1946–47 Rochester Royals season

1946–47 Rochester Royals season
Division champions
Head coachLes Harrison &
Eddie Malanowicz
OwnersJack Harrison
Les Harrison
ArenaEdgerton Park Arena
Results
Record31–13 (.705)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishLost NBL Championship (1–3) to the Chicago American Gears
Stats at Basketball Reference
RadioWHAM

The 1946–47 Rochester Royals season was the franchise's second season in the National Basketball League (NBL). 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.[1] The Royals finished this season with the best record in the NBL at 31–13, as well as beat the Syracuse Nationals 3–1 in the Eastern Division opening (quarterfinal) round and the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 2–1 in the Eastern Division semifinal round. However, despite their best efforts, they could not repeat as champions of the NBL this season due to opposing center George Mikan proving to be too much for the Royals to overcome in a championship series, which resulted in Rochester losing the NBL championship 3–1 to the Chicago American Gears, who would end up leaving the NBL at the end of this season to start a new league that ultimately proved to be short-lived in its own nature, the Professional Basketball League of America. One reason for the Chicago American Gears ultimately defecting from the NBL was due to their league commissioner at the time, Ward Lambert, considering 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 Royals (who held the best overall record this season) to be the official league champions this season,[2] with Lambert staying under that position for one more season before resigning under league pressure for Doxie Moore during its final season of existence.

Roster

1946–47 Rochester Royals roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
F Frank Beaty 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1919-05-23 Rochester Tech
G/F Al Cervi 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1917-02-12 East HS (NY)
G Jim Cominsky 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1918-07-28 DePaul
F/C Bill Coven 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1920-02-16 Baldwin Wallace
G/F Bob Davies 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1920-01-15 Seton Hall
G Jack Garfinkel 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1918-06-13 St. John's
G Leon Gauchat 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1921-03-05 Canisius
F/C George Glamack 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1919-06-07 North Carolina
G Red Holzman 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1920-08-10 CCNY
F/C Arnie Johnson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 236 lb (107 kg) 1920-05-17 Bemidji State
F/C Wilbert King 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 217 lb (98 kg) 1916-11-15 LIU
G/F Andrew Levane 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1920-04-11 St. John's
F/C Al Negratti 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1921-06-12 Seton Hall
F Jim Quinlan 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1922-05-29 Canisius
Head coach

Eddie Malanowicz &
Les Harrison

Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Season standings

NBL Schedule

Not to be confused with exhibition or other non-NBL scheduled games that did not count towards Rochester's official NBL record for this season. An official database created by John Grasso detailing every NBL match possible (outside of two matches that the Kankakee Gallagher Trojans won over the Dayton Metropolitans in 1938) would be released in 2026 showcasing every team's official schedules throughout their time spent in the NBL. As such, these are the official results recorded for the Rochester Royals during their second season in the NBL.

# Date Opponent Score Record
1 November 11 @ Youngstown 69–43 1–0
2 November 16 Syracuse 41–35 2–0
3 November 23 Youngstown 57–45 3–0
4 November 26 Buffalo 78–57 4–0
5 November 30 Chicago 64–65 4–1
6 December 3 @ Indianapolis 58–59 4–2
7 December 5 @ Buffalo 54–44 5–2
8 December 7 Toledo 60–44 6–2
9 December 8 @ Toledo 67–63 7–2
10 December 10 @ Detroit 65–54 8–2
11 December 14 Sheboygan 53–51 9–2
12 December 17 Fort Wayne 55–51 10–2
13 December 19 @ Sheboygan 59–52 11–2
14 December 20 @ Chicago 48–59 11–3
15 December 21 @ Oshkosh 58–63 11–4
16 December 28 Indianapolis 57–48 12–4
17 December 29 @ Fort Wayne 67–65 (OT) 13–4
18 December 30 @ Anderson 67–62 14–4
19 January 4 Detroit 72–54 15–4
20 January 11 Anderson 75–69 (OT) 16–4
21 January 14 Oshkosh 73–58 17–4
22 January 18 Youngstown 67–53 18–4
23 January 23 @ Syracuse 60–53 19–4
24 January 25 Toledo 86–88 (OT) 19–5
25 January 27 @ Youngstown 68–61 (OT) 20–5
26 February 2 Indianapolis 74–66 21–5
27 February 5 @ Toledo 69–50 22–5
28 February 6 @ Detroit 71–53 23–5
29 February 8 Fort Wayne 67–72 23–6
30 February 10 @ Anderson 54–60 23–7
31 February 11 @ Indianapolis 50–47 24–7
32 February 12 @ Fort Wayne 60–64 24–8
33 February 15 Detroit 93–56 25–8
34 February 17 @ Buffalo/Tri-Cities‡[3] 50–60 25–9
35 February 19 @ Oshkosh 53–60 25–10
36 February 20 @ Sheboygan 49–52 25–11
37 February 21 @ Chicago 56–57 25–12
38 February 23 Tri-Cities 41–48 25–13
39† February 25 Chicago 41–39 (2OT; Protested) 26–13†
39/40 March 1 Syracuse 63–54 26–13
(27–13†)
40/41 March 4 Sheboygan 65–55 27–13
(28–13†)
41/42 March 8 Anderson 64–59 28–13
(29–13†)
42/43 March 10 @ Syracuse 60–54 29–13
(30–13†)
43/44 March 11 Oshkosh 76–68 30–13
(31–13†)
44* March 13 Chicago 75–55 31–13*

