Johnny Bach
American basketball player and coach, college athletics administrator

Johnny Bach

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American basketball player and coach, college athletics administrator
A.K.A.
John William Bach
Gender:
Male
Work field:
Birth:
10 July 1924(Brooklyn, USA)
Death:
18 January 2016(Chicago, USA)
Star sign:
Education:
Fordham University
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Biography

Introduction

John William Bach (July 10, 1924 – January 18, 2016) was an American professional basketball player and coach.A forward/guard, Bach played college basketball at Fordham University and Brown University.He was selected by the Boston Celtics in the 1948 Basketball Association of America (BAA) Draft, and played 34 games for the Celtics.

Career

In 1950, at age 26, Bach became one of the nation's youngest head coaches at a major college when he took over the coaching job at Fordham. He spent 18 years there, taking seven Ram teams to post-season tourneys, before starting a long and successful coaching career at Penn State, where he joined three old friends from Brown; Rip Engle, Joe Paterno and Joe McMullen. Bach would later coach the Golden State Warriors for three years.He served as an interim coach in 1980, and then as the full-time coach from 1983 to 1986. In 1986 Bach joined the Chicago Bulls as an assistant. After the team won three championships from 1991 to 1993, Bach moved on to coaching jobs with the Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards. He returned to the Bulls in 2003, and retired in 2006.

Later life

After retiring from basketball, Bach turned to painting. In 2007, thirty-two of his watercolors were put on display at the Sevan Gallery in Skokie, Illinois.

Death

Bach died on January 18, 2016 in Chicago at the age of 91. Bach's funeral was held two days later on January 20, 2016 at the Old St. Patrick's Church in Chicago.

BAA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played
 FG%  Field-goal percentage
 FT%  Free-throw percentage
 APG  Assists per game
 PPG  Points per game

Regular season

Year Team GP FG% FT% APG PPG
1948–49 Boston 34 .286 .680 .7 3.5
Career 34 .286 .680 .7 3.5

Head coaching record

College basketball

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Fordham Rams (Metropolitan New York Conference)
1950–51 Fordham 20-8 3-3 2nd
1951–52 Fordham 20-8 3-3 4th
1952–53 Fordham 19-8 4-2 3rd NCAA First Round
1953–54 Fordham 18-6 3-1 2nd NCAA First Round
1954–55 Fordham 18-9 3-2 3rd
1955–56 Fordham 11-14 2-2 6th
1956–57 Fordham 16-10 2-2 T-3rd
1957–58 Fordham 16-9 1-3 6th NIT Quarterfinals
1958–59 Fordham 17-8 2-2 T-4th NIT First Round
1959–60 Fordham 8-18 1-3 5th
1960–61 Fordham 7-16 0-3 7th
1961–62 Fordham 10-14 1-3 T-5th
1962–63 Fordham 18-8 4-1 1st NIT First Round
Fordham Rams (Independent)
1963–64 Fordham 9-11
1964–65 Fordham 15-12 NIT First Round
1965–66 Fordham 10-15
1966–67 Fordham 11-14
1967–68 Fordham 19-8 NIT Quarterfinals
Fordham: 265–193 (.579) 29–30 (.492)
Penn State Nittany Lions (Independent)
1968–69 Penn State 13-9
1969–70 Penn State 13-11
1970–71 Penn State 10-12
1971–72 Penn State 17-8
1972–73 Penn State 15-8
1973–74 Penn State 14-12
1974–75 Penn State 11-12
1975–76 Penn State 10-15
Penn State Nittany Lions (Eastern Collegiate Basketball League)
1976–77 Penn State 11-15 5-5 T-1st
Penn State Nittany Lions (Eastern Athletic Association)
1977–78 Penn State 8-19 4-6 T-2nd
Penn State: 122–121 (.502) 9–11 (.450)
Total: 387–314(.552)

           
           
           
     

Professional basketball

Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs 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
GSW 1979–80 21 6 15 .286 6th in Pacific - - - - Missed Playoffs
GSW 1983–84 82 37 45 .451 5th in Pacific - - - - Missed Playoffs
GSW 1984–85 82 22 60 .268 6th in Pacific - - - - Missed Playoffs
GSW 1985–86 82 30 52 .366 6th in Pacific - - - - Missed Playoffs
Career 267 95 172 .356 - - - .-