1971–72 Phoenix Suns season

The 1971–72 Phoenix Suns season was the fourth season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. With a 49–33 record, the Suns hold the NBA record as the team with the best winning percentage to not make the playoffs. The team broke the record they set the previous year with a 48–34 finish. Head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons led the Suns in their debut season as members of the Pacific division. All home games were played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

1971–72 Phoenix Suns season
Head coachCotton Fitzsimmons
General managerJerry Colangelo
OwnersRichard Bloch
ArenaArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record49–33 (.598)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Midwest)
Conference: 5th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKTAR-TV
RadioKTAR

Paul Silas again led the team in rebounds, averaging 11.9 per game, while also leading the Suns in assists with a 4.3 average. Connie Hawkins's 21 points a game led the club, while Dick Van Arsdale was second with his 19.7 average. Silas averaged 17.5 for the season, while both Clem Haskins and Neal Walk averaged 15.7.

Draft picks
Main article: 1971 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 14 John Roche Guard  United States South Carolina
3 48 Dennis "Mo" Layton Guard  United States USC
4 65 Walt Szczerbiak Forward  United States George Washington
5 82 Ken Gardner Forward  United States Utah
5 84 Bob Kissane Center  United States Holy Cross
6 99 William Graham Forward  United States Kentucky State
7 116 Ralph Brateris Forward  United States Trenton State
8 133 Vernell Ellzy Forward  United States Florida State
9 149 Mike Johnson Guard  United States Kansas State
10 165 Tom Newell Guard  United States Hawaii
11 179 Paul Leitz Forward  United States Western Carolina
12 192 Floyd Mason Forward  United States Alcorn A&M
13 204 Ron Dorsey Guard  United States Tennessee State
14 213 Ken Booker Guard  United States UCLA
15 222 Curtis Carter Forward  United States Bishop

Roster
Phoenix Suns roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOB (Y-M-D)From
C 31 Counts, Mel 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1941-10-16 Oregon State
F 16 Green, Lamar 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1947-03-22 Morehead State
G 23 Harris, Art 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1947-01-13 Stanford
G 11 Haskins, Clem 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1943-07-11 Western Kentucky
F/C 42 Hawkins, Connie 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1942-07-17 Iowa
G 1 Layton, Dennis 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1948-12-24 Southern California
F/C 34 Moore, Otto 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1946-08-27 Texas-Pan Am
G 33 Scott, Charlie 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1948-12-15 North Carolina
F 29 Silas, Paul 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1943-07-12 Creighton
G/F 5 Van Arsdale, Dick 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1943-02-22 Indiana
C 41 Walk, Neal 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1948-07-29 Florida
G 10 Webb, Jeff 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1948-07-06 Kansas State
G/F 25 Wetzel, John  6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1944-10-22 Virginia Tech
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

Standings
Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks 6319.768–31–527–125–213–5
x-Chicago Bulls 5725.695629–1226–122–112–6
Phoenix Suns 4933.5981430–1119–200–27–11
Detroit Pistons 2656.3173716–259–301–14–14
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT
1 z-Los Angeles Lakers6913.841
2 y-Milwaukee Bucks6319.768
3 x-Chicago Bulls5725.695
4 x-Golden State Warriors5131.622
5 Phoenix Suns4933.598
6 Seattle SuperSonics4735.573
7 Houston Rockets3448.415
8 Detroit Pistons2656.317
9 Portland Trail Blazers1864.220

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—

Game log
1971–72 game log
Total: 49–33 (Home: 30–11; Road: 19–22)
October: 3–4 (Home: 2–3; Road: 1–1)
November: 8–7 (Home: 4–0; Road: 4–7)
December: 11–5 (Home: 7–3; Road: 4–2)
January: 9–8 (Home: 5–3; Road: 4–5)
February: 11–5 (Home: 7–1; Road: 4–4)
March: 7–4 (Home: 5–1; Road: 2–3)
1971–72 schedule

