Wikipedia

1952–53 Fort Wayne Pistons season

The 1952–53 NBA season was the Pistons' fifth season in the NBA and 12th season as a franchise.[1]

1952–53 Fort Wayne Pistons season
Head coachPaul Birch
ArenaWar Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record36–33 (.522)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finishWest Division Finals
(eliminated 2–3)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
< 1951–52 1953–54 >

The Pistons finished the season above .500 at 36-33 (.522), 3rd in the Western Division. The team advanced to the playoffs, defeating the Rochester Royals 2–1 in the opening series, including a 67–65 home nail-biter to take the series, but lost in the division finals 3–2 to the Minneapolis Lakers as each team won at home in the 5-game series. The Pistons were led on the season by center-forward Larry Foust (14.3 ppg, 11.5 rpg, NBA All-Star), guard Andy Phillip (10.0 ppg, 5.0 apg, NBA All-Star) and Don Meineke (10.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg), who would win the inaugural NBA Rookie of the Year Award.[2] First round draft choice Dick Groat (11.9 ppg) would play for the Pistons while finishing his degree at Duke University, left the team in February 1953 to serve in the United States Army and returned to sports in 1955 to pursue a baseball career. Groat became one of 13 players to play in both the NBA and Major League Baseball.[3][4]

Draft picks

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Main article: 1952 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 3 Dick Groat G   United States Duke
2 12 Monk Meineke F   United States Dayton

Regular season

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Season standings

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Western Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Minneapolis Lakers 48 22 .686 - 24-2 16-15 8-5 17-13
x-Rochester Royals 44 26 .629 4 24-8 13-17 7-1 27-13
x-Fort Wayne Pistons 36 33 .522 11.5 25-9 8-19 3-5 18-22
x-Indianapolis Olympians 28 43 .394 20.5 19-14 4-23 5-6 15-26
Milwaukee Hawks 27 44 .380 21.5 14-8 3-24 10-12 15-26
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

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1952-53 NBA Records
Team BAL BOS FWP IND MIL MIN NYK PHI ROC SYR
Baltimore — 2–8 0–6 2–4 3–3 1–5 0–10 6–4 0–6 2–8
Boston 8–2 — 4–2 4–2 5–1 1–5 6–4 9–1 4–2 5–6
Fort Wayne 6–0 2–4 — 7–3 7–3 1–9 4–2 5–0 3–7 1–5
Indianapolis 4–2 2–4 3–7 — 5–6 4–6 1–5 5–1 3–7 1–5
Milwaukee 3–3 1–5 3–7 6–5 — 3–7 1–5 4–2 3–7 3–3
Minneapolis 5–1 5–1 9–1 6–4 7–3 — 4–2 6–0 4–6 2–4
New York 10–0 4–6 2–4 5–1 5–1 2–4 — 10–0 3–3 6–4
Philadelphia 4–6 1–9 0–5 1–5 2–4 0–6 0–10 — 2–4 2–8
Rochester 6–0 2–4 7–3 7–3 7–3 6–4 3–3 4–2 — 2–4
Syracuse 8–2 6–5 5–1 5–1 3–3 4–2 4–6 8–2 4–2 —

