1944–45 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons season

The 1944–45 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons season was the fourth season of the franchise in the National Basketball League. The team was led by the star backcourt of 2 time league MVP Bobby McDermott and Buddy Jeannette. The season ended with the Pistons winning a league best 25 out of 30 games and McDermott being awarded his third MVP award. As of 2019 this is still the best record in franchise history. The playoffs began with a 2-0 sweep over the Cleveland Allmen Transfers to make the team's fourth straight NBL Championship series. There they were met by the Sheboygan Redskins for the third straight year. The series went to a full five games but ended with Fort Wayne defeating Sheboygan to successfully defend their NBL Championship. The Pistons would not return to the finals for another decade and would not win another championship until the 1989 NBA Finals. At the end of the season Blackie Towery left the team to join the military for World War II, however he would return one season later.

1944–45 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons season
NBL champions
Head coachBobby McDermott
Results
Record25–5 (.833)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishwon NBL Championship against Sheboygan Redskins, 3-2
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

Roster
Rank Player Position
1 Robert McDermott G
2 Buddy Jeannette G
3 Jake Pelkington C-F
4 Chick Reiser G-F
5 Gerard Bush F-C
6 Charley Shipp G-F
7 Robert Synnott F-C
8 Paul Birch F-G
9 Ed Sadowski C
10 James Glass C
11 Blackie Towery F-C
12 Dale Hamilton G-F

[1]

League standings

Eastern Division
Team Wins Loses Pct.
Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 25 5 .833
Cleveland Allmen Transfers 13 17 .433
Pittsburgh Raiders 7 23 .233

Western Division
Team Wins Loses Pct.
Sheboygan Redskins 19 11 .633
Chicago American Gears 14 16 .467
Oshkosh All-Stars 12 18 .400[2]

Awards and honors

References
  1. 1944-45 Fort Wayne Zollners Pistons Stats
  2. 1944-45 NBL Season Summary
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.