1967–68 Chicago Bulls season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1967–68 Chicago Bulls season
Head coachJohnny "Red" Kerr
General managerDick Klein
Owner(s)Dick Klein
ArenaChicago Stadium
Results
Record29–53 (.354)
PlaceDivision: 4th (Western)
Playoff finishDivision Semifinals
(Lost to Lakers 1–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWGN-TV
(Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd)
RadioWGN
(Lou Boudreau, Vince Lloyd)
< 1966–67 1968–69 >

The 1967–68 Chicago Bulls season was the second season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Draft picks[]

Main article: 1967 NBA Draft

Note: This is not an extensive list; it only covers the first and second rounds, and any other players drafted by the franchise that played at least one NBA game.

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 3 Clem Haskins G  United States Western Kentucky
2 15 Byron Beck F/C  United States Denver
4 34 Jim Burns G  United States Northwestern

Roster[]

1967–68 Chicago Bulls roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From
F 14 Barnes, Jim 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1941-04-13 University of Texas at El Paso
F 19 Boozer, Bob 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1937-04-26 Kansas State
G 6 Burns, Jim 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1945-09-21 Northwestern
F 16 Clemens, Barry 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1943-05-01 Ohio Wesleyan
F 15 Erickson, Keith 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1944-04-19 UCLA
G 11 Haskins, Clem 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1943-07-11 Western Kentucky
F 18 McLemore, McCoy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1942-04-03 Drake
G 5 Robinson, Flynn 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1941-04-28 Wyoming
G 8 Schellhase, Dave 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1944-10-14 Purdue
G 4 Sloan, Jerry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1942-03-28 Evansville
C 17 Spitzer, Craig 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1945-12-18 Tulane
C 7 Washington, Jim 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1943-07-01 Villanova
F 6, 9 Wilburn, Ken 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1944-06-08 Central State
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster
Last transaction: January 9, 1968

Regular season[]

After that promising beginning the Bulls fell apart. During the 1967-68 NBA season the club traded Guy Rodgers, the steadiest player on the squad, to the Cincinnati Royals for Flynn Robinson and two future draft choices. Chicago lost its first nine games, slumping to 1–15 before climbing back to respectability. The Bulls went 28–38 the rest of the way but still finished 29–53.

Even that record was better than those of the new expansion teams in Seattle and San Diego, so the Bulls still snuck into the playoffs, where they were drubbed by the Lakers in the division semifinals. Bob Boozer, a 6–8 forward who had the most productive seasons of his 11-year career while playing for Chicago, led the team in scoring with 21.5 points per game, and Jim Washington topped the club in rebounding with 10.1 boards per contest.

When Jerry Colangelo left the Bulls' front office to run the Phoenix Suns expansion franchise, he took Kerr along as coach. Kerr's replacement for the 1968–69 season was Dick Motta, who had won three Big Sky Conference championships at Weber State. Motta was an unlikely choice, but he proved to be a fortuitous one. In the early 1970s he molded Chicago into a tough, defensive-minded squad that was always ready to challenge the opposition, even if it couldn't match up in talent.

Chicago owned the fourth overall pick in the 1968 NBA Draft and selected 7-foot, 265-pound center Tom Boerwinkle of Tennessee. Boerwinkle would spend his entire 10-year career with Chicago and wind up as the Bulls' all-time leading rebounder with 5,745 career boards.

Season standings[]

Western Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-St. Louis Hawks 56 26 .683 – 25–7 22–13 9–6 31–9
x-Los Angeles Lakers 52 30 .634 4 30–11 18–19 4–0 28–12
x-San Francisco Warriors 43 39 .524 13 27–14 16–23 0–2 24–16
x-Chicago Bulls 29 53 .354 27 11–22 12–24 6–7 11–29
Seattle SuperSonics 23 59 .280 33 10–21 7–24 6–14 15–25
San Diego Rockets 15 67 .183 41 8–33 4–26 3–8 11–29


Record vs. opponents[]

1967-68 NBA Records
Team BAL BOS CHI CIN DET LAL NYK PHI SDR SFW SEA STL
Baltimore — 3–5 2–5 5–3 4–4 3–4 3–5 0–8 7–0 2–5 5–2 2–5
Boston 5–3 — 5–2 3–5 6–2 4–3 6–2 4–4 7–0 4–3 6–1 4–3
Chicago 5–2 2–5 — 5–2 3–4 1–7 2–5 1–6 4–4 2–6 3–5 1–7
Cincinnati 3–5 5–3 2–5 — 4–4 1–6 3–5 3–5 7–0 4–3 6–1 1–6
Detroit 4–4 2–6 4–3 4–4 — 2–5 4–4 1–7 5–2 4–3 6–1 4–3
Los Angeles 4–3 3–4 7–1 6–1 5–2 — 4–3 2–5 7–1 4–4 4–4 6–2
New York 5–3 2–6 5–2 5–3 4–4 3–4 — 3–5 6–1 5–2 4–3 1–6
Philadelphia 8–0 4–4 6–1 5–3 7–1 5–2 5–3 — 6–1 4–3 7–0 5–2
San Diego 0–7 0–7 4–4 0–7 2–5 1–7 1–6 1–6 — 2–6 3–5 1–7
San Francisco 5–2 3–4 6–2 3–4 3–4 4–4 2–5 3–4 6–2 — 7–1 1–7
Seattle 2–5 1–6 5–3 1–6 1–6 4–4 3–4 0–7 5–3 1–7 — 0–8
St. Louis 5–2 3–4 7–1 6–1 3–4 2–6 6–1 2–5 7–1 7–1 8–0 —

Playoffs[]

1968 playoff game log
Division Semifinals: 1–4 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–3)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 March 24 @ Los Angeles L 101–109 Bob Boozer (27) Jim Washington (11) Keith Erickson (5) The Forum
7,352 		0–1
2 March 25 @ Los Angeles L 106–111 Flynn Robinson (32) Jim Washington (13) Bob Boozer (4) The Forum
8,158 		0–2
3 March 27 Los Angeles W 104–98 Flynn Robinson (41) Jim Washington (17) Flynn Robinson (4) Chicago Stadium
3,456 		1–2
4 March 29 Los Angeles L 87–93 Keith Erickson (20) Jim Washington (19) Erickson, Sloan (2) Chicago Stadium
5,678 		1–3
5 March 31 @ Los Angeles L 99–122 Jim Washington (24) Jim Washington (15) three players tied (4) The Forum
12,108 		1–4
1968 schedule

Awards and records[]

Bob Boozer, NBA All-Star Game

References[]

Retrieved from ""