1948–49 Tri-Cities Blackhawks season

NBL professional basketball team season March 2026 Tri-Cities Blackhawks NBL 1949 36 28 Western 2 Bobby McDermott (player-coach; 24–21TRI-CITIES BLACKHAWKS https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/season/tri-cities-blackhawks-3/ 2026-01-06 Pro Basketball Encyclopedia en-US)Roger Potter (12–7) Wharton Field House Lost Western Division Semifinals to the All-Stars, 1–3 https://www.basketball-reference.com/nbl/teams/TCB/1949.html The 1948–49 Tri-Cities Blackhawks season was the team's third season of play (their second full season of play while going under the Tri-Cities Blackhawks name after previously going under the Buffalo Bisons in 1946) and their last season of play in the National Basketball League (NBL) before its merger with the Basketball Association of America (BAA). Led by the league's final MVP Don Otten, the Blackhawks experienced their first winning season in team history, as well as their only winning season while in the NBL.1948–49 Tri-Cities Blackhawks records and stats The Tri-Cities would sweep the Sheboygan Red Skins 2–0 in the Western Division opening round, but lost to the Oshkosh All-Stars 3–1 in the Western Division semifinal round of the final NBL Playoffs ever held. Months after the end of what became the final NBL season as a whole, the NBL officially agreed to merge operations with the more upstart Basketball Association of America to become the modern-day National Basketball Association, with the NBA ultimately keeping the history of the BAA around over that of the NBL despite it being the longer-lasting league, though the NBA would also keep every surviving NBL team from the previous season outside of the Dayton Rens, Hammond Calumet Buccaneers, and Oshkosh All-Stars (with Oshkosh being a last-minute subtraction on their end) alongside keeping the NBL's planned expansion team in the Indianapolis Olympians, while the BAA side also kept every team of theirs outside of the Indianapolis Jets (formerly the NBL's Indianapolis Kautskys) and the Providence Steamrollers for the merger. However, the Blackhawks and the Syracuse Nationals would become the only NBL teams in the NBL side of things by 1949 to survive to the present day, albeit as the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers respectively. Draft picks The Tri-Cities Blackhawks would participate in the 1948 NBL draft, which occurred right after the 1948 BAA draft when plans for a joint draft between the National Basketball League and the rivaling Basketball Association of America ultimately fell out when the defending NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, and Indianapolis Kautskys turned Jets all defected from the NBL to the BAA. However, as of 2026, no records of what the Blackhawks' draft picks might have been for the NBL have properly come up, with any information on who those selections might have been being lost to time in the process. Roster 1948–49 Tri-Cities Blackhawks #B62B35 #FFFFFF #F3BC4C #000000 – Joe Camic F/C 6 4 195 Duquesne 1922-11-18 – Dee Gibson F/G 5 11 175 Bradley 1923-08-25 – Hoot basketball Gibson F/C 6 5 198 Creighton (Minnesota) 1921-12-05 – Luther Harris F/G 6 3 195 East Alton–Wood River HS (IL) 1923-08-27 – Billy Hassett G 5 11 185 Notre Dame 1921-10-21 – Earl Hawkins F 6 4 225 Auburn 1920-09-23 – Ed Lewinski F/C 6 4 210 Bowen HS (IL) 1918-09-10 – Bobby Lowther F/C 6 5 190 LSU 1923-12-14 – Bobby McDermott G 6 0 185 Flushing HS (NY) 1914-01-07 – Don Otten C 6 10 240 Bowling Green 1921-04-18 – George Ratkovicz F/C 6 6 220 Lindblom HS (IL) 1922-11-13 – Don Ray basketball F/C 6 5 190 Western Kentucky 1921-07-08 – Whitey Von Nieda F/G 6 1 170 Penn State 1922-06-19 – Murray Wier G 5 9 155 Iowa 1926-12-12 Bobby McDermott Roger Potter https://www.basketball-reference.com/nbl/teams/TCB/1949.html Note: Joe Camic, Earl Hawkins, Ed Lewinski, and player-coach Bobby McDermott were not on the playoff roster for one reason or another.TRI-CITIES BLACKHAWKS https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/season/tri-cities-blackhawks-3/ Pro Basketball EncyclopediaPeach Basket Society: 1948-49 Tri-Cities Blackhawks (NBL) https://peachbasketsociety.blogspot.com/2016/06/1948-49-tri-cities-blackhawks-nbl.html Peach Basket Society 26 March 2026 22 June 20161948-49 Tri-Cities Blackhawks basketball