1971–72 Buffalo Braves season

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]

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 @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWBEN-TV
RadioWBEN

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 Garry Nelson Forward  United States Duquesne
6 87 Glen Summors Forward  United States Gannon
7 104 Randy Smith Guard  United States Buffalo State
8 121 Craig Love Center  United States Ohio
9 138 Gary Stewart Forward  United States Canisius College
10 154 Don Ward Guard  United States Colgate University
11 170 Bill Warner Forward  United States Arizona
12 184 Butch Webster Forward  United States LSU
13 197 Pete Smith Forward  United States Valdosta
14 209 Ray Lavender Center  United States Drury College
15 218 William Chatmon Forward  United States Baylor
16 226 James Douglas Guard  United States Memphis
17 230 Nelson Isley Guard  United States LSU
18 233 Joey Meyer Guard  United States DePaul

Roster
Buffalo Braves 1971–72 roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHt.Wt.From
G 7 Bryant, Emmette 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) DePaul
F 40 Chambers, Jerry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Utah
G 13 Davis, Mike 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Virginia Union
G 20 Garrett, Dick 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Southern Illinois
G 42 Hazzard, Walt 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) UCLA
G 32 Hilton, Fred 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Grambling
F 25 Hosket, Bill 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 228 lb (103 kg) Ohio State
F 45 Hummer, John 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Princeton
F 44 Kauffman, Bob 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Guilford College
C 3 Smith, Elmore 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Kentucky State
F 9 Smith, Randy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Buffalo State
F 35 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

Regular season

Season standings
Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Boston Celtics 5626.683–32–921–163–115–3
x-New York Knicks 4834.585827–1420–191–111–7
Philadelphia 76ers 3052.3662614–2314–262–36–12
Buffalo Braves 2260.2683413–278–311–24–14
# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT
1 z-Boston Celtics5626.683
2 y-Baltimore Bullets3844.463
3 x-New York Knicks4834.585
4 x-Atlanta Hawks3646.439
5 Philadelphia 76ers3052.366
5 Cincinnati Royals3052.366
7 Cleveland Cavaliers2359.280
8 Buffalo Braves2260.268
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 —2–40–44–20–53–34–23–23–21–40–52–33–13–33–24–01–4
Baltimore 4–2—2–23–31–44–21–53–21–43–21–40–52–44–04–13–12–3
Boston 4–02–2—6–03–24–25–15–02–35–01–42–33–36–02–34–02–3
Buffalo 2–43–30–6—1–33–34–22–41–30–40–40–41–53–30–42–40–4
Chicago 5–04–12–33–1—3–14–05–13–35–11–32–43–24–15–16–02–3
Cincinnati 3–32–42–43–31–3—6–22–32–30–41–40–52–22–22–32–20–5
Cleveland 2–45–11–52–40–42–6—1–30–42–21–30–41–52–40–44–20–4
Detroit 2–32–30–54–21–53–23–1—0–53–31–41–51–41–42–42–20–4
Golden State 2–34–13–23–13–33–24–05–0—5–11–52–22–34–12–34–24–2
Houston 4–12–30–54–01–54–02–23–31–5—1–50–50–54–11–34–23–3
Los Angeles 5–04–14–14–03–14–13–14–15–15–1—4–14–15–04–26–05–1
Milwaukee 3–25–03–24–04–25–04–05–12–25–01–4—2–34–14–26–06–0
New York 1–34–23–35–12–32–25–14–13–25–01–43–2—3–31–43–13–2
Philadelphia 3–30–40–63–31–42–24–24–11–41–40–51–43–3—1–42–24–1
Phoenix 2–31–43–24–01–53–24–04–23–23–12–42–44–14–1—6–03–2
Portland 0–41–30–44–20–62–22–42–22–42–40–60–61–32–20–6—0–6
Seattle 4–13–23–24–03–25–04–04–02–43–31–50–62–31–42–36–0—

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 Kauffman7741.6.497.79510.23.918.9
Elmore Smith7840.8.454.53415.21.417.3
Walt Hazzard7233.2.451.7823.05.615.8
Randy Smith7627.6.482.6224.82.513.4
Dick Garrett7326.1.442.8663.12.310.8
Em Bryant5422.6.459.6002.43.85.1
Fred Hilton6122.1.389.7382.61.911.6
John Hummer5521.6.390.4684.21.35.2
Cornell Warner6220.0.443.7446.10.96.2
Mike Davis6217.2.425.7671.91.39.1
Jerry Chambers2614.2.433.6882.60.96.8
Bill Hosket4413.5.492.8082.80.95.0

[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. Buffalo Braves (1970–1978)
  2. https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BUF/1972.html
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