| Paul Birch | |
| Width: | 210px |
| Position: | Guard |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 1 |
| Weight Lb: | 190 |
| Birth Date: | 10 January 1910 |
| Birth Place: | Homestead, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Nationality: | American |
| High School: | Homestead (Homestead, Pennsylvania) |
| College: | Duquesne (1932–1935) |
| Career Start: | 1938 |
| Career End: | 1948 |
| Years1: | 1938–1939 |
| Team1: | Pittsburgh Pirates |
| Years2: | 1941–1945 |
| Team2: | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| Years3: | 1945–1946 |
| Team3: | Youngstown Bears |
| Years4: | 1946–1948 |
| Team4: | Youngstown Cubs |
| Cyears1: | 1945–1946 |
| Cteam1: | Youngstown Bears |
| Cyears2: | 1946–1947 |
| Cteam2: | Pittsburgh Ironmen |
| Cyears3: | 1951–1954 |
| Cteam3: | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| Highlights: |
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Paul Vincent "Polly" Birch (January 4, 1910 – June 5, 1982) was an American basketball player and coach. He coached the now-defunct Pittsburgh Ironmen of the Basketball Association of America (a forerunner of the National Basketball Association (NBA)) in 1946, and the NBA's Fort Wayne Pistons from 1951 through 1954. Birch had played for the Pistons during the early 1940s, and the Youngstown Bears of the NBL.[1]
| † | Denotes seasons in which Cable's team won an NBL championship | |
| NBL leader |
Source[2]
| Year | Team | GP | FGM | FTM | PTS | PPG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938–39† | Pittsburgh | 22 | 85 | 51 | 221 | 10.0 | |
| 1941–42 | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 8 | 16 | 10 | 42 | 5.3 | |
| 1942–43 | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 23* | 29 | 20 | 78 | 3.4 | |
| 1943–44† | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 22* | 27 | 17 | 71 | 3.2 | |
| 1944–45† | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 28 | 29 | 7 | 65 | 2.3 | |
| 1945–46 | Youngstown | 31 | 35 | 26 | 96 | 3.1 | |
| Career | 134 | 221 | 131 | 573 | 4.3 | ||
| Year | Team | GP | FGM | FTM | PTS | PPG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 6 | 15 | 7 | 37 | 6.2 | |
| 1943 | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 6 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 1.3 | |
| 1944† | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 5 | 7 | 2 | 16 | 3.2 | |
| 1945† | Fort Wayne Z.P. | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 2.3 | |
| Career | 20 | 27 | 14 | 68 | 3.4 | ||
Source[3]
|-| align="left" |Pittsburgh| align="left" ||60||15||45||.250|| align="center" |5th in Western||—||—||—||—| align="center" | Missed playoffs|-| align="left" |Fort Wayne| align="left" ||66||29||37||.439|| align="center" |4th in Western||2||0||2||.000| align="center" |Lost in Division semifinals|- | align="left" |Fort Wayne| align="left" ||69||36||33||.522|| align="center" |3rd in Western||8||4||4||.500| align="center" |Lost in Division finals|- | align="left" |Fort Wayne| align="left" ||72||40||32||.556|| align="center" |3rd in Western||4||0||4||.000| align="center" |Lost in Division round-robin|-class="sortbottom"| align="center" colspan="2"|Career|267||120||147|||| ||14||4||10||||