1946–47 Chicago American Gears season

1946–47 Chicago American Gears season
NBL champions
Head coachDavey Banks (3–3)
Harry Foote (interim) &
Bruce Hale (interim player-coach; 4–7)
Bobby McDermott (player-coach; 19–7)
Owner(s)Maurice White
American Gear & Manufacturing Company
ArenaInternational Amphitheatre
Results
Record26–18 (.591)
PlaceDivision: T–3rd (tied with Sheboygan Red Skins) (Western)
Playoff finishDefeated Rochester Royals in NBL Championship, 3–1

The 1946–47 Chicago American Gears season was the American Gears' third and final year in the United States' National Basketball League (NBL), which was also the tenth year the league existed.[1] However, if you include the (at least) one previous season where they competed in the Amateur Athletic Union before making the jump into the NBL, this would actually be their fourth and final full season of play instead.[2][3][4][5][6] This also was the NBL's first official season where they actually implemented a drafting system similar to what the future rivaling Basketball Association of America (and later merging partner to become the National Basketball Association) had for the eventual NBA draft system a year later following the conclusion of their inaugural league season for the purpose of controlled player salaries and limiting the idea of outbidding other players outside of their own 12-player teams at hand (with the NBL having a budget of $6,000 this season), as well as implementing key players to signing binding contracts as soon as they could and the NBL looking to have full-time referees on display.[7] Twelve teams competed in the NBL in 1946–47, comprising six teams in both the Eastern and Western Divisions.[8]

Chicago played their home games at the International Amphitheatre,[9] which would have a significantly larger crowd capacity at hand than the venue they used for the previous season, the Cicero Stadium.[10][11] Despite finishing tied for third place in the Western Division, the American Gears made a surprise playoffs run by winning the first series three games to two (3–2) over the Indianapolis Kautskys, followed by a 2–0 sweep of Oshkosh All-Stars in the semifinals.[8] They then went on to win their first and only NBL championship 3–1 over Eastern Division champion Rochester Royals.[8] Weirdly enough, despite the American Gears being considered the champions of the 1947 NBL Playoffs, the NBL's commissioner of the time period, Ward Lambert, considered the American Gears to only be the champions of the NBL Playoffs that season instead of the overall champions of the league since he inexplicably considered the team with the best overall record that season (the Rochester Royals) to be the official league champions that season.[12] That decision would help play into the team's final decision into leaving the NBL in order to create their own, short-lived rivaling professional league called the Professional Basketball League of America for their short, final following season of play.

When combining their NBL scheduled regular season and playoff games with the exhibition games they had this season, the Chicago American Gears would have a 47–31 (or 47–32 if an NBL game against the Rochester Royals that Chicago had protested to later was considered a no contest match actually counted) record.

Player-coach Bobby McDermott (First Team), George Mikan (First), and Bob Calihan (Second) all earned All-NBL honors for this season.[8]

Roster

1946–47 Chicago American Gears roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
G/F Price Brookfield 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1920–05–11 Iowa State
G/F Bob Calihan 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1918–08–02 Detroit Mercy
F/C Bob Cotton 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1920–12–29 Texas Wesleyan
F/C Bruce Hale 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1918–08–30 Santa Clara
G Bobby McDermott 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1914–01–07 Flushing HS (NY)
G/F Bill McDonald 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1916–11–05 Marquette
C George Mikan 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1924–06–18 DePaul
F/C Max Morris 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1925–03–13 Northwestern
F/C Irv Noren 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1924–11–29 Pasadena CC
G/F Stan Patrick 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1922–05–05 Illinois
F/C George Ratkovicz 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1922–11–13 Robert E. Lindblom Technical HS (NY)
G/F Les Rothman 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1926–08–12 LIU Brooklyn
F/C Art Stoefen 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1914–08–29 Stanford
F/C Bob Synnott 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1912–09–27 Theodore Roosevelt HS (NY)
G Stan Szukala 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1918–06–12 DePaul
G/F Dick Triptow 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1922–11–03 DePaul
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Note: Bob Cotton, Bill McDonald, Irv Noren, Les Rothman, and Bob Synnott were not on the playoffs roster. In addition to them, Charlie Butler, Jim Cominsky, and George Mikan's older brother, Joe Mikan, would only play for the team during this season's preseason period, with Bill McDonald also being cut from the team after their preseason period of play concluded, though McDonald managed to return to the team at some point in 1946 for the regular season only.[13]

