1958–59 Cincinnati Royals season

The 1958–59 Cincinnati Royal season was the 14th season of the franchise, its 11th season in the NBA and second season in Cincinnati.

1958–59 Cincinnati Royals season
Head coachBobby Wanzer
Tom Marshall
OwnersThomas E. Wood
ArenaCincinnati Gardens
Results
Record19–53 (.264)
PlaceDivision: 4th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWKRC-TV
RadioWKRC

This season is being one of the most notorious seasons faced by an NBA team in the league's history.[1] The reason was the tragic career-ending head injury to star Maurice Stokes, who became permanently hospitalized at the age of 24 at the end of the previous season, which had been the team's first in Cincinnati. The loss of Stokes shocked six other roster players into retirement. Also, the team had been sold to new, inexperienced local ownership and also soon had to replace their coach. Star shooter Jack Twyman returned for the club as the only returnee from a year ago. Had Twyman accepted other offers that year, the team would have likely folded.

St. Louis owner Ben Kerner, a long-time friend of previous owners Les and Jack Harrison, agreed to help the club. He sent five players to the Royals in return for All-Pro Clyde Lovellette and the rights to talented Si Green. The result was a diluted roster of rookies and journeymen. Two rookies were burly 6-foot 8-inch big man Wayne Embry and 6' 4 defender Arlen Bockhorn. Both had to make the team before being offered contracts, and both were pleasant surprises to the beleaguered team. Twyman was far and away the team's only star. He scored 25.8 points per game, trying more shots than any player in the league for his new team. The slender 6-foot 6-inch star also led the Royals in rebounds, and came within 16 assists of leading the team there as well. More than that, he mentored the new players and also carried on Stokes's charity causes off the court. He achieved a kind of fame, respect and notoriety unlike any NBA player ever. One of his creations to pay for his fallen teammate's soaring hospital bills was The Maurice Stokes Charity Game, which was played at Kutcher's resort in Monticello, New York, every August. A slew of NBA notables came to play in the event for Stokes every year.

Despite Twyman's starring play, the Royals sank to 19–53 this season after contending much of the previous season. To limit over-exposure of a bad product at home, some 17 home games were played elsewhere this season. Several times that year, the team failed to draw 2000 fans to Cincinnati Gardens.

Somehow, the new ownership made it through the season and vowed to carry on. The NBA was of some help, granting territorial draft picks to Oscar Robertson and Ralph Davis from the local University of Cincinnati, as well as local high school player Jerry Lucas.

Regular season

Season standings
Western Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-St. Louis Hawks4923.681–28–314–157–527–9
x-Minneapolis Lakers3339.4581615–79–179–1518–18
x-Detroit Pistons2844.3892113–178–207–717–19
Cincinnati Royals1953.264309–192–258–910–26
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents
1958–59 NBA records
Team BOS CIN DET MIN NYK PHI STL SYR
Boston —8–18–19–07–59–34–57–5
Cincinnati 1–8—3–96–63–62–71–113–6
Detroit 1–89–3—4–83–65–44–82–7
Minneapolis 0–96–68–4—4–56–34–85–4
New York 5–76–36–35–4—5–74–59–3
Philadelphia 3–97–24–53–67–5—4–54–8
St. Louis 5–411–18–48–45–45–4—7–2
Syracuse 5–76–37–24–53–98–42–7—

