1972–73 Portland Trail Blazers season

1972–73 Portland Trail Blazers season
1972–73 Portland Trail Blazers season
Head coach	Jack McCloskey
General manager	Harry Glickman
Owners	Herman Sarkowsky; Larry Weinberg;
Arena	Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	21–61 (.256)
Place	Division: 5th (Pacific); Conference: 9th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	KPTV
Radio	KOIN
< 1971–72	1973–74 >

The 1972–73 season was the third season of the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[1] After finishing the previous season at 18–64, the Blazers earned the first overall selection in the 1972 NBA Draft, and infamously picked LaRue Martin over future Hall-of-Famer Bob McAdoo. LaRue would average seven points per game over a four-season NBA career. The Blazers finished at 21–61, a marginal three-game improvement from the previous season.

Draft picks[]

LaRue Martin was the Trail Blazers first overall pick.

Note: This is not a complete list; only the first two rounds are covered, as well as any other picks by the franchise who played at least one NBA game.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	1	LaRue Martin	C	United States	Loyola (Illinois)
2	14	Bob Davis	F	United States	Weber State
2	26	Dave Twardzik	G	United States	Old Dominion
2	30	Ollie Johnson	F	United States	Temple
3	31	Lloyd Neal	F/C	United States	Tennessee State

Roster[]

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Height	Weight	DOB (YYYY-MM-DD)
PG	12	Adelman, Rick	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Loyola Marymount
SF	25	Davis, Bob	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Weber State
SG	17	Davis, Charlie	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Wake Forest
SF	42	Dischinger, Terry	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	Purdue
SF	44	Johnson, Ollie	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Temple
C	35	Martin, LaRue	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	208 lb (94 kg)	Loyola University
C	36	Neal, Lloyd	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Tennessee State
PF	45	Petrie, Geoff	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Princeton
SF	4	Smith, Greg	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Western Kentucky
C	43	Smith, William	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Syracuse
SG	15	Steele, Larry	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Kentucky
PF	34	Turner, Bill	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Akron
PF	21	Wicks, Sidney	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	UCLA
PG	13	Wohl, Dave	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Pennsylvania

Head coach

Jack McCloskey (Pennsylvania)

Assistant coach(es)

Neil Johnston

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Roster

Regular season[]

The Trail Blazers played their home games at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Season standings[]

Pacific Division v t	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	60	22	.732	–	30–11	28–11	2–0	22–4
x-Golden State Warriors	47	35	.573	13	27–14	18–20	2–1	14–12
Phoenix Suns	38	44	.463	22	22–19	15–25	1–0	14–12
Seattle SuperSonics	26	56	.317	34	16–25	10–29	0–2	9–17
Portland Trail Blazers	21	61	.256	39	13–28	8–32	0–1	6–20

#	Western Conference v t
#	Team	W	L	PCT
1	z-Milwaukee Bucks	60	22	.732
2	y-Los Angeles Lakers	60	22	.732
3	x-Chicago Bulls	51	31	.622
4	x-Golden State Warriors	47	35	.573

5	Detroit Pistons	40	42	.488
6	Phoenix Suns	38	44	.463
7	Kansas City–Omaha Kings	36	46	.439
8	Seattle SuperSonics	26	56	.317
9	Portland Trail Blazers	21	61	.256

z – clinched division title

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents[]

