1971–72 Phoenix Suns season

1971–72 Phoenix Suns season
Head coach	Cotton Fitzsimmons
General manager	Jerry Colangelo
Owner(s)	Richard Bloch
Arena	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	49–33 (.598)
Place	Division: 3rd (Midwest) Conference: 5th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	KTAR

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.

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

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Nat.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB (Y-M-D)	From
6.0 !C	31	USA !	Counts, Mel	7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1941-10-16	Oregon State
4.0 !F	16	USA !	Green, Lamar	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1947-03-22	Morehead State
1.5 !G	23	USA !	Harris, Art	7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1947-01-13	Stanford
1.5 !G	11	USA !	Haskins, Clem	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1943-07-11	Western Kentucky
5.5 !F/C	42	USA !	Hawkins, Connie	7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1942-07-17	Iowa
1.5 !G	1	USA !	Layton, Dennis	7000185420000000000♠6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1948-12-24	Southern California
5.5 !F/C	34	USA !	Moore, Otto	7000210820000000000♠6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1946-08-27	Texas-Pan Am
1.5 !G	33	USA !	Scott, Charlie	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1948-12-15	North Carolina
4.0 !F	29	USA !	Silas, Paul	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1943-07-12	Creighton
2.5 !G/F	5	USA !	Van Arsdale, Dick	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1943-02-22	Indiana
6.0 !C	41	USA !	Walk, Neal	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1948-07-29	Florida
1.5 !G	10	USA !	Webb, Jeff	7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1948-07-06	Kansas State
2.5 !G/F	25	USA !	Wetzel, John	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1944-10-22	Virginia Tech

Head coach

Cotton Fitzsimmons (Midwestern St.)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Neal Walk	Mel Counts
PF	Connie Hawkins	Otto Moore
SF	Paul Silas	Lamar Green		John Wetzel
SG	Dick Van Arsdale	Charlie Scott
PG	Clem Haskins	Mo Layton	Art Harris

Regular season

Standings

Midwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks	63	19	.768	–	31–5	27–12	5–2	13–5
x-Chicago Bulls	57	25	.695	6	29–12	26–12	2–1	12–6
Phoenix Suns	49	33	.598	14	30–11	19–20	0–2	7–11
Detroit Pistons	26	56	.317	37	16–25	9–30	1–1	4–14

#	Western Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT
1	z-Los Angeles Lakers	69	13	.841
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	63	19	.768
3	x-Chicago Bulls	57	25	.695
4	x-Golden State Warriors	51	31	.622

5	Phoenix Suns	49	33	.598
6	Seattle SuperSonics	47	35	.573
7	Houston Rockets	34	48	.415
8	Detroit Pistons	26	56	.317
9	Portland Trail Blazers	18	64	.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	—	2–4	0–4	4–2	0–5	3–3	4–2	3–2	3–2	1–4	0–5	2–3	3–1	3–3	3–2	4–0	1–4
Baltimore	4–2	—	2–2	3–3	1–4	4–2	1–5	3–2	1–4	3–2	1–4	0–5	2–4	4–0	4–1	3–1	2–3
Boston	4–0	2–2	—	6–0	3–2	4–2	5–1	5–0	2–3	5–0	1–4	2–3	3–3	6–0	2–3	4–0	2–3
Buffalo	2–4	3–3	0–6	—	1–3	3–3	4–2	2–4	1–3	0–4	0–4	0–4	1–5	3–3	0–4	2–4	0–4
Chicago	5–0	4–1	2–3	3–1	—	3–1	4–0	5–1	3–3	5–1	1–3	2–4	3–2	4–1	5–1	6–0	2–3
Cincinnati	3–3	2–4	2–4	3–3	1–3	—	6–2	2–3	2–3	0–4	1–4	0–5	2–2	2–2	2–3	2–2	0–5
Cleveland	2–4	5–1	1–5	2–4	0–4	2–6	—	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–3	0–4	1–5	2–4	0–4	4–2	0–4
Detroit	2–3	2–3	0–5	4–2	1–5	3–2	3–1	—	0–5	3–3	1–4	1–5	1–4	1–4	2–4	2–2	0–4
Golden State	2–3	4–1	3–2	3–1	3–3	3–2	4–0	5–0	—	5–1	1–5	2–2	2–3	4–1	2–3	4–2	4–2
Houston	4–1	2–3	0–5	4–0	1–5	4–0	2–2	3–3	1–5	—	1–5	0–5	0–5	4–1	1–3	4–2	3–3
Los Angeles	5–0	4–1	4–1	4–0	3–1	4–1	3–1	4–1	5–1	5–1	—	4–1	4–1	5–0	4–2	6–0	5–1
Milwaukee	3–2	5–0	3–2	4–0	4–2	5–0	4–0	5–1	2–2	5–0	1–4	—	2–3	4–1	4–2	6–0	6–0
New York	1–3	4–2	3–3	5–1	2–3	2–2	5–1	4–1	3–2	5–0	1–4	3–2	—	3–3	1–4	3–1	3–2
Philadelphia	3–3	0–4	0–6	3–3	1–4	2–2	4–2	4–1	1–4	1–4	0–5	1–4	3–3	—	1–4	2–2	4–1
Phoenix	2–3	1–4	3–2	4–0	1–5	3–2	4–0	4–2	3–2	3–1	2–4	2–4	4–1	4–1	—	6–0	3–2
Portland	0–4	1–3	0–4	4–2	0–6	2–2	2–4	2–2	2–4	2–4	0–6	0–6	1–3	2–2	0–6	—	0–6
Seattle	4–1	3–2	3–2	4–0	3–2	5–0	4–0	4–0	2–4	3–3	1–5	0–6	2–3	1–4	2–3	6–0	—

