Alois Getzinger grew up in Trenton, New Jersey, a hotbed of turn of the century professional basketball. Getzinger attracted little attention during his first years of playing semi-professional basketball in Trenton. He earned the nickname of  the “human steamroller” because he was known more for his boundless energy and fierce determination than his athletic ability. Getzinger received his first opportunity to play against top level competition when he was signed for the 1903-04 season to play for Westfield in the Western Massachusetts Basketball League. The following season, Getzinger played for Lowell in the New England Basketball League where he was heavily influenced by the  coaching of  Toby Matthews, one of the best centers of the era. Getzinger’s growth as a player continued during  the season and half he spent playing independent basketball in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania  alongside Harry Hough and Charley O’Donnell, two consummate professionals.   Mid-season 1906-07, Getzinger signed to played for Mckeesport in the Central Basketball League where he remained for five seasons. By the time he entered the CBL, Getzinger had matured into one of the savviest centers in the game. Mckeesport won back to back CBL titles in 1910 an 1911 and demolished De Neri, the Eastern Basketball League champions in four straight games in the Spring of 1911, in the first-ever series to determine the national professional championship. In the Fall of 1911, Getzinger signed  to play for his hometown EBL Trenton team, where  he remained a mainstay for the next six seasons.

 

ALOIS GETZINGER		Height:	6:00		Weight:		170		College:		None
Alois L. Getzinger Gettzinger		Born:   Feb, 1883				Died:			Hometown:		Trenton, NJ
Allie Getzinger			REGULAR SEASON RECORD
Year	Team	League	GA	FGM	FTM	FTA	PCT.	AST	PTS	AVG
1900-01	Trenton Ideals	Indep
1900-01	Trenton Non-Pareils	Indep
1901-02	Trenton AC	Indep
1902-03	Trenton AC	Indep
1902-03	Trenton Grocers	Indep
1903-04	Westfield	WMBL	52	73	20				166	3.2
1903-04	Lowell	NEBL	15	19	0				38	2.5
1904-05	Lowell–New Bedford/Fall River	NEBL	32	101	0				202	6.3
1905-06	Trenton	PBL	1	1	0				2	2.0
1905-06	Camden	Indep
1905-06	Tamaqua	Indep
1906-07	Tamaqua	Indep
1906-07	McKeesport	CBL	31	90	131				311	10.0
1907-08	McKeesport	CBL	67	146	11				303	4.5
1908-09	McKeesport	CBL	63	129	10				268	4.3
1909-10	McKeesport	CBL	69	124	6				254	3.7
1910-11	McKeesport	CBL	67	123	6				252	3.8
1911-12	Trenton–Kingston	HRL	7	7	9				23	3.3
1911-12	Trenton	EBL	43	71	2			32	144	3.3
1912-13	Trenton	EBL	40	52	11			16	115	2.9
1913-14	Trenton	EBL	44	54	7			14	115	2.6
1914-15	Trenton	EBL	39	45	17			13	107	2.7
1915-16	Trenton	EBL	39	28	0			12	56	1.4
1916-17	Trenton–De Neri	EBL	29	21	2	4	.500	5	44	1.5
1920-21	Germantown	EBL	7	5	7	26	.269	3	17	2.4
	Major League Totals		645	1089	239				2417	3.7
				POST SEASON RECORD
Year	Team	League	GA	FGM	FTM	FTA	PCT.	AST	PTS	AVG
1903-04	Lowell	NEBL	5	5	10				20	4.0
1910-11	McKeesport	WS	4	7	0			3	14	3.5
	Major League Totals		9	12	10				34	3.8

 