Team-by-team results
Opponent Home Road Total All-time record Suns leading scorer Opp. leading scorer
Atlanta Hawks 2–1 0–2 2–3 10–12 (.455%) Connie Hawkins (21.2) Lou Hudson (26.8)
Baltimore Bullets 1–2 0–2 1–4 6–16 (.273%) Dick Van Arsdale (23.6) Archie Clark (24.6)
Boston Celtics 3–0 0–2 3–2 10–12 (.455%) Connie Hawkins (28.2) John Havlicek (27.2)
Buffalo Braves 2–0 2–0 4–0 7–1 (.875%) Connie Hawkins (20.3) Walt Hazzard (19.3)
Chicago Bulls 0–3 1–2 1–5 8–17 (.320%) Paul Silas (19.8) Bob Love (26.7)
Cincinnati Royals 2–0 1–2 3–2 12–10 (.545%) Dick Van Arsdale (23.6) Tom Van Arsdale (23.4)
Cleveland Cavaliers 2–0 2–0 4–0 8–0 (1.000%) Dick Van Arsdale (21.0) John Johnson (17.3)
Detroit Pistons 2–1 2–1 4–2 13–11 (.542%) Connie Hawkins (20.3) Bob Lanier (25.7)
Golden State Warriors 2–0 1–2 3–2 11–11 (.500%) Clem Haskins (18.6) Nate Thurmond (23.6)
Houston Rockets 1–1 2–0 3–1 13–12 (.520%) Dick Van Arsdale (19.8) Elvin Hayes (24.0)
Los Angeles Lakers 2–1 0–3 2–4 10–15 (.400%) Dick Van Arsdale (21.2) Gail Goodrich (28.3)
Milwaukee Bucks 1–2 1–2 2–4 6–20 (.231%) Connie Hawkins (28.2) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (37.8)
New York Knicks 2–0 2–1 4–1 6–16 (.273%) Connie Hawkins (24.6) Walt Frazier (23.4)
Philadelphia 76ers 3–0 1–1 4–1 9–13 (.409%) Connie Hawkins (22.0) Bob Rule (21.7)
Portland Trail Blazers 3–0 3–0 6–0 10–0 (1.000%) Connie Hawkins (22.2) Sidney Wicks (25.8)
Seattle SuperSonics 2–0 1–2 3–2 13–10 (.565%) Connie Hawkins (23.4) Spencer Haywood (29.8)

Awards and honors

All-Star
  • Connie Hawkins was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his third consecutive All-Star selection.
  • Paul Silas was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his first All-Star selection.

Season
  • Paul Silas was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team.

Player statistics
Legend
  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

Season
Player GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
Mel Counts7611.9.427.7213.41.35.2
Lamar Green6714.8.446.7335.20.75.0
Art Harris216.9.329.4290.60.92.6
Clem Haskins7931.1.483.853^3.43.715.7
Connie Hawkins7636.8.459.8078.33.921.0
Mo Layton8023.1.424.7392.13.19.1
Otto Moore8120.0.436.6036.71.17.6
Charlie Scott*629.5.425.8103.84.318.8
Paul Silas8038.5.470.77311.94.317.5
Fred Taylor*135.3.222.3081.30.51.2
Dick Van Arsdale8237.8.463.845^4.13.619.7
Neal Walk8126.4.479.7448.21.915.7
Jeff Webb*274.8.477.5000.60.62.5
John Wetzel518.2.378.8001.31.11.7

* – Stats with the Suns.
^ – Minimum 350 free throw attempts.

Transactions

Trades
April 2, 1971
 To Detroit Pistons---- To Phoenix Suns----
August 13, 1971
 To Cleveland Cavaliers---- To Phoenix Suns----
December 27, 1971
 To Cincinnati Royals---- To Phoenix Suns----
March 14, 1971
 To Boston Celtics----
  • Future considerations
  • Cash considerations
    ( Paul Silas was sent to Boston in September to complete trade)
 To Phoenix Suns----

Free agents
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