1948–49 Fort Wayne Pistons season

The 1948–49 BAA season was the first season for the Fort Wayne Pistons in the NBA/BAA and eighth season as a franchise.

1948–49 Fort Wayne Pistons season
Head coach	Carl Bennett (0–6) Curly Armstrong (22–32)
Arena	North Side High School Gym
Results
Record	22–38 (.367)
Place	Division: 5th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Despite their NBL success which included four championship series births and two titles the team wasn't able to translate that success to the new league and missed the playoffs for the first time in team history. The team was led by center John Mahnken (9.5 ppg) and forward Blackie Towery (7.5 ppg).

Draft picks

Main article: 1948 BAA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	8	Ward Williams	F	United States	Indiana

Roster

1948–49 Fort Wayne Pistons roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From G/F 31 Armstrong, Curly 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1918-11-01 Indiana F/C 29 B. Black, Charles 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1921-06-15 Kansas PF Crocker, Dillard 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1925-01-19 Western Michigan G/F 35 Hale, Bruce 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1918-08-30 Santa Clara G/F 36 Hamilton, Ralph 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1921-06-10 Indiana C 30 Henry, Bill 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1924-12-27 Rice F/C 32 Kinney, Bob 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1920-09-16 Rice PG 35 Kirk, Walt 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 173 lb (78 kg) 1924-09-03 Illinois G/F 26 Klier, Leo 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1923-05-21 Notre Dame C 24 Mahnken, John 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1922-06-16 Georgetown F/C 29 Mogus, Leo 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1921-04-13 Youngstown State G/F 23 Niemiera, Richie 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1921-05-26 Notre Dame F/C 30 Pelkington, Jake 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1916-01-03 Manhattan F/C Pugh, Roy 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1922-10-16 SMU G/F 37 Smiley, Jack 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1922-12-22 Illinois G/F 20 Tough, Bob 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1920-08-28 St. John's F/C 24 Towery, Blackie 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1920-06-20 Western Kentucky G/F 28 Triptow, Dick 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1922-11-03 DePaul F 25 Williams, Ward 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1923-06-26 Indiana

Head coach Curly Armstrong Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

Season standings

#	Western Division
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	x-Rochester Royals	45	15	.750	–
2	x-Minneapolis Lakers	44	16	.733	1
3	x-Chicago Stags	38	22	.633	7
4	x-St. Louis Bombers	29	31	.483	16
5	Fort Wayne Pistons	22	38	.367	23
6	Indianapolis Jets	18	42	.300	27

Record vs. opponents

1948–49 BAA records
Team	BAL	BOS	CHI	FWP	IND	MIN	NYK	PHI	PRO	ROC	STL	WAS
Baltimore	—	4–2	1–4	4–1	5–0	1–4	2–4	4–2	2–4	1–4	2–3	3–3
Boston	2–4	—	0–5	4–1	3–2	2–3	3–3	3–3	3–3	1–4	3–2	1–5
Chicago	4–1	5–0	—	4–2	5–1	2–4	3–2	2–3	5–0	2–4	3–3	3–2
Fort Wayne	1–4	1–4	2–4	—	3–3	2–4	1–4	5–0	4–1	0–6	1–4	2–3
Indianapolis	0–5	2–3	1-5	3–3	—	0–6	1–4	1–4	4–1	1–5	3–3	2–3
Minneapolis	4–1	3–2	4–2	4–2	6–0	—	4–1	4–1	5–0	4–2	4–2	2–3
New York	4–2	3–3	2–3	4–1	4–1	1–4	—	2–4	5–1	1–4	3–2	2–3
Philadelphia	2–4	3–3	3–2	0–5	4–1	1–4	4–2	—	6–0	0–5	3–2	2–4
Providence	4–2	3–3	0–5	1–4	1–4	0–5	1–5	0–6	—	2–3	0–5	0–6
Rochester	4–1	4–1	4–2	6–0	5–1	2–4	4–1	5–0	3–2	—	6–0	2–3
St. Louis	3–2	2–3	3–3	4–1	3–3	2–4	2–3	2–3	5–0	0–6	—	2–3
Washington	3–3	5–1	2–3	3–2	3–2	3–2	3–2	4–2	6–0	3–2	3–2	—

