Wikiwand AI

1971–72 Indiana Pacers season

ABA basketball team season (won ABA championship) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1971–72 Indiana Pacers season was the fifth season of the franchise while out in the American Basketball Association. The Pacers would end their season with a worse record when compared to their previous season with an eleven-game decrease in wins. However, Indiana still finished the season with a second-place finish in the Western Division (behind only the defending champion Utah Stars) before winning their second ABA title in three years. In the division semifinals, the Pacers required all seven games played in order to eliminate the Denver Rockets, who finished their season with a 34–50 record. Then, in the Western Division Finals, the Utah Stars were eliminated in seven games, getting revenge on the Stars for the division finals loss they had to them last season. Finally, the New York Nets appeared in the ABA Finals championship series for the first time in franchise history, thought the Nets were defeated by the Pacers in six games in the only series the Pacers didn't take to seven games this season. This would lead to the Pacers winning their second championship in three years, as well as their third ABA Finals appearance in four years after missing out on playing in the 1971 ABA Finals.

Head coachBobby Leonard
ArenaIndiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum
Record47–37 (.560)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Western)
Quick facts Indiana Pacers season, Head coach ...
1971–72 Indiana Pacers season
ABA champions
Head coachBobby Leonard
ArenaIndiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum
Results
Record47–37 (.560)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finishABA Champions
(Defeated Nets 4–2)
Stats at Basketball Reference
< 1970–71 1972–73 >
Close

Offseason

ABA Draft

Main article: 1971 ABA draft

This draft was the first ABA draft to have a properly recorded historical note of every round in their draft available.

More information Round, Pick ...
Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College
2 18 Darnell Hillman PF/C United States United States San Jose State
3 24 John Mengelt SG United States United States Auburn
4 42 Jim Cleamons PG/SG United States United States Ohio State
5 53 Clarence Glover SF United States United States Western Kentucky
6 64 Jeff Halliburton SG United States United States Drake
7 75 Dean Meminger PG United States United States Marquette
8 86 Vic Bartolome G United States United States UCLA
9 97 Tom Crosswhite F United States United States Dayton
10 108 Larry Weatherford G United States United States Purdue
11 119 Jim England G United States United States Tennessee
12 129 Jeff Smith F United States United States New Mexico State
13 138 Rick Katherman F United States United States Duke
14 147 Clarence Smith F United States United States Villanova
15 156 Rich Walker G United States United States Bowling Green State
16 164 Tom Bush C United States United States Drake
17 172 Jim Irving G United States United States Saint Louis
18 179 Bob Bissant G United States United States Loyola University (New Orleans)
19 185 Rudy Benjamin G United States United States Michigan State
20 190 Slick Pinkham PG United States United States DePauw
Close

This draft was notable for Indiana due to the Pacers using the final selection that was done in this draft to select a gag name portmanteau player from DePauw University named "Slick Pinkham", who was actually a made-up individual that was a combination of head coach Bobby "Slick" Leonard and Dick Tinkham (the latter of whom actually attended DePauw University and even played basketball for them) to essentially prank the entire American Basketball Association for that specific draft. Their draft period was also notable for them acquiring power forward George McGinnis, a junior from Indiana University as an undrafted prospect; McGinnis would prove to be a key player for the Pacers during the early 1970s while in the ABA, to the point of being one of four Pacers players to have his number retired with the team as of 2025 (and one of three Pacers players to have their number retired while playing in the ABA alongside former Minnesota Muskies draft pick Mel Daniels and Roger Brown, who had previously been banned from the NBA due to perceived involvement in the 1961 NCAA University Division men's basketball gambling scandal).

Roster

More information Players, Coaches ...
1971–72 Indiana Pacers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
SG 15 John Barnhill 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) March 20, 1938 Tennessee State
SF 35 Roger Brown 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) May 22, 1942 Dayton
SG 33 Larry Cannon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) April 12, 1947 La Salle
SF 22 Wayne Chapman 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) June 15, 1945 Western Kentucky
C 34 Mel Daniels 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) July 20, 1944 New Mexico
PF 20 Darnell Hillman 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) August 29, 1949 San José State
SG 11 Billy Keller 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 177 lb (80 kg) August 30, 1947 Purdue
G 15 Arvesta Kelly 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) November 20, 1945 Lincoln (MO)
PG 14 Freddie Lewis 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) July 1, 1943 Arizona State
PF 30 George McGinnis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) August 12, 1950 Indiana
SG 10 Rick Mount 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) January 5, 1947 Purdue
PF 24 Bob Netolicky 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) August 2, 1942 Drake
G 15 Mike Price 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) September 11, 1948 Illinois
PF 33 Don Sidle 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) June 21, 1946 Oklahoma
G 12 Marv Winkler 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 164 lb (74 kg) February 18, 1948 Louisiana
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster

Close

Regular season

ABA Schedule

GameDateOpponentResultPacers pointsOpponentsRecord
1
2

[1]

Season standings

More information Western Division, W ...
1971–72 ABA Western Standings
Western DivisionWLPCT.GB
Utah Stars6024.714–
Indiana Pacers4737.56013
Dallas Chaparrals4242.50018
Denver Rockets3450.40526
Memphis Pros2658.31034
Close

[2]

Player stats

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Regular season

More information Player, GP ...
Player GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% TRB APG PPG
Roger Brown7838.3.478.308.8056.43.918.5
Mel Daniels7937.6.505.000.70316.42.219.2
Freddie Lewis7735.2.428.310.8614.24.715.4
Bob Netolicky8335.0.479.211.7249.21.015.1
George McGinnis7329.8.465.158.6459.71.916.9
Rick Mount7827.3.443.317.8282.02.914.3
Billy Keller7622.8.426.331.8792.23.59.7
Darnell Hillman7319.0.488.200.6446.50.77.1
Larry Cannon2817.1.383.167.7181.22.66.6
Don Sidle2714.6.503.000.6333.50.46.5
Wayne Chapman710.9.389.500.5000.71.62.6
Arvesta Kelly410.3.3331.80.51.5
John Barnhill1910.2.322.114.5331.00.83.6
Marv Winkler207.8278.500.5710.80.62.0
Mike Price46.3.3331.30.31.5
Close

[3]

ABA Playoffs

ABA Western Division Semifinals vs. Denver Rockets[4]

GameDateLocationScoreRecordAttendance
1March 31Indiana102–951–06,103
2April 1Indiana105–1061–16,521
3April 4Denver122–1202–15,304
4April 6Denver96–1122–26,109
5April 8Indiana91–793–29,428
6April 9Denver99–1063–35,815
7April 13Indiana91–894–38,643

Pacers won series, 4–3

ABA Western Division Finals vs. Utah Stars

GameDateLocationScoreRecordAttendance
1April 15Utah100–1080–19,854
2April 17Utah109–1170–211,780
3April 19Indiana116–1111–27,489
4April 22Indiana118–1082–213,007
5April 24Utah130–1392–312,526
6April 26Indiana105–993–38,103
7May 1Utah117–1134–312,724

Pacers won series, 4–3

ABA Finals vs. New York Nets

GameDateLocationScoreRecordAttendance
1May 6Indiana124–1031–07,483
2May 9Indiana115–1171–110,079
3May 12New York114–1082–115,241
4May 15New York105–1102–215,890
5May 18Indiana100–993–210,079
6May 20New York108–1054–210,434

Pacers won series, 4–2

Awards, records, and honors

References

External links

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks