1967–68 Denver Rockets season

1967–68 Denver Rockets season
Head coachBob Bass
OwnersJ. William Ringsby
Donald W. Ringsby
ArenaDenver Auditorium Arena
Results
Record45–33 (.577)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finishWestern Division semifinals
(lost to Buccaneers 2–3)

The 1967–68 ABA season marked the inaugural season of both the American Basketball Association and the Denver Rockets. Initially, the team was meant to play in Kansas City out in Missouri, but was able to relocate themselves to Denver in time for the start of the 1967 ABA draft due to a lack of suitable playing arenas; they then also considered the ideas of Denver Larks and Denver Lark Buntings as team names for the franchise at first before an eleventh hour purchase by Bill Ringsby and his son Don Ringsby (who had owned the local Ringsby Rocket Truck Lines business at that point in time) that helped save the franchise before they even had a chance to play a single game caused the team to change their team name to the Denver Rockets (primarily as a promotion to the Ringsby Rocket Truck Lines business at hand) before the season officially began. This was the first time that professional basketball was officially played in the city of Denver since the original Denver Nuggets left the NBA in 1950 after the season it was created through the merger of the Basketball Association of America and National Basketball League (which the original Nuggets were first a part of) and then since the rebranded Denver Refiners of the short-lived National Professional Basketball League left Denver in January 1951 to briefly become the Evansville Agogans. The Rockets finished the season with a 45–33 record, which was good enough to qualify for a playoff spot as the third seed out of four playoff teams in the Western Division. However, they would lose to the New Orleans Buccaneers in the first round, with the Buccaneers later reaching the first ABA Finals in league history before losing the championship match-up to the Pittsburgh Pipers. Still, this was their first of three consecutive playoff appearances and first of ten playoff appearances in the franchise's first twelve years of existence.

Roster

1967–68 Denver Rockets roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
C 40 Byron Beck 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) January 25, 1945 Denver
PF 50 Tommie Bowens 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) July 7, 1940 Grambling State
PG 14, 23 Jeffrey Congdon 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) October 17, 1943 BYU
PF 12 Chuck Gardner 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) September 30, 1944 Colorado
SF 22 Julian Hammond 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) May 27, 1943 Tulsa
PF 54 Wayne Hightower 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 192 lb (87 kg) January 14, 1940 Kansas
C 24 Tom Hoover 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) January 23, 1941 Villanova
SF 30 Ron Horn 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) May 24, 1938 Indiana
PG 32 Larry Jones 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) September 22, 1942 Toledo
G 30 R.B. Lynam 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1944 Oklahoma Baptist
SG 30 Richie Moore 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1945 Hiram Scott College
G 14 John Morrison 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) May 2, 1945 Canisius
SF 44 Willie Murrell 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) September 13, 1941 Kansas State
PG 10 Grant Simmons 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) March 7, 1943 Nebraska
SG 20 Willis Thomas 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1937 Tennessee State
SG 42 Lonnie Wright 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) January 23, 1944 Colorado State
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Season standings

Eastern Division

Team Wins Loses Pct.
Pittsburgh Pipers 54 24 .692
Minnesota Muskies 50 28 .641
Indiana Pacers 38 40 .487
Kentucky Colonels 36 42 .462
New Jersey Americans 36 42 .462

Western Division

Team Wins Loses Pct.
New Orleans Buccaneers 48 30 .615
Dallas Chaparrals 46 32 .590
Denver Rockets 45 33 .577
Houston Mavericks 29 49 .372
Anaheim Amigos 25 53 .321
Oakland Oaks 22 56 .282[1]

