Andy Phillip
 The Illio, 1947 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 7, 1922 Granite City, Illinois |
| Died |
April 29, 2001 (aged 79) Rancho Mirage, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 195 lb (88 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Granite City (Granite City, Illinois) |
| College | Illinois (1941–1943, 1946–1947) |
| NBA draft | 1947 / Round: -- / Pick: -- |
| Selected by the Chicago Stags | |
| Playing career | 1947–1958 |
| Position | Guard |
| Number | 19, 7, 4, 14, 17 |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1947–1950 | Chicago Stags |
| 1950–1952 | Philadelphia Warriors |
| 1952–1956 | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| 1956–1958 | Boston Celtics |
| As coach: | |
| 1958 | St. Louis Hawks |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career statistics | |
| Points | 6,384 (9.1 ppg) |
| Rebound | 2,395 (4.4 rpg) |
| Assists | 3,759 (5.4 apg) |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
| Basketball Hall of Fame as player | |
|
College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006 | |
Andrew Michael "Handy Andy"[1] Phillip (March 7, 1922 – April 29, 2001) was an American professional basketball player.[2] Born in Granite City, Illinois, Phillip had an 11-year career and played for the Chicago Stags of the Basketball Association of America and the Philadelphia Warriors, Fort Wayne Pistons and Boston Celtics, all of the National Basketball Association.
Phillip led his high school, Granite City, to the Illinois state championship in 1940. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign where he earned renown for his talents and for the Fighting Illini's success during war-interrupted, non-consecutive seasons in 1941–1943 and 1946–1947.[3]
He was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Phillip served as a First Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in World War II at Iwo Jima.[4][5]
Phillip played in the first five NBA All-Star Games, and was twice named to the All-NBA Second Team. He was the first player to record 500 assists in a season, and led the NBA in assists during the 1950–51 and 1951–52 seasons. Phillip reached the postseason every year he was in the league,[2] and his teams made it to the NBA Finals during his final four seasons — twice with Fort Wayne and twice with Boston. The 1957 Boston team won the NBA Championship.
Phillip was alleged by one of his Fort Wayne Pistons teammates, George Yardley, to have conspired with gamblers to throw the 1955 NBA Finals to the Syracuse Nationals.[6] In the decisive seventh game, Phillip turned the ball over with three seconds remaining in the game, enabling Syracuse to win by one point, 92-91.[7]
After retiring from playing basketball, he coached the St. Louis Hawks for 10 games in 1958, posting a 6-4 record before he was fired.[8] Phillip later coached the Chicago Majors of the American Basketball League.[9]
Phillip was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1961. He was elected to the Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team in January 2005. In 2007, Phillip was voted one of the "100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament", recognizing his superior performance in his appearance in the tournament.[10]
Phillip died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California on April 29, 2001, aged 79.[11]
Sports writer Dan Manoyan wrote a book about Phillip and his Granite City High School basketball teammates, titled Men of Granite, in 2007. A film based on the book, directed by Dwayne Johnson-Cochran, began production in 2015.[12]
BAA/NBA career statistics
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | MPG | Minutes per game | ||
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | ||
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | ||
| PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high | ||
| † | Denotes season in which Phillip won an NBA championship |
| * | Led the league |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947–48 | Chicago | 32 | – | .336 | .583 | – | 2.3 | 10.8 |
| 1948–49 | Chicago | 60 | – | .348 | .676 | – | 5.3 | 12.0 |
| 1949–50 | Chicago | 65 | – | .349 | .704 | – | 5.8 | 11.7 |
| 1950–51 | Philadelphia | 66 | – | .399 | .751 | 6.8 | 6.3* | 11.2 |
| 1951–52 | Philadelphia | 66 | 44.4 | .366 | .753 | 6.6 | 8.2* | 12.0 |
| 1952–53 | Philadelphia/Fort Wayne | 70 | 38.4 | .397 | .738 | 5.2 | 5.7 | 10.3 |
| 1953–54 | Fort Wayne | 71 | 38.1 | .375 | .730 | 3.7 | 6.3 | 10.6 |
| 1954–55 | Fort Wayne | 64 | 36.4 | .371 | .692 | 4.5 | 7.7 | 9.6 |
| 1955–56 | Fort Wayne | 70 | 29.7 | .365 | .563 | 3.7 | 5.9 | 5.8 |
| 1956–57† | Boston | 67 | 22.0 | .379 | .642 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 4.4 |
| 1957–58 | Boston | 70 | 16.6 | .355 | .592 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 3.4 |
| Career | 701 | 32.3 | .368 | .695 | 4.4 | 5.4 | 9.1 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Chicago | 5 | – | .283 | .714 | – | .8 | 7.2 |
| 1949 | Chicago | 2 | – | .389 | 1.000 | – | 6.0 | 19.5 |
| 1950 | Chicago | 2 | – | .259 | .769 | – | 6.0 | 12.0 |
| 1951 | Philadelphia | 2 | – | .400 | .500 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 7.5 |
| 1952 | Philadelphia | 3 | 40.7 | .421 | .792 | 4.7 | 7.3 | 11.7 |
| 1953 | Fort Wayne | 8 | 41.1 | .338 | .667 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 10.3 |
| 1954 | Fort Wayne | 4 | 34.0 | .342 | .750 | 3.0 | 4.3 | 8.8 |
| 1955 | Fort Wayne | 11 | 40.5 | .323 | .850 | 5.5 | 7.1 | 8.5 |
| 1956 | Fort Wayne | 10 | 17.3 | .333 | .440 | 2.6 | 3.5 | 2.9 |
| 1957† | Boston | 10 | 12.8 | .364 | .400 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 2.2 |
| 1958 | Boston | 10 | 9.1 | .238 | .778 | 1.4 | .7 | 1.7 |
| Career | 67 | 25.4 | .330 | .700 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 6.4 | |
Head coaching record
| Legend | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % | |
| Post season | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % | |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis | 1958–59 | 10 | 6 | 4 | .600 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 10 | 6 | 4 | .177 | — | — | — | — |
References
- ↑ "Sport: Whiz Kids". Time. March 15, 1943.
- 1 2 Andy Phillip Stats. Basketball Reference. Accessed on June 9, 2017.
- ↑ "Illinois Basketball All-Time Rosters". Archived from the original on March 22, 2010. Accessed on June 10, 2017.
- ↑ "Sport: Whiz Kids, Grown Up". Time. December 23, 1946.
- ↑ Lamothe, Dan (2009-04-29). "Corps to induct 4 into Sports Hall of Fame". Marine Corps Times. Archived from the original on 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
- ↑ The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball. By Charley Rosen. p. 154. 2001 Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1-58322-268-5
- ↑ "City Hails Nats' World Title Triumph", Syracuse Herald Journal, April 11, 1955, pp. 1, 45.
- ↑ Andy Phillip Coaching Stats. Basketball Reference. Accessed on June 10, 2017.
- ↑ Association for Professional Basketball Research American Basketball League page
- ↑ IHSA 100 Legends of Boys Basketball
- ↑ Goldstein, Richard. "Andy Phillip, 79, Whiz Kid In College, All-Star in N.B.A.". The New York Times. May 4, 2001. Accessed on June 9, 2017.
- ↑ Wright, Branson. "Men of Granite sports movie begins production in Cleveland next month". Cleveland.com. July 21, 2015. Accessed on June 9, 2017.