by grumpyd

[Side note: I'd like to mention the following who helped fill in the details of my spotty memory: Lenny Wilkens' book, "Unguarded," and Spencer Haywood's two books.]

The 1971-72 Seattle SuperSonics were a team filled with stars, and when healthy they played like it, carrying the team to its best record yet, 47-35 -- their first winning record, in fact. The turmoil of the previous season was over, and dreams of the NBA playoffs seemed, for the first time, capable of coming true.

We fans sensed the potential of this team, and attendance hit a record high of nearly 12,000 per game, not far from the Coliseum's capacity of 14,000.

The Lineup:

Additions to the team included first-round pick "Downtown" Freddy Brown, and in the 2nd-round, a former ABA All-Star, 7-0 Jim McDaniels, who signed a contract as big as Haywood's. Brown was an amazing shooter -- from all over the court, not just from outside. And though he looked overweight, that didn't stop him from scoring. McDaniels was reed-thin but had averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds in his rookie year in the ABA; he had nifty inside moves and a good outside shot for a big man. In addition, the main players from the previous season were back, including Bob Rule, Lenny Wilkens, Dick Snyder, Pete Cross, Lee Winfield, Gar Heard, and Spencer Haywood.

Rod Thorn retired as a player and became assistant coach under Lenny Wilkens. Tom Meschery retired as well.

Center: Bob Rule played the first sixteen games of the season and averaged only 15 minutes per game. Though his achilles tendon had improved, he had reported out of shape, as usual, and now his mobility suffered. After 16 games he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for draft picks. That season in Philadelphia he averaged 17 points and 8 rebounds.

Center: Another high-paid star, 7-0 Jim McDaniels, proved to be an immediate bust at center. Seattle went to court and fought to get McDaniels out of his ABA contract just as they had for Haywood. Once again, they were successful, and McDaniels joined them in mid-season. But they shouldn't have bothered. Though he moved very well for a big man, he showed little enthusiasm in rebounding and playing defense. He seemed happy just to collect his paycheck. Like Rule, he reported out of shape -- but stick-thin rather than fat -- and proved too feeble to play in the NBA. He managed to stay healthy enough to play in only 12 games that season, averaging 9.4 points and 7 rebounds in 20 minutes. But the Sonics had invested too much in him and kept him for three seasons.

Starting Center/Forward: Zaid Abdul-Aziz (formerly Don Smith) played center when he was healthy; however, he missed 24 games due to injuries. When he did play, he was productive, and averaged 14 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 2 assists in 30 minutes per game. The 6-9, 235 pounder was a good defensive player for his size.

Center/Forward: Pete Cross, 6-9 and 240, played fewer minutes than in his rookie season, owing to the relative health of Abdul-Aziz and Haywood. In 20 minutes per game he averaged 5.5 points and 7 rebounds.

Starting Power Forward: 21 year old Spencer Haywood, at 6-9, spent part of his time at center and part at a more natural power forward position. Haywood's defense has, historically, been trashed. But in the 1971-72 season he was a force: he had gained 15 pounds of muscle over the summer, up to 230; he blocked shots (they did not keep stats for blocks until the 73-74 season; he claims to have blocked 4 or 5 shots per game in the first half of the season; the few times I saw him play that season, I remember him getting lots of blocks too); he put into practice the defensive tricks that Tom Meschery had taught him; and, he was strong and quick. Offensively, Haywood was phenomenal. He had always played center, but as a forward he learned to share the ball a little more. Largely he was a one on one player with great moves toward the basket, and he loved to drive past big men and dare them to block his shot. Since he was an excellent finisher, few of his shots were blocked. But there were weaknesses as well. His outside shot was decent, but wasn't feared. He was still learning to move without the ball. Perhaps his biggest weakness was his temper: bad calls would get him into a Rasheed Wallace-type rage; not getting the ball enough would lead him to sulk and stop exerting himself on both ends of the court. Calm Lenny Wilkens, helped, as did Rod Thorn, but Spencer found it hard to stay cool, and almost as hard not to be a one man team. Yet the other Sonics did not just stand around while he had the ball. They moved, rebounded, called for the ball, and got back on defense. Unfortunately, Spencer missed the last 9 games of the season with a knee injury. Haywood averaged 26.2 points (4th in the league), 12.7 rebounds, and 2 assists per game that season. That year he was named to the All-NBA 1st team, was a starter in the All Star game, and was 5th in the voting for league MVP. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averaged better than 26 points and 12.7 rebounds per game that season.

