1946 World Professional Basketball Tournament

August 2023 World Professional Basketball Tournament 1946 Chicago, Illinois 25 March 8 April 14 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons Oshkosh All-Stars Chicago American Gears George Mikan George Mikan 1945 1947 The 1946 World Professional Basketball Tournament was the eighth edition of the World Professional Basketball Tournament. It was held in Chicago, Illinois, during the days of 25 March - 8 April 1946 and featured 14 teams, with the teams mostly comprising a mixture of independently ran teams and teams from the National Basketball League, alongside the addition of the American Basketball League's champion team that year, the Baltimore Bullets. This year's tournament would also be the only WPBT event where the championship match and the third place match would be in a best of three format instead of a winner takes all format. The event had a home town team for local fans to cheer on during the tournament with the Chicago American Gears of the NBL, but they would be knocked out by the semifinal round against the NBL's Oshkosh All-Stars due to Oshkosh fouling out star center George Mikan and stealing the match away from them afterward. The tournament was won by the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, who won their third straight championship in the event (and final championship in the WPBT's history), though wouldn't also win the NBL's championship alongside it due to the Rochester Royals winning that league's championship that year, after defeating the Oshkosh All-Stars (under what later became their final year competing for the championship in that event) 2–1 in the championship series.Zollners win deciding game in Pro Tourney https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99123581/ 5 April 2022 The Oshkosh Northwestern 9 April 1946 13 Newspapers.com The Chicago American Gears came in third after beating the Baltimore Bullets 2–0 in the third-place best-of-three series. Despite his team not even participating in the championship series, George Mikan of the American Gears was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after finishing as its top scorer with 100 points in five games.George Mikan Most Valuable in Pro Tourney https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99122102/ 5 April 2022 Quad-City Times 7 April 1946 34 Newspapers.com Results Bracket y 1/1/1/3 y no Round 1single match Quarterfinalssingle match Semifinalssingle match Finalbest-of-three series Third place Midland Dow Chemicals 72 Indianapolis Kautskys 59 Dayton Mickeys 58 Baltimore Bullets 61 Anderson Chiefs 59 Cleveland Allmen Transfers 46 Chicago American GearsMikan leads Gears' win in pro meet https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99121535/ 5 April 2022 Nashville Banner 26 March 1946 14 Newspapers.com Jerry Liska George Mikan just another player as high-priced star shows in pro event https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99121677/ 5 April 2022 Chillicothe Gazette 26 March 1946 8 Newspapers.com 69 Pittsburgh Raiders 58 Detroit Mansfields 32 Oshkosh All-Stars 60 New York Renaissance 82 Toledo White Huts 39 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 65 Midland Dow Chemicals 62 Baltimore Bullets 67 Anderson Chiefs 65 Sheboygan Red Skins 51 Chicago American Gears 52 Oshkosh All-Stars 50 New York Renaissance 44 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 50 Baltimore Bullets 49 Chicago American Gears 66 Oshkosh All-Stars 72 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 59 56 73 Oshkosh All-Stars 61 47 57 Chicago American Gears 59 65 Baltimore Bullets 54 50 Third place series #e3e3e3 5 April 1946 Chicago American Gears 59 Baltimore Bullets 54 G. Mikan – 17 Chicago Stadium 11,131 #fcfcfc 6 April 1946 Chicago American Gears 65 Baltimore Bullets 50 G. Mikan – 27 S. Stutz – 11 Chicago Stadium 17,782 Championship series #e3e3e3 5 April 1946 Box score Oshkosh All-Stars 61 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 59 40–25 21–34 B. Carpenter – 19 B. McDermott – 17 Chicago Stadium 11,131Jimmy Jordan Zollners face uphill fight to retain title https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99122617/ 5 April 2022 The Indianapolis News 6 April 1946 4 Newspapers.com Oshkosh five 61-59 winner https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99122332/ 5 April 2022 The Des Moines Register 6 April 1946 11 Newspapers.com Nat Messinger, Frank Kriznecky #fcfcfc 6 April 1946 Box score Oshkosh All-Stars 47 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 56 24–32 23–24 L. Edwards – 24 B. McDermott – 13 Chicago Stadium 17,782Fort Wayne ties series on 56-74 win https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99122922/ 5 April 2022 Democrat and Chronicle 7 April 1946 31 Messinger, Kriznecky #e3e3e3 8 April 1946 Box score Oshkosh All-Stars 57 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 73 32–39 25–34 L. Edwards – 24 B. McDermott – 20 Chicago Stadium 8,440 Nat Messinger, Frank Kriznecky Individual awards The recently added George Mikan of the Chicago American Gears led this tournament in scoring with a tournament record-high 100 points scored in five games played.Triptow Richard F. The Dynasty that Never Was: Chicago's First Professional Basketball Champions, The American Gears 1997 self-published Lake Bluff, Illinois 0-9659280-0-4, p. 217 That would be the only time the WPBT would utilize a different format to expand their system out, however. All-Tournament First Team F - Jerry Bush, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons F - Leroy Edwards, Oshkosh All-Stars C - George Mikan, Chicago American Gears (MVP) G - Bobby McDermott, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons G - Bob Feerick, Oshkosh All-Stars All-Tournament Second Team F - Paul Cloyd, Midland Dow Chemicals F - Bob Calihan, Chicago American Gears C - Mike Bloom, Baltimore Bullets G - Stan Stutz, Baltimore Bullets G - Bob Carpenter, Oshkosh All-Stars See also 1945–46 National Basketball League (United States) season, a professional basketball season featuring six out of eight teams there, including the eventual three-time defending WPBT champions in the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons References External links WPBT 1939-48 on apbr.org 1945-46 WPBT Tournament Overview on retroseasons.com WORLD BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT: 1945-1946 on Pro Basketball Encyclopedia Category:World Professional Basketball Tournament