1953–54 Fort Wayne Pistons season

1953–54 Fort Wayne Pistons season
1953–54 Fort Wayne Pistons season
Head coach	Paul Birch
Arena	War Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	40–32 (.556)
Place	Division: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finish	West Division Semifinals; (eliminated 0–4)
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	WOWO
< 1952–53	1954–55 >

The 1953–54 NBA season was the Pistons' sixth season in the NBA and 13th season as a franchise.^[1]

The Pistons finished 40-32 (.556), 3rd in the Western Division. The team advanced to the playoffs, losing in a Western Division round-robin 4–0 to the Minneapolis Lakers and the Rochester Royals. The team was led on the season by center Larry Foust (15.1 ppg, 13.4 rpg, NBA All-Star), guard Andy Phillip (10.6 ppg, 6.3 apg, NBA All-Star), and first round draft choice Jack Molinas (11.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg, NBA All-Star).^[2]^[3]

Molinas was named to the All-Star team, having played in 32 games before the league banned him for wagering on Pistons games.^[4] Molinas was then suspended at the time of the All-Star game and was replaced by teammate Andy Phillip. He later sued the NBA for $3 million, claiming the league's ban was an unreasonable restraint of trade. Judge Irving Kaufman ruled against him in the case.^[5]

The Pistons had drafted future Hall of Famer George Yardley in 1950, but they didn't sign him until 1953. Even then, it was a struggle, as Yardley reportedly hated training camp, rejected the initial Fort Wayne offer of $6,000, electing to playing beach volleyball in California. Yardley then became the first rookie to hold out, until accepting an offer of $9,500, and then averaging 9.0 ppg in his NBA rookie season.^[6]

Regular season

Season standings

Western Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Minneapolis Lakers	46	26	.639	–	20–4	13–15	13–7	19–13
x-Rochester Royals	44	28	.611	2	18–10	12–15	14–3	22–10
x-Fort Wayne Pistons	40	32	.556	6	19–8	11–17	10–7	17–15
Milwaukee Hawks	21	51	.292	25	11–14	5–17	6–20	6–26

x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1953–54 NBA records
Team	BAL	BOS	FWP	MIL	MIN	NYK	PHI	ROC	SYR
Baltimore	—	1–9	0–8	2–6	2–6	3–7	4–6	1–7	3–7
Boston	9–1	—	4–4	6–2	3–5	5–5	6–4	4–4	5–5
Fort Wayne	8–0	4–4	—	9–2	5–5	3–5	6–2	3–8	2–6
Milwaukee	6–2	2–6	2–9	—	3–8	3–5	3–5	1–9	1–7
Minneapolis	6–2	5–3	5–5	8–3	—	5–3	6–2	6–5	5–3
New York	7–3	5–5	5–3	5–3	3–5	—	7–3	7–1	5–5
Philadelphia	6–4	4–6	2–6	5–3	2–6	3–7	—	1–7	6–4
Rochester	7–1	4–4	8–3	9–1	5–6	1–7	7–1	—	3–5
Syracuse	7–3	5–5	6–2	7–1	3–5	5–5	4–6	5–3	—

