1949–50 Indianapolis Olympians season

1949–50 Indianapolis Olympians season
Division champions
Head coachCliff Barker
ArenaHinkle Fieldhouse
Results
Record39–25 (.609)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Western)
Playoff finishDivision finals
(eliminated 1-2)
Stats at Basketball Reference
RadioWXLW

The 1949–50 Indianapolis Olympians season was the first season for the Indianapolis Olympians in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Despite them being an expansion franchise, the Olympians would end up being the champions of the Central Division, though they would be eliminated from the playoffs by the Anderson Packers. By the end of the season, the Olympians would join the Tri-Cities Blackhawks as the only other Central Division team to play in the NBA beyond this current season, as the other four Central Division teams would defect from the NBA to create a short-lived rivaling professional basketball league to compete against the NBA called the National Professional Basketball League.

NBA draft

Main article: 1949 BAA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team
1 2 Alex Groza C  United States Kentucky
2 – Leo Barnhorst F/G  United States Notre Dame
3 – Mac Otten F/C  United States Bowling Green
4 – Bob Evans G  United States Butler
6 – Don Boven F/G  United States Western Michigan

Roster

1949–50 Indianapolis Olympians roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
G 10 Cliff Barker 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Kentucky
G 12 Ralph Beard 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Kentucky
G 9 Bob Evans 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Butler
C 15 Alex Groza 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 218 lb (99 kg) Kentucky
G/F 7 Bruce Hale 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Santa Clara
F 19 Marshall Hawkins 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Tennessee
F 14 Joe Holland 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Kentucky
F 17 Wallace Jones 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Kentucky
F/C 16 Mal McMullen 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Xavier
G 5 Jack Parkinson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 174 lb (79 kg) Kentucky
G/F Carl Shaeffer 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Alabama
F/C 20 Floyd Volker 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Wyoming
G/F 5 Paul Walther 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Tennessee
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Western Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Indianapolis Olympians 39 25 .609 – 24–7 12–16 3–2 26–9
x-Anderson Packers 37 27 .578 2 22–9 12–18 3–0 25–12
x-Tri-Cities Blackhawks 29 35 .453 10 20–13 6–20 3–2 20–17
x-Sheboygan Red Skins 22 40 .355 17 17–14 5–22 0–4 15–20
Waterloo Hawks 19 43 .306 20 16–15 2–22 1–6 13–22
Denver Nuggets 11 51 .177 28 9–16 1–25 1–10 8–27

Game log

1949–50 game log
# Date Opponent Score High points Venue Record
1 November 1 Denver W 71–64 Alex Groza (19) 1–0
2 November 8 New York L 64–79 Alex Groza (18) 1–1
3 November 9 at Syracuse L 73–103 Alex Groza (24) 1–2
4 November 10 at New York W 83–79 Alex Groza (41) 2–2
5 November 11 at Philadelphia W 91–84 Ralph Beard (20) 3–2
6 November 12 St. Louis W 94–71 Alex Groza (26) 4–2
7 November 13 at Sheboygan L 101–104 Alex Groza (30) 4–3
8 November 15 Anderson L 72–83 Alex Groza (22) 4–4
9 November 17 at Boston L 68–90 Alex Groza (21) 4–5
10 November 19 Waterloo W 106–74 Ralph Beard (27) 5–5
11 November 20 at Minneapolis L 95–121 Ralph Beard (24) 5–6
12 November 22 Rochester W 80–74 Alex Groza (43) 6–6
13 November 23 at Chicago L 72–92 Wallace Jones (22) 6–7
14 November 26 Sheboygan W 85–59 Alex Groza (20) 7–7
15 November 27 at Tri-Cities L 88–104 Alex Groza (21) 7–8
16 November 29 Tri-Cities W 92–76 Alex Groza (28) 8–8
17 December 1 Minnesota W 86–68 Alex Groza (38) 9–8
18 December 3 at Rochester L 77–99 Alex Groza (21) 9–9
19 December 4 at Syracuse L 61–67 Alex Groza (26) 9–10
20 December 6 Boston W 93–82 Alex Groza (22) 10–10
21 December 8 at Anderson W 72–69 Alex Groza (30) 11–10
22 December 9 Denver W 78–75 Alex Groza (18) 12–10
23 December 11 at Fort Wayne L 74–90 Alex Groza (22) 12–11
24 December 13 Tri-Cities W 84–63 Alex Groza (21) 13–11
25 December 16 at Denver W 81–79 Alex Groza (29) 14–11
26 December 18 at Denver W 83–79 Alex Groza (22) 15–11
27 December 20 Baltimore L 79–88 Alex Groza (27) 15–12
28 December 22 Chicago W 104–92 Alex Groza (42) 16–12
29 December 25 at Waterloo L 93–97 Alex Groza (28) 16–13
30 December 27 Anderson W 89–82 Bruce Hale (17) 17–13
31 January 1 at Sheboygan W 89–75 Alex Groza (27) 18–13
32 January 3 Tri-Cities W 78–76 Wallace Jones (24) 19–13
33 January 7 at Baltimore W 85–61 Alex Groza (22) 20–13
34 January 10 Sheboygan W 107–77 Alex Groza (25) 21–13
35 January 13 Waterloo W 80–64 Alex Groza (28) 22–13
36 January 15 at Syracuse L 69–82 Alex Groza (24) 22–14
37 January 17 Denver W 101–81 Bruce Hale (23) 23–14
38 January 19 vs. Waterloo W 104–87 Alex Groza (30) 24–14
39 January 21 Fort Wayne W 112–94 Ralph Beard (31) 25–14
40 January 24 Waterloo W 107–69 Alex Groza (28) 26–14
41 January 27 at Anderson W 91–78 Groza, Jones (23) 27–14
42 January 28 at Tri-Cities L 81–97 Alex Groza (20) 27–15
43 January 30 vs. Syracuse L 75–91 Alex Groza (19) 27–16
44 February 2 Syracuse L 67–73 Alex Groza (20) 27–17
45 February 5 at St. Louis L 64–76 Wallace Jones (18) 27–18
46 February 7 Washington W 88–81 Wallace Jones (18) 28–18
47 February 10 Anderson L 76–107 Alex Groza (25) 28–19
48 February 12 at Tri-Cities W 95–89 Alex Groza (25) 29–19
49 February 14 Philadelphia W 86–67 Alex Groza (22) 30–19
50 February 15 at Waterloo L 74–76 Ralph Beard (21) 30–20
51 February 18 at Washington L 79–81 Alex Groza (26) 30–21
52 February 19 at Syracuse L 78–82 Alex Groza (22) 30–22
53 February 21 Sheboygan L 78–83 Groza, Jones (17) 30–23
54 February 24 vs Syracuse L 67–72 Ralph Beard (18) 30–24
55 February 26 at Sheboygan W 107–86 Ralph Beard (34) 31–24
56 February 28 Syracuse W 110–72 Alex Groza (29) 32–24
57 March 3 Tri-Cities L 83–96 Wallace Jones (32) 32–25
58 March 5 at Sheboygan W 92–87 Alex Groza (31) 33–25
59 March 7 Anderson W 107–93 Ralph Beard (30) 34–25
60 March 9 at Anderson W 97–90 Barker, Groza (19) 35–25
61 March 12 Waterloo W 90–89 Alex Groza (29) 36–25
62 March 14 Syracuse W 68–65 Alex Groza (28) 37–25
63 March 16 vs. Denver W 111–99 Alex Groza (36) 38–25
64 March 18 vs. Denver W 110–73 Ralph Beard (23) 39–25

Playoffs

West Division Semifinals

(1) Indianapolis Olympians vs. (4) Sheboygan Red Skins: Olympians win series 2-1

  • Game 1 @ Indianapolis (March 21): Indianapolis 86, Sheboygan 85
  • Game 2 @ Sheboygan (March 23): Sheboygan 95, Indianapolis 85
  • Game 3 @ Indianapolis (March 25): Indianapolis 91, Sheboygan 84

This was the first and only playoff meeting between the Olympians and Red Skins.

West Division Finals

(1) Indianapolis Olympians vs. (2) Anderson Packers: Packers win series 2-1

  • Game 1 @ Indianapolis (March 28): Indianapolis 77, Anderson 74
  • Game 2 @ Anderson (March 30): Anderson 84, Indianapolis 67
  • Game 3 @ Indianapolis (April 1): Anderson 67, Indianapolis 65

This was the first and only playoff meeting between the Olympians and Packers.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.