Game log
1958–59 Game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 22@ Minneapolis79–99Dave Piontek (17)1–0
2October 25Minneapolis94–110Jack Twyman (29)1–1
3October 31@ Detroit113–120Jack Twyman (27)1–2
4November 1@ Syracuse108–130Jack Twyman (22)1–3
5November 2St. Louis97–90Sihugo Green (19)1–4
6November 5New York108–97Jack Twyman (26)1–5
7November 9Philadelphia106–92Jim Palmer (20)1–6
8November 12Syracuse116–115Jack Twyman (32)1–7
9November 15@ Boston105–130Jack Twyman (33)1–8
10November 19Boston103–119Jack Twyman (45)2–8
11November 21@ Philadelphia90–108Vernon Hatton (22)2–9
12November 22@ Detroit86–103Jack Twyman (23)2–10
13November 23St. Louis100–89Jim Palmer (22)2–11
14November 25@ New York115–113Jack Twyman (26)3–11
15November 26Detroit112–95Jack Twyman (19)3–12
16November 28@ Minneapolis93–114Jack Twyman (22)3–13
17November 29@ St. Louis86–98Jack Twyman (18)3–14
18November 30Minneapolis84–77Dave Piontek (22)3–15
19December 2N St. Louis105–81Sihugo Green (22)3–16
20December 3New York108–110Arlen Bockhorn (23)4–16
21December 6N Minneapolis128–132 (3OT)Jack Twyman (34)5–16
22December 7Philadelphia103–90Jack Twyman (20)5–17
23December 10Syracuse97–94Jack Twyman (20)5–18
24December 12@ Boston115–125 (OT)McCarthy, Twyman (22)5–19
25December 16@ New York106–118Jack Twyman (24)5–20
26December 18Boston104–90Jack Twyman (26)5–21
27December 20@ Syracuse121–120 (OT)Jack Twyman (27)6–21
28December 25St. Louis100–92Jack Twyman (29)6–22
29December 26@ Detroit91–131Jack Twyman (28)6–23
30December 28Minneapolis116–120Jack Twyman (32)7–23
31December 29@ St. Louis112–124Jack Twyman (32)7–24
32December 30St. Louis119–104Jack Twyman (20)7–25
33January 2N Detroit104–111Jack Twyman (34)8–25
34January 4Boston111–108Wayne Embry (27)8–26
35January 6N Boston95–109Jack Twyman (33)8–27
36January 8Syracuse145–138 (3OT)Jack Twyman (41)8–28
37January 9N St. Louis112–101Arlen Bockhorn (27)8–29
38January 10Detroit101–69Jack Twyman (14)8–30
39January 11@ Syracuse110–127Wayne Embry (27)8–31
40January 13N Detroit112–92Jim Palmer (14)8–32
41January 16N Minneapolis91–95Jack Twyman (30)9–32
42January 17@ New York105–117Jack Twyman (36)9–33
43January 18Detroit88–107Archie Dees (18)10–33
44January 20N New York108–114Jack Twyman (30)11–33
45January 21New York130–109Arlen Bockhorn (27)11–34
46January 24@ Syracuse102–123Archie Dees (23)11–35
47January 25Syracuse104–109Jack Twyman (33)12–35
48January 27N Philadelphia92–100Jack Twyman (37)13–35
49January 28@ Philadelphia84–99Archie Dees (14)13–36
50January 30@ St. Louis87–118Jack Twyman (21)13–37
51January 31@ Detroit88–103Dees, Park (14)13–38
52February 3Philadelphia103–120Jack Twyman (31)14–38
53February 8@ Boston117–136Jack Twyman (30)14–39
54February 9N Detroit122–97Jack Twyman (30)14–40
55February 10N Minneapolis118–100Med Park (25)14–41
56February 11N Minneapolis106–105Johnny McCarthy (31)14–42
57February 12N Minneapolis114–119Jack Twyman (33)15–42
58February 14N Philadelphia106–94Jack Twyman (35)15–43
59February 15@ New York97–124Jack Twyman (27)15–44
60February 18New York118–116Jack Twyman (34)15–45
61February 21@ St. Louis120–121Jack Twyman (38)15–46
62February 22Boston129–112Johnny McCarthy (26)15–47
63February 24N Syracuse109–113Jack Twyman (29)16–47
64February 25N Minneapolis116–96Jack Twyman (34)16–48
65February 26N Detroit101–106Jack Twyman (27)17–48
66February 28St. Louis122–124 (OT)Jack Twyman (50)18–48
67March 1@ Detroit101–117Jack Twyman (30)18–49
68March 3@ St. Louis102–113Jack Twyman (26)18–50
69March 4Minneapolis122–128Jack Twyman (46)19–50
70March 7@ Philadelphia86–93Jack Twyman (21)19–51
71March 8@ Boston131–141Jack Twyman (45)19–52
72March 10Philadelphia102–96Jack Twyman (26)19–53

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
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Arlen Bockhorn
Archie Dees
Wayne Embry
Si Green
Vernon Hatton
Tom Marshall
Johnny McCarthy
Jim Palmer
Med Park
Jack Parr
Dave Piontek
Phil Rollins
Larry Staverman
Jack Twyman

References
  1. 1958–59 Cincinnati Royals
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