1947–48 Providence Steamrollers season explained

Team:	Providence Steamrollers
League:	BAA
End Year:	1948
Wins:	6
Losses:	42
Division Place:	4th
Division:	Eastern
Coach:	Albert Soar (2–17) Nat Hickey (4–25)
Arena:	Rhode Island Auditorium
Radio:	WPRO
Playoffs:	Did not qualify
Bbr Team:	PRO

The 1947–48 Providence Steamrollers season was the second season of the Providence Steamrollers.^[1] This season is also infamous for the lowest number of wins by a team in BAA/NBA history with only six total wins recorded by the Steamrollers throughout this entire season. The only other NBA teams to end their seasons with single-digit victories as of 2023 are the 1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers, the 1998–99 Vancouver Grizzlies, the 1998–99 Los Angeles Clippers, and the 2011–12 Charlotte Bobcats, who hold the worst win percentage in NBA history. This season is also noteworthy for featuring the oldest player in BAA/NBA history, with head coach Nat Hickey suiting up for two games with the Steamrollers near his 46th birthday, making him the oldest player in league history at 45 years, 363 days old. That record still stands as of 2024.

Draft picks

See main article: article and 1947 BAA draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	4		–		Connecticut
–	–	Joe Barry	–	–	–
–	–	Dick Furey	–		St. Thomas
2	14		F/C		Springfield
–	–	Bob Joyce	–		Bates
–	–	Roy Lipscomb	–		St. Mary's
–	–	John Mills	–		Hofstra
–	–	Al Nichols	–		Rhode Island

Regular season

Record vs. opponents

1947–48 BAA records
width=100	Team	BAL	BOS	CHI	NYK	PHI	PRO	STL	WAS
Baltimore	—	5–1	5–3	5–1	2–4	6–0	3–5	2–6
	1–5	—	3–3	1–7	4–4	6–2	2–4	3–3
	3–5	3–3	—	6–0	4–2	4–2	3–5	5–3
	1–5	7–1	0–6	—	4–4	7–1	4–2	3–3
	4–2	4–4	2-4	1–7	—	8–0	3–3	2–4
Providence	0–6	2–6	2–4	1–7	0–8	—	0–6	1–5
	5–3	4–2	5–3	2–4	3–3	6–0	—	4–4
Washington	6–2	3–3	3–5	3–3	4–2	5–1	4–4	—

