1949–50 Fort Wayne Pistons season

1949–50 Fort Wayne Pistons season
Head coach	Murray Mendenhall
Arena	North Side High School Gym
Results
Record	40–28 (.588)
Place	Division: 3rd (Central)
Playoff finish	Central Division Finals (eliminated 0–2)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	WGL

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	3	Bob Harris	F/C	United States	Oklahoma State
2	–	John Oldham	G	United States	Western Kentucky
3	–	Fred Schaus	F	United States	West Virginia
4	–	Jerry Nagel	G	United States	Loyola (IL)

Roster

Fort Wayne Pistons 1949–50 roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From G/F 3 Armstrong, Curly 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Indiana F/C 12 Black, Charles B. 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Kansas F/C 10 Carpenter, Bob 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) East Texas State F/C 14 Harris, Bob 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Oklahoma State C 16 Henry, Bill 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Rice G 5 Johnson, Ralph 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Huntington F/C 15 Kerris, Jack 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Loyola (IL) G/F 7 Klier, Leo 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Notre Dame G 6 Klueh, Duane 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Indiana State C 15 Mahnken, John 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Georgetown G 9 Nagel, Jerry 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Loyola (IL) G/F 5 Niemiera, Richie 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Notre Dame G 4 Oldham, John 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Western Kentucky F 8 Schaus, Fred 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) West Virginia F/C 12 Schultz, Howie 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Hamline F/C 17 Wager, Clint 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Saint Mary's (MN)	Head coach Murray Mendenhall Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Minneapolis Lakers	51	17	.750	–	30-1	18-16	3-0	16-8
x-Rochester Royals	51	17	.750	–	33-1	17-6	1-0	15-9
x-Fort Wayne Pistons	40	28	.588	11	28-6	12-22	–	14-10
x-Chicago Stags	40	28	.588	11	18-6	14–21	8-1	11-13
St. Louis Bombers	26	42	.382	25	17-14	7–26	2-2	4-20

Playoffs

Central Division Tiebreaker

Fort Wayne Pistons vs. Chicago Stags: Pistons win series 1-0

• Game 1 @ Fort Wayne: Fort Wayne 86, Chicago 69

Central Division Semifinals

• (2) Rochester Royals vs. (3) Fort Wayne Pistons: Pistons win series 2-0
• Game 1 @ Rochester: Fort Wayne 90, Rochester 84
• Game 2 @ Fort Wayne: Fort Wayne 79, Rochester 78 (OT)

Central Division Finals

• Central Division: (1) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (3) Fort Wayne Pistons: Lakers win series 2-0
• Game 1 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 93, Fort Wayne 79
• Game 2 @ Fort Wayne: Minneapolis 89, Fort Wayne 82

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

Awards and records

• Fred Schaus, All-NBA Second Team

References