1973–74 New York Nets season

1973–74 New York Nets season
Division champions
Head coachKevin Loughery
ArenaNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record55–29 (.655)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Eastern (ABA))
Playoff finishABA champions
(defeated Stars 4–1)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
TelevisionWOR
RadioWHN

The 1973–74 New York Nets season was the seventh season in the American Basketball Association for the New York Nets basketball franchise, which includes their first season where they played as the New Jersey Americans before moving to Long Island to become the Nets ever since then. This season would also be the season where the team finally acquired small forward Julius Erving in a trade with the Virginia Squires after being the only other team alongside the Squires to showcase genuine interest in obtaining him after the 1971 ABA draft officially ended, despite him being a junior at the time he first signed up to play for the ABA. While the Squires never made it to the ABA Finals with Erving playing for him (which included Erving losing to the Nets while playing with Virginia in the Eastern Division Finals in his rookie season), Dr. J would prove to be the missing piece necessary for them to become one of the best teams in the ABA's final years of existence. With Erving playing alongside some of their other star-caliber players on the roster, the Nets won their first ABA Championship by first beating Dr. J's former team, the Squires, 4–1 and then swept the Kentucky Colonels before beating the Utah Stars 4–1 in the championship series.

ABA Draft

Main article: 1973 ABA draft

Interestingly, this year's ABA draft would involve four different types of drafts throughout the early 1973 year: a "Special Circumstances Draft" on January 15, a "Senior Draft" on April 25, an "Undergraduate Draft" also on April 25, and a "Supplemental Draft" on May 18, though the Nets joined the Indiana Pacers as one of two teams to avoid using that last draft entirely. Still, the following selections were made in these respective drafts by the Nets.

Special Circumstances Draft

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 5 Jim Brewer PF United States Minnesota
2 15 Billy Schaeffer SF United States St. John's

Senior Draft

Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College
1 4 Doug Collins SG United States Illinois State
3 24 James Lister C United States Sam Houston State
4 32 Phil Hankinson PF United States Pennsylvania
4 34 Kermit Washington PF United States American
5 44 Ken Brady C United States Michigan
6 54 Neal Jurgensen F United States Oregon State
7 64 Nate Stephens C United States Long Beach State
8 74 Gene Doyle F United States Holy Cross
9 84 Clinton Harris F United States Iowa State
10 94 Gene Armstead PF/C United States Rutgers

The "Senior Draft" done in April is often considered the official, main draft period of the 1973 ABA draft by basketball historians.

Undergraduate Draft

Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College
11 (1) 104 (4) Henry Williams F United States Jacksonville
12 (2) 114 (14) Campy Russell SF United States Michigan

The "Undergraduate Draft" is considered a continuation of the "Senior Draft" that was done earlier that same day, hence the numbering of the rounds and draft picks here. Also, the Nets joined the Indiana Pacers as one of only two teams to decline participation in the "Supplementary Draft" entirely, meaning there will be no section for that draft with the Nets here.

Exhibition Games

On September 18, 1973, the Nets opened the ABA vs. NBA exhibition season against the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. Playing in Binghamton, New York, the Nets beat the 76ers 94–88. On September 28 the Nets again faced the 76ers, this time in Trenton, New Jersey. The Nets also won this matchup, 118–100.

On September 29, in White Plains, New York, the Nets faced the Washington Bullets. Julius Erving scored a game-high 42 points as the Nets won 127–121.

On October 2, 17,226 fans showed up at Madison Square Garden to watch the Nets play the New York Knicks. Erving scored 27 points, 12 of them in the third quarter, as the Nets won 97–87.

On October 7 the Nets took their 4–0 streak against NBA teams into a contest with the Boston Celtics in Uniondale, New York. Erving scored 23 points, but John Havlicek scored 37 for Boston as the Celtics won, 121–102.[1]

Roster

1973–74 New York Nets roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
SF 32 Julius Erving 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1950-02-22 UMass
PG 12 Mike Gale 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1950-07-18 Elizabeth City State
SF 44 Gary Gregor 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1945-08-13 South Carolina
PF 35 Larry Kenon 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1952-12-13 Memphis
SG 30 Bob Lackey 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1949-04-04 Marquette
SF 4 Wendell Ladner 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1948-10-06 Southern Miss
PG 25 Bill Melchionni 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1944-10-19 Villanova
SF 44 Jim O'Brien 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1951-11-07 Maryland
C 5 Billy Paultz 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1948-07-30 St. John's
SG 22 Rich Rinaldi 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1949-08-03 Saint Peter's
SG 13 John Roche 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1949-09-26 South Carolina
SF 15 Billy Schaeffer 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1951-12-11 St. John's
C 40 Willie Sojourner 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1948-09-10 Weber State
PG 14 Brian Taylor 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1951-06-09 Princeton
SG 22 Ollie Taylor 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1947-03-07 Houston
SG 23 John Williamson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1951-11-10 New Mexico State
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Eastern Division
Team W L PCT GB
New York Nets 55 29 .655 –
Kentucky Colonels 53 31 .631 2
Carolina Cougars 47 37 .560 8
Virginia Squires 28 56 .333 27
Memphis Tams 21 63 .250 34

