1947–48 Anderson Duffey Packers season

1947–48 Anderson Duffey Packers season
Head coachMurray Mendenhall
Owner(s)Ike W. Duffey
John B. Duffey
Duffey's Meat Packing, Inc.
ArenaAnderson High School Wigwam
Results
Record42–18 (.700)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finishLost Eastern Division Finals to Rochester Royals, 2–1

The 1947–48 Anderson Duffey Packers season was the second professional season of play for the Duffey Packers in the small city of Anderson, Indiana under the National Basketball League, which officially was the eleventh season that it existed as a professional basketball league after previously existing as a semi-pro or amateur basketball league called the Midwest Basketball Conference in its first two seasons back in 1935.[1] However, if you include their only season of independent play as the Anderson Chiefs (which sometimes got their team name expanded out more into being the Chief Anderson Meat Packers at times due to their affiliation with the local meat packing business called Duffey's Incorporated that was owned by brothers Ike W. and John B. Duffey, who subsequently owned and operated the team as well) before joining the NBL, this would also be their third overall season of play. Following the permanent move of the Buffalo Bisons to Moline, Illinois to become the Tri-Cities Blackhawks for the rest of their existence in the NBL, the Anderson Duffey Packers would switch divisions from the stronger-looking Western Division to the more top heavy Eastern Division due to their alignment being close to the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons. As a result of this change alongside a few other movements within the NBL, eleven teams would officially compete in the NBL for the 1947–48 season, which comprised six teams in the Eastern Division and five teams in the Western Division.[2]

Unlike their previous season, where they tried their best (and failed) to make it to the NBL Playoffs in a stacked Western Division, the Anderson Duffey Packers would end up showcasing themselves as one of the three elite teams of the Eastern Division this season alongside the Rochester Royals and Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons. Not only that, but for the majority of the season, Anderson would showcase themselves as arguably the best team of the entire team for not just the division, but also the entire NBL as well, even above both the Minneapolis Lakers (who rebranded themselves from the prior Detroit Gems franchise the previous season) and the Rochester Royals in terms of records at times. However, near the end of the season, the Duffey Packers would end up losing their pace a bit and ultimately falter up the best record in both the Eastern Division and the entire NBL to the Rochester Royals, with Anderson settling for second place and an opening round playoff match against the #4 seeded Syracuse Nationals instead. While Anderson would sweep Syracuse in the opening round, they would ultimately lose in the Eastern Division Semifinals to the Rochester Royals 2–1, thus failing to avenge their stolen regular season spot from the end of the season. Despite the disappointing finish, returning head coach Murray Mendenhall would still be named the NBL's Coach of the Year, with rookie guard/forward Frank Brian making it to the All-NBL Second Team as well.

In addition to that, the Anderson Duffey Packers would compete in the 1948 World Professional Basketball Tournament, which would be the final World Professional Basketball Tournament ever held. By that point in time, the WPBT would essentially devolve into a pseudo-NBL tournament of sorts where only eight teams (a majority of whom were from the NBL) would compete in a single-game elimination, winner-takes-all format to determine the best professional basketball team around, with a consolation third place game being determined as well. Anderson would first win against the defending WPBT champions, the Indianapolis Kautskys, through a 59–53 victory, before they ended up losing to the eventual champions in both the NBL season and final WPBT event, the Minneapolis Lakers, in a close 59–56 defeat, leading to the Duffey Packers going to the final consolation third place match-up ever held against the Tri-Cities Blackhawks instead. From there, Anderson would rout the Tri-Cities in the second half with great shooting on their ends to blow them out in a 66–44 victory to win the final third place match ever held there.

Roster

1947–48 Anderson Duffey Packers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
F/C Charles B. Black 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1921–06–15 Kansas
C Wally Borrevik 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1921–11–14 Oregon
G Frank Brian 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1923–05–01 LSU
G/F Price Brookfield 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1920–05–11 Iowa State
G/F Dick Furey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1925–03–08 St. Thomas (Minnesota)
G/F John Hargis 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1920–08–20 Texas
G Boag Johnson 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1921–12–06 Huntington
F/C Milo Komenich 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 212 lb (96 kg) 1920–06–22 Wyoming
F Howie Schultz 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1922–07–03 Hamline
G/F Rollie Seltz 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1924–01–25 Hamline
G/F Charley Shipp 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1913–12–03 Catholic
C Jim Springer 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1925–10–22 Canterbury
G Ed Stanczak 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1921–08–15 Central HS (IN)
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Note: Wally Borrevik, Dick Furey, and Jim Springer were not on the playoff roster.[3][4][5]

Regular season

NBL Schedule

Not to be confused with exhibition or other non-NBL scheduled games that did not count towards Anderson'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 Anderson Duffey Packers during their second season in the NBL.

