February 21,1956- Walter Brown says Cousy better than Pettit

Originally printed by the UP on February 21,1956.

Boston Celtics owner Walter Brown says Bob Cousy will be remembered “as the greatest basketball player of his time.”

“Cousy is the symbol of professional basketball,” Brown said at a basketball writers luncheon here yesterday. “There are very few fans today that won’t agree.”

Brown said he disagreed with Ned Irish of New York who last week declared that Bob Pettit of St. Louis was a “better all-around player” than Cousy.

“Cousy is the greatest player today in my book,” Brown said.

February 8, 1956- Celtics fall to Hawks 111-110 on last second shot

In a doubleheader of basketball in Rochester, the Boston Celtics lost to the St. Louis Hawks 111-110 on a last second shot by Bob Pettit in the first game. The Hawks were playing catchup for most of the game early on trailing by as many as 13 in the 2nd period before rallying to tie the score at 100 with four minutes remaining in the game. Bob Cousy sinked in a hook shot with 22 seconds left to give the C's a 108-106 lead. Alex Hannum then had a 3 point play for the Hawks to go up 109-108 with 9 seconds left. Bob Cousy scored immediately to give the C's a 110-109 lead with 5 seconds remaining. Alex Hannum then threw up a desperate shot but luckily for the Hawks Bob Pettit was right there to tip in the ball to give the win to the Hawks. Pettit was the high scorer of the game with 36 points.

In the 2nd game of the doubleheader the Knicks controlled the game throughout the entire contest to beat the Rochester Royals 102-97. Ken Sears led the Knicks with 26 points.

Box Score

Boston G FT T
Nichols 2 1-4 5
Hemric 1 7-7 9
Loscutoff 1 0-0 2
Risen 6 4-4 16
Morrison 0 1-4 1
Macauley 11 5-5 27
Cousy 8 7-8 23
Sharman 5 6-6 16
Barrett 4 3-3 11

Totals 38 34-41 110

St. Louis G FT T
Coleman 6 1-2 13
Hannum 4 1-2 9
Schafer 1 0-0 2
Pettit 13 10-11 36
Share 6 3-4 15
Ferrari 1 1-2 3
Harrison 4 2-3 10
Stephens 2 3-6 7
Park 1 2-4 4
McMahon 4 4-5 12

Totals 42 27-39 111

St. Louis..... 27 20 33 31-111
Boston.........25 30 28 27-110

February 2,1956- Celtics beat Lakers 102-101

The Celtics and Lakers met for the 2nd straight day and unlike their meeting the previous night, this time it was the Celtics winning a close one by the score of 102-101 in the first game of a doubleheader in St. Louis. Although the final score was close it didn't get that way until Chuck Mencel scored 6 points in the final minute, including an uncontested shot as the clock expired. Ed Macauley had 31 for the Celtics and Bill Sharman added 35. The Celtics improved their season record to 27-21.

In the 2nd game of the doubleheader the St. Louis Hawks beat the Fort Wayne Pistons 98-90. Bob Pettit had 27 points for the Hawks, and Jack Coleman scored 21 for the Hawks also.

Box Score

Boston G FT T
Barrett 1 0-0 2
Loscutoff 1 0-1 2
Macauley 10 11-14 31
Hemric 1 2-3 4
Morrison 2 2-4 6
Risen 4 4-4 12
Cousy 3 4-4 10
Palazzi 0 0-0 0
Sharman 14 7-7 35

Totals 36 30-37 102

Minneapolis G FT T
Hitch 0 0-0 0
Kalafat 3 2-4 8
Mikkelsen 6 5-6 17
Schnittker 2 0-0 4
Lovellette 8 5-8 21
Mikan 5 2-2 12
Garmaker 0 1-1 1
Martin 7 1-2 15
Mencel 2 2-2 6
Skoog 8 1-1 17

Totals 41 19-26 101

Boston...........30 27 25 20-102
Minneapolis..24 27 25 25-101

January 6, 1956 Hawks Pettit Named- St. Louis Player Unanimous Choice for All-Star Game

Bob Pettit of the St. Louis Hawks was the only unanimous choice among the 20 players selected to play in the National Basketball Association's sixth annual All-Star Game.

The contest between the tenman sqauds representing the Eastern and Western divisions is scheduled for Jan. 24 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Rochester.

Maurice Stokes of the Rochester Royals was the only rookie named in the poll of sports writers and broadcasters. Harry Gallatin, Carl Braun, and Dick McGuire of the New York Knickerbockers will play with the East team.

December 27, 1955 Celtics beat Hawks 105-102, Pettit scores 46

The Hawks Bob Pettit had a masterful game against the Boston Celtics in front of his home crowd scoring 46 points but it was not enough as the Celtics gained the road win by the score of 105-102. The win brought the Celtics record the season to 13-9, 2 games behind the division leading Warriors.

Box Score

Boston (105) G F PF P
Macauley lf 9 6 0 24
Nichols rf 7 6 4 20
Loscutoff 3 1 0 7
Risen c 3 3 5 9
Hemric 1 4 1 6
Morrison 0 0 4 0
Cousy lg 5 9 1 19
Sharman rg 8 2 4 18
Barrett 1 0 3 2
Palazzi 0 0 1 0

Total 37 31 23 105

St. Louis (102) G F PF P
Pettit lf 17 12 3 46
Ricketts 2 1 4 5
Cooper rf 2 1 1 5
Ferrari 1 0 1 2
Hannum 0 0 3 0
Share c 3 4 3 10
Harrison lg 1 0 1 2
Selvy rg 5 2 6 12
Stephens 7 1 2 15
Schafer 2 1 3 5

Total 40 22 27 102

Boston......23 20 33 29-105
St.Louis....23 20 23 26-102

Free Throws Missed- Macauley, Loscutoff, Risen 2, Morrison, Cousy 2, Pettit 2, Share 2, Selvy, Stephens 3, Schafer