George Lawrence Senesky (April 4, 1922 – June 25, 2001) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and coach. A 6'2"

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

from

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851 as Saint Joseph's College. Saint Joseph's is the seventh olde ...

, he was the 1942–43 College Basketball Season's Consensus Player of the Year and played for eight seasons in the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...

(BAA) and the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA), all with the

Philadelphia Warriors The history of the Golden State Warriors began in Philadelphia in 1946. In 1962, the franchise was relocated to San Francisco, California and became known as the San Francisco Warriors until 1971, when its name was changed to the current Golden St ...

. He later coached the franchise, from 1955 through to 1958, winning the NBA title in 1956.

Professional career

A Pennsylvania native, Senesky played for the St. Joseph Hawks from 1940 to 1943. In his final year, he averaged 23.4 points a game scoring 515 total points in 22 games of that season, a school record. Seven years later, his brother Paul broke the record. He was the unofficial NCAA Division I scoring leader for that year. Afterwards, he served in the Army Air Forces in World War II. After he had served, he played for the

Philadelphia Sphas The Philadelphia Sphas, also stylized SPHAs or SPHAS, were an American basketball franchise that existed in professional, semi-professional, and exhibition forms. They played their home games in the ballroom of Philadelphia's Broadwood Hotel. The ...

of the American Basketball League for one season. He then went to play for the

in the first season of the

in 1947. That same year, the Warriors won the BAA Finals over the

Chicago Stags The Chicago Stags were a National Basketball Association team based in Chicago from 1946 to 1950. History 1946–47 season In the BAA's inaugural year, the Chicago Stags were placed in the Western Division, and after 60 games were tied with the ...

. He scored 10.4 points per game in the 1950–51 season, with 679 points in 65 games. In his eight seasons, he played 482 games, made 1279 out of 4087 shots for a .313 percentage, and 897 out of 1277 free throws for a .702 percentage. He four seasons in which he averaged more than 8 points a game. After a season where he averaged 1.9 points a game with 111 points in 58 games, he retired.

Coaching career

Two seasons after retiring from the Warriors, Senesky returned to coach the team. Like the

man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromos ...

he had replaced, Senesky won a title in his first year. In his first year, he coached them to a 45–27 record, finishing 1st in the Eastern Division. The Warriors beat the defending champion Syracuse Nationals in five games to advance to their first NBA Finals since 1948. In the

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, the Warriors beat the Fort Wayne Pistons in five games to win their first championship in nine years. In his second year, he led them to a 37–35 record, finishing three games behind the eventual champion

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

in the Division. The Warriors were swept in two games by the Syracuse Nationals. In his third (and final) year, they finished with the same record and place in the division. They beat Syracuse in three games to advance to the Division Finals, but they lost to the Celtics in five games.

Death

Senesky died of cancer on June 25, 2001, at the age of 79.

BAA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

BasketballReference.com: George Senesky (as player)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Senesky, George 1922 births 2001 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Pennsylvania Guards (basketball) National Basketball Association championship-winning head coaches People from Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Sphas players Philadelphia Warriors head coaches Philadelphia Warriors players Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball players 20th-century American Jews