Philadelphia Tapers

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Philadelphia Tapers
Founded1961
DissolvedDecember 31, 1962
HistoryWashington Tapers (1961)
New York Tapers (1962)
Philadelphia Tapers (1962)
ArenaPhiladelphia Civic Center
LocationPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Head coachMario Perri

The Philadelphia Tapers were an American professional basketball team that played a partial 1962–1963 season in the American Basketball League (1961–1962). It traces its history to the 1950s AAU New York Tapers.

AAU New York Tapers

Originally the amateur New York Tapers, the team played in the NABL and was sponsored by Technical Tape Corporation, makers of Tuck brand adhesive and recording tapes. The Tapers were a top AAU club team in the 1950s featuring many former collegiate stars and pro players.

Washington Tapers 1961–1962

The American Basketball League played one full season,

free throw lane
, 18 feet instead of the standard 12.

The American Basketball League was formed when

Minneapolis Lakers owner Bob Short was permitted to move the Lakers to Los Angeles, Saperstein reacted by convincing National Alliance of Basketball Leagues (NABL) team owner Paul Cohen (Tuck Tapers) and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) National Champion Cleveland Pipers owner George Steinbrenner to take the top NABL and AAU teams and players and form a rival league.[1]

League franchises were: the

New York Tapers; and the Pittsburgh Rens (1961-1963).[1]

When Saperstein's

Milwaukee Braves. While with the Tapers, Conley often accompanied Paul Cohen on sales calls for his Tuck Tape Company.[2]

The team was a failure in Washington, and Cohen transplanted the franchise mid-season — on January 2, 1962 — to Commack, New York, renaming it the New York Tapers.[3] They played their final game in New York at Long Island Arena on March 14, 1962.[4]

Philadelphia Tapers 1962–1963

When the ABL began their second season in 1962, the Tapers moved to Philadelphia, where Cohen hoped to take advantage of the NBA

Philadelphia Warriors' (and Wilt Chamberlain’s) departure to San Francisco. Harvey Pollack kept the Tapers' statistics as he had for the Warriors.[5] The Tapers hired Mario Perri to coach the team in Philadelphia. Perri had been the athletic director at the Technical Tape Corp where he coached the softball team to a national title.[6]

In a bizarre bit of scheduling, the team twice faced the Chicago Majors on November 15, winning the first game, 51-46, before dropping the nightcap, 65-63, in overtime. The Tapers played only 28 games during the abbreviated 1962–1963 season. The final game was against the Chicago Majors in a neutral site game at the Cleveland Arena on December 30, 1962.[4]

Players

During their time, the Tapers boasted of many outstanding players.

Star of the team was

Life College
.

Another star was 6'10" center

Cincinnati Royals, but never played in the NBA.[7][8]

Also starring on the team was the mysterious Sylvester Blye, a strapping 6-9 player who saw his college career at Seattle University quashed after one game when officials discovered that he had been playing professionally for the touring Harlem Clowns. Blye then went to work for Tuck Tape and became the team's signature player. He was known as a legend in the New York Rucker league and was a full-fledged star in the ABL, but no NBA team ever called on him after the league's demise.

Another notable Taper was point guard

St. Louis Hawks but was mysteriously cut a year later. His stay with the Tapers also did not result in a call by any NBA teams, which Hill attributed to racism. In fact, NBA teams at the time largely subscribed to an unwritten code that limited black players on the rosters and generally saw (at most) two black players start at home and three on the road. Reserve players at the time were almost all white.[citation needed
]

ABL Year-by-year

Year League Reg. season Playoffs
1961/62 ABL 4th, Eastern Semifinals
1962/63 ABL 5th No playoff

References

  1. ^ a b "History of the American Basketball League". www.apbr.org.
  2. ^ Husman, John M. "SABR Baseball Biography Project: Gene Conley". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  3. ISBN 0-9644774-3-2
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 1-57167-254-0
    .
  5. ^ Fitzpatrick, Frank (June 25, 2015). "Harvey Pollack, 76ers' legendary stat man, dies at 93". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  6. ^ Fitzpatrick, Frank (January 17, 2015). "Remember the Philadelphia Tapers?". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  7. ^ "Bill Chmielewski Player Profile, Dayton, NCAA Stats, Awards - RealGM". basketball.realgm.com.
  8. ^ "Ex-Dayton star keeps on playing". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philadelphia_Tapers&oldid=1215675898"