1949–50 Tri-Cities Blackhawks season

1949–50 Tri-Cities Blackhawks season
Head coach	Roger Potter (1–6) Red Auerbach (28–29)
Arena	Wharton Field House
Results
Record	29–35 (.453)
Place	Division: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finish	West Division Semifinals (eliminated 1–2)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	WQUA

The 1949–50 season was the Tri-Cities Blackhawks' fourth season of play and first in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Roster

1949–50 Tri-Cities Blackhawks roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From G/F Berce, Gene 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Marquette F/C 13 Chaney, John 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) LSU SF 11 Eddleman, Dike 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 189 lb (86 kg) Illinois F/C 12 Englund, Gene 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Wisconsin G/F 18 Gibson, Dee 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Western Kentucky G 8 Hassett, Billy 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Notre Dame C 20 Henry, Bill 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Rice PF 12 Kerris, Jack 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Loyola Chicago PG 4 Kirk, Walt 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 173 lb (78 kg) Illinois C 12 Mahnken, John 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Georgetown PF 15 Nichols, Jack 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) Washington F/C 9 Nostrand, George 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Wyoming C 15 Otten, Don 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Bowling Green F/C 20 Otten, Mac 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Bowling Green SG Owens, Red 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Baylor G/F 7 Perkins, Warren 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Tulane F/C 96 Ray, Don 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Western Kentucky G/F Schulz, Dick 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Wisconsin F/C 21 Todorovich, Mike 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Wyoming G/F 8 Vance, Gene 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Illinois G/F 6 Von Nieda, Whitey 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Penn State G 17 Wier, Murray 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Iowa

Head coach Red Auerbach Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

On October 29, the Blackhawks defeated the Denver Nuggets in the first ever NBA game following the NBL–BAA merger.^[1]

Season standings

Western Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Indianapolis Olympians	39	25	.609	–	24–7	12–16	3–2	26–9
x-Anderson Packers	37	27	.578	2	22–9	12–18	3–0	25–12
x-Tri-Cities Blackhawks	29	35	.453	10	20–13	6–20	3–2	20–17
x-Sheboygan Red Skins	22	40	.355	17	17–14	5–22	0–4	15–20
Waterloo Hawks	19	43	.306	20	16–15	2–22	1–6	13–22
Denver Nuggets	11	51	.177	28	9–16	1–25	1–10	8–27

Record vs. opponents

1949–50 NBA records
Team	AND	BAL	BOS	CHI	DEN	FWP	IND	MIN	NYK	PHI	ROC	SHE	STL	SYR	TCB	WAS	WAT
Anderson	—	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–3	1–1	2–5	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	5–2	2–0	3–4	7–2	1–1	7–0
Baltimore	1–1	—	2–4	1–5	1–1	3–3	1–1	1–5	1–5	3–3	3–3	2–0	3–3	0–2	0–2	2–4	1–1
Boston	2–0	4–2	—	0–6	1–1	2–4	1–1	1–5	1–5	3–3	0–6	1–1	2–4	0–2	0–2	3–3	1–1
Chicago	1–1	5–1	6–0	—	2–0	2–4	1–1	2–4	2–4	4–2	2–4	2–0	5–1	0–2	1–1	3–3	2–0
Denver	3–4	1–1	1–1	0–2	—	0–2	0–7	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	3–4	0–2	1–6	0–7	0–2	2–5
Fort Wayne	1–1	3–3	4–2	4–2	2–0	—	1–1	2–4	4–2	4–2	3–3	2–0	5–1	0–2	2–0	2–4	1–1
Indianapolis	5–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	7–0	1–1	—	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	5–2	1–1	2–7	4–3	1–1	5–2
Minneapolis	1–1	5–1	5–1	4–2	2–0	4–2	1–1	—	5–1	4–2	3–3	1–1	5–1	1–1	2–0	6–0	2–0
New York	1–1	5–1	5–1	4–2	2–0	2–4	1–1	1–5	—	1–5	1–5	1–1	4–2	0–2	1–1	5–1	2–0
Philadelphia	1–1	3–3	3–3	2–4	2–0	2–4	0–2	2–4	1–5	—	1–5	2–0	2–4	0–2	1–1	2–4	2–0
Rochester	2–0	3–3	6–0	4–2	2–0	3–3	1–1	3–3	5–1	5–1	—	1–1	5–1	1–1	2–0	6–0	2–0
Sheboygan	2–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	4–3	0–2	2–5	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	—	0–2	1–6	3–4	2–0	4–3
St. Louis	0–2	3–3	4–2	1–5	2–0	1–5	1–1	1–5	2–4	4–2	1–5	2–0	—	1–1	2–0	0–6	1–1
Syracuse	4–3	2–0	2–0	2–0	6–1	2–0	7–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	6–1	1–1	—	6–1	1–1	6–1
Tri-Cities	2–7	2–0	2–0	1–1	7–0	0–2	3–4	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	4–3	0–2	1–6	—	1–1	4–3
Washington	1–1	4–2	3–3	3–3	2–0	4–2	1–1	0–6	1–5	4–2	0–6	0–2	6–0	1–1	1–1	—	1–1
Waterloo	0–7	1–1	1–1	0–2	5–2	1–1	2–5	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	3–4	1–1	1–6	3–4	1–1	—

