1947–48 St. Louis Bombers season

The 1947–48 BAA season was the Bombers' 2nd season in the BAA (which later became the NBA).^[1]

1947–48 St. Louis Bombers season
Division champions
Head coach	Ken Loeffler
Arena	St. Louis Arena
Results
Record	29–19 (.604)
Place	Division: 1st (Western)
Playoff finish	Lost in BAA Semifinals (eliminated 3-4)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Radio	KMOX
< 1946–47 1948–49 >

Draft

Main article: 1947 BAA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	7	Jack Underman	–	United States	Ohio State
–	–	Jack Knopf	–	United States	Louisville
–	–	Bob Kurland	–	United States	Oklahoma State
–	–	Paul Napolitano	G/F	United States	San Francisco
–	–	Jim Pollard	F/C	United States	Stanford
–	–	Bill Strannigan	–	United States	Wyoming
–	–	Herb Wilkinson	–	United States	Iowa

Roster

St. Louis Bombers 1947–48 roster

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Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From F 9 John Abramovic 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1919-02-09 Salem International F/C 5 Bob Doll 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1919-08-10 Colorado G/F 3 Wyndol Gray 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-03-20 Harvard F/C 6 Grady Lewis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1917-03-25 Oklahoma G 7 Johnny Logan 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1921-01-01 Indiana F/C 14 Don Martin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1920-02-07 Central Missouri F 11 Ariel Maughan 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1923-04-26 Utah State G 9 Buddy O'Grady 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1920-01-19 Georgetown G 8 Don Putman 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1922-11-13 Denver C 4 Red Rocha 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1923-09-18 Oregon State C 6 Irv Rothenberg 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1921-12-31 LIU Brooklyn F/C 12 Giff Roux 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1923-06-28 Kansas SG 2, 10 Belus Smawley 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1918-03-20 Appalachian State

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

Regular season

Season standings

# Western Division v t e Team W L PCT GB 1 x-St. Louis Bombers 29 19 .604 – 2 x-Baltimore Bullets 28 20 .583 1 3 x-Chicago Stags 28 20 .583 1 4 x-Washington Capitols 28 20 .583 1

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	@ Chicago	70–80	Red Rocha (17)	0–1
2	November 15	@ New York	67–73	Red Rocha (26)	0–2
3	November 18	@ Boston	65–50	Logan, Smawley (14)	1–2
4	November 20	Providence	73–67	Red Rocha (16)	2–2
5	November 22	Washington	70–62	Belus Smawley (17)	3–2
6	November 26	@ Washington	64–83	Johnny Logan (16)	3–3
7	November 29	Baltimore	67–71	Red Rocha (24)	3–4
8	December 2	@ Providence	86–66	Don Putman (18)	4–4
9	December 4	@ Baltimore	65–51	Red Rocha (21)	5–4
10	December 8	@ New York	56–71	Red Rocha (14)	5–5
11	December 11	@ Philadelphia	74–69	Belus Smawley (21)	6–5
12	December 12	@ Chicago	85–75	Bob Doll (18)	7–5
13	December 18	@ Baltimore	67–74	Johnny Logan (16)	7–6
14	December 19	@ Boston	70–78	Grady Lewis (13)	7–7
15	December 20	@ Washington	55–52	Belus Smawley (14)	8–7
16	December 25	Washington	56–73	Bob Doll (17)	8–8
17	December 28	Baltimore	67–63	Bob Doll (23)	9–8
18	January 1	Boston	58–48	Johnny Logan (15)	10–8
19	January 4	Philadelphia	80–66	Red Rocha (15)	11–8
20	January 8	Washington	76–73	Don Putman (17)	12–8
21	January 11	Baltimore	69–54	Red Rocha (14)	13–8
22	January 15	New York	55–59	Red Rocha (11)	13–9
23	January 18	Providence	70–61	Johnny Logan (18)	14–9
24	January 20	@ Philadelphia	59–82	Don Putman (10)	14–10
25	January 21	@ Washington	74–81	Johnny Logan (19)	14–11
26	January 22	@ Baltimore	71–68	Doll, Logan, Smawley (11)	15–11
27	January 25	Boston	72–54	Johnny Logan (15)	16–11
28	January 27	@ Providence	94–61	Red Rocha (20)	17–11
29	January 29	Chicago	62–60	Johnny Logan (17)	18–11
30	January 31	Philadelphia	60–66	Bob Doll (17)	18–12
31	February 5	Chicago	71–77	Doll, Smawley (13)	18–13
32	February 7	Philadelphia	67–54	Don Putman (14)	19–13
33	February 11	@ Chicago	80–78	Irv Rothenberg (23)	20–13
34	February 12	Chicago	74–80	Irv Rothenberg (24)	20–14
35	February 15	Baltimore	69–63	Johnny Logan (22)	21–14
36	February 19	Providence	78–69	Red Rocha (20)	22–14
37	February 22	New York	80–71	Red Rocha (19)	23–14
38	February 26	Boston	94–92 (2OT)	Belus Smawley (23)	24–14
39	February 28	Washington	82–61	Logan, Rocha (18)	25–14
40	March 4	@ Baltimore	75–84	Belus Smawley (17)	25–15
41	March 5	@ Boston	68–71	Doll, Logan (14)	25–16
42	March 9	@ Providence	75–69	Red Rocha (19)	26–16
43	March 10	@ New York	82–73	Belus Smawley (20)	27–16
44	March 11	@ Philadelphia	74–92	Ariel Maughan (13)	27–17
45	March 13	@ Washington	69–86	Logan, Rocha, Smawley (13)	27–18
46	March 18	New York	80–91	Belus Smawley (20)	27–19
47	March 20	Chicago	75–63	Logan, Smawley (20)	28–19
48	March 21	@ Chicago	82–70	Red Rocha (19)	29–19

Playoffs

Semifinals

(W1) St. Louis Bombers vs. (E1) Philadelphia Warriors: Warriors win series 4-3

• Game 1 @ St. Louis (March 23): St. Louis 60, Philadelphia 58
• Game 2 @ St. Louis (March 25): Philadelphia 65, St. Louis 64
• Game 3 @ Philadelphia (March 27): Philadelphia 84, St. Louis 56
• Game 4 @ Philadelphia (March 30): St. Louis 56, Philadelphia 51
• Game 5 @ St. Louis (April 1): St. Louis 69, Philadelphia 62
• Game 6 @ Philadelphia (April 3): Philadelphia 84, St. Louis 61
• Game 7 @ St. Louis (April 6): Philadelphia 85, St. Louis 46