1957–58 Cincinnati Royals season
Head coachBobby Wanzer
OwnersJack Harrison
Les Harrison
ArenaCincinnati Gardens
Results
Record33–39 (.458)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finishWest Division Semifinals
(Eliminated 0–2)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWKRC-TV
RadioWKRC

The 1957–58 season was the Royals first season in Cincinnati, following its relocation from Rochester during the offseason. Interest in the team was created by a draft deal that brought Lakers All-Star Clyde Lovellette to the team. The team then lured guard George King, the former Syracuse starter back from college coaching. Both additions added talent and veteran leadership to a still young squad.

The roster included star shooter Jack Twyman, Dick Ricketts (who also pitched in the major leagues), and star swing man Tom Marshall. In their first year in Cincinnati, the Royals ended a two-year playoff drought by finishing in third place after tie-breakers in the NBA's West Division.[1] The Royals finished with a record of 33–39. One of the team leaders was Maurice Stokes, who finished second in rebounding with 18.1 rebounds per game.[1] The 6'8 240-pound Stokes, arguably the NBA's first black superstar, also amazed by rating third in the NBA in assists.

Lovellette was fourth in the NBA in scoring, while Twyman led the NBA in shooting accuracy. The entire frontline of Stokes, Lovellette and Twyman were named NBA All-Stars that first season. The team had the makings of a real contender, but the backcourt was debilitated by injuries to Marhsall and King, plus promising Si Green and Johnny McCarthy had been lost to mandatory military service. The team's first-year promise took a tragic turn in mid-March. In the final game of the regular season, played on March 12, Stokes suffered an injury when his head hit the hardwood floor in a game versus the Minneapolis Lakers. Despite being knocked unconscious, Stokes would play in the playoffs against the Detroit Pistons. On the flight home after losing to the Pistons, Stokes suddenly fell ill and was rushed to the hospital upon landing.[1] As the Pistons swept the Royals, Stokes lapsed into a coma. It was revealed that Stokes suffered encephalopathy, a traumatic brain injury that damaged his motor control center. The injury would leave Maurice Stokes as a quadriplegic without the ability to speak.[1] Teammate Jack Twyman would serve as Stokes legal guardian until his death in 1970. The Stokes tragedy would ultimately decimate the team, with six other players not returning for next season. The team was also suddenly sold to local Cincinnati buyers, and coach Bobby Wanzer would also later be replaced. This first year, therefore, stands out from all the Cincinnati teams.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 1 Rod Hundley  United States West Virginia

The Royals made the deal of the NBA draft with the first overall pick. They selected high-touted Rod Hundley, and then sent him along with two reserves to the Lakers for All-Star Clyde Lovellette and solid reserve Jim Paxson, who had been a college star at nearby Dayton. The Royals then tried to shore up their backcourt with selections Dick Duckett( 2 ), Gerry Paulson( 3 ),John Maglio ( 6 ) and Chet Forte ( 7 ). Forte was later the Director of ABC's Monday Night Football. As the season ended, local stars Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas were tabbed as territorial draft picks. Each would be selected by the team after the college senior seasons.

Regular season

Season standings

Western Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-St. Louis Hawks4131.569-23-88-1910-424-12
x-Detroit Pistons3339.458814-1413-176-818-18
x-Cincinnati Royals3339.458817-1210-196-817-19
Minneapolis Lakers1953.2642210-154-215-1713-23

Record vs. opponents

1957-58 NBA Records
Team BOS CIN DET MIN NYK PHI STL SYR
Boston —7–28–19–07–56–65–47–5
Cincinnati 2–7—6–68–44–56–33–94–5
Detroit 1–86–6—6–64–55–46–65–4
Minneapolis 0–94–86–6—1–83–63–92–7
New York 5–75–45–48–1—4–83–65–7
Philadelphia 6–63–64–56–38–4—7–23–9
St. Louis 4–59–36–69–36–32–7—5–4
Syracuse 5–75–44–57–27–59–34–5—

