The Forgotten Team: The 1957-'58 St. Louis Hawks

The Team:

9 Bob Pettit F/C 6-9 215
11 Jack Coleman F 6-7 230
12 Walt Davis F-C 6-8 205
13 Charlie Share C 6-11 235
15 Win Wilfong G 6-2 185
16 Cliff Hagan F 6-4 210
17 Med Park G 6-2 205
19 Frank Selvy G 6-3 180
20 Ed Macauley F 6-8 195
22 Slater Martin G 5-10 170
21 Jack McMahon G 6-1 185

The Coach:

Alex Hannum is considered to be one of the greatest coaches in history. He coached two teams to the NBA Finals, one being the team this thread is about and the other being possibly the greatest team of all time, the 1967 Philadelphia 76ers. He also coached the Oakland Oaks to an ABA Championship in 1969 to become the only coach to win a championship in both leagues. He won coach of the year twice in 1964 and 1969. The latter of the two was in the ABA. He coached twelve hall of fame players and in his 16 year career he posted a record (ABA and NBA combined) of 649-564.

The Star:

Bob Pettit is known as one of, if not the, best power forwards in the history of the game. This man was never satisfied with himself so he tried to take his game to higher and higher levels each game. The Official NBA Encyclopedia credits Pettit with saying, "When I fall below what I know I can do, my belly growls and growls." He won the MVP award two times. One time was two years before this particular season and the second came the year after this season when the Hawks made their third Finals appearance in four years. In this particular year Pettit averaged 24.6 points and 17.4 rebounds. Both were third and second in their respective categories.

Other Big Helpers:

Bob Pettit had some huge help in the frontcourt to anchor this team. The person seen above is Ed Macauley. He was a center who was dwindling down in his career, but had enough in him to average 14.2 points and 6.6 rebounds. The biggest help Pettit receieved from the frontcourt, though, was from Cliff Hagan. Cliff Hagan was a second year player, but he sure didn't play like one. His 19.9 points and 10.1 rebounds solidified his status as Pettit's number two man. Slater Martin was the main man in the backcourt. His numbers may not looks big (12 points, 3.6 assists, 3.8 rebounds) but his presence was vital to the team.

The Season:

In these times the NBA was made up of eight teams. I'm sure you can do the math and figure out there were four teams per conference. That may seem petty, but the shortage of teams assured there was plenty of talent to go around and that assured there would be no shortage of competition. The St. Louis Hawks were the clear favorites to win the conference, which they did. The 41-31 record (there was only a 72 game schedule then) was tops in the Western Conference by eight games over the Detroit Pistons (who moved from Fort Wayne before the start of the season). The Hawks had two people finish in the top ten in scoring that year, Pettit and Hagan. Hagan also finished second in the entire league for field goal percentage.

The Playoffs:

The playoffs back then had a weird format. Since there were only four teams, the top three teams made the playoffs. The top seed was awarded with a first round bye and the second and third seed dueled it out in a four game series. The Pistons breezed by Cincinnati to face the Hawks in a seven game series. The Pistons proved hardly a challenge to the Hawks as they won the series in five games. The Pistons were able to keep the first two games close, losing by three both times and captured a game three victory by twenty points. That's as good as it would get for the Pistons, though, as the Hawks blew them out by 44 and 24 in the next two games.

The Finals:

Well, in order to understand how great this final series was, you have to understand the history between the two teams participating in it. The Boston Celtics and St. Louis Hawks met each other the season before in what can arguably be called the greatest finals series in history. The series went seven games, back and forth, back and forth. The Hawks captured the first game in a double overtime thriller 125-123. Little did they know that the Hawks would suffer the same fate in the last game of the series that they gave the Celtics in the first game of the series. The Celtics defeated the Hawks 125-123 in double overtime in game seven of the finals. That brought the first title to the Celtics on the backs of rookies Bill Russell and Tommy Heinsohn. We all know the Celtics ended up winning eleven titles in thirteen years, but that's why the 1957-'58 Hawks team is the forgotten team. People remember Wilt Chamberlain and the 76ers dethroning the Celtics, but little is mentioned of the Hawks dethroning the Celtics in this certain year.

This finals series had to do a lot to live up to what the previous year's series brought. It almost did live up to that billing too. Game one provided an amazing back and forth game for the fans. The Hawks got a rare victory in the Boston Garden, though, as they defeated the mighty Celtics 104-102. Boston felt like they had something to prove the next game, and boy did they make their point. They clobbered the Hawks 136-112. Some people thought the Hawks wouldn't be able to recover from the crushing game two blow. They proved the nay-sayers wrong by battling the Celtics out for another classic game. This time it was a 111-108 Hawks victory. The next game would be Boston's last victory in the finals series. They notched their second win with a 109-98 win. The win came without Russell who suffered ligament damage in game three. He would miss game five as well. Despite the absence of Russell, game five was a barnburner, as all Hawks victories in this series were. A 102-100 win put the Hawks in position to win their first NBA title.