Starting Small Forward: Dick Snyder remained a solid offensive threat. Because of injury problems to the frontline, the 6-5 player started at forward rather than at guard. He maintained his great shooting (4th best in the league at 52.9% field goals, 84.2% free throws). Though he was not a long-range threat (he favored mid-range jumpers), Snyder's shooting nonetheless limited rookie Fred Brown's minutes. Snyder averaged 16.6 points, 3 rebounds and nearly 4 assists per game. One reason his assists were relatively high for a shooter was that he was selective -- too selective in my book -- and often passed up a fair shot that most others would have tried.

Forward: Gar Heard, in his second year, was seeing more minutes because of his defense, but like the others, had his share of injury problems. He played in only 58 games, saw 25 minutes per contest, and produced 8 points, 7.6 rebounds, and about one assist. His shooting improved from his rookie year, but was still poor at 40.1%.

Small Forward: Barry Clemens, in his 3rd year as a Sonic and his 7th year as a pro, contributed 7 points and 3.5 rebounds. More impressively, he had career bests in field goal percentage (52.1%) and free throw percentage (84.4%).

Starting Shooting Guard: Don Kojis provided a physical presence at guard, which helped the Sonic defense against stronger guards in the league. He shared guard duties with small, quick, Lee Winfield. In 26 minutes per game, he averaged 11.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and one assist per game. Despite being only 6-3, Kojis enjoyed mixing it up inside, and had a few tricks for shooting inside against bigger players -- in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that's where Fred Brown learned how to shoot around big men near the basket. On the down side, Kojis was not a very good passer.

Starting Point Guard: Lenny Wilkens was in his 12th season, his 4th as a Sonic player and his 3rd as head coach. Because of the presence of Snyder and Haywood, there was less need for Lenny to score. Unfortunately, people viewed that as evidence that his game was declining, despite the fact that he was better conditioned than most of the younger players. He averaged 18 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 9.6 assists per game (he was second in the league in assists.) For the first time in many years, Wilkens was not in the All Star game.

Guard: Lee Winfield, now in his third year, used his quickness to drive inside and keep defenses from focusing just on Haywood inside or on Wilkens and Snyder outside. He played at both shooting guard and point guard positions. He scored 10.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in about 25 minutes per game. He shot 49.6% from the field.

Guard: Fred Brown, who of course would in later years become a Sonic legend, played in only 33 games that season and averaged only 11 minutes of playing time. The 6-3, 185 pound guard shot poorly, scored little, and generally struggled.

Overall the Sonics proved to be a versatile team, featuring a potent inside game with Haywood, McDaniels, and Abdul-Aziz, a great jump shooter in Snyder, and quick penetrators in Winfield and Wilkens. On defense, they could be tough (Cross, Abdul-Aziz, Haywood, Snyder and Kojis) and they could be lightning quick (Wilkens, Winfield, Heard, McDaniels and Haywood).

The only matchup problems came against tall dominant centers like Chamberlain and Abdul Jabbar. The Sonics, except for the frail McDaniels, remained height-depleted.

Season Highlights and Lowlights:

The Sonics started the season winning seven of their first nine games, including a victory over the Lakers, who won the championship that year with a phenomenal record (69-13). Though L.A. had Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Gail Goodrich, their strength was team play; Chamberlain often held back on offense to help the other players get involved, and in this game the Sonics defended the rest of the Lakers quite well.

By the time Seattle was 10-6, Bob Rule's frustration at his lack of playing time ended in a trade to Philadelphia. The Sonics did fine without him; though they had several losing streaks, they also had their share of winning streaks.

In late February, the Sonics were riding high with a 43-26 record, and were in a close race with Golden State for second place in the division. Then, in an overtime win over the Baltimore Bullets (now the Washington Wizards), Zaid Abdul-Aziz hurt his ankle and was out for the rest of the season. Spencer Haywood was forced to spend more time at center.

Even so, the Sonics went 3-1 over the next four games, to 46-27. Unfortunately, their one loss was to Golden State, giving the Warriors the advantage in the season series. The Sonics would have to stay hot to win second in the Pacific. Instead, the season turned into a nightmare.

