would end up beating their league rivaling Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 3–1 in the quarterfinal round and then beat the Anderson Duffey Packers 2–1 before returning to the NBL Finals for the third and final time in their history. Once again, they saw themselves go up against the towering star center George Mikan (who had been picked up by what was considered to be the newly-established Lakers squad despite them picking up their past history from an awful Detroit Gems squad after the Chicago American Gears left the NBL for the short-lived Professional Basketball League of America and folded after that league went down a lot earlier than they expected it to and the American Gears weren't allowed back into the NBL), and once again, Mikan's presence as a player proved to be too much for the Royals to overcome, as they ended up losing the NBL Championship 3–1 for the second straight year in a row, this time to the newly-established Lakers (who would soon grow to be a powerhouse force in basketball history) instead. Following this season's conclusion, both the Royals and defending NBL champion Lakers, alongside the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons and Indianapolis Kautskys would end up leaving the NBL to play for the Basketball Association of America (now known as the National Basketball Association), though the Zollner Pistons would drop the Zollner part of their name and the Kautskys would rename themselves to the Indianapolis Jets due to that league not allowing teams to have sponsorships to also be a part of their team names. Since then, the Jets folded operations entirely, while the other surviving NBL teams that switched teams moved elsewhere, with the Pistons moving to Detroit, Michigan to become the Detroit Pistons, the Lakers moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles to become the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Royals rebranding themselves multiple times and going from their original Rochester, New York location to Sacramento to become the Sacramento Kings.

Roster

1947–48 Rochester Royals roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
G/F Bill Calhoun 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1927-11-04 CCSF
G/F Al Cervi 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1917-02-12 East HS (NY)
G/F Bob Davies 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1920-01-15 Seton Hall
F/C Andy Duncan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1922-04-17 William & Mary
G Red Holzman 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1920-08-10 CCNY
F/C Arnie Johnson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 236 lb (107 kg) 1920-05-17 Bemidji State
C Leroy King 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1921-12-24 Monmouth
G/F Andrew Levane 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1920-04-11 St. John's
G Joe Lord 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-12-28 Villanova
F/C John Mandic 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1919-10-03 Oregon State
F/C George Ratkovicz 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1922-11-13 Lindblom (IL)
F Ocie Richie 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1921-11-16 Northwestern State
F/C Arnie Risen 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1924-10-09 Ohio State
G Bobby Wanzer 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1921-06-04 Seton Hall
Head coach

Eddie Malanowicz

Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

League standings

Eastern standings

Pos. Eastern Division Wins Losses Win %
1 Rochester Royals 44 16 .733
2 Anderson Duffey Packers 42 18 .700
3 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 40 20 .667
4 Syracuse Nationals 24 36 .400
5 Toledo Jeeps 22 37 .373
6 Flint/Midland Dow A.C.'s‡ 8 52 .133
‡ Flint relocated to Midland during the season and assumed Flint's record in the standings.
It's unknown what the records for Flint's tenure and Midland's tenure were.

Team statistics

Regular season

Rank Player Position Games played Field goals Free throws made Free throws attempted Points per game
1 Al Cervi G-F 49 4.8 3.8 4.9 13.4
2 Red Holzman G 60 4.1 2.0 3.0 10.2
3 Andy Duncan F-C 60 3.3 2.0 3.3 8.7
4 Bob Davies G-F 48 3.7 2.5 3.3 9.8
5 Arnie Risen C-F 28 5.2 4.2 5.8 14.5
6 Andrew Levane F-G 54 2.7 0.8 1.1 6.3
7 Arnie Johnson F-C 57 1.8 1.7 2.6 5.2
8 George Ratkovicz C-F 234 1.5 1.4 2.2 4.4
9 Bobby Wanzer G 40 1.4 1.4 1.7 4.2
10 Bill Calhoun F-G 42 0.7 0.4 0.8 1.9
11 John Mandic F-C 33 1.0 0.4 0.7 2.3
12 Leroy King C 12 0.3 0.5 0.7 1.0
13 Joseph Lord G 4 0.8 0.0 0.3 1.5
14 Ocie Richie F 1 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0

Playoffs

Rank Player Position Games played Field goals Free throws made Free throws attempted Points per game
1 Bob Davies G-F 11 5.1 4.5 5.8 14.6
2 Andy Duncan F-C 11 3.5 2.1 3.1 9.2
3 Arnie Risen C-F 7 5.0 4.3 6.3 14.3
4 Red Holzman G 10 3.5 1.0 1.5 8.0
5 Bobby Wanzer G 11 1.9 2.2 2.5 6.0
6 Arnie Johnson F-C 11 2.1 1.8 2.2 6.0
7 George Ratkovicz C-F 60 2.0 1.5 2.5 5.5
8 Al Cervi G-F 6 3.0 2.3 3.2 8.3
9 Andrew Levane F-G 9 2.2 0.2 0.3 4.7
10 Bill Calhoun F-G 8 1.4 0.3 0.4 3.0
11 John Mandic F-C 5 0.4 0.4 0.8 1.2[1]

Awards and honors

  • 1st Team: Al Cervi, Red Holzman
  • 2nd Team: Bob Davies[2]

References

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