1934–35 Philadelphia Sphas season

American basketball team season Philadelphia Sphas / Hebrews Philadelphia Sphas American Basketball League (revived original) 1935 25 17 2nd (1st half), T-1st (2nd half) Eddie Gottlieb Eddie Gottlieb Eddie Gottlieb Broadwood Hotel Did not qualify(Lost ABL second half tiebreaker series to Brooklyn Visitations, 2–1) The Philadelphia Sphas were an early, historical example of an American professional basketball team. The 1934–35 season was the second season played in the now-revived American Basketball League by the Sphas, although they did play in the original rendition of the ABL from 1926 to 1928 as the Philadelphia Warriors, which had no relation to the later BAA franchise of the same name that now exists in the present day as the Golden State Warriors in the NBA. As such, when including the past history of the original ABL with the revived version of the ABL in 1933 following historical problems that related to the Great Depression near the end of 1931, this would technically be the eighth official season played by the original ABL properly, though this would officially be the 18th season of play for the Sphas franchise when including previous seasons where they played under names like the "Philadelphia YMHA"; the "Philadelphia Passon, Gottlieb, Black", the "Philadelphia Warriors"; and most recently, the "Philadelphia Hebrews". Background The Sphas played in leagues around Philadelphia since 1917, but game-by-game records before the Sphas rejoined the ABL in 1933 are not (currently) available (at least, not to the general public if official game records did exist for the Sphas) and are therefore likely lost to time itself.The SPHAS: The Life and Times of Basketball's Greatest Jewish Team Stark Douglas Temple University Press 2011 978-1-59213-633-9 Philadelphia Appendix A, 249–250 When trying to repeat their championship run from the ABL's return season into the second season of its return, the Sphas would finish the first half of the season with a second place finish of 13–10, an above-average record that was behind the New York Jewels with their even better 16–6 record. With a shot at a repeat for the ABL championship on the line, the Sphas would end up tying their second half of the season record with the Brooklyn Visitations, being led in part by future NBL all-time legend and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Bobby McDermott after previously being one of the worst teams the previous season, through a 12–7 record that concluded with Brooklyn defeating Philadelphia in the second half's season finale by a 39–31 defeat on the Sphas' end on March 24, 1935. Because the ABL did not allow for a regular playoff format at this time and instead revolved around the two best teams of each half competing for the league's championship, the Sphas and the Visitiations competed for the right to compete against the New York Jewels with a best-of-three tiebreaker series. Unfortunately for the Sphas, after winning their first game with a rather convincing 24–15 final score on April 5, they would lose their next game a day later in a just-as-convincing 39–30 beatdown before ultimately losing their final game in a close 25–26 defeat to be eliminated from championship contention with a 2–1 series defeat, with the Visitations ultimately defeating the Jewels to win the revived ABL's second championship series ever held. During this season, the Sphas were also referred to as the Philadelphia Hebrews in league records during this period of time, with the Hebrews name continuing to be utilized until 1937. Roster 1934–35 Philadelphia Sphas / Hebrews #4070C0 #FFFFFF #FFFFFF #CC0000 Gil Fitch 1 G/F 6 0 175 Temple 1909–12–24 Moe Goldman 1 F/C 6 3 175 CCNY 1913–05–30 Shikey Gotthoffer 1 G/F 6 0 195 NYU 1911–01–01 Cy Kaselman 1 G 5 10 165 Temple 1909–05–01 Inky Lautman 1 F/C 6 2 205 Central HS (PA) 1914–05–22 Harry