Chicago Stags
From Hoopedia
| Chicago Stags | |
|---|---|
| |
| League | BAA/NBA (1946-1950) |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Folded | 1950 |
| City |  Chicago, Illinois
|
| Arena | Chicago Stadium |
| Team colors | Red, White, Blue |
| Head coachs | Harold Olsen (1946-1948) Philip Brownstein (1948-1950) |
| Championships | 0 |
The Chicago Stags, were an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, from 1946 to 1950, playing three seasons in the Basketball Association of America, and one season in the BAA’s successor organization, the National Basketball Association.
The Basketball Association of America was founded by a circuit of hockey team owners, who wanted to expand the use of their arenas in the winter beyond hockey games, and went into the professional game. The BBA was competing against the National Basketball League, a largely Midwest circuit with a franchise in Chicago, the Chicago American Gears. The principal owner of the Chicago Stags was Arthur Wirtz, who owned the Chicago Black Hawks hockey team and the Chicago Stadium, where he had the Stags play. . In the BAA's inaugural year, there were eleven teams split into two divisions. The Chicago Stags were placed in the Western Division, and won the division by one game, finishing 39-22 over the 38-23 St. Louis Bombers. They finished second in the regular season standings, only behind the 49-11 Washington Capitols. In the playoffs, they received a first-round bye, only to play the Capitols in the semi-finals. Chicago won the series, four games to two, and proceeded to play into the finals. There they played the Philadelphia Warriors, who easily won four games to one.
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1947-1948 Season
The next season, however, the Stags were not as competitive. They finished second in their division (which was down to four teams). The team finished 28-20, finishing only one game behind the St. Louis Bombers, and second overall in the league (the total number of teams was down from 11 to 8). In the playoffs they played a tiebreaker (after tying with the Washington Capitols. They won that game by 4 points, and advanced to play the Boston Celtics in the quarterfinals. They won, moving into the semifinals for the second consecutive year. However, they were then trounced by the eventual champions, the Baltimore Bullets. The Stag had a genuine star in Max Zaslofsky, who was the BAA scoring leader for the season.
1948-1949 Season
The next year, each division was instantly made more competitive with more teams, including the Minneapolis Lakers and the New York Knickerbockers. The Stags finished third, 38-22, seven games behind division-winning Rochester Royals. The playoffs were expanded from six to eight teams, and the Stags played the Minneapolis Lakers. They lost again to the eventual champions, the Lakers in two straight games.
1949-50 Season
In Chicago's final season, was in the newly formed National Basketball Association, which was a merger of BAA with the NBL. The arrangement was unwieldy in its first year with a total of 17 teams in three divisions. The Stags finished tied for third with the Fort Wayne Pistons (and behind the Minneapolis Lakers and Rochester Royals), eleven games back, with a 40-28 record. The team lost to the Lakers in the opening round of the playoffs. The professional game, however, failed to catch hold in Chicago, and Arthur Wirtz chose to disband the team at the end of the season.
Stag Players
- Max Zaslofsky
- Stan Miasek
- Chuck Gilmur
- Gene Vance #12 G
- Andy Phillip
- Jim Seminoff
- Paul Huston
- Tom Joyce G
- Mickey Rottner F
- Ben Schadler
- Chick Halbert C
- Jack Toomay
- Gene Rock G
- Johnny Jorgensen
- Kenny Sailors
- Doyle Parrack