Record vs. opponents

1967–68 ABA Records
Team ANA DAL DEN HOU IND KEN MIN NJA NOB OAK PIT
Anaheim — 2–8 3–7 6–3 2–4 0–6 1–5 2–4 2–7 6–4 1–5
Dallas 8–2 — 4–5 8–2 3–3 5–1 2–4 3–3 4–6 7–2 2–4
Denver 7–3 5–4 — 6–3 4–2 2–4 2–4 5–1 5–5 7–3 2–4
Houston 3–6 2–8 3–6 — 3–3 3–3 3–3 3–3 0–10 7–3 2–4
Indiana 4–2 3–3 2–4 3–3 — 6–5 3–8 6–4 3–3 4–2 4–6
Kentucky 6–0 1–5 4–2 3–3 5–6 — 5–5 4–7 2–4 3–3 3–7
Minnesota 5–1 4–2 4–2 3–3 8–3 5–5 — 7–3 5–1 5–1 4–7
New Jersey 4–2 3–3 1–5 3–3 4–6 7–4 3–7 — 3–3 5–1 3–8
New Orleans 7–2 6–4 5–5 10–0 3–3 4–2 1–5 3–3 — 6–3 3–3
Oakland 4–6 2–7 3–7 3–7 2–4 3–3 1–5 1–5 3–6 — 0–6
Pittsburgh 5–1 4–2 4–2 4–2 6–4 7–3 7–4 8–3 3–3 6–0 —

Playoffs

1968 playoff game log
Western Division Semifinals: 2–3 (home: 2–0; road: 0–3)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 March 26 @ New Orleans L 104–130 Larry Jones (29) Wayne Hightower (12) Loyola Field House
3,111 		0–1
2 March 27 New Orleans L 93–105 Willie Murrell (21) Byron Beck (15) Loyola Field House
3,622 		0–2
3 March 30 New Orleans W 105–98 Wayne Hightower (28) Willie Murrell (11) Denver Auditorium Arena
13,359 		1–2
4 March 31 @ New Orleans W 108–100 Willie Murrell (28) Byron Beck (18) Denver Auditorium Arena
3,485 		2–2
5 April 3 @ New Orleans L 97–102 Willie Murrell (26) Murrel, Beck, Hammond (9 each) Loyola Field House
6,500 		2–3
1968 schedule

Rockets lose series, 3–2[2]

Game log

Statistics

Num Name University Pos GP Reb Asts Pts RPG APG PPG
10 Grant Simmons Nebraska G 78 240 182 793 3.1 2.3 10.2
12 Charles Gardner Colorado F 42 136 13 197 3.2 0.3 4.7
14 Jeff Congdon Brigham Young G 41 34 59 159 0.8 1.4 3.9
14 John Morrison Canisius G 9 9 7 27 1.0 0.8 3.0
20 Willis Thomas Tennessee State G 24 58 25 294 2.4 1.0 12.3
22 Julian Hammond Tulsa C/F 74 327 62 591 4.4 0.8 8.0
24 Tom Hoover Villanova C 70 491 64 454 7.0 0.9 6.5
30 R. B. Lynam Oklahoma Baptist G 7 5 0 17 0.7 0.0 2.4
30 Ron Horn Indiana F 1 1 0 2 1.0 0.0 2.0
30 Richard Moore Hiram Scott 18 19 8 69 1.1 0.4 3.8 6.4
32 Larry Jones Toledo G 76 599 270 1742 7.9 3.6 22.9
40 Byron Beck Denver C/F 71 559 38 669 7.9 0.5 9.4
42 Lonnie Wright Colorado State G 38 96 68 373 2.5 1.8 9.8
44 Willie Murrell Kansas State F 71 637 164 1165 9.0 0.9 16.4
50 Tom Bowens Grambling F/C 67 374 41 410 5.6 0.6 6.1
54 Wayne Hightower Kansas F 74 536 143 1282 7.2 1.9 17.3[3]

Awards and records

Transactions

References

  1. ^ Rockets on Basketball Reference
  2. ^ "Remember the ABA: 1967-68 Regular Season Standings and Playoff Results". Archived from the original on November 29, 2010. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
  3. ^ ABA Denver Rockets-Nuggets Rosters
  4. ^ Remember the ABA: Year-to-Year Postseason Awards Archived December 24, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
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