1938–39 Akron Firestone Non-Skids season

1938–39 Akron Firestone Non-Skids season
NBL champions
Division champions
Head coachPaul Sheeks
ArenaFirestone Clubhouse
Results
Record24–3 (.889)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishDefeated Oshkosh All-Stars in NBL Championship, 3–2

The 1938–39 Akron Firestone Non-Skids season was the Non-Skids' second year in the United States' National Basketball League (NBL), which was also the second year the league existed.[1] However, if one were to include their previous seasons of play in both precursors of sorts to the NBL in the National Professional Basketball League and the Midwest Basketball Conference alongside the couple of independent seasons of play they had before officially entering the NBL, this would officially be their seventh season of play instead. Eight teams competed in the NBL, comprising four teams each in the Eastern and Western Divisions.[2] The Non-Skids were one of two teams from Akron, Ohio in the league, the other being the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots.[1]

The Non-Skids played their home games at the Firestone Clubhouse.[3] They finished the season with a league best 24–3 record and won the Eastern Division.[2] While their first loss as a team would happen against the Kingston Colonials from the rivaling American Basketball League some time in January 1938,[4] the Firestone Non-Skids would only lose three total NBL games on February 15 against their cityside rivals in the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots (as the home team), March 4 on the road against the Oshkosh All-Stars, and March 8 at home against the Cleveland White Horses. (As such, if one were to include the exhibition games the Firestone Non-Skids played before playing their championship round matches against the Oshkosh All-Stars, their official record by that point in time when combining the NBL's scheduled games with the exhibition games they played would be 44–4 instead of 24–3.[5]) Despite not being able to complete a full 28 games for their NBL season due to a scheduled home match against the Pittsburgh Pirates NBL team being cancelled, they then went on to win the league's championship series match-up against the Western Division's Oshkosh All-Stars three games to two in a best-of-five series, with their home championship games being played at the Goodyear Hall instead of their typical home venue due to it being double the capacity of their home venue at the Firestone headquarters of theirs.[2][6]

Due in part to the number of NBL scheduled games this season and the amount of games they lost this season (with them winning their first 17 straight games in a row before losing to the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots and then losing twice in a row to the Oshkosh All-Stars and Cleveland White Horses), this Akron Firestone Non-Skids roster could make a solid case for being named the best NBL roster of all-time throughout the league's 12-year history, especially since they had the best overall winning percentage with a .889 total for NBL teams in their NBL schedules (not including their exhibition games won for a 20–1 record there) this season.

Head coach Paul Sheeks won the league's Coach of the Year Award.[2] Players Jerry Bush and Soup Cable earned First Team All-NBL honors, while John Moir and Jack Ozburn earned Second Team All-NBL honors.[2]

Roster

1938–39 Akron Firestone Non-Skids roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
G/F Al Bonniwell 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1911–10-06 Dartmouth
F/C Jerry Bush 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1914–09–06 St. John's
G Soup Cable 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1913–04–04 West High School
G/F Mally Johnson 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1908–02–04 NC State
F Ted Migdal 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 140 lb (64 kg) 1918–02–14 Miami (OH)
F John Moir 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 1915–05–22 Notre Dame
C Paul Nowak 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1914–03–14 Notre Dame
G/F Jack Ozburn 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1913–01–04 Monmouth (IL)
F/C Glenn Roberts 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 1912–10–25 Emory & Henry
C Slim Shoun 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1904–10–04 Carson–Newman
G Don Smith 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1910–10–18 Pittsburgh
F/C Irving Terjesen 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1915–03–04 NYU
G Paul Tobin 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1909–11–23 West High School
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Note: Paul Nowak and Don Smith were not on the playoffs roster.

Regular season

Season standings

Pos. Eastern Division Wins Losses Win %
1 Akron Firestone Non-Skids 24 3 .889
T–2 Akron Goodyear Wingfoots 14 14 .500
Warren Penns /
Cleveland White Horses‡		 14 14 .500
4 Pittsburgh Pirates 13 14 .481
‡ Warren relocated to Cleveland during the season and assumed Warren's record in the standings.
Warren's record was 9–10 and Cleveland's record was 5–4.

NBL Schedule

Not to be confused with exhibition or other non-NBL scheduled games that did not count towards the official NBL record for the Akron Firestone Non-Skids this season. The Akron Firestone Non-Skids would notably start their season out with a 17-game winning streak (in a 28-game regular season) before losing their first game against their inner city works team rivals in the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots on February 15, 1939. The Firestone Non-Skids would only lose two more times in the NBL's season (being in a back-to-back period to start out March against the Cleveland White Horses and the Oshkosh All-Stars) before finishing with the best record in the NBL this season. A 28th game was intended to have been played between the Firestone Non-Skids and the Indianapolis Kautskys (with that game being intended to be a home game for this Akron squad[7]), but it was delayed and eventually cancelled due to weather issues in Akron, Ohio, with that game not affecting the final standings in a significant manner this season.

Reference:[8]

Playoffs

NBL Championship

(E1) Akron Firestone Non-Skids vs. (W1) Oshkosh All-Stars: Akron wins series 3–2

  • Game 1: March 14, 1939 @ Akron: Akron 50, Oshkosh 38
  • Game 2: March 15, 1939 @ Akron: Oshkosh 38, Akron 36
  • Game 3: March 17, 1939 @ Oshkosh: Akron 40, Oshkosh 29
  • Game 4: March 18, 1939 @ Oshkosh: Oshkosh 49, Akron 37
  • Game 5: March 20, 1939 @ Oshkosh: Akron 37, Oshkosh 30

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ a b "NBL Season Index". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e "1938–39 NBL Season Summary". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  3. ^ "Akron Firestone Non-Skids → 1938–1939". Pro Basketball Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  4. ^ Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4006-1., p. 60
  5. ^ Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4006-1., p. 63
  6. ^ Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4006-1., pp. 63–64
  7. ^ Bradley, Robert; Grasso, John (2003). Total Basketball: The Ultimate Basketball Encyclopedia. SPORT Media Publishing, Inc. ISBN 1-894963-01-6., pp. 420–421
  8. ^ "1938-39 NBL Game-by-Game Results - apbr.org". www.apbr.org.
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