1946–47 Boston Celtics season

1946–47 Boston Celtics season
Head coach Honey Russell
Owner(s) Walter A. Brown
Arena Boston Arena
Boston Garden
Results
Record 22–38 (.367)
Place Division: 5th (Eastern)
Playoff finish DNQ

Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

Radio WMEX

The 1946–47 Boston Celtics season was the first season of the Boston Celtics in the Basketball Association of America (BAA/NBA). Walter A. Brown was the man who was responsible for starting the franchise. On an early June day in 1946, Brown, who operated the Boston Garden arena and was part of the National Hockey League's Boston Bruins, was the driving force behind the Basketball Association of America and the Celtics birth.[1] After considering several team names, including Whirlwinds, Unicorns and Olympics, Brown opted for Celtics.[2] He hoped to grab the attention of Boston's large Irish American population. John Davis "Honey" Russell was hired as the first Celtics coach, and the team soon began its inaugural season, losing its first game 59–53 to the Providence Steamrollers. Although the Celtics would eventually become the signature franchise of the NBA, the club had a lacklustre first season as they started with 0 wins and 5 losses. The Celtics won their first game of the season against the Toronto Huskies.

Roster

Boston Celtics 1946–47 roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From
G/F 5 United States Becker, Moe 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Duquesne
F 6–18 United States Brightman, Al 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Long Beach State
F/C 11 United States Connors, Chuck 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Seton Hall
F 15 United States Crisler, Hal 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Iowa State
F 17 United States Duffy, Bob 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Colgate
F 14 United States Eliason, Don 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Hamline
F 7 United States Fenley, Warren 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Manhattan
G 15 United States Garfinkel, Jack 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) St. John's
G/F 4 United States Gray, Wyndol 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Bowling Green
G 3 United States Hirsch, Mel 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Brooklyn
G 3 United States Hoefer, Charlie 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 158 lb (72 kg) Queens
F 14–24 United States Kelly, Jerry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 172 lb (78 kg) Marshall
C 9 United States Kottman, Harold 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Culver–Stockton
G 5 United States Murphy, Dick 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Manhattan
F/C 10 United States Simmons, Connie 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 222 lb (101 kg)
G 6 United States Simmons, Johnny 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 184 lb (83 kg) NYU
F 12 United States Spector, Art 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Villanova
F/C 17 United States Vaughn, Virgil 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Western Kentucky
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Regular season

On November 5, the Celtics played their first game at the Boston Garden in front of 4,329 fans.[4] The game would be delayed an hour when the wooden backboard was damaged after a practice dunk during warm-ups. After the backboard was repaired, the Celtics lost to the Chicago Stags by a score 57–55.

Season standings

# Eastern Division
Team W L PCT GB
1 x-Washington Capitols 49 11 .817 –
2 x-Philadelphia Warriors 35 25 .583 14
3 x-New York Knicks 33 27 .550 16
4 Providence Steamrollers 28 32 .467 21
5 Boston Celtics 22 38 .367 27
6 Toronto Huskies 22 38 .367 27

Record vs. opponents

1946–47 BAA Records
Team BOS CHI CLE DET NYK PHI PIT PRO STL TOR WAS
Boston — 0–6 2–4 3–3 4–2 1–5 5–1 1–5 1–5 4–2 1–5
Chicago 6–0 — 5–1 3–3 3–3 5–1 6–0 3–3 3–4 4–2 1–5
Cleveland 4–2 1–5 — 4–2 4–2 3–3 4–2 2–4 1–5 6–0 1–5
Detroit 3–3 3–3 2–4 — 1–5 2–4 3–3 2–4 0–6 3–3 1–5
New York 2–4 3–3 2-4 5–1 — 2–4 6–0 4–2 4–2 3–3 2–4
Philadelphia 5–1 1–5 3–3 4–2 4–2 — 5–1 4–2 3–3 5–1 1–5
Pittsburgh 1–5 0–6 2–4 3–3 0–6 1–5 — 3–3 1–5 3–3 1–5
Providence 5–1 3–3 4–2 4–2 2–4 2–4 3–3 — 2–4 3–3 0–6
St. Louis 5–1 4–3 5–1 6–0 2–4 3–3 5–1 4–2 — 2–4 2–4
Toronto 2–4 2–4 0–6 3–3 3–3 1–5 3–3 3–3 4–2 — 1–5
Washington 5–1 5–1 5–1 5–1 4–2 5–1 5–1 6–0 4–2 5–1 —

Game log

1946–47 Game Log
1946–47 Schedule

Player stats

Season

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG AST SPG BPG PPG
Connie Simmons 60 .320 .677 62 10.3
Al Brightman 58 .256 .627 60 9.8
Wyndol Gray 55 .292 .581 47 6.4
Art Spector 55 .267 .553 46 6.0
Jerry Kelly 43 .291 .667 24 6.0
Chuck Hoefer 35 .241 .634 24 6.0
Red Wallace 24 .246 .438 20 5.5
Johnny Simmons 60 .280 .614 29 5.3
Chuck Connors 49 .247 .464 40 4.6
Jack Garkinkel 40 .266 .607 58 4.5
Harold Kottman 53 .314 .465 17 3.1
Warren Fenley 33 .225 .511 16 2.6
Tony Kappen 18 .275 .632 6 4.1
Virgil Vaughn 17 .192 .536 10 2.6
Mel Hirsch 13 .200 .500 10 1.5
Dick Murphy 7 .059 .000 3 0.9
Moe Becker 6 .227 .750 1 2.2
Bob Duffy 6 .286 1.000 0 1.3
Hal Crisler 4 .333 1.000 0 1.5
Don Eliason 1 .000 – 0 0.0

Transactions[5]

December 12, 1946
 To the Boston Celtics
Moe Becker		 To the Pittsburgh Ironmen
Tony Kappen
December 23, 1946
 To the Boston Celtics
Jack Garfinkel		 To the Rochester Royals (NBL)
cash
January 2, 1947
 To the Boston Celtics
Charlie Hoefer		 To the Toronto Huskies
Red Wallace

References

  1. ↑ Celtics Lore | Celtics.com
  2. ↑ Boston Celtics Limited Partnership: Information and Much More from Answers.com
  3. ↑ http://www.celticstats.com/coach/index.html
  4. ↑ Boston Celtics (1946–Present)
  5. ↑ prosportstransactions.com
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