‡ – The February 17, 1947 road game the Rochester Royals had originally scheduled against the second version of the Buffalo Bisons in the NBL before they moved to Moline, Illinois and rebranded themselves as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks was one of two games that had originally been scheduled for the Buffalo Bisons that were still kept intact as a home match for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks on the same scheduled night of play (with the other match in question that kept the same home match in question being on February 20, 1947 against the Toledo Jeeps).
† – The original match played on February 25, 1947 was later considered to be a no contest match due to the way the second overtime that was played was implementing a sudden-death overtime rule without prior warning or agreement at hand. The official results would later be held on March 13, 1947, which was done in a blowout 75–55 victory that didn't require any overtimes for Rochester to defeat Chicago that night.[4]
* – Would be the official final game played and record for the Rochester Royals this season in terms of the NBL schedule they played.

Eastern Division

Pos. Eastern Division Wins Losses Win %
1 Rochester Royals 31 13 .705
2 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 25 19 .568
T–3 Syracuse Nationals 21 23 .477
Toledo Jeeps 21 23 .477
5 Buffalo Bisons /
Tri-Cities Blackhawks‡		 19 25 .432
6 Youngstown Bears 12 32 .273
‡ Buffalo relocated primarily into the state of Illinois during the season and assumed Buffalo's team history
and record in the standings. Buffalo's record was 5–8 and the Tri-Cities' record was 14–17.

Playoffs

Eastern Division Opening Round

(1E) Rochester Royals vs. (3/4E) Syracuse Nationals: Rochester wins series 3–1

  • Game 1: March 18, 1947 @ Rochester: Rochester 66, Syracuse 64(OT)
  • Game 2: March 19, 1947 @ Syracuse: Syracuse 64, Rochester 61
  • Game 3: March 21, 1947 @ Rochester: Rochester 54, Syracuse 48
  • Game 4: March 22, 1947 @ Syracuse: Rochester 62, Syracuse 57

Eastern Division Semifinals

(1E) Rochester Royals vs. (2E) Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons: Rochester wins series 2–1

  • Game 1: March 29, 1947 @ Rochester: Rochester 58, Fort Wayne 49
  • Game 2: March 30, 1947 @ Fort Wayne: Fort Wayne 56, Rochester 49
  • Game 3: April 1, 1947 @ Rochester: Rochester 76, Fort Wayne 47

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[5]
  • Game 2: April 5, 1947 @ Rochester: Chicago 67, Rochester 63[6]
  • Game 3: April 7, 1947 @ Chicago: Chicago 78, Rochester 70[7]
  • Game 4: April 9, 1947 @ Chicago: Chicago 79, Rochester 68[8]

Team statistics

Regular season

Rank Player Position Games played Field goals Free throws made Free throws attempted Points per game
1 Al Cervi G-F 44 5.2 4.0 5.4 14.4
2 Red Holzman G 44 5.2 1.7 3.2 12.0
3 Bob Davies G-F 32 5.2 4.1 5.2 14.4
4 George Glamack C-F 44 3.2 2.0 3.1 8.5
5 Andrew Levane F-G 39 3.4 1.3 2.2 8.1
6 Arnie Johnson F-C 32 2.1 2.1 3.1 6.4
7 William King C-F 41 1.3 1.5 2.4 4.0
8 Al Negratti F-C 33 0.5 0.4 0.7 1.3
9 Bill Coven F-C 13 0.8 0.3 0.6 1.8
10 Jack Garfinkel G 10 0.5 0.3 0.6 1.3
11 Leon Gauchat G 6 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.7
12 Jim Cominsky G 5 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.8
13 Jim Quinlan F 3 0.0 0.3 0.7 0.3
14 Frank Beaty F 6 0.0 0.2 0.7 0.2

Playoffs

Rank Player Position Games played Field goals Free throws made Free throws attempted Points per game
1 Bob Davies G-F 11 4.9 3.9 5.7 13.7
2 Al Cervi G-F 11 4.5 4.5 6.2 13.5
3 Red Holzman G 11 3.8 2.0 2.6 9.6
4 George Glamack C-F 10 3.5 2.8 3.3 9.8
5 Andrew Levane F-G 11 3.4 1.6 2.5 8.4
6 William King C-F 11 2.7 2.8 3.9 8.3
7 Al Negratti F-C 11 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.9
8 Frank Beaty F 2 0.5 0.0 1.0 1.0
9 Leon Gauchat G 2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
10 Bill Coven F-C 5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0[9]

Awards and Honors

References

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ "Buffalo Bisons". nbahoopsonline.com.
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ "Royals Defeat Gears; Take Playoff Lead". The Journal Standard. April 4, 1947. p. 8. Retrieved October 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "George Mikan's 27 Points Help Gears Win, 67–63". Chicago Tribune. April 6, 1947. p. 24. Retrieved October 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Gears Battle Royals In Playoff Battle". The Journal Standard. April 8, 1947. p. 6. Retrieved October 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Chicago Gears Take National Basketball Title". Carbondale Free Press. April 10, 1947. p. 7. Retrieved October 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ 1946-47 Rochester Royals Stats | Basketball-Reference.com
  10. ^ 1946-47 NBL Season Summary | Basketball-Reference.com
  11. ^ "Steve Dimitry's NBL Web Site". www.geocities.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2005. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
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