1951–52 Baltimore Bullets season

The 1951–52 NBA season was the Bullets' 5th season in the NBA and eighth overall season of existence.^[1]

1951–52 Baltimore Bullets season
Head coach	Fred Scolari Chick Reiser
Arena	Baltimore Coliseum
Results
Record	20–46 (.303)
Place	Division: 5th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats at Basketball Reference
Radio	WCBM
< 1950–51 1952–53 >

Draft picks

Main article: 1951 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position(s)	Nationality	College
1	1	Gene Melchiorre	PG	United States	Bradley
2	10	Jack Stone	SG/SF	United States	Kansas State
3	20	Billy Mann	F	United States	Bradley
4	30	Billy Hagler	F	United States	California
5	40	Leroy Ishman	F	United States	American
6	50	Glenn Duggins	G	United States	Utah
7	60	Tom Riach	G	United States	USC
8	70	Bill Harper	PG	United States	Oregon State
9	78	Bobby Crowe	PG	United States	San Jose State
10	82	Dan Torrey	G	United States	Oregon State
11	85	Clem Pavilonis	PF/C	United States	DePaul
12	86	John Burke	G	United States	International YMCA College

The Bullets were the only team to use all twelve rounds of this year's draft. Despite that, none of the players they drafted would end up playing for them, though the Bullets would at least acquire Jim Slaughter and James Luisi by trades with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks turned Milwaukee Hawks and New York Knicks respectively. Rather infamously, the #1 pick they had in this year's draft, Gene Melchiorre, would later be revealed to be involved in the CCNY point-shaving scandal of 1951 alongside fellow Bullets draft pick Billy Mann, leaving Melchiorre with the notable distinction of being the only #1 draft pick to ever be permanently banned by the NBA, though he wouldn't be the only #1 draft pick to never play in the NBA at all.

Roster

Baltimore Bullets 1952–53 roster

Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. From PF 6 Don Barksdale 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) UCLA SG 5 Bill Calhoun 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) San Francisco PF 11 Alex Hannum 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) USC SF 8 Frank Kudelka 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 193 lb (88 kg) Saint Mary's SF 13 Joe McNamee 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) San Francisco PF 12 Stan Miasek 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) SG 10 Dave Minor 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) UCLA PG 7 Kevin O'Shea 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Notre Dame SG 16 Red Owens 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Baylor SF 11 Don Rehfeldt 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Wisconsin SG 9 Pep Saul 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Seton Hall PG 20 Fred Scolari 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) San Francisco C 11 Jim Slaughter 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 210 lb (95 kg) South Carolina SG 5 Belus Smawley 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Applied Science PF 7 Brady Walker 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg) BYU

Head coach Fred Scolari Chick Reiser Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Eastern Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Syracuse Nationals	40	26	.606	–	26–7	12–18	2–1	21–15
x-Boston Celtics	39	27	.591	1	22–7	10–19	7–1	22–14
x-New York Knicks	37	29	.561	3	21–4	12–22	4–3	23–13
x-Philadelphia Warriors	33	33	.500	7	24–7	6–25	3–1	14–22
Baltimore Bullets	20	46	.303	20	17–15	2–22	1–9	10–26

Record vs. opponents

1951-52 NBA Records
Team	BAL	BOS	FWP	IND	MIL	MIN	NYK	PHI	ROC	SYR
Baltimore	—	1–8	2–4	2–4	4–2	0–6	2–7	4–5	2–4	3–6
Boston	8–1	—	3–3	3–3	5–1	3–3	4–5	6–3	3–3	4–5
Fort Wayne	4–2	3–3	—	5–4	4–5	5–4	3–3	2–4	3–6	0–6
Indianapolis	4–2	3–3	4–5	—	7–2	4–5	3–3	2–4	3–6	4–2
Milwaukee	2–4	1–5	5–4	2–7	—	1–8	2–4	1–5	1–8	2–4
Minneapolis	6–0	3–3	4–5	5–4	8–1	—	4–2	2–4	7–2	1–5
New York	7–2	5–4	3–3	3–3	4–2	2–4	—	6–3	2–4	5–4
Philadelphia	5–4	3–6	4–2	4–2	5–1	4–2	3–6	—	2–4	3–6
Rochester	4–2	3–3	6–3	6–3	8–1	2–7	4–2	4–2	—	4–2
Syracuse	6–3	5–4	6–0	2–4	4–2	5–1	4–5	6–3	2–4	—

