1947–48 Rochester Royals season

1947–48 Rochester Royals season
Division champions
Head coachLes Harrison &
Eddie Malanowicz
OwnersJack Harrison
Les Harrison
ArenaEdgerton Park Arena
Results
Record44–16 (.733)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishLost NBL Championship (1-3) to the Minneapolis Lakers
Stats at Basketball Reference
RadioWHAM

The 1947–48 Rochester Royals season was the franchise's third professional season of play while under the Rochester Royals name and their final season in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team finished with a 44–16 record, which became the best record in the NBL by one game over the upstart Minneapolis Lakers. Rochester would end up beating their league rivaling Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 3–1 in the quarterfinal round and then beat the Anderson Duffey Packers 2–1 before returning to the NBL Finals for the third and final time in their history. Once again, they saw themselves go up against the towering star center George Mikan (who had been picked up by what was considered to be the newly-established Lakers squad despite them picking up their past history from an awful Detroit Gems squad after the Chicago American Gears left the NBL for the short-lived Professional Basketball League of America and folded after that league went down a lot earlier than they expected it to and the American Gears weren't allowed back into the NBL), and once again, Mikan's presence as a player proved to be too much for the Royals to overcome, as they ended up losing the NBL Championship 3–1 for the second straight year in a row, this time to the newly-established Lakers (who would soon grow to be a powerhouse force in basketball history) instead. Following this season's conclusion, both the Royals and defending NBL champion Lakers, alongside the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons and Indianapolis Kautskys would end up leaving the NBL to play for the Basketball Association of America (now known as the National Basketball Association), though the Zollner Pistons would drop the Zollner part of their name and the Kautskys would rename themselves to the Indianapolis Jets due to that league not allowing teams to have sponsorships to also be a part of their team names. Since then, the Jets folded operations entirely, while the other surviving NBL teams that switched teams moved elsewhere, with the Pistons moving to Detroit, Michigan to become the Detroit Pistons, the Lakers moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles to become the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Royals rebranding themselves multiple times and going from their original Rochester, New York location to Sacramento to become the Sacramento Kings.

Roster

1947–48 Rochester Royals roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
G/F Bill Calhoun 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1927-11-04 CCSF
G/F Al Cervi 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1917-02-12 East HS (NY)
G/F Bob Davies 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1920-01-15 Seton Hall
F/C Andy Duncan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1922-04-17 William & Mary
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
C Leroy King 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1921-12-24 Monmouth
G/F Andrew Levane 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1920-04-11 St. John's
G Joe Lord 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-12-28 Villanova
F/C John Mandic 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1919-10-03 Oregon State
F/C George Ratkovicz 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1922-11-13 Lindblom (IL)
F Ocie Richie 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1921-11-16 Northwestern State
F/C Arnie Risen 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1924-10-09 Ohio State
G Bobby Wanzer 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1921-06-04 Seton Hall
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 third and final season in the NBL before moving on to play in the BAA (now NBA) for their following season of play.

# Date Opponent Score Record
1 November 11 Oshkosh 78–68 1–0
2 November 13 @ Anderson 63–74 1–1
3 November 15 Oshkosh 79–52 2–1
4 November 18 @ Indianapolis 56–53 3–1
5 November 20 Flint 65–50 4–1
6 November 21 @ Syracuse 75–72 5–1
7 November 22 Syracuse 64–60 6–1
8 November 24 @ Anderson 58–75 6–2
9 November 25 @ Flint 76–54 7–2
10 November 26 @ Oshkosh 43–47 7–3
11 November 27 @ Toledo 41–50 7–4
12 November 29 Minneapolis 56–53 8–4
13 December 2 Anderson 78–54 9–4
14 December 3 N Sheboygan 72–54 10–4
15 December 6 Toledo 56–55 11–4
16 December 9 Sheboygan 73–58 12–4
17 December 10 @ Fort Wayne 62–58 13–4
18 December 13 Sheboygan 62–65 (OT) 14–4
19 December 14 @ Flint 78–63 15–4
20 December 18 Indianapolis 80–47 16–4
21 December 20 @ Fort Wayne 65–62 (OT) 17–4
22 December 21 N Oshkosh 65–50 18–4
23 December 23 @ Tri-Cities 59–58 19–4
24 December 25 @ Syracuse 61–60 20–4
25 December 27 Anderson 59–64 20–5
26 January 3 Tri-Cities 68–60 21–5
27 January 10 Toledo 65–74 21–6
28 January 13 Fort Wayne 75–48 22–6
29 January 14 @ Fort Wayne 70–56 22–7
30 January 18 Minneapolis 73–75 22–8
31 January 20 @ Indianapolis 58–56 23–8
32 January 22 N Minneapolis 64–69 23–9
33 January 24 Indianapolis 80–58 24–9
34 January 26 @ Minneapolis 58–76 24–10
35 January 28 @ Minneapolis 53–50 25–10
36 January 29 @ Toledo 52–51 26–10
37 January 31 Flint 89–72 27–10
38 February 5 @ Sheboygan 60–53 28–10
39 February 7 Oshkosh 63–54 29–10
40 February 8 @ Sheboygan 67–66 (2OT) 30–10
41 February 10 N Oshkosh 40–51 30–11
42 February 11 @ Fort Wayne 69–70 30–12
43 February 12 @ Anderson 56–57 30–13
44 February 14 Tri-Cities 55–60 30–14
45 February 17 Tri-Cities 78–64 31–14
46 February 19 @ Flint 56–51 32–14
47 February 20 @ Toledo 49–41 33–14
48 February 21 Flint 68–57 34–14
49 February 24 Syracuse 78–54 35–14
50 February 28 Syracuse 64–52 36–14
51 March 2 Toledo 66–50 37–14
52 March 4 @ Tri-Cities 64–53 38–14
53 March 6 Fort Wayne 64–61 39–14
54 March 7 N Indianapolis 61–46 40–14
55 March 9 @ Tri-Cities 50–67 40–15
56 March 11 @ Indianapolis 68–74 40–16
57 March 13 Anderson 57–50 41–16
58 March 16 Minneapolis 66–63 42–16
59 March 18 @ Syracuse 76–48 43–16
60 March 20 Sheboygan 83–44 44–16