RIP GERSON		Height:	5:10		Weight:	165			College: St.John’s  (NY)’31
Jack Gerson		Born:  Apr 6, 1906			Died:  Mar 2, 1961				Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
			REGULAR SEASON RECORD
Year	Team	League	GA	FGM	FTM	FTA	PCT.	AST	PTS	AVG
1927-28	St.John’s (NY)	College	22	28	14				70	3.2
1928-29	St.John’s (NY)	College	20	17	25				59	3.0
1929-30	St.John’s (NY)	College	18	26	27				79	4.4
1930-31	St.John’s (NY)	College	16	26	19				71	4.4
1931-32	Brooklyn Jewel	MBL	14	10	7				27	1.9
1932-33	Brooklyn Jewels	MBL	36	32	9				73	2.0
1933-34	Brooklyn Jewels	ABL	30	20	6				46	1.5
1934-35	New York	ABL	36	19	13				51	1.4
1935-36	New York	ABL	37	15	26				56	1.5
1936-37	New York Jewels	ABL	30	22	40				84	2.8
1937-38	New Haven/Brooklyn	ABL	36	28	58				114	3.2
1938-39	New York	ABL	26	9	21				39	1.5
1939-40	New York	ABL	10	2	2				6	0.6
1940-41	Did Not Play
1941-42	Trenton	ABL	1	0	0				0	0.0
1941-42	Albany	NYSL	1	2	0				4	4.0
1942-43	New York Celtics	Indep
	Major League Totals		256	157	182				496	1.9
				PLAYOFF RECORD
Year	Team	League	GA	FGM	FTM	FTA	PCT.	AST	PTS	AVG
1932-33	Brooklyn Jewels	MBL	2	2	0				4	2.0
1934-35	New York	ABL	5	1	3				5	1.0
1938-39	New York	ABL	4	4	2				10	2.5
	Major League Totals		11	7	5				19	1.7

During his decade long pro basketball career, Herbie Gershon was never a star, but he was  always in demand as a player because he hustled, was well-liked by teammates  and had a sharp basketball intellect.  Gershon played scholastic basketball  at Seward High School in New York City’s Lower East Side. Gershon did not play college basketball, but gained valuable experience playing on veteran metropolitan independent teams such as the New York Celtics and the Brooklyn Visitation. Gershon played with the Trenton Tigers for five and half seasons, a stint that included  winning the 1943 American Basketball League championship.

 

HERBIE GERSHON		Height:	5:11		Weight:		210		College:		None
Herbert Gershon		Born: Oct 30, 1916			Died:  Sep 24, 1997				Hometown:		New York, NY
			REGULAR SEASON RECORD
Year	Team	League	GA	FGM	FTM	FTA	PCT.	AST	PTS	AVG
1935-36	New York Local 102	AAU
1936-37	New York Local 102	AAU
1937-38	New York Celtics	Indep
1938-39	Brooklyn Visitation	Indep
1939-40	Baltimore	ABL	19	11	6				28	1.5
1940-41	Baltimore	ABL	22	32	13				77	3.5
1941-42	Trenton	ABL	25	72	20				164	6.6
1941-42	Troy	NYSL	8	21	18				60	7.5
1941-42	Saratoga Indians	Indep
1942-43	Trenton	ABL	13	25	10				60	4.6
1942-43	Wilmington Clippers	Indep
1942-43	Kingston Recreations	Indep
1943-44	Trenton	ABL	26	40	26				106	4.1
19433-44           Brooklyn Jewels		Indep
1944-45	Trenton	ABL	27	62	30				154	5.7
1944-45	Hartford Pros	Indep
1944-45	Long Island Grumman Hellcats	Indep
1945-46	Trenton	ABL	34	80	57				217	6.4
1946-47	Trenton	ABL	28	21	22				64	2.3
1947-48	Trenton-Brooklyn	ABL	22	35	27				97	4.4
1948-49	Brooklyn	ABL	1	2	0				4	4.0
	Major League Totals		166	322	162				806	4.9
					POST SEASON RECORD
Year	Team	League	GA	FGM	FTM	FTA	PCT.	AST	PTS	AVG
1942-43	Trenton	ABL	7	15	5				35	5.0
1944-45	Trenton	ABL	3	6	1				13	4.3
1944-45	Long Island Grumans	WBT	1	1	0	1	.000		2	2.0
1945-46	Hazelton	PSL	1	1	1				3	3.0
1946-47	Trenton	ABL	3	2	0	0	.000		4	1.3
	Major League Totals		11	22	6				50	4.5

 

 