Game six brought possibly the greatest performance in a playoff clinching game that the NBA has ever seen. Superstar Bob Pettit refused to let the Celtics force the series to seven games. They way Pettit went about doing so left everyone in awe. It wasn't just Pettit's 50 points that amazed the crowd, it was his performance in the clutch that won hearts of fans everywhere. Pettit tied an NBA playoff record with 19 points in the final quarter of the game. The 50 point explosion clinched the first title ever for the Hawks who won the game 110-109 and won the series four games to two.

The 1957-'58 Hawks aren't remembered as one of the best teams ever, rightfully so too. However, when people discuss the great Celtics dynasty and how Wilt Chamberlain managed to bring them down one year, don't forget to tell those people of this Hawk team as they are too great to be forgotten by NBA fans.

 

all old and ugly team no wonder no one voted for them

 

I've always liked this team, just because they stuck it to the Celtics. It's good that the Hawks got at least something from the Hagan-Russell trade. Not too many people know that the Celtics didn't even draft Bill Russell: the top pick the Celtics had they used on Tommy Heinsohn, who was the eventual rookie of the year. But their other first round pick they used on Cliff Hagan. Then Red Auerbach swung one of the first blockbuster deals of his career by sending his all-star center Ed McCauley and Hagan to the Hawks for Russell.

A lot of people have criticized the trade over the years as being a horrible one because of what Russell went on to accomplish, but there's a good chance that the Hawks never would have won that one title if they hadn't made the trade. Russell was always weak on offense, whereas Hagan and McCauley provided the scoring support that Pettit needed to take the team all the way.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting starman85:</div><div class="quote_post">I've always liked this team, just because they stuck it to the Celtics. It's good that the Hawks got at least something from the Hagan-Russell trade. Not too many people know that the Celtics didn't even draft Bill Russell: the top pick the Celtics had they used on Tommy Heinsohn, who was the eventual rookie of the year. But their other first round pick they used on Cliff Hagan. Then Red Auerbach swung one of the first blockbuster deals of his career by sending his all-star center Ed McCauley and Hagan to the Hawks for Russell.

A lot of people have criticized the trade over the years as being a horrible one because of what Russell went on to accomplish, but there's a good chance that the Hawks never would have won that one title if they hadn't made the trade. Russell was always weak on offense , whereas Hagan and McCauley provided the scoring support that Pettit needed to take the team all the way.</div>

15 PPG & 4.3APG isn't weak for a Center in my opinion... Not to speak about the offensive boards he got in his career...
Anyways I like the fact that Hannum is the only coach to defeat those Auerbach-Russell teams... And he did it twice... Once with this team and the other with a Chamberlain-led Philly team in 1966-67

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm surprised the city of St. Louis has not made a push to get another NBA franchise. They've always had a supportive fan base with the Rams and Cardinals, and St. Louis is a sports bar haven. Terrific article.</div>


I agree.. The city truly treats their teams as though they are their own, regardless of how bad the team may be playing on the field.

Also, Bob Pettit was one of the more underrated players of all time.. You never hear much about his on-court accomplishments.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">one being the team this thread is about and the other being possibly the greatest team of all time, the 1967 Philadelphia 76ers. </div>

Well, You'll never hear or see me say that there is ever one team that was the "Best Ever", however, both these teams can be given consideration and at least belong in the conversation, IMO.

One thing that detracts from the St. Louis Hawks Team was that, at the time, they had perhaps the most racist fanbase in the association, which is saying alot for the times. That will always take away some of the luster, particularly when greats like Bill Russell, Satch Sanders, etc. were vigorously discriminated against. Yes, it happened all over the association and was part of the times (unfortunately), but it was particularly prevalent in St. Louis.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ThaLord:</div><div class="quote_post">15 PPG & 4.3APG isn't weak for a Center in my opinion... Not to speak about the offensive boards he got in his career...
Anyways I like the fact that Hannum is the only coach to defeat those Auerbach-Russell teams... And he did it twice... Once with this team and the other with a Chamberlain-led Philly team in 1966-67</div>

Not weak by today's standards, and technically not that weak for all time either, but definitely not strong enough to be the second scorer on that Hawks team. The NBA back then was completely different than today, and teams scored more. Russ was never a guy who would just go out and lay down 20, and look at his career: he never averaged 20 points in a season. Not that he couldn't have done it(he came close several times on teams notorious for spreading the ball), but he wouldn't have been the same Russ.

A Hawks team with Russell and Pettit would be potent, and may have won two or three titles, but nothing like the eleven that Boston won.

 

They were a great team. They did manage to win the title over the Celtics, although Russell was injured and unable to play the seventh game.