1947–48 Providence Steamrollers season

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.

1947–48 Providence Steamrollers season
Head coach	Albert Soar (2–17) Nat Hickey (4–25)
Arena	Rhode Island Auditorium
Results
Record	6–42 (.125)
Place	Division: 4th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	WPRO
< 1946–47 1948–49 >

Draft picks

Main article: 1947 BAA draft

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

Roster

Providence Steamrollers 1947–48 roster

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Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From G 3 Calverley, Ernie 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 145 lb (66 kg) 1924-01-30 Rhode Island C Downey, Bill 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1923-11-11 Marquette G/F 10 Ezersky, Johnny 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-3-21 Rhode Island F 16 Fitzgerald, Dick 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1920-11-18 Seton Hall F/C 11 Goodwin, Pop 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 1920-12-22 St. John's Prep (NY) G/F Gray, Wyndol 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-03-20 Harvard G/F 11 Hickey, Nat 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1902-01-30 F/C 9 Hubbard, Bob 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1922-12-27 Springfield G/F Janisch, John 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1920-03-15 Valparaiso F 13 Kelly, Jerry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 1918-06-14 Marshall G 4 Martin, Dino 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1920-05-25 Georgetown F 10 Mearns, George 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-04-18 Rhode Island F/C 9–14 Nostrand, George 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1924-01-25 Wyoming F 7–9 Robbins, Lee 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-02-11 Colorado G 5 Sailors, Ken 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1921-01-14 Wyoming G/F 12 Shannon, Earl 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1921-11-23 Rhode Island G Thurston, Mel 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1919-01-16 Canisius F/C Toomay, Jack 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1922-08-09 Pacific G 8 Wertis, Ray 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 1922-01-01 St. John's

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

Regular season

Season standings

# Eastern Division v t e Team W L PCT GB 1 x-Philadelphia Warriors 27 21 .563 – 2 x-New York Knicks 26 22 .542 1 3 x-Boston Celtics 20 28 .417 7 4 Providence Steamrollers 6 42 .125 21

Record vs. opponents

1947–48 BAA records
Team	BAL	BOS	CHI	NYK	PHI	PRO	STL	WAS
Baltimore	—	5–1	5–3	5–1	2–4	6–0	3–5	2–6
Boston	1–5	—	3–3	1–7	4–4	6–2	2–4	3–3
Chicago	3–5	3–3	—	6–0	4–2	4–2	3–5	5–3
New York	1–5	7–1	0–6	—	4–4	7–1	4–2	3–3
Philadelphia	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
St. Louis	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	@ Philadelphia	64–79	Ernie Calverley (13)	0–1
2	November 15	Philadelphia	78–80	Earl Shannon (19)	0–2
3	November 18	New York	69–87	Ernie Calverley (24)	0–3
4	November 20	@ St. Louis	67–73	Calverley, Goodwin (19)	0–4
5	November 22	Boston	62–65	Ernie Calverley (14)	0–5
6	November 27	Baltimore	61–76	Calverley, Martin (12)	0–6
7	November 29	Washington	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	Chicago	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

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

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

December 30, 1947

To Providence Steamrollers Wyndol Gray[2]

To St. Louis Bombers Ariel Maughan

Purchases

Player	Date purchased	Former team
Kenny Sailors[2]	December 1, 1947	Philadelphia Warriors

Sales

Player	Date sold	New team
Coulby Gunther[2]	November 9, 1947	St. Louis Bombers
Hank Beenders[2]	January 15, 1948	Philadelphia Warriors

Free agency

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	New team
Elmore Morgenthaler[2]	Waived	Birmingham Skyhawks (PBLA)

References

1. "1947-48 Providence Steamrollers Roster and Stats".
2. "1947–48 Providence Steamrollers Transactions". Basketball Reference. Retrieved September 19, 2017.