Regular season

Season standings

Pos. Western Division Wins Losses Win %
1 Oshkosh All-Stars 28 16 .636
2 Indianapolis Kautskys 27 17 .614
T–3 Chicago American Gears 26 18 .591
Sheboygan Red Skins 26 18 .591
5 Anderson Duffey Packers 24 20 .545
6 Detroit Gems 4 40 .091

Exhibition Games

Reference: Dick Triptow's The Dynasty That Never Was, pg. 94[14]

NBL Schedule

Reference: Dick Triptow's The Dynasty That Never Was, pg. 93[15]

# Date Opponent Score Record
1 November 9 @ Oshkosh 61–66 0–1
2 November 28 @ Sheboygan 40–48 0–2
3 November 30 @ Rochester 65–64 1–2
4 December 3 @ Syracuse 69–59 2–2
5 December 6 N Syracuse 55–57 2–3
6 December 10 @ Youngstown 72–60 3–3
7 December 11 Oshkosh 41–44 3–4
8 December 13 Fort Wayne 47–40 4–4
9 December 15 Detroit 58–43 5–4
10 December 17 @ Toledo 58–57 6–4
11 December 18 @ Detroit 56–60 6–5
12 December 20 Rochester 59–48 7–5
13 December 22 Anderson 54–57 7–6
14 December 23 @ Anderson 60–63 7–7
— December 25 @ Buffalo Cancelled[16]
15 December 26 @ Indianapolis 59–67 7–8
16 December 27 Toledo 59–62 7–9
17 December 29 Sheboygan 58–63 7–10
18 January 3 Indianapolis 57–58 (OT) 7–11
19 January 5 Youngstown 55–45 8–11
20 January 8 @ Fort Wayne 55–56 8–12
21 January 11 @ Tri-Cities 43–48 8–13
22 January 16 @ Anderson 58–56 9–13
23 January 17 Tri-Cities 53–30 10–13
24 January 18 @ Oshkosh 38–55 10–14
25 January 24 Fort Wayne 64–60 (OT) 11–14
26 January 26 Anderson 55–50 12–14
27 January 31 Syracuse 62–60 13–14
28 February 5 @ Tri-Cities 61–57 (OT) 14–14
29 February 6 @ Sheboygan 59–60 14–15
30 February 7 Detroit 76–44 15–15
31 February 9 Indianapolis 55–47 16–15
32 February 10 @ Youngstown 64–52 17–15
33 February 11 @ Detroit 58–53 18–15
34 February 12 @ Toledo 55–57 18–16
35 February 13 @ Syracuse 61–50 19–16
36 February 14 Toledo 72–50 20–16
37 February 16 Sheboygan 62–44 21–16
38 February 20 @ Indianapolis 64–46 22–16
39 February 21 Rochester 57–56 23–16
40 February 23 Oshkosh 52–54 23–17
— February 24 @ Buffalo Cancelled[16]
41† February 25 @ Rochester 39–41 (2OT; Protested) 23–18†
41/42 March 2 Youngstown 65–52 24–17
(24–18†)
42/43 March 7 Tri-Cities 72–52 25–17
(25–18†)
43/44 March 9 @ Fort Wayne 69–62 26–17
(26–18†)
44* March 13 @ Rochester 55–75 26–18*

Each team would play each other a total of four times for 2 home and road games each for 44 total regular season NBL matches for this particular season of play. However, due to the unique circumstances involved for this season of play, the games that Chicago originally intended to play for the Buffalo Bisons this season would instead either be cancelled (with make-up games being rescheduled into newer, more proper dates following the Buffalo Bisons moving to Moline, Illinois nearby where the American Gears played or otherwise being played on the original dates the Bisons meant to play for the newly-named Tri-Cities Blackhawks to take on instead, depending on specific circumstances involved), with one home game being considered more of a neutral site for them instead due to them playing that specific match in nearby Moline, Illinois and one road match against the Rochester Royals being replayed at a later date due to the double-overtime format used for that match deviating from the typical overtime format at hand to a sudden-death overtime format where the first team to score would win the entire match without much warning being given out.

