1952–53 Indianapolis Olympians season

The 1952-53 NBA season was the Olympians' 4th and final season in the NBA. Leo Barnhorst and Joe Graboski led the team in scoring; while Graborski dominated on the boards.

1952–53 Indianapolis Olympians season
Head coach	Herm Schaefer
Arena	Hinkle Fieldhouse
Results
Record	28–43 (.394)
Place	Division: 4th (Western)
Playoff finish	West Division Semifinals (eliminated 0-2)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	WXLW

Draft picks

Main article: 1952 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College

Regular season

Season standings

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Minneapolis Lakers	48	22	.686	-	24-2	16-15	8-5	17-13
x-Rochester Royals	44	26	.629	4	24-8	13-17	7-1	27-13
x-Fort Wayne Pistons	36	33	.522	11.5	25-9	8-19	3-5	18-22
x-Indianapolis Olympians	28	43	.394	20.5	19-14	4-23	5-6	15-26
Milwaukee Hawks	27	44	.380	21.5	14-8	3-24	10-12	15-26

Record vs. opponents

1952-53 NBA Records
Team	BAL	BOS	FWP	IND	MIL	MIN	NYK	PHI	ROC	SYR
Baltimore	—	2–8	0–6	2–4	3–3	1–5	0–10	6–4	0–6	2–8
Boston	8–2	—	4–2	4–2	5–1	1–5	6–4	9–1	4–2	5–6
Fort Wayne	6–0	2–4	—	7–3	7–3	1–9	4–2	5–0	3–7	1–5
Indianapolis	4–2	2–4	3–7	—	5–6	4–6	1–5	5–1	3–7	1–5
Milwaukee	3–3	1–5	3–7	6–5	—	3–7	1–5	4–2	3–7	3–3
Minneapolis	5–1	5–1	9–1	6–4	7–3	—	4–2	6–0	4–6	2–4
New York	10–0	4–6	2–4	5–1	5–1	2–4	—	10–0	3–3	6–4
Philadelphia	4–6	1–9	0–5	1–5	2–4	0–6	0–10	—	2–4	2–8
Rochester	6–0	2–4	7–3	7–3	7–3	6–4	3–3	4–2	—	2–4
Syracuse	8–2	6–5	5–1	5–1	3–3	4–2	4–6	8–2	4–2	—

