1948–49 Indianapolis Jets season

The 1948–49 BAA season was the Jets' 1st and only season as the Jets in the NBA/BAA, as well as their eighth professional season including their time spent in the NBL (eleventh if you include their seasons in the short-lived NPBL and MBC leagues) and 14th (17th if you include brief cameos in the World Professional Basketball Tournament as the Indianapolis Pure Oils and Indianapolis Oilers) and final season as a franchise after previously going by the Indianapolis Kautskys, named under team owner Frank Kautsky's local grocery store.^[3] After the season ended and they participated in the 1949 BAA draft, the NBL would merge with the BAA to form the NBA. As a result, the Jets ceased operations and were subsequently replaced by the Indianapolis Olympians.

1948–49 Indianapolis Jets season
Head coach	Bruce Hale (4–13) Burl Friddle (14–29)
General manager	William Hale[1]
Owner(s)	Paul A. Walk[2]
Arena	Hinkle Fieldhouse
Results
Record	18–42 (.300)
Place	Division: 6th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats at Basketball Reference
Radio	WXLW
< 1947–48

Draft

Main article: 1948 BAA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	2	George Kok	C	United States	Arkansas
–	–	Reede Berg	–	United States	Oregon
–	–	Jack Coleman	–	United States	LSU
–	–	Alex Hannum	F/C	United States	USC
–	–	Norman Kohler	–	United States	North Carolina
–	–	Andy Kostecka	F	United States	Georgetown
–	–	Ray Lumpp	G	United States	NYU
–	–	Bob Paxton	–	United States	North Carolina
–	–	Jack Phoenix	–	United States	Idaho
–	–	Dick Wehr	F	United States	Rice

Roster

1948–49 Indianapolis Jets roster

• v
• t
• e

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From F/C 44 Charles B. Black 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1921-06-15 Kansas G/F 66 Price Brookfield 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1920-05-11 West Texas A&M G/F 22 Tommy Byrnes 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1923-02-19 Seton Hall F/C 30, 70 Jack Eskridge 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1924-01-21 Kansas F/C 99 George Glamack 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1918-06-07 North Carolina G/F 22 Bruce Hale 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1918-08-30 Santa Clara G/F 55 Ralph Hamilton 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1921-06-10 Indiana PG 60 Walt Kirk 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 173 lb (78 kg) 1924-09-03 Illinois F 70 Andy Kostecka 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 1921-02-10 Georgetown G/F 20 Fred Lewis 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1921-01-06 Eastern Kentucky G 40 Ray Lumpp 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 1923-07-11 NYU G/F Jack Maddox 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1919-12-10 West Texas A&M C 77 John Mahnken 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1922-06-16 Georgetown G 20 Lionel Malamed 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1924-11-15 CCNY F/C 50 John Mandic 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1919-10-03 Oregon State F/C 44 Leo Mogus 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1921-04-13 Youngstown State G/F 33 Fritz Nagy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1924-01-03 Akron G/F Paul Napolitano 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1923-02-03 San Francisco G 55 Marty Passaglia 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1919-04-22 Santa Clara F/C Roy Pugh 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1922-10-16 SMU C Jim Springer 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1926-06-17 Canterbury G Jim Spruill 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1923-02-26 Rice G/F 20 Hal Tidrick 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1915-08-04 Washington & Jefferson F/C 77 Blackie Towery 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1920-06-20 Western Kentucky F 60 Dick Wehr 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1925-12-09 Rice

Head coach Burl Friddle Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

Season standings

# Western Division v t e Team W L PCT GB 1 x-Rochester Royals 45 15 .750 – 2 x-Minneapolis Lakers 44 16 .733 1 3 x-Chicago Stags 38 22 .633 7 4 x-St. Louis Bombers 29 31 .483 16 5 Fort Wayne Pistons 22 38 .367 23 6 Indianapolis Jets 18 42 .300 27

