Henry G. "Dutch" Dehnert (April 5, 1898 – April 20, 1979) was an American
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
player whose career lasted from 1915 to 1935.
Dehnert, a bulky forward born in
New York City, New York
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, is mostly known for his time with the
Original Celtics
The Original Celtics were a barnstorming professional American basketball team. At various times in their existence, the team played in the American Basketball League, the Eastern Basketball League and the Metropolitan Basketball League. The tea ...
and is sometimes credited with inventing the pivot play, which eventually led to the
3 second violation rule. He later coached several teams in the
NBL,
ABL and
BAA.
One of those teams Dehnert coached was the
Sheboygan Red Skins
The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) was a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–1950 season.
History Overview
The Redskins played in th ...
, who won NBL divisional titles in 1944–45 and 1945–46 under Dehnert's guidance. Dehnert's greatest coup during his time in Sheboygan was his signing of three East Coast stars:
Al Lucas of Fordham,
Al Moschetti of St. John's and Bobby Holm of Seton Hall. Buoyed by this added strength, the Red Skins took a 2–0 lead over the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in the 1945 NBL championship series, only to be swept in the remaining three games. In 1946, Dehnert led Sheboygan to a meeting with the vaunted Rochester Royals in the championship series. Rochester swept the Red Skins. The next season, Dehnert became first head coach of the
Cleveland Rebels
The Cleveland Rebels were a basketball team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), a forerunner of the modern National Basketball Association (NBA), based in Cleveland.
Franchise history
The Rebels were an inaugural franchise in the BAA ...
for the
Basketball Association of America's first season. He coached
Ken Sailors
Kenneth Lloyd Sailors (January 14, 1921 – January 30, 2016) was an American professional basketball player active in the 1940s and early 1950s. A guard (basketball), guard, he is notable for inventing the Jump shot (basketball), jump shot as an ...
who pioneered the
jump shot.
He was the uncle of
Providence Steamrollers
The Providence Steamrollers were a Basketball Association of America team based in Providence, Rhode Island. As of 2022, the Steamrollers were the last professional sports franchise from one of the Big Four leagues to be based in Rhode Island.
...
player
Red Dehnert.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Basketball Hall of Fame profileDutch Dehnert at Pro Basketball Encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dehnert, Dutch
1898 births
1979 deaths
American men's basketball coaches
Basketball players from New York City
Cleveland Rebels coaches
Cleveland Rosenblums players
Detroit Eagles coaches
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
Original Celtics players
Sheboygan Red Skins coaches
Basketball coaches from New York (state)
American men's basketball players
Centers (basketball)
Forwards (basketball)