1968–69 Denver Rockets season
| 1968–69 Denver Rockets season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Bob Bass | 
| Owners | J. William Ringsby Donald W. Ringsby | 
| Arena | Denver Auditorium Arena | 
| Results | |
| Record | 44–34 (.564) | 
| Place | Division: 3rd (Western) | 
| Playoff finish | ABA Western Division Semifinals (lost to Oaks 3–4) | 
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
| Radio | KTLN | 
The 1968–69 ABA season was the second season of the Denver Rockets franchise. They ended their season with one less win compared to last season, but still ended up in the playoffs once again as a third place team. Out of the 11 ABA teams that season, the Rockets were ranked second in offensive rating.
Roster
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 
 | Head coach Legend 
 | 
Season standings
Eastern Division
| Team | W | L | PCT. | GB | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana Pacers | 44 | 34 | .564 | - | 
| Miami Floridians | 43 | 35 | .551 | 1 | 
| Kentucky Colonels | 42 | 36 | .538 | 2 | 
| Minnesota Pipers | 36 | 42 | .462 | 8 | 
| New York Nets | 17 | 61 | .218 | 27 | 
Western Division
| Team | W | L | PCT. | GB | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Oaks | 60 | 18 | .769 | - | 
| New Orleans Buccaneers | 46 | 32 | .590 | 14 | 
| Denver Rockets | 44 | 34 | .564 | 16 | 
| Dallas Chaparrals | 41 | 37 | .526 | 19 | 
| Los Angeles Stars | 33 | 45 | .423 | 27 | 
| Houston Mavericks | 23 | 55 | .295 | 37[1] | 
Game log
Statistics
| Rk | Player | Age | G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | TOV | PF | PTS | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Larry Jones | 26 | 75 | 40.6 | 10.1 | 21.7 | .465 | 0.3 | 1.3 | .240 | 9.8 | 20.4 | .480 | 7.9 | 10.1 | .778 | 2.2 | 4.4 | 6.6 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 3.6 | 28.4 | 
| 2 | Lonnie Wright | 25 | 69 | 36.8 | 6.6 | 15.8 | .416 | 0.3 | 1.2 | .221 | 6.3 | 14.5 | .433 | 3.0 | 4.0 | .743 | 0.7 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 3.6 | 16.4 | 
| 3 | Wayne Hightower | 29 | 67 | 34.6 | 4.6 | 11.4 | .408 | 0.0 | 0.0 | .000 | 4.6 | 11.3 | .409 | 4.6 | 6.4 | .730 | 2.3 | 7.3 | 9.6 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 13.9 | 
| 4 | Byron Beck | 24 | 71 | 32.2 | 6.0 | 11.9 | .502 | 0.0 | 0.0 | .667 | 5.9 | 11.8 | .501 | 2.6 | 3.4 | .765 | 3.8 | 7.1 | 11.0 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 3.5 | 14.5 | 
| 5 | Julian Hammond | 25 | 78 | 29.9 | 4.2 | 7.7 | .547 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.2 | 7.7 | .547 | 2.1 | 3.2 | .652 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 7.7 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 10.6 | |
| 6 | Bob Verga | 23 | 6 | 25.0 | 4.0 | 12.8 | .312 | 0.2 | 0.5 | .333 | 3.8 | 12.3 | .311 | 3.0 | 4.7 | .643 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 3.5 | 1.8 | 4.2 | 2.7 | 11.2 | 
| 7 | Walter Piatkowski | 23 | 77 | 23.6 | 5.2 | 12.4 | .417 | 0.4 | 1.1 | .329 | 4.8 | 11.4 | .426 | 1.5 | 2.0 | .775 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 4.7 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 12.2 | 
| 8 | Bill McGill | 29 | 78 | 22.6 | 5.3 | 9.6 | .552 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.3 | 9.6 | .552 | 2.3 | 3.4 | .682 | 1.9 | 4.0 | 5.9 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 3.7 | 12.8 | |
| 9 | Levern Tart | 26 | 20 | 17.3 | 2.8 | 8.0 | .352 | 0.0 | 0.1 | .000 | 2.8 | 7.9 | .357 | 2.1 | 2.8 | .750 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 7.7 | 
| 10 | Jeffrey Congdon | 25 | 59 | 16.6 | 1.8 | 4.7 | .386 | 0.1 | 0.5 | .161 | 1.7 | 4.2 | .415 | 1.2 | 1.4 | .812 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 4.9 | 
| 11 | Grant Simmons | 25 | 17 | 14.8 | 1.3 | 3.5 | .373 | 0.1 | 0.1 | .500 | 1.2 | 3.4 | .368 | 1.2 | 1.7 | .690 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 3.8 | 
| 12 | John Fairchild | 25 | 11 | 12.3 | 1.1 | 3.1 | .353 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 3.1 | .353 | 1.5 | 2.2 | .667 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 3.6 | |
| 13 | Ken Wilburn | 24 | 37 | 11.1 | 1.9 | 4.9 | .398 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.9 | 4.9 | .398 | 0.8 | 1.5 | .526 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 4.8 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 4.7 | |
| 14 | Larry Bunce | 23 | 23 | 9.8 | 1.0 | 2.6 | .373 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.6 | .373 | 2.1 | 3.0 | .700 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 4.0 | |
| 15 | Willie Rogers | 23 | 40 | 7.4 | 0.7 | 2.0 | .338 | 0.0 | 0.1 | .000 | 0.7 | 1.9 | .351 | 0.8 | 1.3 | .596 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 
| 16 | Charles Parks | 2 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 
Playoffs
Western Division Semi-finals[2]
| Game | Date | Location | Score | Record | Attendance | 
| 1 | April 5 | Oakland | 99–129 | 0–1 | 2,358 | 
| 2 | April 6 | Oakland | 122–119 | 1–1 | 1,580 | 
| 3 | April 8 | Denver | 99–121 | 1–2 | 5,062 | 
| 4 | April 10 | Denver | 109–108 | 2–2 | 5,431 | 
| 5 | April 12 | Oakland | 118–128 | 2–3 | 3,156 | 
| 6 | April 13 | Denver | 126–115 | 3–3 | 6,481 | 
| 7 | April 16 | Oakland | 102-115 | 3–4 | 5,123 | 
Rockets lose series, 4–3
Awards and records
- ABA All-Stars: Larry Jones, Byron Beck, Wayne Hightower[3]
- ABA All-League Team: Larry Jones[4]
- League-leading scorer: Larry Jones[5]
Transactions
References
- ^ 1968-69 ABA Season Summary | Basketball-Reference.com
- ^ "Remember the ABA: 1968-69 Regular Season Standings and Playoff Results". Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
- ^ basketball-reference.com. "1968 ABA All-Star Game". Archived from the original on July 9, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
- ^ Remember the ABA: Year-to-Year Postseason Awards Archived December 24, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 1968-69 Denver Rockets Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com
