1973–74 Phoenix Suns season
1973–74 Phoenix Suns season | |
---|---|
Head coach | John MacLeod |
General manager | Jerry Colangelo |
Owners | Karl Eller, Don Pitt, Don Diamond, Bhavik Darji, Marvin Meyer, Richard L. Bloch |
Arena | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum |
Results | |
Record | 30–52 (.366) |
Place | Division: 4th (Pacific) Conference: 8th (Western) |
Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Local media | |
Television | KTAR-TV |
Radio | KTAR |
The 1973–74 Phoenix Suns season was the sixth for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. It was the first of 14 seasons head coach John MacLeod spent with Phoenix. The season would also be the last for former All-Star forward/center Connie Hawkins, traded to the Los Angeles Lakers after appearing in nine games for the Suns. Charlie Scott would repeat as an All-Star, but who missed 30 games due to injury despite his NBA career-high 25.4 points a game. The team went on to finish the season 30–52, a career-worst for MacLeod and the franchise's poorest record since their inaugural season.
Dick Van Arsdale averaged 17.8 points on the season, while Neal Walk averaged 16.8 points and a team-high 10.2 rebounds per contest. Keith Erickson, obtained by the Suns along with a future second round pick in the Hawkins trade, enjoyed a career-high 14.6 points a game in his ninth year in the NBA and first with Phoenix.
Van Arsdale was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, while Mike Bantom, a rookie out of Saint Joseph's, was named to the All-Rookie Team.
Offseason
[edit]NBA draft
[edit]Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
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1 | 8 | Mike Bantom | Forward | ![]() |
Saint Joseph's |
2 | 33 | Gary Melchionni | Guard | ![]() |
Duke |
3 | 42 | Joe Reaves | Forward | ![]() |
Bethel (Tennessee) |
3 | 43 | Steve Mitchell | Center | ![]() |
Kansas State |
4 | 60 | Ron Robinson | Forward | ![]() |
Memphis State |
5 | 77 | Clinton Harris | Forward | ![]() |
Iowa State |
6 | 94 | Gene Doyle | Center | ![]() |
Holy Cross |
7 | 111 | Jerry Bisbano | Guard | ![]() |
Southwestern Louisiana |
8 | 128 | Jim Owens | Forward | ![]() |
Arizona State |
9 | 144 | Sandy Smith | Guard | ![]() |
Winston-Salem |
10 | 158 | Claude White | Guard | ![]() |
Elmhurst |
11 | 170 | Lynn Greer | Guard | ![]() |
Virginia State |
12 | 179 | Lyman Williamson | Forward | ![]() |
Samford |
13 | 186 | Kalevi Sarkalahti | Forward | ![]() |
Brigham Young |
Roster
[edit]Phoenix Suns roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Regular season
[edit]Standings
[edit]W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div | |
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y-Los Angeles Lakers | 47 | 35 | .573 | – | 30–11 | 17–24 | – | 14–12 |
Golden State Warriors | 44 | 38 | .537 | 3 | 23–18 | 20–20 | 1–0 | 15–11 |
Seattle SuperSonics | 36 | 46 | .439 | 11 | 22–19 | 14–27 | – | 12���14 |
Phoenix Suns | 30 | 52 | .366 | 17 | 24–17 | 6–34 | 0–1 | 11–15 |
Portland Trail Blazers | 27 | 55 | .329 | 20 | 22–19 | 5–34 | 0–2 | 13–13 |
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Team | W | L | PCT | GB | |
1 | z-Milwaukee Bucks | 59 | 23 | .720 | – |
2 | x-Chicago Bulls | 54 | 28 | .659 | 5 |
3 | x-Detroit Pistons | 52 | 30 | .634 | 7 |
4 | y-Los Angeles Lakers | 47 | 35 | .573 | 12 |
5 | Golden State Warriors | 44 | 38 | .537 | 15 |
6 | Seattle SuperSonics | 36 | 46 | .439 | 23 |
7 | Kansas City–Omaha Kings | 33 | 49 | .402 | 26 |
8 | Phoenix Suns | 30 | 52 | .366 | 29 |
9 | Portland Trail Blazers | 27 | 55 | .329 | 32 |
Record vs. opponents
[edit]1973–74 NBA records | |||||||||||||||||
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Team | ATL | BOS | BUF | CAP | CHI | CLE | DET | GSW | HOU | KCO | LAL | MIL | NYK | PHI | PHO | POR | SEA |
Atlanta | — | 1–5 | 2–4 | 4–4 | 1–3 | 4–3 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 5–2 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 4–0 |
Boston | 5–1 | — | 5–2 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 5–2 | 7–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 |
Buffalo | 4–2 | 2–5 | — | 3–3 | 1–3 | 5–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 4–4 | 6–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 |
Capital | 4–4 | 4–2 | 3–3 | — | 1–3 | 6–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 |
Chicago | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | — | 4–0 | 5–2 | 4–2 | 4–0 | 5–2 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 4–2 |
Cleveland | 3–4 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 1–6 | 0–4 | — | 2–2 | 0–4 | 4–4 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 0–4 | 1–5 | 5–1 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 2–2 |
Detroit | 4–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–5 | 2–2 | — | 5–1 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 6–0 | 5–1 | 5–1 |
