Wartime Basketball by Douglas Stark

Author:Douglas Stark [Stark, Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SPO004000 Sports & Recreation / Basketball
ISBN: 9780803286917
Publisher: UNP - Nebraska
Published: 2016-02-21T16:00:00+00:00

Without Gotthoffer and with a retooled roster, Gottlieb’s SPHAS struggled to find any consistency in the first half, finishing with a dismal 4-9 record. One team whose vocabulary did not include the word struggle was Wilmington. Despite not playing the previous season, the Wilmington Blue Bombers picked up where they left off. Starting strong out of the gate, Wilmington cruised to a 12–4 first-half mark, clearly outdistancing Philadelphia. Wilmington now had secured a spot in the championship round. The question for Wilmington was whether it would try to win the second half and claim its second title in three years or relax and get healthy for the finals. The team chose the second option, although Philadelphia had much to say about the outcome. The second half for Wilmington began with a home tilt versus the SPHAS, who sensed that a poor showing in the season’s second half would effectively eliminate any chances of defending their championship. Philadelphia came out strong to start the game and after overcoming an early deficit stormed to a 52–36 win. To start the season’s second half, Gottlieb added two new players he hoped would provide additional depth: Herm Knupple at center and Ossie Schectman, a guard. Playing nine players, eight of them scored at least one field goal as the team jumped out to a comfortable margin and an easy win. On February 19, 1944, the two teams met again, but this time in Philadelphia at the Broadwood Hotel. Wilmington coach Barney Sedran, an excellent player in his own right during the first quarter of the century and a future member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, sought to counteract the moves that Gottlieb had made last month by adding an additional player. Ben Kramer, a former member of the Washington Brewers in 1941–42, joined the team in time to face off against the SPHAS. A “rugged, swashbuckling type of player who excel[led] on the pivot play and [was] expected to help the Bombers in their second half drive,” Kramer scored three points as Philadelphia again defeated Wilmington, 39–38.64 During the regular season Philadelphia made their push and eventually clinched second half honors. Throughout the two teams kept jockeying for a personnel advantage. Even as late as the final week of the regular season, both teams added new players; Wilmington added Dan Christie, who had played his collegiate career at Manhattan College, while Philadelphia signed Art Hillhouse, another former Long Island University player and big man to bolster the front line. Philadelphia preserved and captured second half honors to set up a championship series versus Wilmington.

With the championship series set to begin, many of the prognosticators figured this series to be closely contested. Over the past few seasons, Wilmington and Philadelphia had developed a strong rivalry as the teams split their eight regular-season contests. With the teams evenly matched and fighting for basketball supremacy nearly thirty minutes apart, the contests often became heated. Ossie Schectman, who joined the SPHAS for the second-half stretch run, recounted one particular incident.

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