1952–53 Indianapolis Olympians season

The 1952-53 NBA season was the Olympians' 4th and final season in the NBA.[1] Leo Barnhorst and Joe Graboski led the team in scoring; while Graborski dominated on the boards.

1952–53 Indianapolis Olympians season
Head coach	Herm Schaefer
Arena	Hinkle Fieldhouse
Results
Record	28–43 (.394)
Place	Division: 4th (Western)
Playoff finish	West Division Semifinals (eliminated 0-2)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	WXLW

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College

Regular season

Season standings

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Minneapolis Lakers	48	22	.686	-	24-2	16-15	8-5	17-13
x-Rochester Royals	44	26	.629	4	24-8	13-17	7-1	27-13
x-Fort Wayne Pistons	36	33	.522	11.5	25-9	8-19	3-5	18-22
x-Indianapolis Olympians	28	43	.394	20.5	19-14	4-23	5-6	15-26
Milwaukee Hawks	27	44	.380	21.5	14-8	3-24	10-12	15-26

Record vs. opponents

1952-53 NBA Records
Team	BAL	BOS	FWP	IND	MIL	MIN	NYK	PHI	ROC	SYR
Baltimore	—	2–8	0–6	2–4	3–3	1–5	0–10	6–4	0–6	2–8
Boston	8–2	—	4–2	4–2	5–1	1–5	6–4	9–1	4–2	5–6
Fort Wayne	6–0	2–4	—	7–3	7–3	1–9	4–2	5–0	3–7	1–5
Indianapolis	4–2	2–4	3–7	—	5–6	4–6	1–5	5–1	3–7	1–5
Milwaukee	3–3	1–5	3–7	6–5	—	3–7	1–5	4–2	3–7	3–3
Minneapolis	5–1	5–1	9–1	6–4	7–3	—	4–2	6–0	4–6	2–4
New York	10–0	4–6	2–4	5–1	5–1	2–4	—	10–0	3–3	6–4
Philadelphia	4–6	1–9	0–5	1–5	2–4	0–6	0–10	—	2–4	2–8
Rochester	6–0	2–4	7–3	7–3	7–3	6–4	3–3	4–2	—	2–4
Syracuse	8–2	6–5	5–1	5–1	3–3	4–2	4–6	8–2	4–2	—

