Recap
In the National Basketball League, the six holdover teams returned with the Pittsburgh club migrating seventy miles west to Youngstown, Ohio. A strong independent team from Rochester was added, and the Indianapolis Kautskys were back in NBL action after a three-year layoff due to the war.
The Fort Wayne Pistons kept the engine running smoothly in their powerful offensive machine to post the league’s best overall record on their way to first place in the Eastern division, Buddy Jeannette and Bobby McDermott were still at the peak of their game, and holdovers Chick Reiser, John Pelkington, and Jerry Bush continued to play well. In addition, the Pistons loaded up with additional talent returning from the military. Ed Sadowski was back on a full-time basis, Bob Kenney, a pre-war Rice Institute All-American was signed and late in the season Bob Tough was plucked out of the ABL.
The season’s biggest surprise was the strength of the new Rochester Royals, who finished in second place, just two games behind the Pistons. Owner-coach Les Harrison built his club with service veterans, many of whom had been major college stars before the war. Bob Davies of Seton Hall, John Mahnken of Georgetown, George Glamack of North Carolina State and Otto Graham of Northwestern all had been collegian All-Americans. The Royals backcourt was manned by former CCNY star Red Holzman and veteran upstate New York pro star Al Cervi. Youngstown, behind the fine play from Leo Mogus and major league baseballer Frankie Baumholtz, finished third, while Cleveland, with leading scorer Mel Riebe in the service for most of the season, was doomed to fourth.
The Sheboygan Redskins won the Western Division for the second year in a row with their patented grind it out offense featuring big men Ed Dancker and Mike Novak. The Redskins’ success did not come without a stiff challenge from a revitalized Oshkosh All-Stars that finished just two games behind in second place. The All-Stars, who had suffered through three straight losing seasons due to manpower shortages, reclaimed their pre-war status as a serious contender with the return of their veteran stars including Bob Carpenter and Gene Englund. Rookie Bob Ferrick, from Santa Clara, proved to be a valuable addition. The Chicago American Gears displayed a well-balanced team, but could only play .500 ball, which landed them in third-place. The Indianapolis Kautskys, who finished fourth, experienced a painful return to the NBL. Rookie center Arnie Risen was as the only bright spot in the Kautskys’ gloomy season.
The first two teams in each division met in a best-of-five game semi-final playoff series. The Sheboygan Redskins needed all five games to subdue their stubborn cross state rival Oshkosh and advance to the finals. Another interesting matchup took place in the East where Rochester managed to get a split of the first two games in Fort Wayne, before taking two convincing homecourt victories to upset the defending champion Pistons. In the finals, the upstart Royals dashed by the slow-moving Redskins in three straight lopsided victories to claim the NBL title in their very first season.
The Chicago Pro Tournament, which had become a major event during the past half-dozen years, took on an added significance in the spring of 1946 with the appearance of much-heralded DePaul rookie George Mikan with the Chicago Gears. After victories in the preliminary rounds, the Gears lost Mikan on fouls early in the third period of their semi-final game against Sheboygan. Chicago was in control of the game 48-40 at the time of Mikan’s departure, but without the big man lost 72-66. In the other semifinal, Fort Wayne eked out a 50-49 win over ABL champion Baltimore by going into a stall late in the contest. Fort Wayne then claimed its third straight Pro title by taking two of three games from NBL rival Sheboygan.
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