1970–71 Phoenix Suns season

The 1970–71 Phoenix Suns season was the third season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. Head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons lead the Suns, in the NBA's first season which separated the teams into both conferences and divisions as the league continued to gain more teams. It was the first season the Suns would be without the services of All-Star guard Gail Goodrich. With a 48–34 record (fourth best in the league), the Suns set the NBA record for the team with the best winning percentage not to make the playoffs. The team would break their own record the next year with a 49–33 finish. All home games were played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

1970–71 Phoenix Suns season
Head coachCotton Fitzsimmons
General managerJerry Colangelo
OwnersRichard Bloch
ArenaArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record48–34 (.585)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Midwest)
Conference: 5th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
RadioKTAR

The Suns were led in scoring by Dick Van Arsdale with 21.9 points per game. Connie Hawkins finished the season averaging 20.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest. Paul Silas led the Suns with 12.5 rebounds per game, the highest-ever average in Suns history, while Neal Walk garnered 8.2 rebounds to go with his 12.9 points a game.

Goodrich, a native of Los Angeles and who played college ball at UCLA, was traded before the season back to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he had played before being acquired in the expansion draft of 1968. In exchange, the Suns obtained the 29-year-old 7-footer Mel Counts, who was coming off a career-high 12.6 average in points. Goodrich would go on to play nine more seasons in the NBA, six of those with the Lakers. During those six years, he would average 22.3 points per game, appear in four All-Star Games and be named to an All-NBA First Team. Meanwhile, Counts averaged 11 points and 6.3 rebounds in his first of two seasons with the Suns.

Offseason

NBA Draft
Main article: 1970 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 10 Greg Howard Forward  United States New Mexico
2 27 Fred Taylor Guard  United States Texas-Pan Am
3 29 Joe DePre Guard  United States St. John's
3 44 Greg McDivitt Forward  United States Ohio
3 48 Vann Williford Forward  United States North Carolina State
4 61 Bob Lienhard Center  United States Georgia
5 78 John Canine Guard  United States Ohio
6 95 Joe Thomas Forward  United States Marquette
7 112 Heyward Dotson Guard  United States Columbia
8 129 Steve Patterson Center  United States UCLA
9 146 Carl Ashley Forward  United States Wyoming
10 163 Gerhardus Schreur Forward  United States Arizona State
11 178 Jim Walls Guard  United States Clark
12 190 Ric Cobb Center  United States Marquette
13 200 Fred Carpenter Forward  United States Hawaii
14 210 Chad Calabria Guard  United States Iowa
15 219 Walt Williams Forward  United States Miami (Ohio)

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
F 44 Howard, Greg 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1948-01-08 New Mexico
F 29 Silas, Paul 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1943-07-12 Creighton
G 10 Taylor, Fred 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1948-02-05 Texas-Pan Am
F 40 Thomas, Joe 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1948-03-09 Marquette
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/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 6616.805–34–228–134–114–4
x-Chicago Bulls 5131.6221530–1117–194–17–11
Phoenix Suns 4834.5851827–1419–202–09–9
Detroit Pistons 4537.5492124–1720–191–16–12
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT
1 z-Milwaukee Bucks6616.805
2 y-Los Angeles Lakers4834.585
3 x-Chicago Bulls5131.622
4 x-San Francisco Warriors4141.500
5 Phoenix Suns4834.585
6 Detroit Pistons4537.549
7 San Diego Rockets4042.488
8 Seattle SuperSonics3844.463
9 Portland Trail Blazers2953.354

Record vs. opponents
1970–71 NBA records
Team ATL BAL BOS BUF CHI CIN CLE DET LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO POR SDR SFW SEA
Atlanta —3–32–43–11–42–44–00–53–21–43–34–21–42–22–32–33–2
Baltimore 3–3—3–33–12–33–34–02–32–31–42–43–33–22–24–12–33–2
Boston 4–23–3—4–04–14–23–12–33–20–50–64–22–32–23–23–23–2
Buffalo 1–31–30–4—0–40–45–71–52–20–42–20–41–36–61–31–31–3
Chicago 4–13–21–44–0—4–04–03–32–41–53–23–23–33–16–04–23–2
Cincinnati 4–23–32–44–00–4—5–11–41–41–42–41–51–44–01–32–31–4
Cleveland 0–40–41–37–50–41–5—2–20–40–40–41–30–42–100–41–30–4
Detroit 5–03–23–25–13–34–12–2—2–31–52–32–32–43–14–21–43–1
Los Angeles 2–33–22–32–24–24–14–03–2—1–43–23–22–44–03–34–24–2
Milwaukee 4–14–15–04–05–14–14–05–14–1—1–44–14–23–14–16–05–1
New York 3–34–26–02–22–34–24–03–22–34–1—2–44–13–14–13–22–3
Philadelphia 2–43–32–44–02–35–13–13–22–31–44–2—3–24–03–23–23–2
Phoenix 4–12–33–23–13–34–14–04–24–22–41–42–3—4–02–43–23–2
Portland 2–22–22–26–61–30–410–21–30–41–31–30–40–4—0–41–32–4
San Diego 3–21–42–33–10–63–14–02–43–31–41–42–34–24–0—2–45–1
San Francisco 3–23–22–33–12–43–23–14–12–40–62–32–32–33–14–2—3–3
Seattle 2–32–32–33–12–34–14–01–32–41–53–22–32–34–21–53–3—

