1968–69 Indiana Pacers season

1968–69 Indiana Pacers season
Division champions
Head coach
ArenaIndiana State Fair Coliseum
Results
Record44–34 (.564)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishABA Finals
(lost to Oaks 1–4)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
TelevisionWLWI 13
RadioWIRE

The 1968–69 Indiana Pacers season was Indiana's second season in the ABA and second as a team. This season would be the debut of Bobby Leonard coaching the Indiana Pacers, who would remain that way for not just the rest of the season following Larry Staverman's firing as head coach after nine games into the season (resulting in a 2–7 record at that time), but also for the rest of their tenure in the ABA, as well as their first few seasons in the NBA following the eventual ABA-NBA merger of 1976, with Leonard remaining as the team's head coach until 1980. Under Leonard's coaching for the season, the Pacers would see significant improvement under him by comparison to how they started the season earlier on, to the point of finishing the season one game ahead of the recently rebranded Miami Floridians franchise to be named the best Eastern Division team that season, despite having a pedestrian-looking record of 44–34 at the top of the division. Despite that notion, the Pacers would end up making it all the way up to the second ABA Finals ever held, where they would ultimately lose the series to the Oakland Oaks in what later turned out to be their final season under that name before the Oaks moved to Washington, D.C. (albeit still playing as a Western Division team at the time, weirdly enough) to become the Washington Caps for a season before ultimately moving to the state of Virginia as a regional franchise that was also a proper Eastern Division team known as the Virginia Squires for the rest of their existence afterward.

ABA Draft

Main article: 1968 ABA draft
Player School/Club Team
Don Dee St. Mary of the Plains
Mike Lewis Duke
Don May Dayton
Bob Quick Xavier
Phil Wagner Georgia Tech
Dave Benedict Central Washington
Rudy Bogad St. John's
Jerry Newsom Indiana State
Rich Niemann St. Louis
Jack Thompson South Carolina
Greg Cisson Rider
Bobby Hooper Dayton
Butch Joyner Indiana
Tom Niemeier Evansville

[1]

Roster

1968–69 Indiana Pacers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
SF 35 Roger Brown 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) May 22, 1942 Dayton
SG 20 Steve Chubin 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) February 8, 1944 Rhode Island
C 34 Mel Daniels 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) July 20, 1944 New Mexico
PF 40 Donald Dee 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) August 9, 1943 St. Mary of the Plains College
SF 30 John Fairchild 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) April 28, 1943 BYU
PG 15 Jerry Harkness 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) May 7, 1940 Loyola University Chicago
PG 12, 20 Bobby Hooper 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) December 22, 1946 Dayton
F 15 Butch Joyner 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) April 26, 1945 Indiana
PG 14 Freddie Lewis 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) July 1, 1943 Arizona State
C 42 Mike Lewis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) March 18, 1946 Duke
SF 32 Jay Miller 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) July 19, 1943 Notre Dame
PF 24 Bob Netolicky 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) August 2, 1942 Drake
C 43 George Peeples 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) October 30, 1943 Iowa
SG 44 Ron Perry 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) December 29, 1943 Virginia Tech
PG 23 Jimmy Rayl 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) June 21, 1941 Indiana
PG 44 Tom Thacker 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) November 2, 1939 Cincinnati
G 12 Jack Thompson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) March 26, 1946 South Carolina
G 11 Phil Wagner 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) December 18, 1945 Georgia Tech
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Season standings

Eastern Division

Team W L Pct.
Indiana Pacers 44 34 .564
Miami Floridians 43 35 .551
Kentucky Colonels 42 36 .538
Minnesota Pipers 36 42 .462
New York Nets 17 61 .218

Western Division

Team W L Pct.
Oakland Oaks 60 18 .769
New Orleans Buccaneers 46 32 .590
Denver Rockets 44 34 .564
Dallas Chaparrals 41 37 .526
Los Angeles Stars 33 45 .423
Houston Mavericks 23 55 .295

Awards, records, and honors

ABA All-Stars

Team leaders

Stat Player Number
Points Mel Daniels 24.0 per game
Rebounds Mel Daniels 16.5 (11.5 defensive and 5.0 offensive rebounds)
Assists Stephen Chubin 5.2 per game
Minutes Freddie Lewis 39.2 per game
FG% Bob Netolicky .509

Playoffs

Eastern Division semifinals vs. Kentucky Colonels[2]

Game Date Location Score Record Attendance
1 April 8 Indiana 118–128 0–1 6,319
2 April 9 Indiana 120–115 1–1 6,789
3 April 10 Kentucky 111–130 1–2 4,235
4 April 13 Kentucky 104–105 (OT) 1–3 3,079
5 April 14 Indiana 116–97 2–3 5,612
6 April 15 Kentucky 107–89 3–3 4,633
7 April 17 Indiana 120–111 4–3 11,005

Pacers win series, 4–3

Eastern Division finals vs Miami Floridians

Game Date Location Result Record Attendance
1 April 20 Indiana 126–110 1–0 8,721
2 April 22 Indiana 131–116 2–0 7,243
3 April 23 Miami 119–105 3–0 2,112
4 April 25 Miami 110–114 3–1 2,846
5 April 26 Indiana 127–105 4–1 3,528

Pacers win series, 4–1

ABA Finals vs. Oakland Oaks[2]

Game Date Location Score Record Attendance
1 April 30 Oakland 114–123 0–1 3,290
2 May 2 Oakland 150–122 1–1 4,171
3 May 3 Indiana 126–134 (OT) 1–2 8,467
4 May 5 Indiana 117–144 1–3 7,133
5 May 7 Oakland 131–135 (OT) 1–4 6,340

Pacers lose championship series, 4–1

References

  1. ^ 1968 ABA Draft on dataBasketball.com
  2. ^ a b "1968-69 ABA Regular Season Standings". Remembertheaba.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
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