[2]

Schedule

Game Date Opponent Result Nets points Opponents Record Streak Notes
1 October 10 Indiana Pacers Loss 99 118 0–1 Lost 1
2 October 12 Virginia Squires Win 116 105 1–1 Won 1

[3]

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; MIN= Minutes; STL= Steals; REB = Rebounds; ASST = Assists; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points

Player GP MIN STL REB ASST BLK PTS
Julius Erving 84 3398 190 899 434 204 2299
Larry Kenon 84 2908 79 962 112 19 1334
Billy Paultz 77 2596 60 782 167 147 1260
John Williamson 77 2264 86 213 243 27 1116
Brian Taylor 75 2505 154 214 341 22 834
John Roche 50 1254 41 59 208 6 570
Willard Sojourner 82 1316 24 335 54 88 458
Billy Schaeffer 59 871 24 141 37 9 385
Bill Melchionni 56 1146 51 77 207 5 296
Mike Gale 32 904 60 152 124 34 257
Wendell Ladner 30 637 46 161 65 3 203
Gary Gregor 25 313 4 71 15 1 91
Jim O'Brien 11 54 3 17 6 3 39
Oliver Taylor 8 76 3 14 10 0 28
Rich Rinaldi 5 28 2 5 1 0 12
Bob Lackey 3 15 1 4 1 0 6

[4]

Playoffs

Eastern Division Semifinals vs. Virginia Squires[5]

Game Date Location Score Record Attendance
1 April 29 New York 108–96 1–0 9,784
2 April 1 New York 129–110 2–0 10,747
3 April 4 Hampton (Virginia) 115–116 2–1 2,544
4 April 7 Norfolk (Virginia) 116–88 3–1 4,220
5 April 8 New York 108–96 4–1 1,1903

Nets win series, 4–1

Eastern Division Finals vs Kentucky Colonels

Game Date Location Score Record Attendance
1 April 13 New York 119–96 1–0 12,817
2 April 15 New York 99–80 2–0 13,726
3 April 17 Kentucky 89–87 3–0 13,797
4 April 20 Kentucky 103–90 4–0 7,800

Nets win series, 4–0

ABA Finals vs. Utah Stars

Game Date Location Score Record Attendance
1 April 30 New York 89–85 1–0 13,740
2 May 4 New York 118–94 2–0 15,934
3 May 6 Utah 103–100 3–0 10,743
4 May 8 Utah 89–97 3–1 10,254
5 May 10 New York 111–100 4–1 15,934

Nets win championship series, 4–1

Transactions

Draft and other non-trade signings

  • Special circumstance draft pick Jim Brewer signs with Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA
  • Undergraduate draft pick Campy Russell stays in college
  • Head coach Lou Carnesecca returns to St. John's University
  • Kevin Loughery becomes head coach
  • Draft pick Doug Collins signs with Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA
  • Draft pick Kermit Washington signs with Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA
  • William M. Skehan is named Executive Vice President

Trades

  • August 1, 1973: George Carter and ABA rights to Kermit Washington and $750,000 traded to the Virginia Squires for Julius Erving and Willie Sojourner
  • September 20, 1973: Jim Ard and John Baum traded to the Memphis Tams for the rights to Larry Kenon
  • January 24, 1974: John Roche traded to the Kentucky Colonels for Mike Gale and Wendell Ladner

Awards, Records and Honors

  • Julius Erving, ABA MVP
  • Julius Erving, Finals MVP
  • Julius Erving, All-Star Team, East Division
  • Larry Kenon, All-Star Team, East Division
  • Billy Paultz, All-Star Team, East Division (missed game due to injury)
  • Julius Erving, All-ABA Team, 1st Team
  • Larry Kenon, ABA All-Rookie Team
  • John Williamson, ABA All-Rookie Team
  • Mike Gale, ABA All-Defensive Team

References

  1. ^ Hundhausen, Arthur (May 11, 2008). "RememberTheABA.com 1973–74 ABA vs. NBA exhibition results". RememberTheABA.com. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2008.
  2. ^ 1973–74 ABA Season Summary – Basketball-Reference.com
  3. ^ 1973–74 New York Nets Games – Basketball-Reference.com
  4. ^ 1973–74 New York Nets Statistics – Basketball-Reference.com
  5. ^ "1973–74 ABA Regular Season Standings". Remembertheaba.com. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
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