Rabin, Phil 'Fishy'

Philip Rabinowitz

After playing for Long Island University, Rabin joined the American Basketball League in 1935, and became one of the league's top scorers. He played a total of 12 seasons in the ABL and is fourth all-time in scoring in ABL history. He was so good, that in 1938, he scored 40.4% of his team's points. Over his first six seasons in the league, he finished among the top four in scoring each year and captured three consecutive scoring titles (1937-39).

Birth and Death Dates:
unknown

Career Highlights:
Before becoming one of the best professional players in the ABL (American Basketball League), Rabin played one season of varsity basketball at Long Island University. In 1935, he joined fellow Jewish stars Archie Kameros, Jules Bender, Ben Kramer, and Leo Merson to lead the Blackbirds to a 24-2 record. The previous year, LIU finally gained recognition as a basketball powerhouse (by going 26-1) and Rabin helped continue the upward trend in 1935 by scoring 224 points in 25 games, second both on the team and in the New York City Metropolitan area (teammate Jules Bender had 246 points).

Although he was only a sophomore in 1935, Rabin decided to stop playing basketball at LIU and joined Paterson of the American Basketball League, one of the top professional leagues of the time. An instant success, Rabin moved with the team, first to Trenton and then Passaic, and finished second in the league in scoring average (8.6). In 1936-37, his second season, Rabin joined the Kingston Colonials and captured his first of three consecutive league scoring titles. He dominated the league that year, finishing with 488 points (no one else had more than 346) and scoring 1/3 of his team's points. Kingston failed to make the playoffs, however, finishing with a 20-17 record.

In 1937-38, Rabin captured his second scoring crown with 514 points and a 13.2 average, although Kingston as a team only scored 1,271 points. In 1938-39, Rabin joined all-ABL forward Moe Spahn on the Jersey Reds. Rabin (341 points and 10.3 average) and Spahn (281 points and 8.8 average) finished first and third respectively in scoring and led Jersey (19-14) to a third place finish. In the playoffs, the Reds defeated Rabin's former team, Kingston, in the first round, but then lost to the New York Jewels in the semifinals, two games to one.

The following year, Rabin again switched teams, this time to the Washington Brewers. Although he did not win the scoring crown, he finished second in the league with 8.5 points per game as the Brewers (19-14) placed second. In the playoffs, they lost to eventual league champion Philadelphia in a round-robin series. In 1940-41, he remained with Washington and finished fourth in the league in scoring (7.6 average and 219 points) as the Brewers finished 15-15 and out of the playoffs. It was the sixth consecutive (and final) season that Rabin finished in the top five among league scorers.

According to statistics compiled by basketball historian, Robert Bradley, Rabin did not play in the ABL during the 1941-42 season and only appeared in a total of 10 games for three different teams between 1942-45 (the New York Jewels, Brooklyn Indians, and Trenton Tigers). He then played in 16 games in 1945-46 for the Paterson Crescents (13-21) before playing every game for the Brooklyn Gothams in 1946-47, who finished first in the Northern Division (the ABL expanded to 10 teams) with a record of 24-10; they lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Rabin�s final season in the ABL was in 1947-48, when he played in three games for the Gothams. He finished his career playing in 203 games, and as the fourth all-time leading scorer in ABL history with 2,109 points (10.4 average).

Origin:
unknown

Career Dates:
Rabin played at LIU, 1934-35. He played in the ABL for the Passaic Red Devils in 1935-36, for the Kingston Colonials in 1937-39, with the Jersey Reds in 1938-39, for the Washington Heurich Brewers in 1939-41, with New York in 1942-43, Brooklyn in 1943-44, Trenton in 1944-45, Paterson in 1945-46, and Brooklyn in 1946-48.

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