Game log

1957–58 Game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 26Syracuse100–110Jack Twyman (32)1–0
2November 1St. Louis92–99Clyde Lovellette (26)2–0
3November 2@ St. Louis93–102Stokes, Twyman (17)2–1
4November 3Detroit94–88Regan, Stokes (15)2–2
5November 8Boston122–110 (OT)Lovellette, Stokes (22)2–3
6November 10Philadelphia106–101Jack Twyman (24)2–4
7November 15New York99–101Clyde Lovellette (33)3–4
8November 17St. Louis98–97Jack Twyman (23)3–5
9November 19N Detroit75–92Clyde Lovellette (25)4–5
10November 20@ Philadelphia99–89Clyde Lovellette (30)5–5
11November 22@ Syracuse102–98Clyde Lovellette (30)6–5
12November 27N Minneapolis106–107Clyde Lovellette (22)7–5
13November 28@ St. Louis96–112Jack Twyman (19)7–6
14November 29Detroit96–99 (OT)Maurice Stokes (20)8–6
15November 30@ Detroit96–100Clyde Lovellette (30)8–7
16December 1Minneapolis89–90Clyde Lovellette (23)9–7
17December 3@ New York104–110Clyde Lovellette (27)9–8
18December 5N Detroit99–109Maurice Stokes (22)10–8
19December 6New York112–97Lovellette, Stokes (21)10–9
20December 7@ Detroit105–109Clyde Lovellette (31)10–10
21December 8Philadelphia88–99Jack Twyman (24)11–10
22December 10N St. Louis102–90Clyde Lovellette (30)11–11
23December 11@ Boston104–116Clyde Lovellette (26)11–12
24December 14N Syracuse104–100Clyde Lovellette (31)11–13
25December 15@ Syracuse83–109Clyde Lovellette (23)11–14
26December 20Syracuse122–113Jack Twyman (26)11–15
27December 21@ Detroit101–112Clyde Lovellette (28)11–16
28December 22Boston115–98Lovellette, Twyman (26)11–17
29December 26N Syracuse104–100Clyde Lovellette (32)11–18
30December 27St. Louis97–96Jack Twyman (25)11–19
31December 28@ Minneapolis112–101Jack Twyman (33)12–19
32December 29Minneapolis111–103Jack Twyman (33)12–20
33December 31Detroit96–130Jack Twyman (30)13–20
34January 3Philadelphia94–106Jack Twyman (28)14–20
35January 5@ New York101–100Maurice Stokes (27)15–20
36January 7N Detroit99–114Jack Twyman (26)16–20
37January 8N New York123–105Maurice Stokes (26)16–21
38January 10New York104–107Clyde Lovellette (34)17–21
39January 11Syracuse100–105Dick Ricketts (22)18–21
40January 12Boston97–115Jack Twyman (26)19–21
41January 14N New York111–117Jack Twyman (34)20–21
42January 16Minneapolis108–124Clyde Lovellette (30)21–21
43January 17@ Detroit94–115Clyde Lovellette (23)21–22
44January 19@ St. Louis90–108Clyde Lovellette (26)21–23
45January 22@ Syracuse115–109Clyde Lovellette (27)22–23
46January 24Philadelphia102–92Jim Paxson (24)22–24
47January 26Detroit103–107Clyde Lovellette (25)23–24
48January 30@ Minneapolis104–105Jack Twyman (25)23–25
49January 31St. Louis92–100Clyde Lovellette (25)24–25
50February 1@ St. Louis88–127Piontek, Regan (16)24–26
51February 2@ Minneapolis95–106Dave Piontek (21)24–27
52February 4N Boston87–107Clyde Lovellette (20)24–28
53February 5@ Boston89–116Clyde Lovellette (16)24–29
54February 7@ Philadelphia103–100Clyde Lovellette (26)25–29
55February 8N Boston91–109Maurice Stokes (25)25–30
56February 9Minneapolis104–121Clyde Lovellette (34)26–30
57February 11N Minneapolis103–106Maurice Stokes (23)27–30
58February 14New York103–92Jack Twyman (22)27–31
59February 15@ New York97–99Clyde Lovellette (24)27–32
60February 16@ Syracuse105–113Clyde Lovellette (30)27–33
61February 20@ Boston92–94Maurice Stokes (28)27–34
62February 21Detroit109–107Jack Twyman (24)27–35
63February 22@ Minneapolis81–100Dave Piontek (14)27–36
64February 23Minneapolis93–111Clyde Lovellette (25)28–36
65February 26N St. Louis105–103Clyde Lovellette (27)28–37
66March 1@ Philadelphia101–88Clyde Lovellette (29)29–37
67March 2@ St. Louis93–103Maurice Stokes (23)29–38
68March 4N Philadelphia97–91Clyde Lovellette (29)29–39
69March 6@ Philadelphia110–108Clyde Lovellette (37)30–39
70March 9@ Boston121–107Jack Twyman (30)31–39
71March 10St. Louis84–122Lovellette, Twyman (23)32–39
72March 12@ Minneapolis96–89Maurice Stokes (24)33–39

The first Cincinnati Royals game ever was a home game against Syracuse, 26 October 1957, a 110–100 win behind local star Jack Twyman. The team opened to good crowds with home games in their first ten. Nov 7–7, Dec 5–13 with injuries and extra road games, January 11–5, Feb 4–12 with a season-ending injury to Marshall, March 5–2, plus two playoff losses to Detroit, due to the permanent loss of Stokes.

Playoffs

1958 playoff game log
Division Semifinals: 0–2 (home: 0–1; road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsLocationSeries
1 March 15 @ Detroit L 83–100 Clyde Lovellette (15) Detroit Olympia 0–1
2 March 16 Detroit L 104–124 Jack Twyman (24) Cincinnati Gardens 0–2
1958 schedule

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

Season

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Dick Duckett
George King
Clyde Lovellette
Tom Marshall
Monk Meineke
Jerry Paulson
Jim Paxson
Dave Piontek
Richie Regan
Dick Ricketts
Maurice Stokes
Jack Twyman

Playoffs

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
George King
Clyde Lovellette
Tom Marshall
Monk Meineke
Jim Paxson
Dave Piontek
Richie Regan
Dick Ricketts
Maurice Stokes
Jack Twyman

Awards and honors

  • Maurice Stokes, 2nd in rebounds, 3rd in assists, Second Team All-NBA.
  • Clyde Lovellette, 1st in field goals made, 4th in scoring, 4th in shooting accuracy, Second Team All-NBA.
  • Jack Twyman, 1st in shooting accuracy, NBA All-Star.
  • George King, among top ten in NBA assists.

References

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