# Date Opponent Score Record
1 November 3 Oshkosh 71–58 1–0
2 November 6 Flint 73–63 2–0
3 November 10 Sheboygan 77–43 3–0
4 November 13 Rochester 74–63 4–0
5 November 17 Tri-Cities 79–66 5–0
6 November 20 Fort Wayne 82–69 6–0
7 November 23 @ Tri-Cities 52–68 6–1
8 November 24 Rochester 75–58 7–1
9 November 27 @ Sheboygan 64–40 8–1
10 November 29 @ Oshkosh 59–69 8–2
11 December 2 @ Rochester 54–78 8–3
12 December 4 @ Syracuse 65–64 9–3
13 December 5 @ Toledo 71–55 10–3
14 December 6 N Minneapolis 58–74 10–4
15 December 7 @ Flint 66–64 11–4
16 December 8 Indianapolis 62–54 12–4
17 December 14 @ Minneapolis 49–60 12–5
18 December 15 Syracuse 72–53 13–5
19 December 17 @ Minneapolis 57–53 14–5
20 December 18 @ Tri-Cities 42–41 15–5
21 December 21 @ Fort Wayne 52–58 15–6
22 December 23 @ Indianapolis 52–55 15–7
23 December 27 @ Rochester 64–59 16–7
24 December 28 @ Flint 74–71 17–7
25 December 30 Toledo 71–58 18–7
26 January 2 @ Indianapolis 72–66 19–7
27 January 5 @ Sheboygan 62–61 20–7
28 January 8 Tri-Cities 83–57 21–7
29 January 10 @ Oshkosh 52–58 21–8
30 January 11 @ Fort Wayne 54–57 21–9
31 January 12 Oshkosh 71–54 22–9
32 January 14 @ Oshkosh 67–64 23–9
33 January 15 Flint 82–54 24–9
34 January 19 Toledo 76–50 25–9
35 January 22 @ Syracuse 59–52 26–9
36 January 26 Fort Wayne 70–55 27–9
37 January 29 @ Sheboygan 70–65 28–9
38 January 31 @ Tri-Cities 70–60 29–9
39 February 2 Toledo 38–42 29–10
40 February 3 N Oshkosh 72–61 30–10
41 February 5 Indianapolis 73–54 31–10
42 February 7 @ Toledo 53–69 31–11
43 February 8 @ Flint 62–52 32–11
44 February 9 Syracuse 53–47 33–11
45 February 12 Rochester 57–56 34–11
46 February 15 @ Fort Wayne 47–51 34–12
47 February 16 Minneapolis 54–63 34–13
48 February 19 Fort Wayne 69–65 35–13
49 February 25 @ Minneapolis 54–60 35–14
50 February 27 N Sheboygan 71–46 36–14
51 March 1 Tri-Cities 75–68 37–14
52 March 4 Minneapolis 73–70 38–14
53 March 6 @ Toledo 56–58 38–15
54 March 8 Syracuse 99–62 39–15
55 March 9 @ Indianapolis 64–76 39–16
56 March 11 @ Flint 71–51 40–16
57 March 12 @ Rochester 50–57 40–17
58 March 16 @ Syracuse 45–54 40–18
59 March 17 @ Indianapolis 79–77 41–18
60 March 18 Sheboygan 80–76 42–18

Season standings

Pos. Eastern Division Wins Losses Win %
1 Rochester Royals 44 16 .733
2 Anderson Duffey Packers 42 18 .700
3 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 40 20 .667
4 Syracuse Nationals 24 36 .400
5 Toledo Jeeps 22 37 .373
6 Flint/Midland Dow A.C.'s‡ 8 52 .133
‡ Flint relocated to Midland during the season and assumed Flint's record in the standings.
It's unknown what the records for Flint's tenure and Midland's tenure were.