Game log

1951–52 Game log
#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	November 1	@ Rochester	97–101	Fred Scolari (26)	0–1
2	November 3	Indianapolis	90–86	Minor, Scolari (15)	0–2
3	November 5	Philadelphia	90–96	Frank Saul (18)	1–2
4	November 10	Syracuse	82–91	Hannum, Minor, Scolari (12)	2–2
5	November 12	Minneapolis	90–80	Fred Scolari (16)	2–3
6	November 17	Boston	88–75	Stan Miasek (18)	2–4
7	November 18	@ Syracuse	68–71	Stan Miasek (13)	2–5
8	November 19	Milwaukee	70–71	Frank Kudelka (16)	3–5
9	November 20	N New York	88–86	Barksdale, Scolari (23)	3–6
10	November 24	Philadelphia	74–81	Don Barksdale (20)	4–6
11	November 25	@ Fort Wayne	66–83	Don Barksdale (14)	4–7
12	November 29	N Milwaukee	64–77	Don Barksdale (15)	5–7
13	December 1	New York	82–84	Stan Miasek (20)	6–7
14	December 2	@ Boston	82–103	Stan Miasek (14)	6–8
15	December 3	Rochester	77–70	Don Barksdale (18)	6–9
16	December 7	@ Indianapolis	80–88	Red Owens (20)	6–10
17	December 8	N Minneapolis	85–64	Don Barksdale (13)	6–11
18	December 9	@ Milwaukee	73–71	Frank Kudelka (22)	7–11
19	December 12	@ Minneapolis	79–99	Frank Kudelka (14)	7–12
20	December 15	Fort Wayne	80–90	Stan Miasek (25)	8–12
21	December 16	@ Rochester	95–99	Hannum, Miasek (26)	8–13
22	December 17	Boston	80–92	Fred Scolari (22)	9–13
23	December 18	N Philadelphia	82–78	Stan Miasek (17)	9–14
24	December 21	N Boston	106–89	Alex Hannum (25)	9–15
25	December 22	Minneapolis	96–90 (3OT)	Stan Miasek (29)	9–16
26	December 26	Philadelphia	99–103 (3OT)	Miasek, Scolari (18)	10–16
27	December 29	Indianapolis	65–75	Stan Miasek (24)	11–16
28	December 30	@ Syracuse	91–108	Stan Miasek (22)	11–17
29	December 31	Fort Wayne	95–86	Fred Scolari (27)	11–18
30	January 4	@ Philadelphia	79–92	Fred Scolari (17)	11–19
31	January 5	Boston	94–73	Stan Miasek (20)	11–20
32	January 12	Syracuse	92–88	Don Barksdale (20)	11–21
33	January 13	@ Fort Wayne	71–81	Fred Scolari (26)	11–22
34	January 16	N Milwaukee	77–71	Don Barksdale (24)	11–23
35	January 17	N Milwaukee	87–76	Fred Scolari (15)	11–24
36	January 19	Indianapolis	78–81	Stan Miasek (27)	12–24
37	January 20	@ Syracuse	80–99	Miasek, Scolari (17)	12–25
38	January 21	New York	99–83	Stan Miasek (19)	12–26
39	January 23	@ Boston	75–117	Calhoun, Minor (13)	12–27
40	January 26	Syracuse	78–73	Don Barksdale (18)	12–28
41	February 1	@ Philadelphia	79–81	Fred Scolari (16)	12–29
42	February 2	Fort Wayne	76–63	Don Barksdale (21)	12–30
43	February 3	@ Syracuse	73–95	Dave Minor (15)	12–31
44	February 4	New York	81–82	Don Barksdale (22)	13–31
45	February 6	@ New York	70–73	Don Barksdale (20)	13–32
46	February 8	N New York	103–83	Don Barksdale (19)	13–33
47	February 9	Syracuse	76–84	Fred Scolari (21)	14–33
48	February 10	@ Fort Wayne	82–77	Frank Kudelka (23)	15–33
49	February 13	Rochester	91–96	Fred Scolari (29)	16–33
50	February 14	@ Indianapolis	66–89	Miasek, Minor (17)	16–34
51	February 16	@ New York	82–102	Fred Scolari (19)	16–35
52	February 17	Philadelphia	90–83	Don Barksdale (24)	16–36
53	February 20	Minneapolis	93–78	Kevin O'Shea (16)	16–37
54	February 23	Syracuse	80–81	Fred Scolari (18)	17–37
55	February 24	@ Rochester	100–124	Dave Minor (21)	17–38
56	February 25	New York	69–72	Fred Scolari (25)	17–39
57	February 29	@ Philadelphia	86–103	Don Barksdale (20)	17–40
58	March 1	Philadelphia	77–90	Frank Kudelka (19)	18–40
59	March 3	Rochester	96–99	Don Barksdale (25)	19–40
60	March 4	N Boston	91–80	Frank Kudelka (16)	19–41
61	March 5	N New York	88–82	Don Barksdale (21)	19–42
62	March 8	Boston	100–77	Don Barksdale (18)	19–43
63	March 9	@ Boston	72–89	Joe McNamee (16)	19–44
64	March 10	Milwaukee	80–91	Fred Scolari (25)	20–44
65	March 14	@ Indianapolis	87–103	Fred Scolari (18)	20–45
66	March 16	Minneapolis	82–126	Don Barksdale (18)	20–46

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game