Playoffs

Western Division Opening Round

(2W) Indianapolis Kautskys vs. (3/4W) Chicago American Gears: Chicago wins series 3–2

  • Game 1: March 18, 1947 @ Indianapolis: Chicago 74, Indianapolis 72
  • Game 2: March 20, 1947 @ Indianapolis: Chicago 69, Indianapolis 61
  • Game 3: March 23, 1947 @ Chicago: Indianapolis 68, Chicago 67
  • Game 4: March 25, 1947 @ Chicago: Indianapolis 55, Chicago 54
  • Game 5: March 26, 1947 @ Chicago: Chicago 76, Indianapolis 62

Western Division Semifinals

(1W) Oshkosh All-Stars vs. (3/4W) Chicago American Gears: Chicago wins series 2–0

  • Game 1: March 27, 1947 @ Chicago: Chicago 60, Oshkosh 54[17]
  • Game 2: March 29, 1947 @ Oshkosh: Chicago 61, Oshkosh 60[18]

NBL Championship

(1E) Rochester Royals vs. (3/4W) Chicago American Gears: Chicago wins series 3–1

  • Game 1: April 3, 1947 @ Rochester: Rochester 71, Chicago 65[19]
  • Game 2: April 5, 1947 @ Rochester: Chicago 67, Rochester 63[20]
  • Game 3: April 7, 1947 @ Chicago: Chicago 78, Rochester 70[21]
  • Game 4: April 9, 1947 @ Chicago: Chicago 79, Rochester 68[22]

Awards and honors

Chicago Departs the NBL for the PBLA

Following the conclusion of the 1946–47 NBL season, the owner of the Chicago American Gears, Maurice White of the American Gear Company, expressed great anger at the NBL for deciding to allow for new Indianapolis Kautskys co-owner Paul Walk to become the new president of the NBL over him. As such, White let the NBL know late in the summer that he was going to let the defending NBL champion Chicago American Gears defect from the NBL in order to create his own rivaling professional basketball league similar to not just the NBL, but also the rivaling American Basketball League and recently created Basketball Association of America that would prove to be very ambitious in scope called the Professional Basketball League of America. Initially, 32 teams were to have been planned for the new league (including themselves), but 16 were ultimately utilized for what became its only season of play. The PBLA's season began on October 25 with a close 44–43 win by the Atlanta Crackers over the Oklahoma City Drillers (with the American Gears debuting on Halloween 1947 six days later with a 59–49 win over the St. Paul Saints), but ended on November 13 due to the league declaring bankruptcy after stated losses of $600,000 (in a time where houses were under $7,000) following the previous day's games, which included the American Gears getting a perfect 8–0 record by a 65–56 score over the Louisville Colonels and the Chattanooga Majors winning a close 48–46 match over the Atlanta Crackers.[24] Following the PBLA's demise, a vote was held by the NBL at the Morrison Hotel in Chicago on November 16 for whether to admit the American Gears back into the NBL despite already starting the 1947–48 NBL season, but the teams ultimately decided against that team's return into the league, regardless of actual circumstances in mind, in part due to other team owners disliking Maurice White in spite of his creativity in mind.

