Also Read: Remembering: the New York Renaissance Five
What's in an NBA Nick-Name? Part IV, A-D - Part IV, E-H - Part V, I-L
Hoop Names and How They Got That Way
Lowest Scoring & Longest Lasting NBA
Games
To watch the high-scoring and clock controlled
action in the National Basketball Association today, it is hard to believe
the way things once were. But back in the early years of the league, games
were yawning affairs or stalling contests.
The 1950-1951 season saw the NBA go from an
unwieldy 17-team league to 11 teams in a two-division setup. It was also
a season that included the lowest-scoring game in NBA history.
Back on November 22, 1950 - the yawner of
all yawners took place. The game pitted Fort Wayne against Minneapolis, and
was played on the home court of the Lakers, who enjoyed a great home advantage.
Their court was shorter and narrower than normal size. Their team was big,
bulky and slow - all of which were perfectly suited for a slowdown game.
In the game, the two teams combined for just
31 shots. When it was over, Ft. Wayne had creaked out a 19-18 triumph in
a painful and boring example of how dull a stalling contest could be. The
game started serious talk throughout the NBA about ways to prevent those
kinds of contests from taking place.
Then on January 6, 1951, a very cold night
in Rochester, the Royals played against the Indianapolis Olympians in what
has gone down as the longest game in the annals of the NBA.
The game lasted a grand total of 78 minutes
and included six overtimes. Some of the loyal Rochester fans booed, and hundreds
of others walked out of the old Edgerton Park Arena. They just couldn't abide
the slow-down stalling tactics of both teams.
In the half-dozen overtimes, just 23 shots
were taken. At the start of each overtime, the team that earned the tip just
held on to the ball for one last shot. Players just stood around gaping and
staring at each other. One player dribbled or held the ball and looked around
hoping to make the smart pass for a high percentage shot. Indianapolis finally
won the game, 75-73.
The great Coach Red
Holzman told me in the late 1980s when I was writing
his autobiography, "I played 76 of the 78 minutes in that opus. And although
I was in great shape, my tail was dragging when the historic marathon was
over". That game and the bore that was the 19-18 contest made players and
coaches see the need and the urgency to speed up the game. It was these two
games, and others like them, that set the stage
for the creation of the 24-second clock - and the salvation of the NBA.
The clock was first used in the 1954-1955
season, and scoring jumped an average of 15 points a game as a result. The
new NBA era was underway.
As a post-script to all of this,
Holzman told me that back in 1951, after the 19-18
game, he got the idea for a shot clock and told some of the owners about
it. They dismissed him as "a young squirt." But someone must have been listening.
About the Author
Dr. Harvey Frommer received his Ph.D. from New York University. Professor Emeritus, Distinguished Professor nominee, Recipient of the "Salute to Scholars Award" at CUNY where he taught writing for many years, the prolific author was cited by the Congressional Record and the New York State Legislature as a sports historian and journalist.
His sports books include autobiographies of sports legends Nolan Ryan, Red
Holzman and Tony Dorsett, the classics
"Shoeless
Joe and Ragtime Baseball,"
"New
York City Baseball: 1947-1957 (original issue)." The
1927 Yankees." His
"Remembering
Yankee Stadium" was published to acclaim in 2008. His latest book, a
Boston Globe Best Seller, is
"Remembering
Fenway Park." Autographed and discounted copies of all Harvey Frommer
books are available direct from the author. Please consult his home page:
http://harveyfrommersports.com/remembering_fenway/
***Harvey Frommer
is at work on REMEMBERING SUPER BOWL ONE: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY.
He welcomes hearing from anyone with memories, perceptions, leads,
memorabilia
for his newest book. ****
