Celtics History

40 Pages 9902 Words

nights later.

For the 1948-49 campaign Brown hired a new coach, Alvin "Doggie" Julian, who had guided Holy Cross to an NCAA Championship the year before. But the results were pretty much the same. Boston's roster was populated with little-remembered players such as Gene Stump, Dutch Garfinkel, and Hank Beenders, just 3 of the 18 cagers who wore Celtics Green that season. The club finished out of the playoffs with a 25-35 mark.

The BAA merged with the rival National Basketball League prior to the 1949-50 season. The new league, christened the National Basketball Association, fielded 17 teams. Julian was back at Boston's helm for a second year, and the Celtics once again finished out of the playoffs with a 22-46 record that earned them the last-place spot in the Eastern Division.


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1950-51: Celtics Become A Contender Almost Overnight
In 1950 a series of offseason events completely transformed the Celtics. The NBA underwent a reorganization that reduced the league to 11 teams, with the best players from the six disbanded franchises distributed among the remaining teams. Boston hit the jackpot not once but twice. When the St. Louis Bombers folded, the New York Knicks tried to buy the franchise for $50,000 in order to acquire promising young center Ed Macauley. The league blocked the sale, however, and awarded Macauley to Boston in an effort to strengthen one of the weakest franchises in the circuit.

The second key acquisition was even more fortuitous. When the Chicago Stags called it quits, the franchise's players were distributed in a dispersal draft. Boston, New York, and Philadelphia were allowed to choose between a trio of guards: veterans Max Zaslofsky and Andy Phillip, and rookie Bob Cousy. None of the teams wanted the rookie, so the three names were thrown into a hat. Boston drew Cousy.

There were other new faces on the team as well. Red Auerbach, who had led the Washington Capitols to the BAA Finals t...