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Basketball Flashback: Celebrating the New York Renaissance Five
NBA – Score!
Score!
Score!
By Harvey Frommer
Watching NBA
high flyers, three point shooters,
is a bit like watching pinball machine action in a game controlled by a
clock.
And all of
this is a far cry from the way things
once were. Back in the early years of the league, many 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 the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (who
became
the Detroit Pistons) against the Minneapolis Lakers (who became the Los
Angeles
Lakers). The game was played on the home court of the Lakers, who
enjoyed a
great home field 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, New York, 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. But
let’s give credit now where credit is due.
(Frommer Archives)
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. A terrific football book, "When It Was Just a Game: Remembering the First Super Bowl." And, a Boston Globe Best Seller, "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/