Game log

1952–53 Game log
#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	October 31	Boston	83–68	Bob Lavoy (20)	0–1
2	November 1	@ Milwaukee	71–73	Leo Barnhorst (20)	0–2
3	November 7	Rochester	65–63	Leo Barnhorst (22)	0–3
4	November 8	@ Rochester	96–99 (4OT)	Leo Barnhorst (22)	0–4
5	November 9	@ Fort Wayne	71–74	Graboski, Walther (16)	0–5
6	November 11	Fort Wayne	63–78	Joe Graboski (23)	1–5
7	November 14	@ Philadelphia	77–71	Bob Lavoy (17)	2–5
8	November 15	N Philadelphia	76–79	Joe Graboski (18)	3–5
9	November 16	@ Syracuse	78–84	Barnhorst, Tosheff (15)	3–6
10	November 18	New York	90–100	Joe Graboski (23)	4–6
11	November 20	N New York	72–67	Joe Graboski (21)	4–7
12	November 22	@ Boston	91–96 (OT)	Leo Barnhorst (24)	4–8
13	November 23	@ Baltimore	100–90	Barnhorst, Tosheff (23)	5–8
14	November 25	Milwaukee	78–66	Leo Barnhorst (14)	5–9
15	November 27	@ Minneapolis	69–90	Leo Barnhorst (19)	5–10
16	November 28	Minneapolis	97–82	Joe Graboski (22)	5–11
17	November 29	@ New York	72–94	Bill Tosheff (15)	5–12
18	December 2	Rochester	76–85	Barnhorst, Graboski (19)	6–12
19	December 5	Fort Wayne	74–84	Barnhorst, Walther (17)	7–12
20	December 6	@ Rochester	79–82	Bill Tosheff (18)	7–13
21	December 8	N Minneapolis	76–81	Joe Graboski (20)	8–13
22	December 9	Syracuse	87–70	Leo Barnhorst (20)	8–14
23	December 12	Milwaukee	49–63	Paul Walther (19)	9–14
24	December 14	@ Fort Wayne	71–86	Barnhorst, Graboski (14)	9–15
25	December 16	Rochester	84–71	Graboski, Lavoy (15)	9–16
26	December 19	Minneapolis	87–69	Bob Lavoy (14)	9–17
27	December 21	N Rochester	83–65	Mel Payton (16)	9–18
28	December 23	Fort Wayne	59–72	Bill Tosheff (19)	10–18
29	December 25	@ Minneapolis	73–90	Mel Payton (16)	10–19
30	December 26	Boston	74–85	Joe Graboski (25)	11–19
31	December 27	@ Rochester	73–94	Bill Tosheff (22)	11–20
32	December 28	@ Syracuse	73–84	Joe Graboski (12)	11–21
33	December 30	Minneapolis	69–74	Joe Graboski (19)	12–21
34	December 31	@ Fort Wayne	85–91	Mel Payton (22)	12–22
35	January 2	Baltimore	66–73	Joe Graboski (24)	13–22
36	January 3	N Boston	63–78	Joe Graboski (17)	13–23
37	January 6	Philadelphia	76–71	Joe Graboski (15)	13–24
38	January 9	New York	58–54	Gene Rhodes (15)	13–25
39	January 11	@ Fort Wayne	68–72	Gene Rhodes (16)	13–26
40	January 15	N Milwaukee	68–75	Leo Barnhorst (22)	14–26
41	January 16	N Fort Wayne	68–75	Joe Graboski (15)	14–27
42	January 17	@ Baltimore	66–82	Mel Payton (17)	14–28
43	January 18	N Philadelphia	74–76 (OT)	Paul Walther (16)	15–28
44	January 20	Rochester	59–70	Joe Graboski (15)	16–28
45	January 23	Boston	85–90	Joe Graboski (20)	17–28
46	January 24	@ Milwaukee	64–72	Leo Barnhorst (22)	17–29
47	January 27	Syracuse	72–76	Bob Lavoy (18)	18–29
48	January 31	@ Baltimore	90–97	Leo Barnhorst (24)	18–30
49	February 3	Minneapolis	93–96 (3OT)	Leo Barnhorst (27)	19–30
50	February 5	@ Fort Wayne	63–68	Bill Tosheff (21)	19–31
51	February 6	New York	84–73	Leo Barnhorst (14)	19–32
52	February 8	@ Minneapolis	67–71	Paul Walther (20)	19–33
53	February 10	Baltimore	83–88	Leo Barnhorst (19)	20–33
54	February 11	N Milwaukee	67–65 (OT)	Lavoy, Tosheff (10)	20–34
55	February 13	Syracuse	89–86 (2OT)	Leo Barnhorst (19)	20–35
56	February 14	@ New York	79–91	Zeke Zawoluk (22)	20–36
57	February 15	@ Boston	76–89	Leo Barnhorst (26)	20–37
58	February 17	Philadelphia	77–80	Leo Barnhorst (23)	21–37
59	February 20	Baltimore	58–59	Mel Payton (17)	22–37
60	February 21	N Milwaukee	61–60	Leo Barnhorst (22)	22–38
61	February 22	@ Milwaukee	64–71	Gene Rhodes (18)	22–39
62	February 24	Milwaukee	69–71 (OT)	Zeke Zawoluk (16)	23–39
63	March 3	Philadelphia	73–90	Leo Barnhorst (26)	24–39
64	March 6	Fort Wayne	73–64	Leo Barnhorst (20)	24–40
65	March 9	N Minneapolis	83–95	Mel Payton (19)	25–40
66	March 10	Rochester	61–59	Joe Graboski (16)	25–41
67	March 13	Milwaukee	50–52 (OT)	Leo Barnhorst (12)	26–41
68	March 14	@ Rochester	90–82	Joe Graboski (25)	27–41
69	March 15	@ Syracuse	68–84	Joe Graboski (19)	27–42
70	March 17	Minneapolis	73–71	Joe Graboski (23)	27–43
71	March 18	@ Milwaukee	74–69	Bill Tosheff (18)	28–43

Playoffs

West Division Semifinals

(1) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (4) Indianapolis Olympians: Lakers win series 2-0

• Game 1 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 85, Indianapolis 69
• Game 2 @ Indianapolis: Minneapolis 81, Indianapolis 79

Last Playoff Meeting: 1952 Western Division Semifinals (Minneapolis won 2-0)

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

References

1. 1952-53 Indianapolis Olympians