Game log

#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	November 3	New York	76–80	Jake Pelkington (15)	0–1
2	November 6	@ St. Louis	55–65	Dick Triptow (12)	0–2
3	November 7	Baltimore	77–78	Leo Klier (16)	0–3
4	November 11	@ Providence	87–90	Leo Klier (16)	0–4
5	November 12	@ Boston	75–84	Jack Smiley (21)	0–5
6	November 13	@ Washington	71–80	Carlisle Towery (15)	0–6
7	November 14	Indianapolis	79–73	Walt Kirk (18)	1–6
8	November 17	Philadelphia	80–72	Carlisle Towery (20)	2–6
9	November 21	Chicago	69–70	Bob Tough (14)	2–7
10	November 23	@ Philadelphia	90–80	Pelkington, Tough (16)	3–7
11	November 25	@ Baltimore	64–69	Tough, Towery (14)	3–8
12	November 27	@ New York	70–80	Pelkington, Smiley (12)	3–9
13	November 28	Boston	80–74	Richie Niemiera (19)	4–9
14	November 30	@ Indianapolis	77–62	Dick Triptow (13)	5–9
15	December 1	Minneapolis	84–74	Bob Tough (18)	6–9
16	December 4	@ St. Louis	62–76	Bob Kinney (12)	6–10
17	December 5	Chicago	79–88	Leo Klier (20)	6–11
18	December 8	St. Louis	70–60	Leo Klier (25)	7–11
19	December 10	@ Chicago	70–78	Leo Klier (18)	7–12
20	December 12	New York	78–89	Leo Mogus (22)	7–13
21	December 16	@ Providence	76–61	Klier, Mogus (15)	8–13
22	December 18	@ Rochester	64–84	Leo Mogus (15)	8–14
23	December 19	Rochester	78–83 (OT)	Dick Triptow (13)	8–15
24	December 23	@ Indianapolis	60–71	Curly Armstrong (11)	8–16
25	December 25	@ Washington	74–88	John Mahnken (20)	8–17
26	December 26	Washington	91–73	John Mahnken (16)	9–17
27	January 1	@ Minneapolis	72–92	Klier, Mahnken (16)	9–18
28	January 2	Boston	69–90	Bob Tough (17)	9–19
29	January 8	@ Philadelphia	73–67	John Mahnken (20)	10–19
30	January 9	Indianapolis	80–78	Curly Armstrong (20)	11–19
31	January 15	@ Rochester	62–73	John Mahnken (12)	11–20
32	January 16	Providence	76–56	Bruce Hale (15)	12–20
33	January 19	@ Chicago	104–96 (2OT)	John Mahnken (14)	13–20
34	January 20	@ Minneapolis	65–83	Curly Armstrong (10)	13–21
35	January 23	Rochester	80–81 (OT)	John Mahnken (17)	13–22
36	January 26	Philadelphia	88–80	Leo Mogus (22)	14–22
37	January 28	@ Indianapolis	63–77	Jack Smiley (16)	14–23
38	January 29	@ St. Louis	73–86	Bruce Hale (20)	14–24
39	January 30	Baltimore	78–93	Bruce Hale (26)	14–25
40	February 2	Minneapolis	79–82 (OT)	Curly Armstrong (26)	14–26
41	February 5	@ Rochester	61–80	Hale, Mahnken (11)	14–27
42	February 6	Washington	82–72	Bruce Hale (15)	15–27
43	February 8	vs Philadelphia	89–87	Bill Henry (20)	16–27
44	February 9	Indianapolis	67–70	Bill Henry (17)	16–28
45	February 12	@ New York	58–85	Bruce Hale (12)	16–29
46	February 13	New York	82–73	Richie Niemiera (16)	17–29
47	February 15	@ Chicago	69–83	Curly Armstrong (13)	17–30
48	February 16	Baltimore	84–68	Bill Henry (20)	18–30
49	February 20	St. Louis	64–70	Bruce Hale (18)	18–31
50	February 24	@ Minneapolis	73–77	John Mahnken (21)	18–32
51	February 27	Minneapolis	74–50	Dick Triptow (17)	19–32
52	March 4	@ Boston	70–76	Black, Triptow (12)	19–33
53	March 6	Rochester	66–78	Bill Henry (16)	19–34
54	March 8	vs Boston	60–63	Dick Triptow (11)	19–35
55	March 9	Providence	84–80	Bruce Hale (18)	20–35
56	March 12	@ Washington	60–87	Bruce Hale (10)	20–36
57	March 13	Chicago	81–78	Bruce Hale (16)	21–36
58	March 17	vs Providence	74–72	Bruce Hale (12)	22–36
59	March 19	@ Baltimore	79–99	Bill Henry (17)	22–37
60	March 20	St. Louis	82–87	Bill Henry (16)	22–38