NBL Dispersal Draft

Following the NBL's vote on what to do with the American Gears franchise on November 16, a dispersal draft of sorts was held for the remaining NBL teams already in the 1947–48 NBL season either later that same day or the following day afterward on November 17. When the dispersal draft officially happened, the Minneapolis Lakers (working off of the previous 4–40 record held by the Detroit Gems predecessor team) would select superstar center George Mikan to help alter the course of professional basketball forever. In addition to that, the newly-established Flint Dow A.C.'s (formerly known as the Midland Dow Chemicals works team and later became the Midland Dow A.C.'s) would pick up Bob Calihan, Price Brookfield went to the Anderson Duffey Packers, Bruce Hale went to the Indianapolis Kautskys, and Bobby McDermott went to the Sheboygan Red Skins. Other players from the American Gears franchise at that time would also be dispersed to other NBL teams outside of the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, who decided not to select anyone from the former Chicago American Gears franchise onto their roster whatsoever (though they would later sign Dick Triptow onto their team), such as Billy Hassett returning to the Tri-Cities Blackhawks after previously leaving the team and the NBL for a shot at the new league ran by the American Gears' owner, Fritz Nagy going to the Indianapolis Kautskys, Les Rothman going to the Syracuse Nationals, George Ratkovicz going to the Rochester Royals, Stan Patrick going to the Toledo Jeeps, Max Morris going to the Sheboygan Red Skins, and Bill McDonald going to the Oshkosh All-Stars.[25][26]

References

  1. ^ "NBL Season Index". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  2. ^ Triptow, Richard F. (1997). The Dynasty that Never Was: Chicago's First Professional Basketball Champions, The American Gears. Lake Bluff, Illinois: self-published. ISBN 0-9659280-0-4., pp. 2–3
  3. ^ "JOHN STYLER". Pro Basketball Encyclopedia. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  4. ^ "JOE STAMPF". Pro Basketball Encyclopedia. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  5. ^ "HERB BALL". Pro Basketball Encyclopedia. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  6. ^ "SWEDE ROOS". Pro Basketball Encyclopedia. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  7. ^ Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4006-1., pp. 158–159
  8. ^ a b c d "1946–47 NBL Season Summary". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  9. ^ "Chicago American Gears → 1946–1947". Pro Basketball Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  10. ^ "Chicago American Gears → 1945–1946". Pro Basketball Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  11. ^ Triptow, Richard F. (1997). The Dynasty that Never Was: Chicago's First Professional Basketball Champions, The American Gears. Lake Bluff, Illinois: self-published. ISBN 0-9659280-0-4., p. 40
  12. ^ Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4006-1., pp. 174–175
  13. ^ Triptow, Richard F. (1997). The Dynasty that Never Was: Chicago's First Professional Basketball Champions, The American Gears. Lake Bluff, Illinois: self-published. ISBN 0-9659280-0-4., p. 65
  14. ^ Triptow, Richard F. (1997). The Dynasty that Never Was: Chicago's First Professional Basketball Champions, The American Gears. Lake Bluff, Illinois: self-published. ISBN 0-9659280-0-4., p. 94
  15. ^ Triptow, Richard F. (1997). The Dynasty that Never Was: Chicago's First Professional Basketball Champions, The American Gears. Lake Bluff, Illinois: self-published. ISBN 0-9659280-0-4., p. 93
  16. ^ a b https://nbahoopsonline.com/teams/AtlantaHawks/History/Buffalo/index.html
  17. ^ "Gears Winners Over Oshkosh 'Stars, 60–54". The Post-Crescent. March 28, 1947. p. 13. Retrieved October 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Gears Beat Oshkosh". Wisconsin State Journal. March 30, 1947. p. 30. Retrieved October 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Royals Defeat Gears; Take Playoff Lead". The Journal Standard. April 4, 1947. p. 8. Retrieved October 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "George Mikan's 27 Points Help Gears Win, 67–63". Chicago Tribune. April 6, 1947. p. 24. Retrieved October 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Gears Battle Royals In Playoff Battle". The Journal Standard. April 8, 1947. p. 6. Retrieved October 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Chicago Gears Take National Basketball Title". Carbondale Free Press. April 10, 1947. p. 7. Retrieved October 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Steve Dimitry's NBL Web Site". www.geocities.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2005. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
  24. ^ https://nbahoopsonline.com/History/Leagues/PBLA/Scores.html
  25. ^ Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4006-1., p. 180
  26. ^ "PRO BASKETBALL AMERICAN LEAGUE". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. Associated Press. 17 November 1947. p. 23.
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