1972–73 Buffalo Braves season

Despite finishing with a worse record than their previous 2 seasons, their 21–61 record was good enough for 3rd place. The Braves showed improvement under new Coach Jack Ramsay. Rookie center Bob McAdoo provided the silver lining by winning the Rookie of the Year Award with 18.0 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per game.[1]

1972–73 Buffalo Braves season
Head coachJack Ramsay
ArenaBuffalo Memorial Auditorium
Maple Leaf Gardens
Results
Record21–61 (.256)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Atlantic)
Conference: 7th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWBEN-TV
RadioWBEN

During the fifth game of the season versus the Boston Celtics on October 20, 1972, the team set an NBA record which still stands for most points in a single quarter with 58, and still managed to lose 126-118.

Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 2 Bob McAdoo Forward  United States North Carolina
2 15 Harold Fox Guard  United States Jacksonville
3 32 Bob Morse Forward  United States Penn
4 49 George Bryant Guard  United States Eastern Kentucky
5 65 Arnie Berman Forward  United States Brown
6 82 Ed Czernota Center  United States Sacred Heart (Connecticut)
7 99 Greg Kohls Guard  United States Syracuse
8 115 Andy Denny Guard  United States South Alabama
9 131 John Collins Center  United States SUNY Brockport
11 158 Jim Prokell Guard  United States Edinboro (Pennsylvania)
12 167 Frank Dewitt Forward  United States Virginia
13 176 Kim Huband Forward  United States North Carolina
14 182 Greg Corson Center  United States North Carolina
15 189 Paul Hoffman Guard  United States St. Bonaventure
16 194 Norman Bounds Forward  United States SUNY Brockport

Roster
Buffalo Braves 1972-73 roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHt.Wt.From
G 7 Fox, Harold 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jacksonville
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
F 27 Hewitt, Bill 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Southern California
G 32 Hilton, Fred 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Grambling
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
G 5 Komives, Howard 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Bowling Green
F 11 McAdoo, Bob 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) North Carolina
C 3 Smith, Elmore 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Kentucky State
G 9 Smith, Randy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Buffalo State
C 35 Warner, Cornell 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jackson State
G 13 Wohl, Dave 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Pennsylvania
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster Notes
  • Center Cornell Warner and guard Walt Hazzard played in only 4 games and 9 games respectively before being waived in November.
  • Guard Harold Fox played in only 10 games before being waived in December.
  • Guard Dave Wohl came back to the franchise, now known as the Los Angeles Clippers, as an assistant coach from 1993–94 and as its general manager from 2014-17.

Regular season

Season standings
Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Boston Celtics 6814.829–33–632–83–018–4
x-New York Knicks 5725.6951135–621–181–116–6
Buffalo Braves 2161.2564714–276–311–38–14
Philadelphia 76ers 973.110595–262–362–112–20
# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT
1 z-Boston Celtics6814.829
2 x-New York Knicks5725.695
3 y-Baltimore Bullets5230.634
4 x-Atlanta Hawks4636.561
5 Houston Rockets3349.402
6 Cleveland Cavaliers3250.390
7 Buffalo Braves2161.256
8 Philadelphia 76ers973.110

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 —3–41–55–12–23–42–21–34–42–23–11–33–36–03–14–03–1
Baltimore 4–3—1–55–10–48–02–23–15–23–11–32–23–35–12–24–04–0
Boston 5–15–1—7–03–15–13–13–15–13–14–02–24–47–04–04–04–0
Buffalo 1–51–50–7—2–21–51–30–41–51–30–40–41–67–11–32–22–2
Chicago 2–24–01–32–2—3–13–43–34–05–21–52–43–14–04–25–15–1
Cleveland 4–30–81–55–11–3—1–31–34–32–21–31–30–66–01–31–33–1
Detroit 2–22–21–33–14–33–1—2–41–33–31–52–51–33–14–26–02–4
Golden State 3–11–31–34–03–33–14–2—3–14–23–41–52–24–02–45–14–3
Houston 4–42–51–55–10–43–43–11–3—0–41–31–31–55–12–22–22–2
Kansas City-Omaha 2–21–31–33–12–52–23–32–44–0—1–51–60–43–13–34–24–2
Los Angeles 1–33–10–44–05–13–15–14–33–15–1—3–32–24–06–16–06–0
Milwaukee 3–12–22–24–04–23–15–25–13–16–13–3—2–23–15–15–15–1
New York 3–33–34–46–11–36–03–12–25–14–02–22–2—6–13–13–14–0
Philadelphia 0–61–50–71–70–40–61–30–41–51–30–41–31–6—0–41–31–3
Phoenix 1–32–20–43–12–43–12–44–22–23–31–61–51–34–0—5–24–2
Portland 0–40–40–42–21–53–10–61–52–22–40–61–51–33–12–5—3–4
Seattle 1–30–40–42–21–51–34–23–42–22–40–61–50–43–12–44–3—

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 Kauffman7739.6.505.78011.15.117.5
Elmore Smith7637.2.482.55812.43.918.3
Bob McAdoo8032.0.452.7749.13.218.0
Randy Smith8231.7.443.7274.85.114.8
Dave Wohl5627.5.456.7901.64.68.8
John Hummer6623.4.444.5614.92.18.0
Dick Garrett7823.1.419.8732.72.810.0
Howard Komives6721.9.380.8671.83.66.1
Bill Hewitt7318.2.418.5545.01.54.7
Walt Hazzard914.9.417.5001.11.95.9
Fred Hilton5912.4.387.7741.71.37.2
Cornell Warner411.8.471.5003.81.54.3
Harold Fox108.4.375.8750.81.03.1

[2]

Awards and honors
  • Bob Kauffman, NBA All-Star
  • Bob McAdoo, NBA Rookie of the Year

Transactions

The Braves were involved in the following transactions during the 1972–73 season.

Coaching Change
Offseason
Outgoing coach Date Removed 1971-72 Record Incoming coach
Johnny McCarthy Fired, March 27, 1972 22-59 Jack Ramsay

Trades
September 29, 1972
 To Buffalo Braves
 To Detroit Pistons
  • 1973 2nd round draft pick

Free agents

References

  1. Buffalo Braves (1970–1978)
  2. https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BUF/1973.html
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