Following its third season, 1948–49, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) to create the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1950
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RetroSeasons
RetroSeasons recaps past sports seasons through stories, photos, videos, and stats from every team, league, and stadium in history. Coverage includes the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, as well as vintage media from defunct teams and leagues.
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National Basketball League III (NBL)
1948-49 NBL Audio & Video Clips
Recap
The National League’s most glamorous teams and biggest stars were now in the BAA. The Toledo and Flint teams folded, leaving just five teams in the league: Anderson, Oshkosh, Sheboygan, Syracuse, and Tri-Cities. Sheboygan coach Doxie Moore was hired to replace the ailing Lambert as commissioner. He recruited new teams in Denver, Detroit, Hammond (Indiana), and Waterloo (Iowa).
The five holdover teams all enjoyed winning seasons at the expense of the four newcomers. The league’s two strongest teams were in the Eastern Division. The Anderson Packers had been the National League’s highest scoring team the previous season with an aggressive fast-break offense. With Minneapolis and Rochester gone, the Packers attack was all but unstoppable. Syracuse, after two losing seasons, made a major roster changes. Veteran pro Al Cervi was lured away from Rochester to serve as the Nationals player-coach. Rookie Dolph Schayes was another key ingredient to Syracuse’s success. The two teams finished one-two in the East more than twenty games ahead of their nearest rivals.
In the west, three teams staged a torrid race for first place before Oshkosh claimed the top spot just one game ahead 0f Tri-Cities and two in front of Sheboygan. Oshkosh, with three rookies in the starting lineup, surprised its challengers. Tri-Cities geared its offense to the slow-pace of 7’0” center Don Otten. Sheboygan also played ball-control offense setting up for shots by a beefy frontline. Division winners Anderson and Oshkosh emerged from the playoffs to face each other for the league title. Anderson’s team speed proved to be too much for the slower-moving Oshkosh team and the Packers took three straight games to win the title.
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