Record vs. opponents

1948–49 BAA records
Team	BAL	BOS	CHI	FWP	IND	MIN	NYK	PHI	PRO	ROC	STL	WAS
Baltimore	—	4–2	1–4	4–1	5–0	1–4	2–4	4–2	2–4	1–4	2–3	3–3
Boston	2–4	—	0–5	4–1	3–2	2–3	3–3	3–3	3–3	1–4	3–2	1–5
Chicago	4–1	5–0	—	4–2	5–1	2–4	3–2	2–3	5–0	2–4	3–3	3–2
Fort Wayne	1–4	1–4	2–4	—	3–3	2–4	1–4	5–0	4–1	0–6	1–4	2–3
Indianapolis	0–5	2–3	1-5	3–3	—	0–6	1–4	1–4	4–1	1–5	3–3	2–3
Minneapolis	4–1	3–2	4–2	4–2	6–0	—	4–1	4–1	5–0	4–2	4–2	2–3
New York	4–2	3–3	2–3	4–1	4–1	1–4	—	2–4	5–1	1–4	3–2	2–3
Philadelphia	2–4	3–3	3–2	0–5	4–1	1–4	4–2	—	6–0	0–5	3–2	2–4
Providence	4–2	3–3	0–5	1–4	1–4	0–5	1–5	0–6	—	2–3	0–5	0–6
Rochester	4–1	4–1	4–2	6–0	5–1	2–4	4–1	5–0	3–2	—	6–0	2–3
St. Louis	3–2	2–3	3–3	4–1	3–3	2–4	2–3	2–3	5–0	0–6	—	2–3
Washington	3–3	5–1	2–3	3–2	3–2	3–2	3–2	4–2	6–0	3–2	3–2	—

Game log

#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	November 1	St. Louis	84–80	George Glamack (25)	1–0
2	November 5	New York	71–87	Bruce Hale (19)	1–1
3	November 6	@ Rochester	58–69	Andy Kostecka (19)	1–2
4	November 9	Baltimore	64–65	Glamack, Lewis (12)	1–3
5	November 13	@ Chicago	72–79	Fred Lewis (15)	1–4
6	November 14	@ Fort Wayne	73–79	George Glamack (19)	1–5
7	November 16	Philadelphia	82–90	Andy Kostecka (15)	1–6
8	November 18	@ Philadelphia	71–83	Andy Kostecka (13)	1–7
9	November 19	@ Boston	70–75	Bruce Hale (23)	1–8
10	November 20	@ Providence	110–107	Bruce Hale (25)	2–8
11	November 23	Minneapolis	82–88	Bruce Hale (15)	2–9
12	November 25	Boston	81–66	Charles Black (17)	3–9
13	November 27	@ Washington	76–94	Bruce Hale (17)	3–10
14	November 30	Fort Wayne	62–77	Fritz Nagy (20)	3–11
15	December 2	@ Baltimore	78–90	John Mahnken (19)	3–12
16	December 4	@ New York	63–66	Ray Lumpp (16)	3–13
17	December 7	Washington	94–78	Ray Lumpp (26)	4–13
18	December 13	New York	74–80	Ray Lumpp (27)	4–14
19	December 14	vs Baltimore	75–88	Ray Lumpp (17)	4–15
20	December 15	@ Minneapolis	61–79	Charles Black (14)	4–16
21	December 17	Chicago	67–71	Ray Lumpp (26)	4–17
22	December 21	Rochester	71–84	Carlisle Towery (15)	4–18
23	December 23	Fort Wayne	71–60	Ray Lumpp (14)	5–18
24	December 26	@ St. Louis	65–75	Carlisle Towery (13)	5–19
25	December 30	@ Philadelphia	91–94	Brookfield, Lumpp (20)	5–20
26	January 1	@ Providence	78–77	Lumpp, Towery (16)	6–20
27	January 4	New York	63–58	Carlisle Towery (20)	7–20
28	January 6	Rochester	73–62	Ray Lumpp (21)	8–20
29	January 8	@ Washington	81–89	Ray Lumpp (17)	8–21
30	January 9	@ Fort Wayne	78–80	Price Brookfield (22)	8–22
31	January 11	Providence	90–67	Charles Black (19)	9–22
32	January 14	Chicago	61–88	Ray Lumpp (16)	9–23
33	January 16	@ Minneapolis	66–75	Carlisle Towery (21)	9–24
34	January 18	Minneapolis	56–81	Ralph Hamilton (12)	9–25
35	January 19	vs Rochester	66–70	Walt Kirk (14)	9–26
36	January 23	@ St. Louis	91–73	Ray Lumpp (22)	10–26
37	January 25	St. Louis	65–53	Black, Brookfield (15)	11–26
38	January 28	Fort Wayne	77–63	Lionel Malamed (19)	12–26
39	January 29	vs Chicago	81–87 (OT)	Carlisle Towery (19)	12–27
40	February 1	Washington	83–69	Walt Kirk (16)	13–27
41	February 2	@ Washington	57–83	Lionel Malamed (17)	13–28
42	February 4	@ Boston	64–75	Walt Kirk (17)	13–29
43	February 5	@ Baltimore	75–87	Leo Mogus (19)	13–30
44	February 7	Philadelphia	90–73	Leo Mogus (22)	14–30
45	February 9	@ Fort Wayne	70–67	Carlisle Towery (17)	15–30
46	February 10	@ Philadelphia	87–108	Leo Mogus (14)	15–31
47	February 12	@ Providence	78–91	Leo Mogus (19)	15–32
48	February 15	Baltimore	69–82	Carlisle Towery (17)	15–33
49	February 18	Rochester	53–65	Kirk, Mogus (12)	15–34
50	February 19	@ Rochester	73–87	Leo Mogus (26)	15–35
51	February 20	@ Chicago	72–95	Carlisle Towery (18)	15–36
52	February 22	Boston	74–68	Tommy Byrnes (19)	16–36
53	February 26	@ New York	76–81	Leo Mogus (24)	16–37
54	March 1	Chicago	79–69	Walt Kirk (21)	17–37
55	March 3	Minneapolis	79–82	Walt Kirk (24)	17–38
56	March 7	Boston	86–107	Leo Mogus (23)	17–39
57	March 9	St. Louis	80–81	Walt Kirk (25)	17–40
58	March 12	vs Minneapolis	69–97	Walt Kirk (14)	17–41
59	March 13	@ St. Louis	86–87	Price Brookfield (17)	17–42
60	March 15	Providence	90–84	Walt Kirk (17)	18–42

