1946–47 Syracuse Nationals season

The 1946–47 Syracuse Nationals season was the first season of the franchise when they existed. They competed in the National Basketball League during their first three seasons of existence. The Nationals' first season of existence was also the NBL's first official season where they actually implemented a drafting system similar to what the future rivaling Basketball Association of America (and later merging partner to become the National Basketball Association) had for the eventual NBA draft system a year later following the conclusion of their inaugural league season for the purpose of controlled player salaries and limiting the idea of outbidding other players outside of their own 12-player teams at hand (with the NBL having a budget of $6,000 this season), as well as implementing key players to signing binding contracts as soon as they could and the NBL looking to have full-time referees on display.^[1] Team owner Danny Biasone originally created the franchise by accident since he only really wanted the Rochester Royals to play an exhibition match of sorts against a local team in Syracuse, New York that Biasone would sponsor against the team in nearby Rochester, but the Royals' team owner, Les Harrison, had no interest in the idea, no matter the guarantee at the time, which led to Biasone complaining to the NBL's offices held in Chicago, Illinois before they offered him a spot in the NBL for a team out in Syracuse, much to his surprise and amazement.^[2]

In May 1946, Danny Biasone and George Mingin deposited $1,000 with the National Basketball League (NBL) in hopes of securing a franchise for Syracuse. Biasone said a professional team would be formed with home games played at the West Jefferson Street Armory, even if the NBL declined to grant a franchise. In the absence of a league affiliation, the team would play as an independent.^[3]

Syracuse was one of five cities competing for a single new NBL franchise. The other cities that had applied were St. Louis, Milwaukee, Toledo and Anderson, Indiana. The NBL sent a representative to the city to assess the fiscal responsibility of the owners, their ability to assemble a quality team, the proposed playing facilities and the local appetite for professional basketball. The representative told a local reporter on June 24, that he planned to recommend Syracuse for NBL expansion. The Rochester Royals, defending league champions, were in favor of an NBL team in Syracuse to create a regional rivalry.^[4]

The NBL had planned to expand from eight teams to 12 for the 1946–47 season. Prior to the July 1, 1946 league meeting, the NBL had reactivated the Pittsburgh Raiders, which had suspended operations after the 1944–45 season, and granted expansion franchises to the Buffalo Bisons and Detroit Gems. It was, therefore, anticipated that only one new franchise would be granted at the meeting. The Anderson Duffey Packers were awarded the new franchise. However, the Raiders and the Cleveland Allmen Transfers franchises were no longer considered viable and offered to the prospective owners from Syracuse and Toledo. Danny Biasone and George Mingin purchased the Cleveland franchise for a price in excess of $2,500, and the Toledo group purchased the Pittsburgh franchise. Biasone and Mingin did not acquire the rights to any of Cleveland's players in the transaction, effectively making all the 1945–46 Allmen Transfers players free agents. That being said, despite the fact that the original Syracuse Nationals franchise more or less bought out the Cleveland Allmen Transfers franchise to make it its own franchise, the Nationals would not claim the history of the Allmen Transfers (nor the complex history relating to them that also involves (potential) ties to the Cleveland Chase Brassmen, Chicago Studebaker Flyers, and Chicago Bruins) as well, with their history differing from the expansion Detroit Gems franchise to the future Minneapolis Lakers (now Los Angeles Lakers) franchise in terms of contexts there.^[5] Col. William A. Barry of the New York Guard, who managed the West Jefferson Street Armory, said that should the facility not be available for a Syracuse home game, the East Genesee Street Armory could serve as a backup.^[6]

Danny Biasone was the team's first president, and George Mingin its first general manager.^[7] Long Island athletic director Lou Zara left his longtime post to become the team's business manager and public relations director.^[8] The team announced that it would play a 44-game league schedule with 22 of those games at home. The owners expected the team to play about eight exhibition games at home and 60 on the road or on neutral floors, resulting in about 110 games to be played within a span of 5+1⁄2 months. It was planned that most home games would be played on Sunday evenings with the remainder played on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Western NBL teams would be scheduled to visit Syracuse and Rochester on Sundays and Tuesdays and play both teams on the same trip.^[9]

On August 7, 1946, Syracuse announced former professional basketball player and head coach Bennie Borgmann had been hired as the team's first head coach. At the time, Borgmann was the manager of the Rochester Red Wings minor league baseball team. He had a previous connection to the local area, having served as the manager of the Syracuse Chiefs minor league baseball team in 1941.^[10] Following the 1946 baseball season, Borgmann resigned his position as Red Wings manager, remaining with the St. Louis Cardinals organization as a scout.^[11]

By August 1946, newspapers were referring to the team as the Nationals^[12] or, alternatively, as the Nats.^[13]

The Nationals started preseason drills on October 21, with 30 players reporting.^[14]

After the NBL season schedule had been finalized, the New York Guard issued a ruling prohibiting the use of any armory in the state for competitive sports on Sundays. Ten of the Nationals' 22 home games had been scheduled for Sunday evenings. The Nationals' appeal for an exception to the ruling was denied. The Nationals contacted opponents slated to play at the Armory on Sundays to begin the process of rescheduling the games.^[15] In the aftermath, Syracuse mayor Frank Costello announced a committee would be formed for the purpose of finding a way to make the article available for a wide variety of sporting events in the city.^[16]

The Nationals and Toledo Jeeps met in the NBL's season opener at the University of Toledo's Field House on November 7, 1946. Leading by a point with 10 minutes to play, the Jeeps closed the game on a 14–1 run to earn a 57–43 victory. Bob Nugent scored 11 points to lead Syracuse.^[17]

The Nationals took the Armory floor for their home opener against the Youngstown Bears with an 0–2 record. After falling behind be seven points at halftime, Syracuse rallied in the second half for a 67–64 victory. Johnny Gee scored 17 points, 10 in the second half, to lead the Nationals.^[18]

Lost Eastern Division Opening Round (Rochester Royals) 3-1

For the first and only time in franchise history, the Syracuse Nationals would participate in the World Professional Basketball Tournament in Chicago, which saw the 1947 event being held on April 7–11, 1947 and consisted of 14 teams, most of which was an even mixture of independently ran teams and teams from the National Basketball League alongside the rivaling American Basketball League's defending champion Baltimore Bullets and the Portland Indians from the ultimately short-lived Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League. In the first round, the Nationals went up against the independently ran Midland Dow Chemicals, which involved players that were working at the Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan (being primarily led by future NBL/NBA player Paul Cloyd, who was named a member of the All-Tournament Second Team this year). While the Nationals appeared to be the better team on the surface (what with them being a playoff squad despite their losing record), the Midland team proved to be the better poised and more prepared team by comparison, as the Dow Chemicals ended up crushing the Nationals 71–39 in what would become Syracuse's only game played in that event. As for Midland, they would end up losing their quarterfinal round game to the Toledo Jeeps, who ended up making it to the WPBT championship match by upsetting the three-time defending WPBT champion Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in the semifinal round before losing it all to the Indianapolis Kautskys, who had previously never won a single WPBT match before this year's event, though Julie Rivlin of the Jeeps would be named the MVP of the tournament despite not winning the championship in the process of it all.

• Lost first round (39–71) to the Midland Dow Chemicals