Game log

1953–54 Game log
#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	November 1	Milwaukee	67–77	Larry Foust (24)	1–0
2	November 5	Boston	79–83	Fred Scolari (18)	2–0
3	November 7	@ Rochester	76–91	Larry Foust (20)	2–1
4	November 8	New York	75–70	Larry Foust (14)	2–2
5	November 10	N Minneapolis	62–78	Don Meineke (19)	3–2
6	November 12	Syracuse	74–78	Fred Scolari (22)	4–2
7	November 14	@ Philadelphia	58–63	Mel Hutchins (14)	4–3
8	November 15	Rochester	65–68	Andy Phillip (14)	5–3
9	November 17	N Minneapolis	83–66	Larry Foust (16)	5–4
10	November 19	@ Syracuse	76–79	Jack Molinas (24)	5–5
11	November 21	@ Boston	68–90	Fred Scolari (14)	5–6
12	November 22	Rochester	82–83	Larry Foust (17)	6–6
13	November 25	@ Milwaukee	58–64	Jack Molinas (22)	6–7
14	November 26	Milwaukee	64–78	Fred Scolari (15)	7–7
15	November 28	@ Baltimore	92–81	Larry Foust (24)	8–7
16	November 29	Philadelphia	69–83	Larry Foust (22)	9–7
17	December 1	@ Rochester	69–92	Brian, Foust (13)	9–8
18	December 3	Boston	70–76	Larry Foust (26)	10–8
19	December 5	@ New York	92–73	Mel Hutchins (17)	11–8
20	December 6	Syracuse	77–78	Larry Foust (31)	12–8
21	December 9	N Milwaukee	59–83	Andy Phillip (21)	13–8
22	December 13	New York	69–68	Larry Foust (21)	13–9
23	December 15	N Boston	75–82	Jack Molinas (20)	13–10
24	December 16	@ Boston	74–91	Jack Molinas (16)	13–11
25	December 19	@ Milwaukee	69–63	Andy Phillip (24)	14–11
26	December 25	Boston	79–108	Fred Scolari (19)	15–11
27	December 26	@ Minneapolis	71–77	Max Zaslofsky (16)	15–12
28	December 27	Minneapolis	79–75	Mel Hutchins (14)	15–13
29	December 30	@ Minneapolis	97–80	Jack Molinas (17)	16–13
30	December 31	N Philadelphia	56–83	Larry Foust (13)	17–13
31	January 2	@ Rochester	76–77 (OT)	Larry Foust (17)	17–14
32	January 3	New York	74–72	Andy Phillip (29)	17–15
33	January 5	Syracuse	72–60	Larry Foust (16)	17–16
34	January 6	@ Baltimore	90–78	Andy Phillip (14)	18–16
35	January 7	@ Syracuse	67–79	Larry Foust (18)	18–17
36	January 10	Milwaukee	73–81	Andy Phillip (25)	19–17
37	January 12	N Baltimore	97–66	Larry Foust (22)	20–17
38	January 14	N Baltimore	81–74	Larry Foust (15)	21–17
39	January 16	@ New York	82–88 (OT)	Larry Foust (24)	21–18
40	January 17	Minneapolis	83–86	Larry Foust (22)	22–18
41	January 19	N Rochester	73–67	Larry Foust (22)	22–19
42	January 23	@ Minneapolis	72–75	Max Zaslofsky (18)	22–20
43	January 24	Baltimore	70–79	Max Zaslofsky (17)	23–20
44	January 27	N Milwaukee	68–77	Larry Foust (18)	24–20
45	January 28	Boston	68–80	Larry Foust (26)	25–20
46	January 30	@ Rochester	70–95	Max Zaslofsky (15)	25–21
47	January 31	Rochester	69–83	Larry Foust (21)	26–21
48	February 1	@ Milwaukee	72–71	Larry Foust (16)	27–21
49	February 5	N Rochester	89–70	Phillip, Yardley (16)	27–22
50	February 6	@ Syracuse	87–93 (OT)	George Yardley (17)	27–23
51	February 7	Minneapolis	83–90	Mel Hutchins (28)	28–23
52	February 10	N New York	73–69	Foust, Yardley, Zaslofsky (15)	28–24
53	February 13	@ New York	79–73	George Yardley (25)	29–24
54	February 14	Philadelphia	76–94	Frank Brian (19)	30–24
55	February 16	@ Milwaukee	69–65	George Yardley (20)	31–24
56	February 18	@ Syracuse	77–91	Mel Hutchins (18)	31–25
57	February 20	@ Baltimore	87–85	Mel Hutchins (21)	32–25
58	February 21	Milwaukee	64–62	Frank Brian (16)	32–26
59	February 22	N Milwaukee	82–95	Don Meineke (19)	33–26
60	February 25	N New York	62–82	Larry Foust (19)	34–26
61	February 27	@ Philadelphia	79–72	Larry Foust (18)	35–26
62	February 28	Minneapolis	77–94	Larry Foust (20)	36–26
63	March 2	N Rochester	71–64	Larry Foust (19)	36–27
64	March 4	Syracuse	86–63	Larry Foust (25)	36–28
65	March 5	N Philadelphia	70–76	Larry Foust (19)	37–28
66	March 6	@ Baltimore	76–71	Max Zaslofsky (19)	38–28
67	March 7	@ Boston	80–86	Andy Phillip (28)	38–29
68	March 8	N Philadelphia	75–73	Larry Foust (19)	38–30
69	March 10	N Philadelphia	70–88	George Yardley (21)	39–30
70	March 11	Rochester	95–80	Max Zaslofsky (18)	39–31
71	March 13	@ Minneapolis	66–93	Larry Foust (14)	39–32
72	March 14	Baltimore	86–91	Andy Phillip (15)	40–32

Playoffs

1954 playoff game log

Division Round Robin Semifinals: 0–4 (home: 0–2; road: 0–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	Location	Series
1	March 16	@ Rochester	L 75–82	George Yardley (20)	Edgerton Park Arena	0–1
2	March 18	Minneapolis	L 85–90	Frankie Brian (20)	War Memorial Coliseum	0–2
3	March 20	@ Minneapolis	L 73–78	Max Zaslofsky (15)	Minneapolis Auditorium	0–3
4	March 21	Rochester	L 71–89	George Yardley (16)	War Memorial Coliseum	0–4

1954 schedule

References

^ 1953–54 Fort Wayne Pistons
^ "1953-54 Fort Wayne Pistons Roster and Stats".
^ "Chevette to Corvette No. 28: The 1953-54 Fort Wayne Pistons". November 4, 2011.
^ "Molinas Presses $3,000,000 Case; Ex-Court Ace Sues N.B.A. for Banning Him After He Bet on Own Team". New York Times. January 3, 1961.
^ "Molinas Loses Antitrust Suit". New York Times. January 12, 1961.
^ "Chevette to Corvette No. 28: The 1953-54 Fort Wayne Pistons". November 4, 2011.

[1] 1953–54 Fort Wayne Pistons

[2] "1953-54 Fort Wayne Pistons Roster and Stats".

[3] "Chevette to Corvette No. 28: The 1953-54 Fort Wayne Pistons". November 4, 2011.

[Lawsuit-4] "Molinas Presses $3,000,000 Case; Ex-Court Ace Sues N.B.A. for Banning Him After He Bet on Own Team". New York Times. January 3, 1961.

[Kaufman-5] "Molinas Loses Antitrust Suit". New York Times. January 12, 1961.

[6] "Chevette to Corvette No. 28: The 1953-54 Fort Wayne Pistons". November 4, 2011.

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v t e 1953–54 NBA season
NBA draft All-Star Game Playoffs Finals Transactions
Eastern	Baltimore Boston New York Philadelphia Syracuse
Western	Fort Wayne Milwaukee Minneapolis Rochester