1944–45 Chicago American Gears season

NBL professional basketball team season Chicago American Gears NBL 1945 14 16 Western 2 Maurice WhiteAmerican Gear & Manufacturing Company Jack Tierney (6–10)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, pp. 7, 21Swede Roos (player-coach; 8–6) Jack TierneyNelson Murry R. The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949 2009 McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers 978-0-7864-4006-1, p. 137 Chicago Stadium Lost Western Division Playoff to Sheboygan Red Skins, 2–1Won third place at 1945 WPBT 64–55 over New York Renaissance 1 The 1944–45 Chicago American Gears season was the American Gears' first year in the United States' National Basketball League (NBL), which was also the eighth year the league existed. NBL Season Index basketball-reference.com Sports Reference LLC https://www.basketball-reference.com/nbl/seasons/ October 27, 2019 However, if you include the (at least) one previous season where they competed in the Amateur Athletic Union before making the jump into the NBL, this would actually be their second season of play instead.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, pp. 2–3JOHN STYLER https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/john-styler/ Pro Basketball EncyclopediaJOE STAMPF https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/joe-stampf/ Pro Basketball EncyclopediaHERB BALL https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/herb-ball/ Pro Basketball EncyclopediaSWEDE ROOS https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/swede-roos/ Pro Basketball Encyclopedia With that being said, with the inclusion of the Chicago American Gears franchise (being owned by the American Gear Company's Maurice White) and the Pittsburgh Raiders (who were suggested to be the return of the original Pittsburgh Pirates NBL team that got rebranded in the process), this season marked the end of the division-less era of the NBL (despite it ending at a time where they had less teams competing than when it first began before World War II first began for the U.S.A.), with the 1944–45 season consisting of six total teams, with three teams involved in each of the Eastern and Western Divisions. 1944–45 NBL Season Summary basketball-reference.com Sports Reference LLC https://www.basketball-reference.com/nbl/seasons/1945.html October 27, 2019 Chicago played their home games at the Chicago Stadium for this season, Chicago American Gears → 1944–1945 Pro Basketball Encyclopedia https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/team-standings-by-year/?y=1944-1945&t=Chicago October 27, 2019 with every home game in the NBL guaranteeing payment of $400 to the visitors for at least this season.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. 5 Also, for at least this season, if not multiple seasons after this one, the team would have a dog mascot named Jigs be around with the team.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. 22 Following a long stretch of games with no real break in mind (playing seven games in eight days), Jack Tierney would resign from his head coach position due to health concerns (though he'd still remain as the general manager for the season) and be replaced by Swede Roos as a player-coach for the rest of the season.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. 7 Despite barely finishing this season with a losing record (scraping by for a 14–16 finish), they would still end up with a second-place finish in the Western Division, which would earn them their first ever qualification in the NBL Playoffs over the longstanding Oshkosh All-Stars (a team who had not only seen the NBL Playoffs up until this point in time, but also would ultimately only miss the NBL Playoffs during this specific season of play). Unfortunately for the American Gears, the only opponent they would see in the Western Division Playoff match-up they got was the Sheboygan Red Skins, which was a team that Chicago had beaten only one time in the regular season. While they would upset Sheboygan once again during the playoffs, the American Gears would be too weak to counter Sheboygan's strengths as a team, as the Red Skins would take the series 2–1 and move on to the NBL Championship match with ease, where they ended up seeing the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons and got affected by a 3–2 reverse sweep there. In addition to the NBL Playoffs, the Chicago American Gears also participated in the World Professional Basketball Tournament as the local home team throughout the event as well. The American Gears would only compete against some independently ran teams in the Hartford Nutmegs, Harlem Globetrotters, Dayton Acmes, and New York Renaissance during this event, with them upsetting the world-famous (all-black) Harlem Globetrotters in the quarterfinal round, but being blown out in the semifinal round by the military-based Dayton Acmes (who were composed of players from the rivaling American Basketball League and the all-black New York Renaissance) and being prevented from facing off against the NBL's Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in the championship round (and by extension, potentially upsetting the Zollner Pistons in the WPBT's championship round by comparison). However, the American Gears would see themselves get a consolation third place prize match-up against the all-black New York Renaissance, which they would also upset in that match-up as well due to the leadership of Dick Triptow. Stan Patrick would be named a member of the All-NBL First Team, while Dick Triptow was named a member of the All-NBL Second Team. Not only that, but Stan Patrick would also be named the NBL's Rookie of the Year as well. Interestingly, for at least this offseason period, the Chicago American Gears would also play under the White-Liners name (which was named after the "White-Liner" trademark that Maurice White had at the time) as a local 16" softball team (similar to what the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons had done in their early history as a franchise when playing both basketball and baseball/softball (in their case, a local, championship-winning 12" softball team) before ultimately deciding to stick with basketball for good once they entered the NBL) that also featured Elmer Gainer, Swede Roos, and Dick Triptow all competing as players on that team as well, with the American Gears/White-Liners winning the championship for that specific sporting event.