Game log

1949–50 Game log
#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	October 29	Denver	93–85	Billy Hassett (15)	1–0
2	November 1	St. Louis	51–72	Dwight Eddleman (14)	1–1
3	November 3	@ Anderson	87–110	Don Otten (22)	1–2
4	November 5	New York	72–76	Otten, Perkins (13)	1–3
5	November 9	Anderson	99–102 (3OT)	Otten, Owens (19)	1–4
6	November 12	Waterloo	99–89	Billy Hassett (15)	2–4
7	November 15	@ Rochester	81–93	Murray Wier (19)	2–5
8	November 17	@ Syracuse	76–79	Don Ray (16)	2–6
9	November 19	Fort Wayne	85–88	Billy Hassett (17)	2–7
10	November 20	@ Waterloo	62–75	John Mahnken (15)	2–8
11	November 22	Boston	80–72	Eddleman, Wier (19)	3–8
12	November 24	@ Sheboygan	113–120	Dwight Eddleman (23)	3–9
13	November 27	Indianapolis	104–88	Red Owens (21)	4–9
14	November 29	@ Indianapolis	76–92	Eddleman, Mahnken, Perkins, Ray (11)	4–10
15	November 30	St. Louis	82–89	Murray Wier (14)	4–11
16	December 1	@ Anderson	72–81	Mike Todorovich (17)	4–12
17	December 3	Boston	87–82	Don Otten (22)	5–12
18	December 7	Syracuse	69–77	Mike Todorovich (15)	5–13
19	December 11	Denver	98–66	Don Otten (19)	6–13
20	December 13	@ Indianapolis	63–84	Mike Todorovich (20)	6–14
21	December 14	Chicago	73–68	Don Otten (16)	7–14
22	December 15	@ Sheboygan	74–89	Dwight Eddleman (11)	7–15
23	December 18	Anderson	69–78	Don Ray (15)	7–16
24	December 21	Syracuse	84–96	Mahnken, Todorovich, Wier (12)	7–17
25	December 26	Minneapolis	76–78	Dwight Eddleman (14)	7–18
26	December 28	@ Fort Wayne	75–81 (OT)	Mike Todorovich (16)	7–19
27	December 30	@ Denver	85–83	Mike Todorovich (16)	8–19
28	January 1	Baltimore	79–66	Don Otten (15)	9–19
29	January 3	@ Indianapolis	76–78	Dwight Eddleman (18)	9–20
30	January 5	@ Syracuse	73–82	Mike Todorovich (17)	9–21
31	January 7	Sheboygan	98–86	Dwight Eddleman (24)	10–21
32	January 11	Anderson	88–81	Walt Kirk (19)	11–21
33	January 15	Waterloo	84–80	Don Otten (24)	12–21
34	January 18	Rochester	65–70	Don Otten (15)	12–22
35	January 19	@ Chicago	68–83	Mike Todorovich (16)	12–23
36	January 22	Denver	111–97	Murray Wier (17)	13–23
37	January 23	@ Anderson	99–96	Dwight Eddleman (22)	14–23
38	January 25	Washington	62–65	Don Otten (11)	14–24
39	January 28	Indianapolis	97–81	Mike Todorovich (18)	15–24
40	January 29	@ Waterloo	85–79	Mike Todorovich (25)	16–24
41	January 31	New York	83–77	Mike Todorovich (17)	17–24
42	February 1	Syracuse	91–83	Walt Kirk (16)	18–24
43	February 3	@ Philadelphia	72–83	Mike Todorovich (15)	18–25
44	February 5	Sheboygan	86–71	Mike Todorovich (22)	19–25
45	February 8	Philadelphia	99–94 (OT)	Warren Perkins (16)	20–25
46	February 9	@ Sheboygan	82–104	Gene Englund (22)	20–26
47	February 12	Indianapolis	89–95	Nichols, Todorovich (18)	20–27
48	February 15	@ Washington	85–81	Dwight Eddleman (27)	21–27
49	February 16	@ Syracuse	74–105	Dwight Eddleman (17)	21–28
50	February 18	@ Waterloo	116–93	Mike Todorovich (17)	22–28
51	February 19	@ Waterloo	63–84	Walt Kirk (13)	22–29
52	February 20	Baltimore	82–73	Gene Vance (14)	23–29
53	February 22	Anderson	81–90	Gene Englund (18)	23–30
54	February 25	Sheboygan	74–66	Dwight Eddleman (20)	24–30
55	February 26	@ Minneapolis	66–80	Murray Wier (13)	24–31
56	February 27	Denver	110–75	Dwight Eddleman (22)	25–31
57	March 1	Denver	97–80	Todorovich, Wier (17)	26–31
58	March 3	@ Indianapolis	96–83	Dwight Eddleman (23)	27–31
59	March 5	Denver	91–80	Jack Nichols (23)	28–31
60	March 6	@ Anderson	77–88	Gene Vance (13)	28–32
61	March 8	Anderson	67–82	Dwight Eddleman (15)	28–33
62	March 11	Sheboygan	97–79	Dwight Eddleman (19)	29–33
63	March 18	Syracuse	88–89 (OT)	Jack Nichols (19)	29–34
64	March 19	@ Waterloo	77–79	Jack Nichols (22)	29–35

Playoffs

1950 playoff game log
Division Semifinals: 1–2 (home: 1–0; road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points Location Series 1 March 16 @ Anderson L 77–89 Jack Nichols (27) Anderson High School Wigwam 0–1 2 March 18 Anderson W 76–75 Jack Nichols (23) Wharton Field House 1–1 3 March 24 @ Anderson L 71–94 Dike Eddleman (23) Anderson High School Wigwam 1–2
1950 schedule

References

1. Why The NBA Celebrates The Wrong Birthday