Playoffs

Eastern Division opening round

(2E) Anderson Duffey Packers vs. (4E) Syracuse Nationals: Anderson wins series 3–0

  • Game 1: March 23, 1948 @ Anderson: Anderson 73, Syracuse 56
  • Game 2: March 24, 1948 @ Anderson: Anderson 72, Syracuse 54
  • Game 3: March 27, 1948 @ Syracuse: Anderson 79, Syracuse 68

Eastern Division Semifinals

(2E) Anderson Duffey Packers vs. (1E) Rochester Royals: Rochester wins series 2–1

  • Game 1: March 30, 1948 @ Anderson: Rochester 71, Anderson 66
  • Game 2: April 2, 1948 @ Rochester: Anderson 76, Rochester 69
  • Game 3: April 3, 1948 @ Rochester: Rochester 74, Anderson 48

Awards and honors

World Professional Basketball Tournament

For the third and final time in franchise history (second and final time while using the Anderson Duffey Packers name), shortly prior to the NBL Finals beginning, during the days of April 8–11, 1948, the Anderson Duffey Packers would participate in the World Professional Basketball Tournament in Chicago (this time feeling much more comfortable with their position as a franchise than they were the previous season), with the final event ever held seeing the final eight teams participating mostly consisting of teams from the National Basketball League for a change of pace, with the only other professional team competing being the Wilkes-Barre Barons of the American Basketball League (who competed against the technically newly formed Minneapolis Lakers in the quarterfinal round) and the only two independently ran teams being the New York Renaissance and the Bridgeport Newfields, who competed against each other in the quarterfinal round. For the Anderson Duffey Packers, their quarterfinal round opponent would be the team that won the previous year's event, the Indianapolis Kautskys. Unlike the previous year's team, the Kautskys would end up being like every other version of the franchise that participated in the WPBT, where they would end up losing in the first round with a 59–53 victory for Anderson, meaning the Duffey Packers would enter the semifinal round and end the Kautskys' run for a repeat championship early.

For the semifinal round, Anderson would go up against George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers, the Western Division champions of the NBL. While the Duffey Packers would put up a good fight in this round, their best in that match just would not be good enough, as the Lakers would defeat Anderson 59–56, meaning the Duffey Packers would compete in the final third place consolation prize round of the WPBT's history instead of the final championship round of the tournament.[8] In that specific match, Anderson's scoring leaders were Frank Brian with 13 points and John Hargis with 11 points.[9]

For the final third place consolation prize match in WPBT history, the Duffey Packers saw themselves go up against the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, missing out on facing off against the inaugural WPBT champions, the all-black New York Renaissance entirely. Despite the Tri-Cities keeping things close with Anderson throughout the first half of the game (being tied 27–27 by halftime), the Duffey Packers would heat up their scoring progress within the second half of the game to blow out the Blackhawks with a 66–44 victory, with Boag Johnson and Rollie Seltz leading the charge for 39 second half points for the entire team.[10] Following the tournament's conclusion, Charley Shipp would be named a member of the All-Tournament First Team, while both Howie Schultz and John Hargis were named members of the All-Tournament Second Team.

Scores

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ "NBL Season Index". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  2. ^ "1947–48 NBL Season Summary". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  3. ^ "ANDERSON PACKERS". Pro Basketball Encyclopedia.
  4. ^ "Peach Basket Society: 1947-48 Anderson Duffey Packers (NBL)". Peach Basket Society. 25 April 2016.
  5. ^ "1947-48 Anderson Duffey Packers basketball Roster on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  6. ^ a b "Todorovich Top NBL Rookie". Democrat and Chronicle. April 2, 1948. p. 34. Retrieved February 8, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Steve Dimitry's NBL Web Site". Archived from the original on 2005-08-18.
  8. ^ "Rens to meet Lakers in pro cage playoffs". Cumberland Evening Times. INS. 10 April 1948. p. 5. Retrieved 8 June 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4006-1., p. 199
  10. ^ Kiesele, Russ (12 April 1948). "Lakers Take Pro Tourney Crown Over Rens, 75–71; Mikan Collects 40 Points". The Dispatch. p. 19. Retrieved 8 February 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
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