Golden State | 3–1 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 1–5 | — | 4–0 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 5–2 | 3–4 | 3–3 |
Houston | 2–5 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 3–4 | 0–4 | 4–4 | 1–3 | 0–4 | — | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–3 |
Kansas City-Omaha | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–5 | 4–0 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 2–2 | — | 1–5 | 0–7 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–4 |
Los Angeles | 0–4 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 5–1 | — | 4–2 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 4–3 | 4–3 |
Milwaukee | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 4–0 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 4–0 | 7–0 | 2–4 | — | 2–2 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 6–0 | 4–2 |
New York | 5–1 | 2–5 | 4–4 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | — | 4–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 |
Philadelphia | 3–3 | 1–7 | 1–6 | 2–4 | 1–3 | 1–5 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 3–4 | — | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–4 |
Phoenix | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 0–6 | 2–5 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 1–3 | — | 3–3 | 4–3 |
Portland | 2–2 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 0–4 | 1–5 | 4–3 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 3–4 | 0–6 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–3 | — | 3–3 |
Seattle | 0–4 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 2–4 | 0–4 | 4–0 | 3–4 | 3–3 | — |
Game log
[edit]1973–74 game log Total: 30–52 (home: 24–17; road: 6–35) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 2–8 (home: 2–3; road: 0–5)
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November: 5–8 (home: 3–1; road: 2–7)
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December: 8–8 (home: 6–4; road: 2–4)
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January: 6–7 (home: 5–3; road: 1–4)
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February: 4–12 (home: 4–3; road: 0–9)
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March: 5–9 (home: 4–3; road: 1–6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1973–74 schedule |
Awards and honors
[edit]All-Star
[edit]- Charlie Scott was selected to replace Jerry West in the All-Star Game. It was his second consecutive All-Star selection.
Season
[edit]- Dick Van Arsdale was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team.
- Mike Bantom was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
Player statistics
[edit]Legend | |||||
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GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | 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 |
Season
[edit]Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mike Bantom | 76 | 37 | 26.1 | .399 | .662 | 6.8 | 2.1 | .7 | .6 | 10.1 |
Corky Calhoun | 77 | 54 | 28.7 | .461 | .760 | 5.3 | 1.8 | .9 | .4 | 8.2 |
Bill Chamberlain | 28 | 1 | 13.1 | .438 | .696 | 2.9 | 1.3 | .7 | .4 | 5.5 |
Bob Christian | 81 | 1 | 15.4 | .486 | .702 | 4.2 | 1.2 | .2 | .4 | 4.8 |
Keith Erickson* | 66 | 48 | 30.8 | .477 | .801 | 6.3 | 3.1 | 1.0 | .3 | 14.6 |
Lamar Green | 72 | 20 | 15.3 | .407 | .559 | 4.9 | 0.6 | .4 | .5 | 4.1 |
Clem Haskins | 81 | 20 | 22.5 | .460 | .842 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 1.0 | .2 | 11.1 |
Connie Hawkins* | 8 | 7 | 27.9 | .486 | .667 | 5.4 | 3.5 | 1.0 | .4 | 11.3 |
Gary Melchionni | 69 | 15 | 18.1 | .460 | .860^ | 2.1 | 2.1 | .6 | .1 | 7.2 |
Jim Owens | 17 | 0 | 5.9 | .538† | .786 | 0.5 | 0.9 | .3 | .0 | 3.1 |
Joe Reaves* | 7 | 0 | 5.4 | .545† | .364 | 1.1 | 0.1 | .0 | .3 | 2.3 |
Charlie Scott | 52 | 51 | 38.5+ | .459 | .781 | 4.3 | 5.2+ | 1.9+ | .4 | 25.4+ |
Dick Van Arsdale | 78 | 76 | 36.3+ | .500† | .853^ | 2.8 | 4.2+ | 1.2+ | .2 | 17.8+ |
Neal Walk | 82 | 80 | 31.1 | .460 | .791 | 10.2 | 4.0 | .9 | .7 | 16.8 |
* – Stats with the Suns.
† – Minimum 560 field goal attempts.
^ – Minimum 160 free throw attempts.
+ – Minimum 70 games played.
Transactions
[edit]Trades
[edit]October 8, 1973 | To Atlanta Hawks
1976 second-round draft pick ( ![]() |
To Phoenix Suns
![]() |
October 9, 1973 | To Capital Bullets
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To Phoenix Suns
1974 third-round draft pick ( ![]() |
October 30, 1973 | To Los Angeles Lakers
![]() |
To Phoenix Suns
![]() |
January 24, 1974 | To Golden State Warriors
1975 third-round draft pick ( ![]() |
To Phoenix Suns
![]() |
Free agents
[edit]Subtractions
[edit]Date | Player | Reason Left | New Team |
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September 14, 1973 | Paul Stovall | Waived | San Diego Conquistadors (ABA) |
September 18, 1973 | Scott English | Waived | Virginia Squires (ABA) |
September 19, 1973 | Mo Layton | Waived | Portland Trail Blazers |
November 27, 1973 | Joe Reaves | Waived | Memphis Tams (ABA) |