Game log

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1952–53 Game log
# Date Opponent Score High points Record
1 November 1 @ Rochester 82–94 Frank Brian (15) 0–1
2 November 2 Minneapolis 81–69 Larry Foust (19) 0–2
3 November 6 Rochester 84–64 Frank Brian (20) 0–3
4 November 9 Indianapolis 71–74 Frank Brian (18) 1–3
5 November 11 @ Indianapolis 63–78 Larry Foust (16) 1–4
6 November 15 @ Milwaukee 68–71 Frank Brian (22) 1–5
7 November 16 New York 83–112 Dick Groat (25) 2–5
8 November 20 Minneapolis 89–81 Fred Schaus (24) 2–6
9 November 22 @ Minneapolis 89–96 Larry Foust (21) 2–7
10 November 23 Philadelphia 80–92 Fred Schaus (22) 3–7
11 November 26 @ Milwaukee 80–72 Don Meineke (19) 4–7
12 November 27 Milwaukee 87–95 (OT) Dwight Eddleman (24) 5–7
13 November 29 N Boston 71–78 Frank Brian (17) 5–8
14 November 30 Baltimore 95–100 (2OT) Dwight Eddleman (27) 6–8
15 December 4 Syracuse 78–70 Dwight Eddleman (21) 6–9
16 December 5 @ Indianapolis 74–84 Larry Foust (27) 6–10
17 December 6 @ Baltimore 103–91 Fred Schaus (21) 7–10
18 December 7 New York 91–102 Don Meineke (27) 8–10
19 December 11 Milwaukee 70–71 (OT) Larry Foust (22) 9–10
20 December 14 Indianapolis 71–86 Larry Foust (27) 10–10
21 December 16 N Philadelphia 64–95 Foust, Groat (18) 11–10
22 December 18 @ Philadelphia 86–79 Larry Foust (22) 12–10
23 December 20 @ Rochester 89–92 Larry Foust (23) 12–11
24 December 21 Philadelphia 71–74 Don Meineke (16) 13–11
25 December 23 @ Indianapolis 59–72 Fred Schaus (14) 13–12
26 December 25 Milwaukee 69–71 (2OT) Larry Foust (14) 14–12
27 December 27 N New York 91–92 Dick Groat (17) 15–12
28 December 28 Boston 89–66 Frank Brian (19) 15–13
29 December 31 Indianapolis 85–91 Larry Foust (25) 16–13
30 January 1 @ Syracuse 78–92 Larry Foust (22) 16–14
31 January 3 @ Rochester 101–106 Brian, Eddleman, Foust, Groat (13) 16–15
32 January 4 Philadelphia 68–79 Andy Phillip (25) 17–15
33 January 6 @ Milwaukee 71–73 Brian, Foust (17) 17–16
34 January 10 N Minneapolis 84–79 Fred Schaus (20) 17–17
35 January 11 Indianapolis 68–72 Larry Foust (17) 18–17
36 January 15 Boston 85–91 Dwight Eddleman (28) 19–17
37 January 16 N Indianapolis 68–75 Larry Foust (15) 20–17
38 January 18 Rochester 87–90 Dick Groat (22) 21–17
39 January 21 @ Boston 84–94 Frank Brian (21) 21–18
40 January 22 @ Syracuse 75–87 Larry Foust (15) 21–19
41 January 24 @ New York 76–82 Larry Foust (22) 21–20
42 January 25 Milwaukee 62–65 Don Meineke (15) 22–20
43 January 27 N Minneapolis 96–76 Andy Phillip (17) 22–21
44 January 29 Boston 98–111 Larry Foust (21) 23–21
45 January 30 N Rochester 70–68 (OT) Phillip, Schaus (15) 23–22
46 January 31 @ Minneapolis 80–87 Dick Groat (19) 23–23
47 February 1 Minneapolis 92–76 Frank Brian (16) 23–24
48 February 5 Indianapolis 63–68 Andy Phillip (19) 24–24
49 February 8 Baltimore 78–89 Andy Phillip (19) 25–24
50 February 11 Syracuse 78–96 Frank Brian (20) 26–24
51 February 14 @ Baltimore 102–88 Fred Schaus (20) 27–24
52 February 15 Rochester 84–72 Chuck Share (17) 27–25
53 February 17 @ Rochester 88–78 Andy Phillip (19) 28–25
54 February 19 Baltimore 79–83 (OT) Fred Scolari (17) 29–25
55 February 21 @ Minneapolis 75–85 Andy Phillip (15) 29–26
56 February 22 Minneapolis 78–90 Andy Phillip (20) 30–26
57 February 24 @ Rochester 91–80 Don Meineke (19) 31–26
58 February 26 @ Syracuse 77–89 Don Meineke (20) 31–27
59 February 28 @ New York 74–85 Larry Foust (20) 31–28
60 March 1 Milwaukee 74–76 Fred Scolari (24) 32–28
61 March 3 N Minneapolis 86–68 Larry Foust (18) 32–29
62 March 4 Syracuse 75–73 (2OT) Larry Foust (20) 32–30
63 March 6 @ Indianapolis 73–64 Andy Phillip (23) 33–30
64 March 7 @ Baltimore 83–81 (OT) Brian, Foust, Schaus (15) 34–30
65 March 8 Rochester 71–69 Foust, Phillip, Scolari (13) 34–31
66 March 9 Milwaukee 74–94 Fred Schaus (17) 35–31
67 March 11 @ Boston 92–98 Fred Scolari (26) 35–32
68 March 15 New York 69–81 Fred Schaus (18) 36–32
69 March 17 @ Milwaukee 61–87 Larry Foust (12) 36–33

Playoffs

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1953 playoff game log
Division Semifinals: 2–1 (home: 0–1; road: 2–0)
Game Date Team Score High points Location Series
1 March 20 @ Rochester W 84–77 Fred Schaus (20) Edgerton Park Arena 1–0
2 March 22 Rochester L 71–83 Larry Foust (24) War Memorial Coliseum 1–1
3 March 24 @ Rochester W 67–65 Larry Foust (18) Edgerton Park Arena 2–1
Division Finals: 2–3 (home: 2–0; road: 0–3)
Game Date Team Score High points Location Series
1 March 26 @ Minneapolis L 73–83 Larry Foust (16) Minneapolis Auditorium 0–1
2 March 28 @ Minneapolis L 75–82 Larry Foust (21) Minneapolis Auditorium 0–2
3 March 30 Minneapolis W 98–95 Fred Scolari (27) War Memorial Coliseum 1–2
4 April 1 Minneapolis W 85–82 Larry Foust (20) War Memorial Coliseum 2–2
5 April 2 @ Minneapolis L 58–74 Larry Foust (16) Minneapolis Auditorium 2–3
1953 schedule

Awards and records

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References

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  1. ^ 1952–53 Fort Wayne Pistons
  2. ^ "1952-53 Fort Wayne Pistons Roster and Stats".
  3. ^ "Baseball (MLB) and Basketball (NBA) Players | Baseball Almanac".
  4. ^ "Chevette to Corvette No. 26: The 1952-53 Detroit Pistons". November 8, 2011.

See also

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