CAMDEN 1963-64 1964-65 REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS

CAMDEN BULLETS 1964 CHAMPIONS

Camden Bullets
EPBL 1961-1966
EBA 1970-1971

Despite winning the EPBL championship in 1961, the Baltimore Bullets left Maryland for new opportunities in Camden, N.J. The team struggled through its first season in southern New Jersey, but for the next three years local basketball fans got a special treat, an unexpected blessing in the form of an NBA superstar

When the NBA's Philadelphia Warriors moved to San Francisco, one of their top scorers, Paul Arizin, chose to stay in Philadelphia rather than uproot his family across the country. But he still had the love of basketball in his heart, and found that weekend games with the Camden Bullets suited him very well.

With Arizin's presence, the Bullets suddenly became one of the top teams in the EPBL, fighting year after year for playoff spots and league championships. It seemed that every year the team battled for playoff supremacy against the Allentown Jets, and several times both teams finished the season with identical records, necessitating a one-game post-season contest to determine playoff positions. When someone once asked Arizin about the quality of the Eastern League teams as opposed to the NBA squads, Arizin simply stated that there were nine teams in the NBA - and the Eastern League champion was the 10th best team in professional basketball, without question.

At some point during the 1962-63 season, the Bullets may have played some contests at the Delaware Valley Garden in Haddonfield, N.J. A January 1963 edition of Popular Science noted that the Bullets played at the Delaware Valley Garden, which was normally used for ice skating. After the ice skating was completed, panels of urethan-foam insulation were laid over polyethylene sheeting, then covered with tempered hardwood, and finally topped with 4x8" sections of basketball floor. The conversion, according to Popular Science, takes less than five hours and eliminates the necessity of thawing and refreezing the ice surface. A photo from the Popular Science issue, showing the conversion and an early snapshot of the Bullets in action, is shown at right. It is possible that the building Popular Science called the "Delaware Valley Garden" is actually the Cherry Hill Arena, the home facility for the Eastern Hockey League's Jersey Larks and Jersey Devils teams.

Paul Arizin left the Bullets after the 1964-65 seaon. Without him, the Bullets floundered through a mediocre 14-14 season and were out of the playoffs - and at the end of the season, out of the league, relocating to Hartford for the next year.

Six years after the Bullets left Camden, a new Camden Bullets team resurfaced for the 1970-1971 season (the first under the league's new "Eastern Basketball Association" surname), and played their games at Camden's Convention Hall. But a 12-16 season, and low attendance, made plans for a new season murky - and the August 1971 Camden race riots ended any chance of the Bullets returning for another season.

For more information on the Camden Bullets, please find the Heroes of Camden NJ homepage, an excellent overview of the Bullets and their existence in the league.

EPBL STATISTICS
             W   L  PCT   GB     Result
1961-1962   10  15  .400  11     not in playoffs
1962-1963   20   8  .714  --     lost in semifinals
1963-1964   21   7  .750  --     Won EPBL Championship
1964-1965   18  10  .643  --     lost in semifinals
1965-1966   14  14  .500   6     did not make playoffs

EBA STATISTICS
             W   L  PCT   GB     Result
1970-1971   12  16  .429   7     did not make playoffs

EASTERN PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE
1961-1962 did not make playoffs
1962-1963 lost in semifinals to Wilkes-Barre, 0 games to 2
1963-1964 Won in semifinals over Scranton, 2 games to 1
          Won EPBL Championship over Trenton, 2 games to 0
1964-1965 lost in semifinals to Allentown, 1 game to 2
1965-1966 did not make playoffs

EASTERN BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
1970-1971 did not make playoffs