1971–72 Buffalo Braves season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1971–72 Buffalo Braves season
Head coachDolph Schayes
ArenaBuffalo Memorial Auditorium
Maple Leaf Gardens
Results
Record22–60 (.268)
PlaceDivision: 4th (Atlantic)
Conference: 8th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWBEN-TV
RadioWBEN
< 1970–71 1972–73 >

A pair of rookies named Smith gave Buffalo fans reason for a bright future. The Braves repeated their 22–60 record from their inaugural season, and occupied the Atlantic Division basement.[1] Elmore Smith and Randy Smith each had out standing rookie seasons with Elmore averaging 17.3 points per game and 15.2 rebounds per game, while Randy added 13.4 points per game.[1]

Draft picks[]

Main article: 1971 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 3 Elmore Smith Center  United States Kentucky State
2 19 Fred Hilton Guard  United States Grambling
2 26 Amos Thomas Forward  United States Southwestern Oklahoma
2 30 Spencer Haywood Forward  United States Detroit Mercy
4 53 Jim O'Brien Guard  United States Boston College
5 70 Forward  United States Duquesne
6 87 Forward  United States Gannon
7 104 Randy Smith Guard  United States Buffalo State
8 121 Center  United States Ohio
9 138 Forward  United States Canisius College
10 154 Guard  United States Colgate University
11 170 Forward  United States Arizona
12 184 Forward  United States LSU
13 197 Pete Smith Forward  United States Valdosta
14 209 Center  United States Drury College
15 218 Forward  United States Baylor
16 226 Guard  United States Memphis
17 230 Guard  United States LSU
18 233 Joey Meyer Guard  United States DePaul

Roster[]

Buffalo Braves 1971–72 roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From
G 7 United States Bryant, Emmette 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) DePaul
F 40 United States Chambers, Jerry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Utah
G 13 United States Davis, Mike 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Virginia Union
G 20 United States Garrett, Dick 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Southern Illinois
G 42 United States Hazzard, Walt 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) UCLA
G 32 United States Hilton, Fred 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Grambling
F 25 United States Hosket, Bill 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 228 lb (103 kg) Ohio State
F 45 United States Hummer, John 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Princeton
F 44 United States Kauffman, Bob 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Guilford College
C 3 United States Smith, Elmore 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Kentucky State
F 9 United States Smith, Randy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Buffalo State
F 35 United States Warner, Cornell 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jackson State
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Regular season[]

Season standings[]

Atlantic Division
W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Boston Celtics 56 26 .683 – 32–9 21–16 3–1 15–3
x-New York Knicks 48 34 .585 8 27–14 20–19 1–1 11–7
Philadelphia 76ers 30 52 .366 26 14–23 14–26 2–3 6–12
Buffalo Braves 22 60 .268 34 13–27 8–31 1–2 4–14


# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT
1 z-Boston Celtics 56 26 .683
2 y-Baltimore Bullets 38 44 .463
3 x-New York Knicks 48 34 .585
4 x-Atlanta Hawks 36 46 .439
5 Philadelphia 76ers 30 52 .366
5 Cincinnati Royals 30 52 .366
7 Cleveland Cavaliers 23 59 .280
8 Buffalo Braves 22 60 .268
z – clinched division title
y – clinched division title
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents[]