FREDDIE GERKEN		Height:	5:09		Weight:	150			College:		None
Frederick John Gerken		Born:	Nov 1, 1911		Died:  Mar 14, 1984				Hometown:		Union Hill, NJ
			REGULAR SEASON RECORD
Year	Team	League	GA	FGM	FTM	FTA	PCT.	AST	PTS	AVG
1931-32	Union City	MBL	10	10	6				26	2.6
1932-33	Union City	MBL	32	58	19				135	4.2
1933-34	Union City	ABL	31	45	26				116	3.7
1934-35	Jersey	ABL	19	20	15				55	2.9
1934-35	Bergen Corristons	Indep
1935-36	Jersey	ABL	5	8	2				18	3.6
1935-36	Hackensack Water Co.	Indep
1936-37	Brooklyn	ABL	1	3	3				9	9.0
1936-37	Hackensack Water Co.	Indep
1937-38	Brooklyn	ABL	6	7	8				22	3.7
1937-38	New York Celtics	Indep
1937-38	Hackensack Water Co.	Indep
1938-39	Brooklyn Visitations	Indep
1941-42	Saratoga Indians	Indep
1942-43	Wilmington Clippers	Indep
1942-62	U.S. Army	Military Service
1943-44	Brooklyn Jewels	Indep
1944-45	Hartford Pros	Indep
1944-45	Long Island Grumman Hellcats	Indep
	Major League Totals		104	151	79				381	3.7
				PLAYOFF RECORD
Year	Team	League	GA	FGM	FTM	FTA	PCT.	AST	PTS	AVG
1932-33	Union City	MBL	2	3	2				8	4.0
	Major League Totals		2	3	2				8	4.0

 

In his early years as a high school basketball  player, Bob Gerber was taller than everyone else, but had  limited basketball skills. He also had extremely poor vision and a very unorthodox shooting style. Gerber did did not earn a varsity letter  until his senior year at Akron South High School.  Gerber did not receive a single offer to play college basketball. At that point, no one would have predicted the future course of his basketball career. During the next two years, Gerber worked on his basketball skills while he played AAU basketball ball in Akron. By the time  he enrolled in college at the University of Toledo, Gerber had developed an unstoppable hook shot that  earned  him All-American honors in 1941 and 1942.  As a senior, he became the all-time collegiate scoring leader for the state of Ohio and broke the national college single-season scoring record with 532 points. Following the close of his college career, Gerber played one game for Toledo in the National Basketball League before joining the Army during World War II. Gerber returned to the NBL in 1945 and had consecutive productive seasons with Indianapolis and Toledo.  The following season his performance dipped and his pro basketball career was over after just three seasons.

 

BOB GERBER		Height:	6:05		Weight:		210		College:		Toledo’42
Robert Edward Gerber		Born:	Aug 1, 1916			Died:  Feb 13, 2002			Hometown:		Akron, Oh
			REGULAR SEASON RECORD
Year	Team	League	GA	FGM	FTM	FTA	PCT.	AST	PTS	AVG	25
1936-37	Akron M. O’Neils	AAU
1937-38	Akron M. O’Neils	AAU
1938-39	Toledo (Frosh)	College
1938-39	Akron M. O’Neil Moncos	AAU
1939-40	Toledo	College	25						359	14.4
1940-41	Toledo	College	24						428	17.8
1941-42	Toledo	College	26						532	20.5
1942-45	U.S. Army	Military Service
1942-43	Toledo	NBL	1	9	4				22	22.0
1942-43	Detroit Eagles	Indep
1943-44	Detroit Suffrins	Indep
1943-44	Dayton Bombers	Indep
1945-46	Toledo Pros	Indep
1945-46	Indianapolis	NBL	29	74	49	82	.598		197	6.8
1946-47	Toledo	NBL	41	151	72	127	.567		374	9.1
1947-48	Minneapolis–Tri Cities	NBL	22	16	10	27	.370		42	1.9
	Major League Totals		93	250	135				635	6.8
				POST SEASON RECORD
Year	Team	League	GA	FGM	FTM	FTA	PCT.	AST	PTS	AVG
1943-44	Detroit Suffrins	WBT	1	2	2	3	.667		6	6.0
1945-46	Indianapolis	WBT	1	2	1	1	1.000		5	5.0
1946-47	Toledo	NBL	3	4	6	11	.545		14	4.7
1946-47	Toledo	WBT	4	22	8	14	.571		52	13.0
	Major League Totals		9	30	17	29	.586		77	8.6

 

 

 

 

Major League Totals

9

30

17

29

.586

77

8.6