Buyout by the NBA

Initially, the Indianapolis Jets planned on continuing to play for another season like every other Basketball Association of America team had done at the time, as noted by the 1949 BAA draft showcasing the Jets participating in that event, with them notably selecting Alex Groza from the University of Kentucky, Leo Barnhorst from the University of Notre Dame, Mac Otten from Bowling Green State University, Bob Evans from Butler University, Charlie Mass from Butler University, Don Boven from Western Michigan University, Jim O'Halloran from the University of Notre Dame, and J. L. Parks from Oklahoma State University as the last selections they'd ever have for the second and final BAA draft that they would ever participate in.^[4] However, after the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and National Basketball League (NBL) officially merged to become the National Basketball Association (NBA) on August 3, 1949, the newly formed NBA would purchase up the players from both the BAA's defunct teams (the Indianapolis Jets and Providence Steamrollers) as a means of buying out both of the BAA's teams that didn't make it to the new merger into the NBA. Unlike the Steamrollers, who at least saw seven of their players get bought out and dispersed to the Boston Celtics over a week later, none of the Jets' players would really end up being utilized in a dispersal draft properly since the Jets franchise had already been considered bankrupt beforehand on June 20, 1949,^[5] though Mac Otten was slated to have been traded to the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and Don Boven was slated to have been traded to the Waterloo Hawks by the start of what can officially be considered the first proper NBA season. Not only that, but the Jets' first selection in the 1949 draft, Alex Groza, was also previously selected by the NBL's own Indianapolis expansion team that would end up taking the Jets' place once the merger happened, the Indianapolis Olympians, one month before the BAA's draft occurred;^[6] the Olympians would end up lasting for four seasons before folding due to Groza's involvement in the CCNY point-shaving scandal of 1951, despite the Olympians being a playoff team for every single season they played in the NBA.