Eastern 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

(1E) Rochester Royals vs. (3E) Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons: Rochester wins series 3–1

  • Game 1: March 23, 1948 @ Fort Wayne: Rochester 65, Fort Wayne 56[1]
  • Game 2: March 24, 1948 @ Fort Wayne: Fort Wayne 68, Rochester 65
  • Game 3: March 25, 1948 @ Rochester: Rochester 64, Fort Wayne 47
  • Game 4: March 27, 1948 @ Rochester: Rochester 71, Fort Wayne 62[2]

Eastern Division Semifinals

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

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

NBL Championship

(1E) Rochester Royals vs. (1W) Minneapolis Lakers: Minneapolis wins series 3–1

  • Game 1: April 13, 1948 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 80, Rochester 72[1]
  • Game 2: April 14, 1948 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 82, Rochester 67
  • Game 3: April 15, 1948 @ Rochester: Rochester 74, Minneapolis 60
  • Game 4: April 18, 1948 @ Rochester: Minneapolis 75, Rochester 65

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 49 4.8 3.8 4.9 13.4
2 Red Holzman G 60 4.1 2.0 3.0 10.2
3 Andy Duncan F-C 60 3.3 2.0 3.3 8.7
4 Bob Davies G-F 48 3.7 2.5 3.3 9.8
5 Arnie Risen C-F 28 5.2 4.2 5.8 14.5
6 Andrew Levane F-G 54 2.7 0.8 1.1 6.3
7 Arnie Johnson F-C 57 1.8 1.7 2.6 5.2
8 George Ratkovicz C-F 234 1.5 1.4 2.2 4.4
9 Bobby Wanzer G 40 1.4 1.4 1.7 4.2
10 Bill Calhoun F-G 42 0.7 0.4 0.8 1.9
11 John Mandic F-C 33 1.0 0.4 0.7 2.3
12 Leroy King C 12 0.3 0.5 0.7 1.0
13 Joseph Lord G 4 0.8 0.0 0.3 1.5
14 Ocie Richie F 1 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0

Playoffs

Rank Player Position Games played Field goals Free throws made Free throws attempted Points per game
1 Bob Davies G-F 11 5.1 4.5 5.8 14.6
2 Andy Duncan F-C 11 3.5 2.1 3.1 9.2
3 Arnie Risen C-F 7 5.0 4.3 6.3 14.3
4 Red Holzman G 10 3.5 1.0 1.5 8.0
5 Bobby Wanzer G 11 1.9 2.2 2.5 6.0
6 Arnie Johnson F-C 11 2.1 1.8 2.2 6.0
7 George Ratkovicz C-F 60 2.0 1.5 2.5 5.5
8 Al Cervi G-F 6 3.0 2.3 3.2 8.3
9 Andrew Levane F-G 9 2.2 0.2 0.3 4.7
10 Bill Calhoun F-G 8 1.4 0.3 0.4 3.0
11 John Mandic F-C 5 0.4 0.4 0.8 1.2[3]

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ a b c Bradley, Robert; Grasso, John (2003). Total Basketball: The Ultimate Basketball Encyclopedia. SPORT Media Publishing, Inc. ISBN 1-894963-01-6., p. 423
  2. ^ "National Basketball League III - 1947-48 NBL Playoffs". RetroSeasons. 21 March 2023.
  3. ^ 1947-48 Rochester Royals Stats | Basketball-Reference.com
  4. ^ 1947-48 NBL Season Summary | Basketball-Reference.com
  5. ^ "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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