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, pp. 2, 246 Roster 1944–45 Chicago American Gears #c41e3a #FFFFFF #FFFFFF #c41e3a Jim Ashe F/C 6 3 200 Unknown 1919–02–22 Connie Mack Berry F/C 6 3 200 NC State 1915–04–19 Elmer Gainer F/C 6 6 205 DePaul 1918–11–22 Nick Hashu F/C 6 1 195 Michigan State 1917–02–01 Ray Krzoska G 6 2 190 UW–Milwaukee 1918–10–28 Bill McDonald basketball G/F 6 3 190 Marquette 1916–11–05 Vince McGowan F/C 6 6 210 DePaul 1913–08–12 Johnny Orr basketball, born 1918 G 5 11 180 St. Benedict's 1918–06–04 Frank Otway F 6 4 205 Chicago 1923–03–01 Stan Patrick F/G 6 2 185 Illinois 1922–05–05 Swede Roos G/F 6 1 180 Illinois State 1913–08–08 Ed Scheiwe G/F 5 11 175 Wisconsin 1918–02–25 Joseph Stampf F/C 6 4 210 Chicago 1919–12–16 Chet Strumillo G/F 5 11 175 Illinois 1924–05–28 John Styler F/C 6 6 225 Unknown 1923–10–19 Dick Triptow F/G 6 0 170 DePaul 1922–11–03 Jack Tierney Swede Roos https://www.basketball-reference.com/nbl/teams/CAG/1945.html Note: Nick Hashu might have only been on the playoff roster,Peach Basket Society: 1944-45 Chicago American Gears (NBL) https://peachbasketsociety.blogspot.com/2016/01/1944-45-chicago-american-gears-nbl.html Peach Basket Society 23 March 2026 14 January 20161944-45 Chicago American Gears basketball Statistics on StatsCrew.com https://www.statscrew.com/basketball/stats/t-CHG/y-1944 statscrew.com 23 March 2026 while Frank Otway, Swede Roos, Joe Stampf, and Chet Strumillo were not on the playoffs roster (with Swede Roos being a full-time head coach by this point in time). In fact, the Chicago American Gears would also add Price Brookfield, Kleggie Hermsen, and George Ratkovicz onto their roster for the 1945 World Professional Basketball Tournament.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. 21 Regular season Season standings NBL Schedule Reference: Dick Triptow's The Dynasty That Never WasTriptow 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. 23 # Date Opponent Score Record 1 December 2 @ Oshkosh 29–47 0–1 2 December 3 @ Sheboygan 28–50 0–2 3 December 13 @ Pittsburgh 64–54 1–2 4 December 20 Oshkosh 52–46 2–2 5 December 23 Cleveland 51–42 3–2 6 December 25 @ Cleveland 47–64 3–3 7 December 26 @ Fort Wayne 50–59 3–4 8 December 27 @ Pittsburgh 50–38 4–4 9 January 3 Fort Wayne 64–73 4–5 10 January 10 Sheboygan 45–46 4–6 11 January 11 @ Sheboygan 48–52 4–7 12 January 13 @ Oshkosh 52–50 5–7 13 January 14 @ Cleveland 49–62 5–8 14 January 15 @ Pittsburgh 49–64 5–9 15 January 16 @ Fort Wayne 49–59 5–10 16 January 17 Oshkosh 43–36 6–10 17 January 24 Cleveland 59–50 7–10 18 January 27 Fort Wayne 52–50 8–10 19 January 31 Pittsburgh 62–60 9–10 20 February 3 Cleveland 40–66 9–11 21 February 4 @ Fort Wayne 59–60 9–12 22 February 7 Sheboygan 53–38 10–12 23 February 8 @ Sheboygan 43–53 10–13 24 February 10 @ Oshkosh 47–51 10–14 25 February 14 Fort Wayne 57–55 11–14 26 February 17 Pittsburgh 61–54 12–14 27 February 21 Oshkosh 66–58 13–14 28 February 25 @ Cleveland 46–57 13–15 29 February 28 Oshkosh 45–46 13–16 30 March 3 Pittsburgh 93–66 14–16 Each team would play each other a total of six times for 3 home and road games each for 30 total NBL season matches for this particular season of play. NBL Playoffs NBL Western Division Playoff (2W) Chicago American Gears vs. (1W) Sheboygan Red Skins: Sheboygan wins series 2–1 Game 1: March 5, 1945 @ Sheboygan: Chicago 50, Sheboygan 49 Game 2: March 7, 1945 @ Chicago: Sheboygan 49, Chicago 36 Game 3: March 9, 1945 @ Sheboygan: Sheboygan 57, Chicago 47 Awards and honors The Chicago American Gears would be the only NBL team without a current or former player of theirs to be nominated for a spot on one of the All-Time Stars of Professional Basketball Teams during this season.Nelson Murry R. The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949 2009 McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers 978-0-7864-4006-1, p. 137 NBL Rookie of the Year – Stan Patrick First Team All-NBL – Stan Patrick Second Team All-NBL – Dick Triptow World Professional Basketball Tournament For the first time ever in the franchise's history, the Chicago American Gears would enter the annual World Professional Basketball Tournament in Chicago, which the 1945 event was held on March 19–24, 1945 and was mostly held by independently ran teams alongside every NBL team from this season outside of the Sheboygan Red Skins due in part to World War II. However, unlike every other team competing in this year's WPBT, the American Gears would have a home crowd advantage of sorts due to them representing the city of Chicago this year. As the opening game of the WPBT in the first round, the American Gears would go up against the independently ran Hartford Nutmegs out in Hartford, Connecticut, who are suggested to be the future Hartford Hurricanes of the rivaling American Basketball League.JACK CURRAN https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/Jack-Curran