Baltimore Bullets (original) (raw)
Baltimore Bullets HISTORY
Quick facts:
Founded: 1944 Folded: 1954 Arena: Baltimore Coliseum Built in: 1939 Capacity: 6,100 Colors: Orange, Blue Titles: 2 1944 ABL; 1948-BAA Playoffs: 3
1944-46 ABL Baltimore Bullets 1946-49 BAA Baltimore Bullets 1949-54 NBA Baltimore Bullets
Coachs:
Buddy Jeannette 1947-50 Walt Budko 1949-50 Fred Scolari 1950-51 Chuck Reiser 1951-52 Clai Bee 1952-53
Fun Facts:
- The Bullets lost 32 consecutive road games from Jan. 2, 1953-March 14, 1954. Despite this amazing achievement they actually made the playoffs in 1952-53.
- They were named after a Shoe. The Bata Bullet athletic shoe
- They are the last NBA team to fold, and the only NBA champion to ever fold.
Injury Bug?
On February 10, 1952 the Bullets used only 5 players in a game against Fort Wayne. The Bullets had 8 players available but a lot of them where injured so head coach Chick Reiser stuck with his starting line up for all 48 minutes.
This is just one of two incidents in NBA history were a team has played only 5 players. The other one occurred a year earlier when the Olympians used only 5 players in a game following their epic 6 overtime game vs Syracuse.
Comeback:
In game 2 of the 1948 BAA finals the Bullets came back from 21 points down at half time. The comeback was the largest comeback in NBA playoffs history until the Cavs came back from 25 down in 2017.
Don Barksdale
Walt Budko
Paul Hoffman
Red Klotz
Jim Slaughter
Al Scolari
Buddy Jeanette
Jeannette
Connie Simmons
Two game programs from games at Madison Square Garden.
The Smallest City to ever Host an NBA Game
The City of Negaunee, Michigan, is known as a mining town in the Upper Peninsula, that has turned into winter sports hub with one of the best luge tracks west of the Mississippi River. With a population of just 4,500 people, it seems to be an unlikely place to find an NBA game. But on January 16, 1952, that is exactly what happened. Negaunee, Michigan, became the smallest city to ever host a regular NBA season game.
Of the four major North American professional sports leagues the NBA has always had a reputation for having some of the smallest markets. Seven NBA markets do not have a corresponding NFL, MLB or NHL team. The BAA's merger with the NBL also added several cities like Waterloo, Iowa; Anderson, Indiana; Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and Moline, Illinois to the ranks of small towns home to an NBA team. But by 1952 the NBA had done away with much of the smaller markets in the league. In the 1951-52 season the NBA was struggling. The league had shrank for the 18 teams it had just 2 seasons prior to just 10 teams for that season. Several of the teams that entered the season were on shaky ground. The Western Division was rife with trouble, all 5 teams had serious financial issues and rumors were rampant about their possible relocation. This relocation talk is what spurred the NBA to look into new markets and other ways to attracted new fans.
Complete Article