Litwack G 5 7 170 Temple 1907–09–20 Red Rosan F/C 6 2 195 Temple 1911–05–22 Red Wolfe basketball G 5 11 165 St. John's 1905–07–18 Eddie Gottlieb PHILADELPHIA SPHAS https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/season/philadelphia-sphas-2/ Pro Basketball Encyclopedia1934-35 Philadelphia Hebrews basketball Roster on StatsCrew.com https://www.statscrew.com/basketball/roster/t-ABLPHH/y-1934 StatsCrew.comWilk Mike Peach Basket Society: 1934-35 Philadelphia SPHA's (ABL) https://peachbasketsociety.blogspot.com/2018/01/1934-35-philadelphia-sphas-abl.html Peach Basket Society 25 January 2018 ABL Standings +First HalfTeamWinsLossesWinning %New York Jewels166.727Philadelphia SPHAs / Hebrews1310.565Brooklyn Visitations1311.542Newark MulesNote1 a a1211.522Boston Trojans1011.476Jersey Reds714.333New Britain JackawaysNote1 a a614.300 +Second HalfTeamWinsLossesWinning %Brooklyn Visitations127.632Philadelphia SPHAs / Hebrews127.632New Britain MulesNote1 a a99.500Jersey Reds99.500New York Jewels810.444Boston Trojans412.250 ABL Schedule +First Half#DateOpponentScoreRecord1ANovember 3Newark MulesNote1 a a25–201–02ANovember 10Brooklyn Visitations27–331–13ANovember 11@ New York Jewels27–311–24ANovember 15@ New Britain JackawaysNote1 a a32–292–25ANovember 17New Britain JackawaysNote1 a a31–273–26ANovember 24Jersey Reds32–244–27ANovember 26@ Boston Trojans33–354–38ADecember 1Boston Trojans44–305–39ADecember 7@ Newark MulesNote1 a a27–226–310ADecember 8New York Jewels31–356–411ADecember 9@ Brooklyn Visitations23–276–512ADecember 15Newark MulesNote1 a a31–227–513ADecember 16(Game 1)@ Jersey Reds33–447–614ADecember 16(Game 2)@ New York Jewels22–218–615ADecember 22New Britain JackawaysNote1 a a26–219–616ADecember 26@ New Britain JackawaysNote1 a a28–1410–617ADecember 27@ Boston Trojans20–3210–718ADecember 29Brooklyn Visitations34–3011–719AJanuary 5Boston Trojans20–3411–820AJanuary 6@ Brooklyn Visitations37–2712–821AJanuary 12New York Jewels14–2512–922AJanuary 19Jersey Reds43–2313–923AJanuary 20@ Jersey Reds28–3513–10 +Second Half#DateOpponentScoreRecord1BJanuary 26Brooklyn Visitations39–251–02BJanuary 27@ Brooklyn Visitations28–311–13BFebruary 2Boston Trojans44–182–14BFebruary 3@ Jersey Reds27–243–15BFebruary 9New Britain MulesNote1 a a22–273–26BFebruary 10@ New Britain MulesNote1 a a26–353–37BFebruary 16New York Jewels40–374–38BFebruary 22New Britain MulesNote1 a a22–185–39BFebruary 23Jersey Reds36–216–310BMarch 2Brooklyn Visitations21–197–311BMarch 3@ New York Jewels18–347–412BMarch 9Boston Trojans34–298–413BMarch 10@ Jersey Reds37–329–414BMarch 16New York Jewels37–3310–415BMarch 17@ New York Jewels24–3610–516BMarch 19New Britain MulesNote1 a a19–2510–617BMarch 20Boston Trojans36–3111–618BMarch 23Jersey Reds44–3012–619BMarch 24@ Brooklyn Visitations31–3912–7 +Second Half First Place Tiebreaker SeriesGameDateOpponentScoreRecordGame 1April 5@ Brooklyn Visitations24–151–0Game 2April 6Brooklyn Visitations30–391–1Game 3April 11Brooklyn Visitations25–261–2 Notes Note1 a a At the end of the first half of the season, the Newark Mules and New Britain Jackaways would merge operations to become the New Britain Mules on January 18, 1935. Because of the merger, the Newark franchise would fold operations by the start of the second half of the season, while the New Britain franchise would continue operations under a (mostly) new roster for the second half of the season.Society Peach Basket 2018-01-25 Peach Basket Society: 1934-35 Newark / New Britain Mules (ABL) https://peachbasketsociety.blogspot.com/2018/01/1934-35-newark-new-britain-mules-abl.html 2026-02-10 Peach Basket Societyhttps://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-hartford-courant-19-jan/67247984/ Hartford Courant Newspapers.com January 19, 1935 14 Newark Mules Shifted To Replace Jackaways References Category:Philadelphia Sphas seasons Philadelphia Philadelphia Sphas Philadelphia Sphas