Pro Basketball Encyclopedia 23 March 2026 Despite the American Gears ending their NBL season with a losing record (albeit by only one game to the point of still being considered a playoff team in the NBL), they would still end up proving to be a better overall team than the Hartford roster they went up against (thanks primarily to the combined scoring efforts of Stan Patrick, Dick Triptow, and Price Brookfield with 15, 10, and 7 points respectively), with Chicago winning 58–47 over the Nutmegs as the local fans looked to see what team their home town squad would go up against next in this tournament. In the quarterfinal round, after a day of rest, the American Gears went up against one of the two teams that had been given a bye in the WPBT this year, the world famous Harlem Globetrotters. As per usual from the Harlem Globetrotters, they would compete in this match (much like in other years they had participated in the WPBT, including the 1940 event where they actually won the championship there) by utilizing their typical mixture of comedic chicannery with the intent to win the game as best as they possibly could do so. However, the local Chicago fans in this event were cheering more for the American Gears than they were for the Globetrotters' antics this time around, which would prove to help the team enough of a team effort at hand necessary to upset the world famous Harlem Globetrotters with a 53–49 final score to knock out one of the two teams to get a first round bye in this year's WPBT. While Chicago didn't have Stan Patrick playing in this particular game, their teamwork would come through once again with a combination of Dick Triptow, Price Brookfield, and Kleggie Hermsen this time around scoring 13, 12, and 11 points respectively in their bid to upset the Globetrotters in the quarterfinal round, leaving their local fans excited to see who their local team would go up against next to potentially beat down and upset for a spot at the championship matchup. After another day of rest, the semifinal round saw the American Gears go up against yet another independently ran team in the Dayton Acmes, who were a team locally sponsored by the Acme United Corporation that was composed of servicemen players that were primarily from the American Basketball League and the New York Renaissance that were stationed at the Wright Field in Riverside, Ohio, including future NBL/BAA/NBA players Bruce Hale (who would later play for the Chicago American Gears himself) and John Mahnken, who were both named All-Tournament First Team members. While the local fans expected the American Gears to have a competitive match against the Acmes and potentially win against them, it instead turned out to be a brutal beatdown where the Dayton squad (led through the high-scoring efforts of Hale and Mahnken with 23 and 22 points respectively) upset the local Chicago squad in a horrific beatdown with an 80–51 upset that saw the unknown military-based Dayton squad (who previously beat the similarly unknown independently ran squads in the military-based Long Island Grumman Hellcats and the Midland Dow Chemicals works team) go to the championship round to compete against the two-time defending NBL champions and most recent WPBT champions Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons instead of the American Gears. As such, the local fans had to settle for cheering for a potential third place prize for their local team instead. Finally, on March 24, the American Gears would end their first ever WPBT experience with a third place consolation prize match against a pre-tournament favorite, the all-black New York Renaissance, leaving them with an experience where they competed against only independently ran franchises for this specific event. Unlike the similarly all-black rostered Harlem Globetrotters of this era, who combined chicannery with seriousness when playing basketball during this period of time, the Renaissance made sure to play the game of basketball with 100% seriousness in mind, as noted with the first three minutes of play when they got off to an 11–4 start to lead the third place game. While Chicago would try to come back from their poor start by first being down 21–14 by the end of the first quarter and then being down 33–30 at halftime (though tying the game twice in the second quarter with a 25–25 and 26–26 score), it wouldn't be until the midway point of the third quarter where they caught up with the New York squad, with the end of the third quarter being where the American Gears would end up leading the game properly with a 46–44 lead over the Renaissance. While the Rens tried to tie the game twice in the fourth quarter themselves, Chicago would utilize stalling tactics when they had a five-point lead with five or so minutes left to go, which made the Renaissance nervous and subsequently gave the American Gears some extra openings to extend their lead to win the third place game with a 64–55 final score, with Price Brookfield being the team's leading scorer with 15 points scored that night. Despite that note in mind, only Dick Triptow would be the sole Chicago American Gears member to be named a member of the All-Tournament Team this year, with him being named a member of their first team. Scores Won first round (58–47) over the Hartford Nutmegs Won quarterfinal round (53–49) over the Harlem Globetrotters Lost semifinal round (80–51) to the Dayton Acmes Won third place consolation prize match (64–55) over the New York Renaissance Awards and honors Dick Triptow, All-Tournament First Team References Category:Chicago American Gears seasons Chicago Chicago American Gears Chicago American Gears Category:1944 in Chicago Category:1945 in Chicago