1971–72 NBA records
Team ATL BAL BOS BUF CHI CIN CLE DET GSW HOU LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO POR SEA
Atlanta – 2–4 0–4 4–2 0–5 3–3 4–2 3–2 3–2 1–4 0–5 2–3 3–1 3–3 3–2 4–0 1–4
Baltimore 4–2 – 2–2 3–3 1–4 4–2 1–5 3–2 1–4 3–2 1–4 0–5 2–4 4–0 4–1 3–1 2–3
Boston 4–0 2–2 – 6–0 3–2 4–2 5–1 5–0 2–3 5–0 1–4 2–3 3–3 6–0 2–3 4–0 2–3
Buffalo 2–4 3–3 0–6 – 1–3 3–3 4–2 2–4 1–3 0–4 0–4 0–4 1–5 3–3 0–4 2–4 0–4
Chicago 5–0 4–1 2–3 3–1 – 3–1 4–0 5–1 3–3 5–1 1–3 2–4 3–2 4–1 5–1 6–0 2–3
Cincinnati 3–3 2–4 2–4 3–3 1–3 – 6–2 2–3 2–3 0–4 1–4 0–5 2–2 2–2 2–3 2–2 0–5
Cleveland 2–4 5–1 1–5 2–4 0–4 2–6 – 1–3 0–4 2–2 1–3 0–4 1–5 2–4 0–4 4–2 0–4
Detroit 2–3 2–3 0–5 4–2 1–5 3–2 3–1 – 0–5 3–3 1–4 1–5 1–4 1–4 2–4 2–2 0–4
Golden State 2–3 4–1 3–2 3–1 3–3 3–2 4–0 5–0 – 5–1 1–5 2–2 2–3 4–1 2–3 4–2 4–2
Houston 4–1 2–3 0–5 4–0 1–5 4–0 2–2 3–3 1–5 – 1–5 0–5 0–5 4–1 1–3 4–2 3–3
Los Angeles 5–0 4–1 4–1 4–0 3–1 4–1 3–1 4–1 5–1 5–1 – 4–1 4–1 5–0 4–2 6–0 5–1
Milwaukee 3–2 5–0 3–2 4–0 4–2 5–0 4–0 5–1 2–2 5–0 1–4 – 2–3 4–1 4–2 6–0 6–0
New York 1–3 4–2 3–3 5–1 2–3 2–2 5–1 4–1 3–2 5–0 1–4 3–2 – 3–3 1–4 3–1 3–2
Philadelphia 3–3 0–4 0–6 3–3 1–4 2–2 4–2 4–1 1–4 1–4 0–5 1–4 3–3 – 1–4 2–2 4–1
Phoenix 2–3 1–4 3–2 4–0 1–5 3–2 4–0 4–2 3–2 3–1 2–4 2–4 4–1 4–1 – 6–0 3–2
Portland 0–4 1–3 0–4 4–2 0–6 2–2 2–4 2–2 2–4 2–4 0–6 0–6 1–3 2–2 0–6 – 0–6
Seattle 4–1 3–2 3–2 4–0 3–2 5–0 4–0 4–0 2–4 3–3 1–5 0–6 2–3 1–4 2–3 6–0 —

Player statistics[]

Note: GP= Games Played; MPG = Minutes per game; FG% = Field goal percentage; FT% = Free throw percentage; RPG = Rebounds per game; APG = Assists per game; PPG = Points per game

Player GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
Bob Kauffman 77 41.6 .497 .795 10.2 3.9 18.9
Elmore Smith 78 40.8 .454 .534 15.2 1.4 17.3
Walt Hazzard 72 33.2 .451 .782 3.0 5.6 15.8
Randy Smith 76 27.6 .482 .622 4.8 2.5 13.4
Dick Garrett 73 26.1 .442 .866 3.1 2.3 10.8
Em Bryant 54 22.6 .459 .600 2.4 3.8 5.1
Fred Hilton 61 22.1 .389 .738 2.6 1.9 11.6
John Hummer 55 21.6 .390 .468 4.2 1.3 5.2
Cornell Warner 62 20.0 .443 .744 6.1 0.9 6.2
Mike Davis 62 17.2 .425 .767 1.9 1.3 9.1
Jerry Chambers 26 14.2 .433 .688 2.6 0.9 6.8
Bill Hosket 44 13.5 .492 .808 2.8 0.9 5.0

[2]

Awards and honors[]

Transactions[]

The Braves were involved in the following transactions during the 1971–72 season.

Coaching Change[]

In-season
Outgoing coach Date Removed 1971-72 Record Incoming coach
Dolph Schayes Fired, October 13, 1971 0-1 Johnny McCarthy

Trades[]

July 26, 1971 To Buffalo Braves
 To Atlanta Hawks

Free agents[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Buffalo Braves (1970–1978)
  2. ^ "1971-72 Buffalo Braves Roster and Stats".
Retrieved from ""