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 season 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
Counts, Mel !Mel Counts	76	11.9	.427	.721	3.4	1.3	5.2
Green, Lamar !Lamar Green	67	14.8	.446	.733	5.2	0.7	5.0
Harris, Art !Art Harris	21	6.9	.329	.429	0.6	0.9	2.6
Haskins, Clem !Clem Haskins	79	31.1	.483	.853^	3.4	3.7	15.7
Hawkins, Connie !Connie Hawkins	76	36.8	.459	.807	8.3	3.9	21.0
Layton, Mo !Mo Layton	80	23.1	.424	.739	2.1	3.1	9.1
Moore, Otto !Otto Moore	81	20.0	.436	.603	6.7	1.1	7.6
Scott, Charlie !Charlie Scott*	6	29.5	.425	.810	3.8	4.3	18.8
Silas, Paul !Paul Silas	80	38.5	.470	.773	11.9	4.3	17.5
Taylor, Fred !Fred Taylor*	13	5.3	.222	.308	1.3	0.5	1.2
Van Arsdale, Dick !Dick Van Arsdale	82	37.8	.463	.845^	4.1	3.6	19.7
Walk, Neal !Neal Walk	81	26.4	.479	.744	8.2	1.9	15.7
Webb, Jeff !Jeff Webb*	27	4.8	.477	.500	0.6	0.6	2.5
Wetzel, John !John Wetzel	51	8.2	.378	.800	1.3	1.1	1.7

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

Transactions

Trades

April 2, 1971	To Detroit Pistons---- 1972 first-round draft pick ( Bob Nash)	To Phoenix Suns---- Otto Moore
August 13, 1971	To Cleveland Cavaliers---- Greg Howard	To Phoenix Suns---- 1972 third-round draft pick ( Scott English) Future third-round draft pick
December 27, 1971	To Cincinnati Royals---- Fred Taylor	To Phoenix Suns---- 1973 third-round draft pick ( Joe Reaves)
March 14, 1971	To Boston Celtics---- Future considerations Cash considerations ( Paul Silas was sent to Boston in September to complete trade)	To Phoenix Suns---- Rights to Charlie Scott

Free agents

Additions

Date	Player	Contract	Former Team
January 4, 1972	Jeff Webb	Undisclosed	Milwaukee Bucks

Subtractions

Date	Player	Reason Left	New Team
September 21, 1971	Joe Thomas	Waived	n/a

References

Standings on Basketball Reference

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

1971–72 NBA season by team

Eastern

Atlantic	Boston Buffalo New York Philadelphia

Central	Atlanta Baltimore Cincinnati Cleveland

Western

Midwest	Chicago Detroit Milwaukee Phoenix

Pacific	Golden State Houston Los Angeles Portland Seattle

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