Game log

	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	November 13		64–79	Ernie Calverley (13)	0–1
2	November 15	Philadelphia	78–80	Earl Shannon (19)	0–2
3	November 18		69–87	Ernie Calverley (24)	0–3
4	November 20		67–73	Calverley, Goodwin (19)	0–4
5	November 22		62–65	Ernie Calverley (14)	0–5
6	November 27		61–76	Calverley, Martin (12)	0–6
7	November 29		85–78	Ernie Calverley (21)	1–6
8	December 2	St. Louis	66–86	Ariel Maughan (15)	1–7
9	December 5	@ Boston	69–73	Ernie Calverley (23)	1–8
10	December 6	New York	85–114	Ken Sailors (22)	1–9
11	December 9	@ Philadelphia	74–78	Ken Sailors (22)	1–10
12	December 13	Washington	72–88	Ernie Calverley (18)	1–11
13	December 17	@ Boston	66–67	Ernie Calverley (23)	1–12
14	December 20	Philadelphia	74–80	Ken Sailors (20)	1–13
15	December 23	New York	66–58	Ernie Calverley (17)	2–13
16	December 25	@ New York	75–89	Ken Sailors (19)	2–14
17	December 26	@ Philadelphia	61–89	Earl Shannon (13)	2–15
18	December 27	Boston	63–74	George Nostrand (16)	2–16
19	December 30		73–85	Dino Martin (19)	2–17
20	January 3	Chicago	76–79	George Nostrand (28)	2–18
21	January 6	@ Baltimore	64–82	Ernie Calverley (18)	2–19
22	January 10	Boston	70–57	Johnny Ezersky (20)	3–19
23	January 15	Baltimore	78–98	Ken Sailors (20)	3–20
24	January 18	@ St. Louis	61–70	Johnny Ezersky (14)	3–21
25	January 22	@ Chicago	56–50	George Nostrand (16)	4–21
26	January 24	@ Washington	60–69	Bob Hubbard (17)	4–22
27	January 27	St. Louis	61–94	George Nostrand (13)	4–23
28	January 28	@ New York	73–75	George Nostrand (27)	4–24
29	January 30	@ Boston	79–69	Ken Sailors (17)	5–24
30	January 31	Baltimore	62–68	Nostrand, Sailors (16)	5–25
31	February 3	New York	62–78	Lee Robbins (17)	5–26
32	February 4	@ New York	69–108	Johnny Ezersky (18)	5–27
33	February 5	@ Baltimore	74–100	Ken Sailors (21)	5–28
34	February 7	@ Washington	64–86	Johnny Ezersky (16)	5–29
35	February 10	Washington	60–79	George Nostrand (14)	5–30
36	February 11	@ New York	63–86	Bob Hubbard (14)	5–31
37	February 13	@ Boston	73–79	Ernie Calverley (20)	5–32
38	February 15	@ Chicago	85–79	Mel Thurston (21)	6–32
39	February 19	@ St. Louis	69–78	Jack Toomay (14)	6–33
40	February 21	Chicago	73–92	Ernie Calverley (20)	6–34
41	February 28	Philadelphia	82–83	Ken Sailors (19)	6–35
42	March 7	@ Chicago	81–89	Ken Sailors (19)	6–36
43	March 9	St. Louis	69–75	Ernie Calverley (20)	6–37
44	March 13	Boston	64–86	Ken Sailors (16)	6–38
45	March 16	Philadelphia	78–100	Jack Toomay (15)	6–39
46	March 17	@ Washington	67–82	Jack Toomay (18)	6–40
47	March 18	@ Philadelphia	57–88	Jack Toomay (17)	6–41
48	March 20	@ Baltimore	58–75	Jack Toomay (21)	6–42

Player statistics

Player	GP	FG%	FT%	APG	PPG
Hank Beenders	21	.265	.638	.3	6.8
Ernie Calverley	47	.271	.665	2.5	11.9
Bill Downey	3	.000	.000	.0	.0
Johnny Ezersky	25	.253	.606	.6	10.1
Dick Fitzgerald	1	.000	.000	.0	.0
Pop Goodwin	24	.232	.704	.3	3.8
Wyndol Gray	1	.000	.000	.0	0.0
Nat Hickey	2	.000	.667	.0	1.0
Bob Hubbard	28	.291	.692	.4	5.4
John Janisch	7	.302	.571	.3	4.9
Jerry Kelly	3	.300	.000	.0	2.0
Dino Martin	32	.238	.450	.4	3.2
Ariel Maughan	14	.242	.688	.1	3.9
George Mearns	24	.200	.484	.4	2.5
George Nostrand	45	.297	.540	.7	11.6
Lee Robins	31	.277	.548	.2	6.3
Kenny Sailors	41	.300	.692	1.4	12.7
Earl Shannon	45	.262	.634	1.1	8.0
Mel Thurston	14	.283	.500	0.3	5.6
Jack Toomay	14	.361	.690	0.4	10.9
Ray Wertis	7	.181	.429	0.9	4.6

Transactions

Trades

	To Providence Steamrollers Wyndol Gray^[2]	To St. Louis Bombers Ariel Maughan

Sales

Player	Date sold	New team
Coulby Gunther	November 9, 1947	St. Louis Bombers
Hank Beenders	January 15, 1948	Philadelphia Warriors

Free agency

Subtractions

Notes and References

Web site: 1947-48 Providence Steamrollers Roster and Stats.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PRO/1948_transactions.html "1947–48 Providence Steamrollers Transactions"