The 1949–50 Baltimore Bullets season was the first season of the Maryland club in the newly formed National Basketball Association and sixth overall season of existence including multiple other leagues. Coming from two out of three successful seasons in the American Basketball League, including a championship in 1946, and two successful seasons in the BAA, including a championship run in 1948, their 25–43 record this time around would not be sufficient for them to reach the division playoffs. Another change from the previous year was president Robert "Jake" Embry's decision not to televise the Bullets' games.Bullets Ban Video, Reading Eagle, August 5, 1949 The club would change hands towards the end of the season, to a group of local businessmen.20 Businessmen Take Over Bullets, Milwaukee Sentinel, February 14, 1950
BAA/NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 6 Ron Livingstone C Wyoming 3 – Paul Gordon F Notre Dame – – Bill Evans – Drake – 45 Tom Gallagher – St. Francis (NY) – – Jim McMullen – Xavier – – Eppa Rixey – Kenyon – – Roger Wiley – Oregon – – Bill Zipple – Lafayette
Roster
Pre-season
1949 Pre-season game log: 4-4 # Date Opponent Score Location Record 1 October 17 Syracuse Nationals W 66-63 Baltimore Coliseum 1-0BULLETS DOWN SYRACUSE FIVE, The Baltimore Sun, October 17, 1949 2 October 18 Syracuse Nationals L 56-62 Baltimore Coliseum 1-1SYRACUSE FIVE TOP BULLETS, The Baltimore Sun, October 18, 1949 3 October 22 Philadelphia Warriors L 74-82 Baltimore Coliseum 1-2, The Baltimore Sun, October 23, 1949 4 October 24 Cumberland Dukes W 59-57 Baltimore Coliseum 2-2BULLETS TOP CUMBERLAND, The Baltimore Sun, October 22, 1990 5 October 26 Boston Celtics W 66-65 Burlington, Vermont 3-2BULLETS EDGE BOSTON QUINTET, The Baltimore Sun, October 26, 1949 6 October 27 Hartford Hurricanes W 80-74 Hartford, Connecticut 4-2Baltimore Five Nips Hurricane Rally To Pull Out 80-74 Win, The Hartford Courant, October 28, 1949 7 October 29 Boston Celtics L 72-74 Providence, Rhode Island 4-3Boston Celtics Nip Bullets, 74-72, The Baltimore Sun, October 30, 1949 8 October 30 Bridgeport Aer-A-Sols L 54-56 Bridgeport, Connecticut 4-4BULLETS DROP 54-56 CONTEST TO BRIDGEPORT, The Baltimore Sun, October 31, 1949
Regular season
Season standings
Game log 1949–50 game log # Date Opponent Score High points Record 1 November 2 at Washington 61–66 Paul Hoffman (17) 0–1 2 November 3 St. Louis 65–81 Paul Hoffman (17) 0–2 3 November 5 Minneapolis 77–92 Paul Hoffman (16) 0–3 4 November 10 Washington 72–88 Hoffman, Towery (14) 0–4 5 November 12 Fort Wayne 82–75 Paul Hoffman (24) 1–4 6 November 15 at Boston 81–76 Paul Hoffman (27) 2–4 7 November 17 Denver 86–71 Paul Hoffman (15) 3–4 8 November 19 Boston 82–91 Hoffman, Jeannette (14) 3–5 9 November 20 at Sheboygan 97–92 Paul Hoffman (19) 4–5 10 November 23 at Minneapolis 71–84 Paul Hoffman (19) 4–6 11 November 24 at St. Louis 65–53 Carlisle Towery (14) 5–6 12 November 27 at Denver 61–68 Les Pugh (16) 5–7 13 November 30 at Chicago 50–57 Paul Hoffman (18) 5–8 14 December 1 Rochester 70–64 Carlisle Towery (19) 6–8 15 December 3 at New York 55–85 Pugh, Towery (11) 6–9 16 December 7 Chicago 72–84 Paul Hoffman (13) 6–10 17 December 8 New York 60–82 Ed Sadowski (12) 6–11 18 December 10 St. Louis 69–66 Byrnes, Towery (14) 7–11 19 December 15 Minneapolis 87–68 Ed Sadowski (21) 8–11 20 December 16 vs Waterloo 75–77 Ed Sadowski (20) 8–12 21 December 17 at Washington 89–72 Paul Hoffman (18) 9–12 22 December 18 at Fort Wayne 95–106 Ed Sadowski (30) 9–13 23 December 20 at Indianapolis 88–79 Paul Hoffman (23) 10–13 24 December 21 at Philadelphia 60–70 Ed Sadowski (17) 10–14 25 December 22 Washington 86–82 Walt Budko (18) 