Game log

1952–53 Game log
#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	October 31	Boston	83–68	Bob Lavoy (20)	0–1
2	November 1	@ Milwaukee	71–73	Leo Barnhorst (20)	0–2
3	November 7	Rochester	65–63	Leo Barnhorst (22)	0–3
4	November 8	@ Rochester	96–99 (4OT)	Leo Barnhorst (22)	0–4
5	November 9	@ Fort Wayne	71–74	Graboski, Walther (16)	0–5
6	November 11	Fort Wayne	63–78	Joe Graboski (23)	1–5
7	November 14	@ Philadelphia	77–71	Bob Lavoy (17)	2–5
8	November 15	N Philadelphia	76–79	Joe Graboski (18)	3–5
9	November 16	@ Syracuse	78–84	Barnhorst, Tosheff (15)	3–6
10	November 18	New York	90–100	Joe Graboski (23)	4–6
11	November 20	N New York	72–67	Joe Graboski (21)	4–7
12	November 22	@ Boston	91–96 (OT)	Leo Barnhorst (24)	4–8
13	November 23	@ Baltimore	100–90	Barnhorst, Tosheff (23)	5–8
14	November 25	Milwaukee	78–66	Leo Barnhorst (14)	5–9
15	November 27	@ Minneapolis	69–90	Leo Barnhorst (19)	5–10
16	November 28	Minneapolis	97–82	Joe Graboski (22)	5–11
17	November 29	@ New York	72–94	Bill Tosheff (15)	5–12
18	December 2	Rochester	76–85	Barnhorst, Graboski (19)	6–12
19	December 5	Fort Wayne	74–84	Barnhorst, Walther (17)	7–12
20	December 6	@ Rochester	79–82	Bill Tosheff (18)	7–13
21	December 8	N Minneapolis	76–81	Joe Graboski (20)	8–13
22	December 9	Syracuse	87–70	Leo Barnhorst (20)	8–14
23	December 12	Milwaukee	49–63	Paul Walther (19)	9–14
24	December 14	@ Fort Wayne	71–86	Barnhorst, Graboski (14)	9–15
25	December 16	Rochester	84–71	Graboski, Lavoy (15)	9–16
26	December 19	Minneapolis	87–69	Bob Lavoy (14)	9–17
27	December 21	N Rochester	83–65	Mel Payton (16)	9–18
28	December 23	Fort Wayne	59–72	Bill Tosheff (19)	10–18
29	December 25	@ Minneapolis	73–90	Mel Payton (16)	10–19
30	December 26	Boston	74–85	Joe Graboski (25)	11–19
31	December 27	@ Rochester	73–94	Bill Tosheff (22)	11–20
32	December 28	@ Syracuse	73–84	Joe Graboski (12)	11–21
33	December 30	Minneapolis	69–74	Joe Graboski (19)	12–21
34	December 31	@ Fort Wayne	85–91	Mel Payton (22)	12–22
35	January 2	Baltimore	66–73	Joe Graboski (24)	13–22
36	January 3	N Boston	63–78	Joe Graboski (17)	13–23
37	January 6	Philadelphia	76–71	Joe Graboski (15)	13–24
38	January 9	New York	58–54	Gene Rhodes (15)	13–25
39	January 11	@ Fort Wayne	68–72	Gene Rhodes (16)	13–26
40	January 15	N Milwaukee	68–75	Leo Barnhorst (22)	14–26
41	January 16	N Fort Wayne	68–75	Joe Graboski (15)	14–27
42	January 17	@ Baltimore	66–82	Mel Payton (17)	14–28
43	January 18	N Philadelphia	74–76 (OT)	Paul Walther (16)	15–28
44	January 20	Rochester	59–70	Joe Graboski (15)	16–28
45	January 23	Boston	85–90	Joe Graboski (20)	17–28
46	January 24	@ Milwaukee	64–72	Leo Barnhorst (22)	17–29
47	January 27	Syracuse	72–76	Bob Lavoy (18)	18–29
48	January 31	@ Baltimore	90–97	Leo Barnhorst (24)	18–30
49	February 3	Minneapolis	93–96 (3OT)	Leo Barnhorst (27)	19–30
50	February 5	@ Fort Wayne	63–68	Bill Tosheff (21)	19–31
51	February 6	New York	84–73	Leo Barnhorst (14)	19–32
52	February 8	@ Minneapolis	67–71	Paul Walther (20)	19–33
53	February 10	Baltimore	83–88	Leo Barnhorst (19)	20–33
54	February 11	N Milwaukee	67–65 (OT)	Lavoy, Tosheff (10)	20–34
55	February 13	Syracuse	89–86 (2OT)	Leo Barnhorst (19)	20–35
56	February 14	@ New York	79–91	Zeke Zawoluk (22)	20–36
57	February 15	@ Boston	76–89	Leo Barnhorst (26)	20–37
58	February 17	Philadelphia	77–80	Leo Barnhorst (23)	21–37
59	February 20	Baltimore	58–59	Mel Payton (17)	22–37
60	February 21	N Milwaukee	61–60	Leo Barnhorst (22)	22–38
61	February 22	@ Milwaukee	64–71	Gene Rhodes (18)	22–39
62	February 24	Milwaukee	69–71 (OT)	Zeke Zawoluk (16)	23–39
63	March 3	Philadelphia	73–90	Leo Barnhorst (26)	24–39
64	March 6	Fort Wayne	73–64	Leo Barnhorst (20)	24–40
65	March 9	N Minneapolis	83–95	Mel Payton (19)	25–40
66	March 10	Rochester	61–59	Joe Graboski (16)	25–41
67	March 13	Milwaukee	50–52 (OT)	Leo Barnhorst (12)	26–41
68	March 14	@ Rochester	90–82	Joe Graboski (25)	27–41
69	March 15	@ Syracuse	68–84	Joe Graboski (19)	27–42
70	March 17	Minneapolis	73–71	Joe Graboski (23)	27–43
71	March 18	@ Milwaukee	74–69	Bill Tosheff (18)	28–43

Playoffs

West Division Semifinals

(1) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (4) Indianapolis Olympians: Lakers win series 2-0

• Game 1 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 85, Indianapolis 69
• Game 2 @ Indianapolis: Minneapolis 81, Indianapolis 79

Last Playoff Meeting: 1952 Western Division Semifinals (Minneapolis won 2–0)

This was the third and final playoff meeting between the Lakers and the Olympians.

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