Pittsburgh Ironmen

1946/47:Playing at the old Duquesne Gardens, the Pittsburgh Ironmen was one of 11 charter franchises for the Basketball Association of America. The Ironmen were coached Paul “Polly” Birch, a native of Western Pennsylvania. After suffering a 56-51 loss to the St. Louis Bombers in their first game on November 2nd, the Ironmen made their home debut against the Washington Capitols, suffering a 71-56 loss two nights later. Wins were quite scarce for the Ironmen, who were the new league’s weakest team posting a record of 15-45 and finishing dead last. The only players to average more than ten points per game were Coulby Gunther, who led the team with 14.4 and John Abramovic, who had 11.2 ppg. The Ironmen would not make it to a second season, folding after the 1947 season. Pittsburgh would venture into professional basketball again two decades later with a team in the ABA. However, the steel city would never get another chance at a team in BAA, which would become the National Basketball Association.