11–14 26 December 25 Philadelphia 63–64 Dolhon, Sadowski (14) 11–15 27 December 26 vs Boston 57–82 Sadowski, Towery (11) 11–16 28 December 28 at Minneapolis 77–88 Walt Budko (19) 11–17 29 December 29 at St. Louis 63–90 Les Pugh (15) 11–18 30 January 1 at Tri-Cities 66–79 Walt Budko (14) 11–19 31 January 2 at Anderson 75–92 Johnny Ezersky (18) 11–20 32 January 5 Rochester 74–71 Ed Sadowski (21) 12–20 33 January 6 at Boston 53–74 Ed Sadowski (11) 12–21 34 January 7 Indianapolis 61–85 Hoffman, Towery (11) 12–22 35 January 10 at Rochester 67–85 Ed Sadowski (16) 12–23 36 January 14 Chicago 78–83 Hoffman, Sadowski (17) 12–24 37 January 19 Washington 68–81 Paul Hoffman (17) 12–25 38 January 21 Philadelphia 68–58 Paul Hoffman (16) 13–25 39 January 22 vs Sheboygan 76–69 Paul Hoffman (18) 14–25 40 January 24 at Rochester 56–70 Paul Hoffman (13) 14–26 41 January 26 New York 77–79 (2OT) Paul Hoffman (19) 14–27 42 January 27 at Philadelphia 74–71 Ed Sadowski (17) 15–27 43 January 28 Fort Wayne 77–64 Walt Budko (20) 16–27 44 February 2 Rochester 79–69 Ed Sadowski (22) 17–27 45 February 3 vs Chicago 81–98 Ed Sadowski (20) 17–28 46 February 4 Anderson 90–70 Paul Hoffman (18) 18–28 47 February 5 at Syracuse 87–96 Ed Sadowski (24) 18–29 48 February 9 St. Louis 79–67 Walt Budko (16) 19–29 49 February 11 Syracuse 76–77 Paul Hoffman (23) 19–30 50 February 15 at New York 67–80 Paul Hoffman (15) 19–31 51 February 16 Fort Wayne 83–77 Dolhon, Ezersky (16) 20–31 52 February 18 Philadelphia 73–100 Ed Sadowski (18) 20–32 53 February 19 at Fort Wayne 71–79 Paul Hoffman (19) 20–33 54 February 20 at Tri-Cities 73–82 Walt Budko (18) 20–34 55 February 21 at Chicago 64–72 Ed Sadowski (16) 20–35 56 February 22 at Waterloo 84–77 Paul Hoffman (21) 21–35 57 February 24 at Philadelphia 77–69 Joe Dolhon (16) 22–35 58 February 25 Boston 66–82 Ed Sadowski (18) 22–36 59 March 1 at New York 76–82 Paul Hoffman (23) 22–37 60 March 2 Minneapolis 68–88 Paul Hoffman (15) 22–38 61 March 4 Chicago 77–72 Carlisle Towery (14) 23–38 62 March 8 at Washington 80–88 Paul Hoffman (15) 23–39 63 March 9 New York 91–79 Johnny Ezersky (17) 24–39 64 March 11 Boston 79–75 Paul Hoffman (19) 25–39 65 March 12 at Fort Wayne 75–86 Ed Sadowski (17) 25–40 66 March 15 at Minneapolis 62–96 Johnny Ezersky (11) 25–41 67 March 16 at St. Louis 63–71 Paul Hoffman (20) 25–42 68 March 19 at Rochester 66–97 Tommy Byrnes (13) 25–43
Player statistics
Season Player GP FG% FT% APG PPG 66 .304 .757 2.2 9.0 53 .302 .702 1.7 6.2 3 .125 1.000 0.3 1.7 64 .312 .734 2.4 6.9 38 .305 .697 1.7 8.1 12 .246 .444 0.8 3.0 4 .000 .600 0.8 0.8 60 .341 .665 2.7 14.4 9 .300 .813 0.4 3.4 37 .284 .820 2.5 5.2 1 .000 – 0.0 0.0 18 .227 .684 1.0 3.5 16 .245 .761 1.5 5.3 3 .100 1.000 0.3 1.3 3 .200 .667 0.3 1.3 25 .352 .778 0.7 3.6 56 .249 .846 0.3 4.5 52 .328 .745 1.9 14.0 34 .247 .580 1.1 3.4 8 .282 .833 0.3 3.4 68 .327 .757 2.1 8.8 4 .000 1.000 0.3 0.5 33 .364 .638 3.2 6.2
Statistics with the Baltimore Bullets
Transactions Players Added Draft Ron Livingstone Paul Gordon Free agency Les Pugh (November, 1949) John Mandic (January 5, 1950)Players Lost Released Dick Triptow (December 13, 1949) Free agency Freddie Lewis (December 29, 1949) (to Philadelphia)
Trades September 28, 1949 To Baltimore BulletsCash considerations To Washington CapitolsChick Reiser December 5, 1949 To Baltimore BulletsDick Triptow To Fort Wayne PistonsCash considerations December 7, 1949 To Baltimore BulletsEd SadowskiCash considerations To Philadelphia WarriorsRon Livingstone December 8, 1949 To Baltimore BulletsLee Knorek To New York KnicksCash considerations December 9, 1949 To Baltimore BulletsWhitey Von Nieda To Tri-Cities BlackhawksCash considerations
References