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American basketball player and coach From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paul Vincent "Polly" Birch (January 4, 1910 – June 5, 1982) was an American basketball player and coach. He coached the now-defunct Pittsburgh Ironmen of the Basketball Association of America (a forerunner of the National Basketball Association (NBA)) in 1946, and the NBA's Fort Wayne Pistons from 1951 through 1954. Birch had played for the Pistons during the early 1940s, and the Youngstown Bears of the NBL.[1]
Birch, circa 1938 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 10, 1910 Homestead, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | June 5, 1982 (aged 72) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Listed weight | 190 lb (86 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Homestead (Homestead, Pennsylvania) |
| College | Duquesne (1932–1935) |
| Playing career | 1938–1948 |
| Position | Guard |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1938–1939 | Pittsburgh Pirates |
| 1941–1945 | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| 1945–1946 | Youngstown Bears |
| 1946–1948 | Youngstown Cubs |
| As coach: | |
| 1945–1946 | Youngstown Bears |
| 1946–1947 | Pittsburgh Ironmen |
| 1951–1954 | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| GP | Games played | FGM | Field goals made |
| FTM | Free throws made | FTA | Free throws attempted |
| FT% | Free throw percentage | PTS | Total points |
| PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Denotes seasons in which Cable's team won an NBL championship |
| * | NBL leader |
Source[2]
| Year | Team | GP | FGM | FTM | PTS | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938–39† | Pittsburgh | 22 | 85 | 51 | 221 | 10.0 |
| 1941–42 | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 8 | 16 | 10 | 42 | 5.3 |
| 1942–43 | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 23* | 29 | 20 | 78 | 3.4 |
| 1943–44† | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 22* | 27 | 17 | 71 | 3.2 |
| 1944–45† | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 28 | 29 | 7 | 65 | 2.3 |
| 1945–46 | Youngstown | 31 | 35 | 26 | 96 | 3.1 |
| Career | 134 | 221 | 131 | 573 | 4.3 | |
| Year | Team | GP | FGM | FTM | PTS | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 6 | 15 | 7 | 37 | 6.2 |
| 1943 | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 6 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 1.3 |
| 1944† | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 5 | 7 | 2 | 16 | 3.2 |
| 1945† | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 2.3 |
| Career | 20 | 27 | 14 | 68 | 3.4 | |
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
Source[3]
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh | 1946–47 | 60 | 15 | 45 | .250 | 5th in Western | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Fort Wayne | 1951–52 | 66 | 29 | 37 | .439 | 4th in Western | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | Lost in Division semifinals |
| Fort Wayne | 1952–53 | 69 | 36 | 33 | .522 | 3rd in Western | 8 | 4 | 4 | .500 | Lost in Division finals |
| Fort Wayne | 1953–54 | 72 | 40 | 32 | .556 | 3rd in Western | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | Lost in Division round-robin |
| Career | 267 | 120 | 147 | .449 | 14 | 4 | 10 | .286 | |||
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