The Coliseum had been notorious for its leaks; I remember seeing buckets propped up by ballboys to catch the rain between plays on rainy days. Although owner Sam Schulman continued to press the city to fix the roof, it seemed as if each "repair" job led to another leak. Then, in the 5th game since Abdul-Aziz had been hurt, Spencer Haywood slipped in a rain puddle on the court and severely hurt his knee. He was out for the rest of the season. When he returned the next season, he would continue to be a great player, but he would never block shots like he had that season. Perhaps his knee injury had something to do with the city's negligence.

To make things worse, Dick Snyder was injured in the same game. He too would miss the rest of the season. Suddenly Seattle was without three of its starters. The team was now featuring Pete Cross, Gar Heard, Don Kojis, Lee Winfield, and Lenny Wilkens -- hardly the stuff that opponent's nightmares are made of.

Not surprisingly, Seattle went 1-8 the remainder of the season, including two losses to Bob Rule and the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Sonics finished the season 47-35, while Golden State finished 51-31. Unfortunately, the Sonics did not even make the playoffs.

In 1971-72, only 4 teams from each conference made the playoffs; although 8 out of 17 teams doesn't sound bad, in this year it was. Phoenix, at 49-33, also missed the playoffs, the reason being that the West was by far the stronger conference. Only two teams in the East had winning records -- Boston (56-26) and New York (48-34). So Baltimore (38-44) and Atlanta (36-46) made the playoffs, while the Suns and Sonics did not. It seemed so unfair!

Not that the Sonics would have done much; if they had beaten the Warriors' record, they would have faced the defending NBA champion Milawaukee Bucks in the first round. The Bucks had swept the season series against Seattle 6-0. And the Sonics were without three starters....
But it would have been great to see them anyway.

Side Notes:

In the regular season, the Sonics played well against some very good teams. They tied Boston 3-3 in the season series (Havlicek, Cowens, Jo Jo White.) And they won the season series 3-2 against Chicago (57-25), who featured Bob Love, Chet Walker, Jerry Sloan, and Norm Van Lier -- a great defensive team.

The Sonics' offense was decent, scoring 109.2 points per game, just under the league average of 110. They shot 46.4%, 3rd best in the league. And for the first time in team history, due to the added help of Abdul- Aziz, Cross, Heard, Haywood, and others, they played good defense. They allowed 108.8 points per game (7th best in the league) and only 45.1% shooting (6th best in the league.)

The Sonics went 28-12 at home and were 18-22 on the road -- much improved from previous years. On neutral courts they were 1-1.

After Haywood's injury, Schulman sued the city of Seattle for not keeping proper repairs on the Coliseum. By the end of the decade the Sonics would escape the rain puddles of the Coliseum (which was located near the Space Needle) and move to the cavernous but dry Kingdome.

Here's a review of some games against the Lakers, which I came across in the book, "The Fanulous Lakers," by Merv Harris, published in 1972 after the Lakers won the title.

Seattle's 115-106 win against the Lakers came on October 30, 1971. Jerry West was out with injuries (he not only had long-lasting knee problems; he also seemed to break his nose about every couple months.) After this game the Sonics led the Pacific Division for a few days, when the Lakers' 33-game winning streak started.

November 12, 1971: The Lakers beat the Sonics 115-107. Lenny Wilkens fouled out early in the 3rd quarter. Haywood was shut down in the last 4 minutes by sub LeRoy Ellis, while West & Goodrich turned up the pressure and forced several turnovers from the Sonics' ballhandlers, Snyder, Kojis, and Winfield. Seattle shot miserably, as the Laker guards forced the Sonic offense to go inside, where Chamberlain forced them to put up bad shots. It was the 6th win in a row for the Lakers. West had 28 points, while Goodrich & Jim McMillian had 27 points each; Chamberlain had 22 rebounds.

November 25, 1971: Lakers win 139-115. West was shut down by Kojis and Winfield, and scored only 13 points, but had 11 assists. Chamberlain had 15 rebounds and 10 blocks; again that nasty perimeter defense forced the Sonics inside to make bad shots against Chamberlain.

November 28, 1971: Lakers win 138-121, the Lakers' 14th straight win.

December 30. 1971: Lakers win 122-106, the Lakers' 28th straight win.