1972–73 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BAL	BOS	BUF	CHI	CLE	DET	GSW	HOU	KCO	LAL	MIL	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SEA
Atlanta	–	3–4	1–5	5–1	2–2	3–4	2–2	1–3	4–4	2–2	3–1	1–3	3–3	6–0	3–1	4–0	3–1
Baltimore	4–3	–	1–5	5–1	0–4	8–0	2–2	3–1	5–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	3–3	5–1	2–2	4–0	4–0
Boston	5–1	5–1	–	7–0	3–1	5–1	3–1	3–1	5–1	3–1	4–0	2–2	4–4	7–0	4–0	4–0	4–0
Buffalo	1–5	1–5	0–7	–	2–2	1–5	1–3	0–4	1–5	1–3	0–4	0–4	1–6	7–1	1–3	2–2	2–2
Chicago	2–2	4–0	1–3	2–2	–	3–1	3–4	3–3	4–0	5–2	1–5	2–4	3–1	4–0	4–2	5–1	5–1
Cleveland	4–3	0–8	1–5	5–1	1–3	–	1–3	1–3	4–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	0–6	6–0	1–3	1–3	3–1
Detroit	2–2	2–2	1–3	3–1	4–3	3–1	–	2–4	1–3	3–3	1–5	2–5	1–3	3–1	4–2	6–0	2–4
Golden State	3–1	1–3	1–3	4–0	3–3	3–1	4–2	–	3–1	4–2	3–4	1–5	2–2	4–0	2–4	5–1	4–3
Houston	4–4	2–5	1–5	5–1	0–4	3–4	3–1	1–3	–	0–4	1–3	1–3	1–5	5–1	2–2	2–2	2–2
Kansas City-Omaha	2–2	1–3	1–3	3–1	2–5	2–2	3–3	2–4	4–0	–	1–5	1–6	0–4	3–1	3–3	4–2	4–2
Los Angeles	1–3	3–1	0–4	4–0	5–1	3–1	5–1	4–3	3–1	5–1	–	3–3	2–2	4–0	6–1	6–0	6–0
Milwaukee	3–1	2–2	2–2	4–0	4–2	3–1	5–2	5–1	3–1	6–1	3–3	–	2–2	3–1	5–1	5–1	5–1
New York	3–3	3–3	4–4	6–1	1–3	6–0	3–1	2–2	5–1	4–0	2–2	2–2	–	6–1	3–1	3–1	4–0
Philadelphia	0–6	1–5	0–7	1–7	0–4	0–6	1–3	0–4	1–5	1–3	0–4	1–3	1–6	–	0–4	1–3	1–3
Phoenix	1–3	2–2	0–4	3–1	2–4	3–1	2–4	4–2	2–2	3–3	1–6	1–5	1–3	4–0	–	5–2	4–2
Portland	0–4	0–4	0–4	2–2	1–5	3–1	0–6	1–5	2–2	2–4	0–6	1–5	1–3	3–1	2–5	–	3–4
Seattle	1–3	0–4	0–4	2–2	1–5	1–3	4–2	3–4	2–2	2–4	0–6	1–5	0–4	3–1	2–4	4–3	—

Game log[]

Player statistics[]

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Awards and honors[]

Sidney Wicks, NBA All-Star
Lloyd Neal, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

Transactions[]

July 31, 1972 – Traded a second round pick in the 1973 NBA draft to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for forward Fred Foster, who was traded again that day by the Trail Blazers to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for guard-forward Terry Dischinger.
September 11, 1972 – Waived forwards Ron Knight and Jim Marsh and received a second round pick in the 1974 NBA Draft from the Philadelphia 76ers as compensation for signing veteran free agent forward Gary Gregor.
September 19, 1972 – Waived guard Charlie Yelverton
October 2, 1972 – Traded center Dale Schlueter to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for guard Dave Wohl.
October 10, 1972 – Claimed forward Bill Turner off waivers from the Golden State Warriors.
October 24, 1972 – Traded a third round pick in the 1974 NBA Draft to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for guard Charlie Davis.
October 27, 1972 – Traded guard-forward Stan McKenzie (basketball) to the Houston Rockets in exchange for guard-forward Greg Smith
November 13, 1972 – Waived forward Bill Turner
December 6, 1972 – Waived guard Dave Wohl, who was claimed by the Buffalo Braves
April 24, 1973 – Traded a first round and third round pick in the 1973 NBA Draft to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for forward John Johnson and forward-center Rick Roberson and a first round pick in the 1973 NBA Draft.
June 21, 1973 – Guard-forward Terry Dischinger retired
June 27, 1973 – Signed free agent guard Bernie Fryer

Transactions from Sports Reference^[2]

References[]

^ 1972–73 Portland Trail Blazers
^ "1972–73 Portland Trail Blazers Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved 25 October 2014.

[1] 1972–73 Portland Trail Blazers

[2] "1972–73 Portland Trail Blazers Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved 25 October 2014.

[1]

[2]