Roster on StatsCrew.com https://www.statscrew.com/basketball/roster/t-TRI/y-1948 StatsCrew.com 26 March 2026 Season standings Western Division standings NBL Schedule Not to be confused with exhibition or other non-NBL scheduled games that did not count towards the Tri-Cities' official NBL record for this season. An official database created by John Grasso detailing every NBL match possible (outside of two matches that the Kankakee Gallagher Trojans won over the Dayton Metropolitans in 1938) would be released in 2026 showcasing every team's official schedules throughout their time spent in the NBL. As such, these are the official results recorded for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks in their third and final season in the NBL (second and final full season under the Tri-Cities Blackhawks name specifically following the new Buffalo Bisons team moving from Buffalo, New York to Moline, Illinois near the end of 1946, with the Blackhawks officially playing their NBL games from their inaugural (NBL) season at the start of 1947). # Date Opponent Score Record 1 November 6 Sheboygan 63–64 0–1 2 November 11 @ Sheboygan 56–48 1–1 3 November 13 Denver 70–58 2–1 4 November 15 @ Anderson 57–64 2–2 5 November 16 Waterloo 67–63 3–2 6 November 17 @ Syracuse 56–58 3–3 7 November 20 Hammond 93–73 4–3 8 November 22 @ Denver 54–49 5–3 9 November 24 @ Denver 51–60 5–4 10 November 27 Detroit 92–73 6–4 11 November 28 @ Waterloo 59–61 6–5 12 December 2 Denver 80–76 7–5 13 December 4 Oshkosh 47–57 7–6 14 December 5 @ Hammond 58–52 8–6 15 December 7 Anderson 76–78 8–7 16 December 11 Denver 82–62 9–7 17 December 12 @ Hammond 70–58 10–7 18 December 16 Oshkosh 73–64 11–7 19 December 19 Syracuse 67–66 12–7 20 December 20 @ Anderson 61–58 13–7 21 December 23 Hammond 63–64 13–8 22 December 26 Dayton 70–49 14–8 23 December 28 N Syracuse 74–87 14–9 24 December 30 @ Syracuse 74–83 14–10 25 January 1 @ Sheboygan 51–64 14–11 26 January 2 Sheboygan 68–54 15–11 27 January 5 @ Denver 44–50 15–12 28 January 7 @ Denver 69–58 16–12 29 January 9 Anderson 77–71 17–12 30 January 13 Waterloo 72–68 18–12 31 January 16 Syracuse 83–72 19–12 32 January 19 @ Waterloo 46–42 20–12 33 January 20 Anderson 74–76 20–13 34 January 22 @ Oshkosh 53–64 20–14 35 January 23 @ Sheboygan 60–66 20–15 36 January 25 Hammond 75–51 21–15 37 January 27 @ Syracuse 55–58 21–16 38 January 30 Oshkosh 92–69 22–16 39 February 2 Waterloo 59–70 22–17 40 February 3 Waterloo 56–63 22–18 41 February 5 @ Oshkosh 65–63 23–18 42 February 6 Hammond 53–49 24–18 43 February 7 N Dayton 49–51 24–19 44 February 10 Dayton 54–61 24–20 45 February 13 Oshkosh 53–54 24–21 46 February 16 Waterloo 63–58 25–21 47 February 17 @ Anderson 71–97 25–22 48 February 20 Syracuse 75–66 26–22 49 February 21 N Dayton 74–54 27–22 50 February 24 Anderson 75–73 (OT) 28–22 51 February 26 @ Oshkosh 54–58 28–23 52 February 27 Syracuse 51–40 29–23 53 March 3 Dayton 58–60 29–24 54 March 6 Sheboygan 80–63 30–24 55 March 9 Dayton 65–56 31–24 56 March 10 N Dayton 68–45 32–24 57 March 12 Sheboygan 68–66 33–24 58 March 13 @ Waterloo 50–49 34–24 59 March 16 @ Hammond 57–60 34–25 60 March 17 @ Sheboygan 61–69 34–26 61 March 20 Oshkosh 78–61 35–26 62 March 24 Denver 59–57 36–26 63 March 26 @ Anderson 75–102 36–27 64 March 27 Hammond 62–63 36–28 NBL Playoffs NBL Western Division Opening Round (2W) Tri-Cities Blackhawks vs. (3W) Sheboygan Red Skins: Tri-Cities wins series 2–0 Game 1: April 2, 1949 @ Moline, Illinois (Tri-Cities): Tri-Cities 75, Sheboygan 60Bradley Grasso Robert John Total Basketball: The Ultimate Basketball Encyclopedia 2003 SPORT Media Publishing, Inc. 1-894963-01-6, p. 423 Game 2: April 3, 1949 @ Sheboygan: Tri-Cities 59, Sheboygan 51 NBL Western Division Semifinals (2W) Tri-Cities Blackhawks vs. (1W) Oshkosh All-Stars: Oshkosh wins series 3–1 Game 1: April 6, 1949 @ Oshkosh: Oshkosh 68, Tri-Cities 66 Game 2: April 9, 1949 @ Oshkosh: Oshkosh 73, Tri-Cities 59 Game 3: April 10, 1949 @ Moline, Illinois (Tri-Cities): Tri-Cities 70, Oshkosh 64 Game 4: April 12, 1949 @ Moline, Illinois (Tri-Cities): Oshkosh 70, Tri-Cities 69 Awards and records Don Otten – MVP, All-NBL First Team Whitey Von Nieda – All-NBL Second Team Hoot Gibson – All-NBL Second Team1948–49 NBL Awards and Honors References Category:Atlanta Hawks seasons Tri-Cities Tri-Cities Blackhawks Tri-Cities Blackhawks