Game log
1970–71 game log
Total: 48–34 (Home: 27–14; Road: 21–20)
October: 3–6 (Home: 3–2; Road: 0–4)
November: 11–6 (Home: 5–1; Road: 6–5)
December: 9–7 (Home: 7–4; Road: 2–3)
January: 11–4 (Home: 7–2; Road: 4–2)
February: 9–4 (Home: 3–2; Road: 6–2)
March: 5–7 (Home: 2–3; Road: 3–4)
1970–71 schedule

Team-by-team results
Opponent Home Road Total All-time record Suns leading scorer Opp. leading scorer
Atlanta Hawks 2–0 2–1 4–1 8–9 (.471%) Dick Van Arsdale (21.8) Lou Hudson (26.0)
Baltimore Bullets 1–1 1–2 2–3 5–12 (.294%) Dick Van Arsdale (21.8) Earl Monroe (26.0)
Boston Celtics 2–0 1–2 3–2 7–10 (.412%) Dick Van Arsdale (24.4) John Havlicek (32.0)
Buffalo Braves 2–0 1–1 3–1 3–1 (.750%) Dick Van Arsdale (22.5) Don May (20.0)
Chicago Bulls 2–1 1–2 3–3 7–12 (.368%) Connie Hawkins (21.8) Bob Love (25.2)
Cincinnati Royals 2–1 2–0 4–1 9–8 (.529%) Clem Haskins (27.2) Tom Van Arsdale (20.0)
Cleveland Cavaliers 2–0 2–0 4–0 4–0 (1.000%) Dick Van Arsdale (23.0) John Johnson (15.3)
Detroit Pistons 2–1 2–1 4–2 9–9 (.500%) Dick Van Arsdale (25.3) Dave Bing (28.3)
Los Angeles Lakers 2–1 2–1 4–2 8–11 (.421%) Dick Van Arsdale (19.7) Jerry West (28.8)
Milwaukee Bucks 1–2 1–2 2–4 4–16 (.200%) Connie Hawkins (24.0) Lew Alcindor (37.2)
New York Knicks 1–2 0–2 1–4 2–15 (.118%) Dick Van Arsdale (22.8) Dick Barnett (19.8)
Philadelphia 76ers 0–2 2–1 2–3 5–12 (.294%) Connie Hawkins (26.8) Billy Cunningham (29.6)
Portland Trail Blazers 2–0 2–0 4–0 4–0 (1.000%) Dick Van Arsdale (28.5) Geoff Petrie (27.5)
San Diego Rockets 2–1 0–3 2–4 10–11 (.476%) Connie Hawkins (20.8) Elvin Hayes (31.3)
San Francisco Warriors 1–2 2–0 3–2 8–9 (.471%) Connie Hawkins (24.7) Jerry Lucas (24.6)
Seattle SuperSonics 3–0 0–2 3–2 10–8 (.556%) Dick Van Arsdale (23.8) Dick Snyder (17.8)

Awards and honors

All-Star

Season

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 Counts8020.9.457.7536.31.711.0
Lamar Green6819.5.453.6046.90.85.9
Art Harris5617.0.411.6111.82.48.3
Clem Haskins8233.7.440.7844.04.717.8
Connie Hawkins7137.5.434.816^9.14.520.9
Greg Howard449.7.393.6382.70.63.9
Paul Silas8136.3.428.68512.53.011.9
Fred Taylor5410.2.387.6241.60.95.5
Joe Thomas395.2.267.4501.10.41.4
Dick Van Arsdale8139.0.452.8113.94.121.9
Neal Walk8224.8.451.7658.21.412.9
John Wetzel7015.6.431.822^2.21.64.7

^ – Minimum 350 free throw attempts.

Transactions

Trades
April 23, 1970
 To Chicago Bulls---- To Phoenix Suns----
May 20, 1970
 To Los Angeles Lakers---- To Phoenix Suns----
July 8, 1970
 To New York Knicks----
  • Heywood Dotson
 To Phoenix Suns----

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.