SEASON THREE (1955-56) - BREAKOUTS, FALLS FROM GRACE, AND RECORDS

After the drama of the previous offseason, this one seemed tame by comparison. The newly-Pittsburgh Robins, moving into the brand-new Allegheny Arena (soon to be known as the Alleghena by supporters), made a major splash in the offseason, signing college phenom Barry Johnson to a large contract. However, before the season began, he was hurt in a training accident and missed the entire season. With only Terry Stevens to carry the team, they managed to do one game worse than their first two seasons to finish bottom of the league once again. On the top, the Blueshirts hit their stride as the tag team of Olson and Sheaves dominated the league, stunning many with their no-nonsense inside play as they cruised to 20 wins. Philadelphia, behind the solid play of Roberts, once again finished with 17 wins and second in the standings. The Lions were once again on the outside of the playoffs looking in, just one game behind Philadelphia. In New York, the rapidly declining Gus McProme announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season, after a knee injury forced him onto the sidelines for most of the year. Soon the league announced that McProme, the winner of the first ever MVP award in 1953 and the Playoff MVP winner a year ago, would be the namesake of the MVP trophy, which was given to George Olson. Despite relatively high expectations, the Stars only finished at .500 and fourth in the league once again. The final standings were:

1) Boston Blueshirts (20-10)
2) Philadelphia Conductors (17-13)
3) Cincinnati Lions (16-14)
4) Cleveland Stars (15-15)
5) New York Mammoths (14-16)
6) Pittsburgh Robins (8-22)

For the playoffs, returned back to a two-team, five game series, the Blueshirts faced the Conductors in a series that would quickly become a classic for the beautiful play of Boston, and an incredible game from Pat Roberts. Boston won both of their home games to make the series 2-0 headed back to the Liberty Arena, but Pat Roberts had the game of his life in Game 3, finishing with a record-smashing 78 points in a blowout win. However, even his superhuman effort wasn't enough to save the outmatched Conductors, as they lost Game 4 and handed the Blueshirts their first ever championship. 

1955-56 Champions: Boston Blueshirts

Last edited by Magic Dynasty (5/25/2019 12:00 pm)

While I said in the beginning that the focus won't be on uniforms or logos, I still want to work on those a bit, even if they're terrible hand-drawn things that don't come close to others.

Anyway, the current league logo from this era is:


After, here is the look of the Cleveland Stars.



(Currently, color is worn at home. This may change in the future).

I am currently working on more teams (New York or Boston will be next), as well as the 1956-57 season. 

JG36 wrote:

I know logos aren’t your main focus, but one thing I like to do with my hand drawn logos is use a ruler or straightedge to make things neat. Also for the Stars, you can clearly see eraser marks, so try to not draw so hard on your first go. I also make sketches before drawing my final copy. Another thing, are you using crayons? Try using color pencils if you can. They can provide for more neatness and less white spots. The template looks good, but another reason the ruler comes in handy is that your number on the white jersey seems a little out of place towards the left.

The storytelling is good though. Remember, practice makes perfect. The more you make, the better they’ll look.

I am using colored pencils. I realized that the eraser marks were there as soon as I posted it, I thought they weren't too noticeable when I took the pictures (which were a smaller size). I'll definitely work on fixing that in the next teams that I post, as well as fixing Cleveland and editing that post with the updated, cleaner design.

Anyway,

SEASON FOUR (1956-57) - NEW FACES, NEW CHALLENGERS, AND NEW RULES

Only one major change was made in the summer of 1956 - the addition of what was being called the "shot clock". This 24-second timer greatly sped the game up, and made it more watchable for both spectators in the arena and on television. After a long recovery, Barry Johnson was back from his injury and finally gave Terry Stevens some help, lifting the Robins to their first ever winning record in franchise history, and just one game out of the playoffs. However, one player was not thrilled about the addition of the shot clock - George Olson, the Blueshirts' star point guard. He was notorious for slowing the game down, often keeping the ball to himself with his incredible dribble skills before launching a perfect pass into the paint. However, he was now on a timer to find a man, and this greatly impacted his play. While he was still a force to be reckoned with, Boston could no longer rely on him to make plays, and they fell into fourth place due to it. The Stars got worse as their coach abruptly resigned halfway through the season, and they only got an abysmal three wins at home over the entire season. New York didn't do much better, only managing 11 wins on the season, with five of those at home. Philadelphia, determined to do better after their defeat in the championship series the year before, was one of the first to learn to play around the shot clock, and it showed early on (although they slowed down by the end of the year). For the Lions, Jerry Sprott finally had a healthy season, and the team flourished due to it, finishing at 18 wins and second in the standings.

1) Philadelphia Conductors (19-11)
2) Cincinnati Lions (18-12)
3) Pittsburgh Robins (17-13)
4) Boston Blueshirts (16-14)
5) New York Mammoths (11-19)
6) Cleveland Stars (8-22)

Before the playoffs started, Chicago businessman Rex Yugot began pressuring the league to expand to his city, as he felt that his Chicago Dukes had outgrown the Midwest Basketball Association that they currently played in. The league office felt a bit intimidated, as he would easily be the wealthiest owner in the league (and therefore the one with the most influence). They rejected his offer, which led to him leading a tirade against them in the Chicago Tribune. While nothing has come of this yet, many basketball fans were left wondering if Yugot is planning to launch a separate league to compete with the CBL. 

Back to the playoffs, the Conductors were hoping to redeem themselves from last year's loss by making quick work of the resurgent Lions. However, what occurred in Game 2, after a Conductors win Game 1, was one of the most controversial sequences in CBL history, even to this day. On a drive into the paint, Pat Roberts, the centerpiece of the Conductors team, was practically tackled by Cincinnati center Harold Piper. Roberts was severely injured in the resulting fall, and was taken off of the court in a stretcher. No foul. The home crowd was outraged, and stormed the court to take Piper and the officials on. In the resulting chaos, and after police came to take the invaders away, the league ordered a rematch of Game 2 in an empty arena. With no Roberts and no home crowd, the Lions easily took the game, and then the next two at home. With a 3-1 series win, the Lions became the first team to win their second championship in league history.

1956-57 Champions: Cincinnati Lions

Last edited by Magic Dynasty (5/27/2019 6:31 pm)

Hey everyone, I had a bit of a family emergency and therefore this project fell to the wayside. However, the CBL is not dead. I’m hoping to fully come back to this project in a week or so, but the next season and some designs should hopefully be up by the end of tomorrow.

Congrats to the Blueshirts! How is the first draft shaping up, any particularly hot prospects?

Curious to see how ol' Rexy proceeds with his league. Any chance of him stealing a team like Pittsburgh from the CBA?