1955–56 Fort Wayne Pistons season

NBA team season March 2026 August 2023 Fort Wayne Pistons Detroit Pistons 1956 yes 37 35 Western 1 Charles Eckman Fred Zollner War Memorial Coliseum WKJG-TV WOWO NBA Finals(eliminated 1–4) FTW The 1955–56 Fort Wayne Pistons season was the eighth season for the Pistons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 15th season as a franchise. The Pistons would finish with a 37-35 (.514) record, 1st in the NBA Western Division and the only division team above .500 on the season. In the Western Division Finals the Pistons defeated the St. Louis Hawks in a best-of-five series 3–2 to reach the NBA Finals for the second straight season. They would go on to lose the Finals in five games to the Philadelphia Warriors.1955–56 Fort Wayne Pistons The team was led by forward Mel Hutchins (12.0 ppg, 7. rpg, NBA All-Star), forward George Yardley (17.4 ppg, 9.7 rpg, NBA All-Star) and center Larry Foust (16.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg, NBA All-Star).https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/FTW/1956.html 1955-56 Fort Wayne Pistons Roster and Stats The Pistons also drafted their first black player in the team's history, Jesse Arnelle out of Penn State in the 2nd round of the 1955 NBA draft. Arnelle initially refused to sign with Fort Wayne, playing for the Harlem Globetrotters, but signed with the Pistons after the conclusion of the Globetrotters European tour, played in 31 games, averaging 4.7 ppg and 5.5 rpg, before breaking his nose in February to end the season. Arnelle did not return to Fort Wayne the following season, ending his professional basketball career. He became a successful lawyer and would serve on the Penn State Board of Trustees.https://pistonpowered.com/2011/11/27/chevette-to-corvette-no-20-the-1955-56-fort-wayne-pistons/ Chevette to Corvette No. 20: The 1955-56 Fort Wayne Pistons 27 November 2011https://www.phillytrib.com/obituaries/jesse-arnelle-former-penn-state-all-american-dies-at-86/article_4c07c5eb-0349-5826-b72b-10a5384c9f1f.html Jesse Arnelle, former Penn State All-American, dies at 86 Roster 1955–56 Fort Wayne Pistons #002F6C white #D50032 white 15, 18 Jesse Arnelle PF 6 5 220 December 30, 1933 Penn State 18 Don Bielke C 6 7 240 May 10, 1932 Valparaiso 7 Frankie Brian PG 6 1 180 May 1, 1923 LSU 6 Chuck Cooper basketball SF 6 5 210 September 29, 1926 Duquesne 7, 8 Corky Devlin SG 6 5 195 December 21, 1931 George Washington 16 Larry Foust C 6 9 215 June 24, 1928 La Salle 10 Jim Holstein SF 6 3 180 September 24, 1930 Cincinnati 15 Johnny Horan F 6 8 190 November 24, 1932 Dayton 17 Bob Houbregs C 6 8 225 March 12, 1932 Washington 9 Mel Hutchins PF 6 6 200 November 22, 1928 BYU 5 Chuck Noble SG 6 4 190 July 24, 1931 Louisville 14 Andy Phillip PG 6 2 195 March 7, 1922 Illinois 8, 15 Odie Spears SF 6 5 205 June 17, 1924 Western Kentucky 12 George Yardley SF 6 5 190 November 3, 1928 Stanford 10 Max Zaslofsky SG 6 2 170 December 7, 1925 St. John's Charles Eckman https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/FTW/1956.html Regular season Season standings FTW x – clinched playoff spot Game log 1955–56 Game log # Date Opponent Score High points Record 1 November 5 @ Syracuse 113–114 (OT) Hutchins, Yardley (24) 0–1 2 November 6 Minneapolis 96–95 Larry Foust (25) 0–2 3 November 12 N Rochester 84–79 Larry Foust (14) 0–3 4 November 13 Syracuse 79–93 Bob Houbregs (22) 1–3 5 November 17 N New York 110–88 George Yardley (22) 1–4 6 November 19 @ Boston 102–104 Larry Foust (25) 1–5 7 November 20 New York 119–115 (OT) Larry Foust (30) 1–6 8 November 24 Rochester 93–104 George Yardley (28) 2–6 9 November 26 @ Philadelphia 82–87 George Yardley (22) 2–7 10 November 27 St. Louis 106–114 (OT) George Yardley (29) 3–7 11 November 29 @ New York 104–99 Larry Foust (28) 4–7 12 November 30 @ Rochester 76–87 Odie Spears (19) 4–8 13 December 4 Boston 90–111 Larry Foust (18) 5–8 14 December 6 N Syracuse 88–90 Larry Foust (18) 6–8 15 December 8 Syracuse 94–105 Chuck Noble (28) 7–8 16 December 10 @ Rochester 116–117 (OT) Bob Houbregs (26) 7–9 17 December 11 Philadelphia 91–96 George Yardley (23) 8–9 18 December 14 N Minneapolis 98–85 Larry Foust (22) 8–10 19 December 15 @ Philadelphia 73–80 Noble, Yardley (14) 8–11 20 December 17 New York 100–95 George Yardley (17) 8–12 21 December 18 Minneapolis 86–96 Larry Foust (33) 9–12 22 December 25 New York 87–92 Bob Houbregs (15) 10–12 23 December 26 N St. Louis 67–83 George Yardley (15) 11–12 24 December 29 Rochester 75–83 Bob Houbregs (14) 12–12 25 December 30 N St. Louis 89–90 Hutchins, Phillip (18) 13–12 26 January 1 St. Louis 68–85 Chuck Noble (21) 14–12 27 January 2 N Minneapolis 95–89 Larry Foust (25) 14–13 28 January 3 @ Philadelphia 82–102 George Yardley (22) 14–14 29 January 4 @ Rochester 88–86 George Yardley (25) 15–14 30 January 5 N Philadelphia 81–92 George Yardley (21) 16–14 31 January 7 @ St. Louis 108–97 Foust, Noble (22) 17–14 32 January 8 St. Louis 96–91 George Yardley (20) 17–15 33 January 10 Boston 89–105 Chuck Noble (21) 18–15 34 January 14 @ Minneapolis 94–117 Larry Foust (21) 18–16 35 January 15 Minneapolis 99–104 Bob Houbregs (24) 19–16 36 January 17 N Boston 85–91 Larry Foust (18) 19–17 37 January 18 N Boston 90–95 George Yardley (30) 19–18 38 January 19 N St. Louis 83–90 Hutchins, Yardley (18) 20–18 39 January 21 @ Philadelphia 92–91 George Yardley (27) 21–18 40 January 22 Rochester 93–111 Corky Devlin (18) 22–18 41 January 25 N Boston 101–100 Mel Hutchins (24) 23–18 42 January 27 @ Boston 106–97 George Yardley (23) 24–18 43 January 28 @ New York 92–91 (OT) George Yardley (25) 25–18 44 January 29 Philadelphia 85–99 Bob Houbregs (18) 26–18 45 February 2 @ St. Louis 90–98 Andy Phillip (17) 26–19 46 February 4 N St. Louis 98–94 George Yardley (23) 26–20 47 February 5 @ Syracuse 85–90 Bob Houbregs (19) 26–21 48 February 6 Syracuse 98–99 George Yardley (26) 27–21 49 February 8 @ Minneapolis 82–106 Larry Foust (17) 27–22 50 February 11 @ Rochester 93–97 Bob Houbregs (23) 27–23 51 February 12 Minneapolis 78–82 George Yardley (28) 28–23 52 February 13 N Philadelphia 105–94 Bob Houbregs (22) 28–24 53 February 15 N Philadelphia 101–78 George Yardley (19) 28–25 54 February 16 Rochester 81–93 Larry Foust (18) 29–25 55 February 18 @ Syracuse 84–85 George Yardley (30) 29–26 56 February 19 @ St. Louis 89–83 Mel Hutchins (18) 30–26 57 February 20 N St. Louis 84–82 Mel Hutchins (15) 30–27 58 February 21 Rochester 106–102 Larry Foust (22) 30–28 59 February 23 @ Syracuse 92–94 Larry Foust (19) 30–29 60 February 25 @ Rochester 97–72 Larry Foust (22) 31–29 61 February 26 @ Minneapolis 95–90 Larry Foust (25) 32–29 62 February 27 Syracuse 98–95 (OT) Larry Foust (28) 32–30 63 February 28 @ New York 99–95 Larry Foust (19) 33–30 64 February 29 @ Boston 99–106 Larry Foust (26) 33–31 65 March 2 N New York 97–104 Mel Hutchins (21) 34–31 66 March 3 @ St. Louis 86–92 Bob Houbregs (16) 34–32 67 March 4 Rochester 88–103 George Yardley (22) 35–32 68 March 7 @ Minneapolis 95–98 Corky Devlin (19) 35–33 69 March 8 Minneapolis 82–100 George Yardley (26) 36–33 70 March 10 N Boston 106–103 George Yardley (26) 37–33 71 March 11 New York 122–96 Spears, Yardley (20) 37–34 72 March 14 @ Minneapolis 96–100 Houbregs, Yardley (20) 37–35 Playoffs Fort Wayne Pistons 1956 yes #0000FF #FFFFFF Fort Wayne Pistons Division Finals yes no yes #FF0000 #FFFFFF 2 1 1 1 yes yes yes |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | March 22 | St. Louis | L 85–86 | George Yardley (23) | War Memorial Coliseum | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | March 24 | @ St. Louis | L 74–84 | Larry Foust (16) | Kiel Auditorium | 0–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | March 25 | St. Louis | W 107–84 | Houbregs, Yardley (19) | War Memorial Coliseum | 1–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | March 27 | @ St. Louis | W 93–84 | George Yardley (30) | Kiel Auditorium | 2–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | March 29 | St. Louis | W 102–97 | Foust, Yardley (20) | War Memorial Coliseum | 3–2 |- Fort Wayne Pistons NBA Finals no yes #FF0000 #FFFFFF 1 1 0 3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | March 31 | @ Philadelphia | L 94–98 | George Yardley (27) | George Yardley (15) | Hutchins, Phillip (6) | Philadelphia Civic Center4,128 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | April 1 | Philadelphia | W 84–83 | George Yardley (30) | George Yardley (19) | Andy Phillip (5) | War Memorial Coliseum6,976 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | April 3 | @ Philadelphia | L 96–100 | Larry Foust (19) | Larry Foust (14) | Chuck Noble (4) | Philadelphia Civic Center11,698 | 1–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | April 5 | Philadelphia | L 105–107 | George Yardley (21) | Larry Foust (14) | Andy Phillip (6) | War Memorial Coliseum7,852 | 1–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | April 7 | @ Philadelphia | L 88–99 | George Yardley (30) | George Yardley (20) | Corky Devlin (6) | Philadelphia Civic Center11,194 | 1–4 |- FTW 1956 yes References Category:Detroit Pistons seasons Fort Wayne Fort Wayne Pistons Fort Wayne Pistons