1974–75 San Antonio Spurs season

1974–75 San Antonio Spurs season
Head coachTom Nissalke (18–10)
Bob Bass (33–23)
General managerJohn Begzos
OwnersAngelo Drossos
John Schaefer
Red McCombs
ArenaHemisFair Arena
Results
Record51–33 (.607)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Western)
Conference: 2nd
Playoff finishWest Division semifinals
(lost to Pacers 2–4)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
TelevisionWOAI 4
RadioKKYX

The 1974–75 San Antonio Spurs season was the second season for the San Antonio Spurs and eighth season overall when including their seasons under the Dallas Chaparrals name, including the one failed season where they attempted to rebrand themselves as the Texas Chaparrals to become a regional franchise to represent the state of Texas by playing in Lubbock and Fort Worth alongside their original home in Dallas, Texas. The Spurs made their regular season debut on October 18, 1974 by winning a 129–121 double-overtime thriller against the Indiana Pacers in Indiana.[1] After that, the Spurs would win the next two games, getting off to a rather quick start on their ends. However, despite the Spurs going onto an 18–10 start into the season, the Spurs would fire head coach Tom Nissalke due to fans not liking the coaching style that he had for the team and replace him with Bob Bass for the rest of the season. By the end of December they would be 21–18, after finishing 7–10 in the month (with a five gaming losing streak occurring at one point with their new coach), but Bass and the Spurs would quickly recover from the poor finish for 1974 as they would enter 1975 by winning 30 of their last 45 games of the season (with the Spurs even getting a seven game winning streak at one point), which led to them finishing with over 50 victories for the first time in franchise history, either as the Spurs or as the original Chaparrals team name. However, they would only get a second place finish in the Western Division since they finished behind the Denver Nuggets there by 14 games (in what would later become the second-best record put out in ABA history behind only the 1971–72 Kentucky Colonels). In the 1975 ABA Playoffs, the Spurs once again lost in the first round to the Indiana Pacers, this time losing to them 4–2 despite the Spurs appearing to be the better team this time around due to the Pacers trading 7x All-Star Mel Daniels to the Memphis Sounds; Indiana would later reach the 1975 ABA Finals themselves, though they would lose to the Kentucky Colonels there.

ABA Draft

Main article: 1974 ABA draft
Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College
2 15 Truck Robinson PF United States Tennessee State
3 29 Collis Temple SF United States LSU
4 35 Fred Saunders SF/PF United States Syracuse
4 36 Kim Hughes C United States Wisconsin
5 45 Gene Short SF United States Jackson State
6 55 Gary Anderson G United States Wisconsin
7 65 Gerald Cunningham F United States Kentucky State
8 75 Hercle Ivy G United States Iowa State
9 85 Walter Luckett SG United States Ohio University
10 95 Charles McKinney C United States Baylor
10 100 Mike Ogan C United States Carson–Newman

This draft table does not include the "ABA Draft of NBA Players" that was done immediately afterward.[2]

ABA Draft of NBA Players

Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College NBA Team
1 5 Tom Boerwinkle C United States Tennessee Chicago Bulls
2 15 Clyde Lee PF/C United States Vanderbilt Golden State Warriors
3 25 Neal Walk C United States Florida Phoenix Suns
4 35 Steve Kuberski PF/C United States Bradley Boston Celtics
5 45 Lloyd Neal PF/C United States Tennessee State Portland Trail Blazers

The "ABA Draft of NBA Players" that was done on April 17, 1974 happened immediately after the actual ABA Draft done for this season was concluded on that day. None of the five players drafted by the Spurs would report to the team this season. Interestingly, the Spurs would join the Kentucky Colonels as the only two ABA teams that year to not draft any NBA players that would later go on to become members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Roster

1974–75 San Antonio Spurs roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
PF 25 Coby Dietrick 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) July 23, 1948 San José State
SF 23 Will Franklin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) October 19, 1949 Purdue
SG 20 Donnie Freeman 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) July 18, 1944 Illinois
SF 44 George Gervin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 180 lb (82 kg) April 27, 1952 Eastern Michigan
PF 33 Rich Jones 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) December 27, 1946 Memphis
PG 22 George Karl 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) May 12, 1951 North Carolina
PF 34 Stan Love 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) April 9, 1949 Oregon
C 31 Swen Nater 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) January 14, 1950 UCLA
PG 13 James Silas 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) February 11, 1949 Stephen F. Austin
SF 40 Collis Temple 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) November 8, 1952 LSU
SF 30 Chuck Terry 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) September 27, 1950 Long Beach State
SG 21 Bob Warren 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) July 17, 1946 Vanderbilt
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

Schedule

Game Date Opponent Result Spurs Opponents Record
1
2

[3]

Season standings

1974–75 ABA Western Standings
Western Division W L PCT. GB
Denver Nuggets 65 19 .774 –
San Antonio Spurs 51 33 .607 14
Indiana Pacers 45 39 .536 20
Utah Stars 38 46 .452 27
San Diego Conquistadors 31 53 .469 34

[4]

ABA Playoffs

Western Division semifinals[5]

Game Date Location Score Record Attendance
1 April 5 San Antonio 119–122 (OT) 0–1 8,529
2 April 7 San Antonio 93–98 0–2 7,643
3 April 10 Indiana 103–113 0–3 12,217
4 April 12 Indiana 110–109 1–3 17,389
5 April 14 San Antonio 123–117 2–3 10,986
6 April 16 Indiana 100–115 2–4 15,675

Spurs lose series, 4–2

References

  1. ^ San Antonio Spurs (1973–Present)
  2. ^ "1974 ABA Draft on databaseBasketball.com". Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  3. ^ 1974–75 San Antonio Games – Basketball-Reference.com
  4. ^ "1973-74 ABA Season Summary".
  5. ^ "1974–75 ABA Regular Season Standings". Remembertheaba.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2009. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
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