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1968–69 Denver Rockets season

{{short description|ABA professional basketball team season}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox NBA season

| team = Denver Rockets

| team_link = Denver Nuggets

| league = ABA

| end_year = 1969

| wins = 44

| losses = 34

| division = Western

| division_place = 3

| coach = Bob Bass

| arena = Denver Auditorium Arena

| television =

| radio =

| playoffs = ABA Western Division Semi-finals
(lost to Oaks 3–4)

| bbr_team = ROC

}}

The 1968–69 ABA season was the second season of the Denver Nuggets. They ended their season with one less win compared to last season, but ended up in the playoffs once again. Out of the 11 ABA teams that season the Rockets were ranked second in offensive rating.

Roster

{{NBA roster header|team=Denver Rockets |season=1968–69

| bg1 = #E13C32 | color1 = #FFFFFF

| bg2 = #000000| color2 =#E13C32

}}

{{player2 | num =40| first =Byron |last=Beck|pos=C|ft=6|in=9|lbs=225|DOB=January 25, 1945 |college=University of Denver}}

{{player2 |num=52|first=Larry |last=Bunce|pos=C|ft=7|in=0|lbs=240|DOB=July 29, 1945 |college=Utah State University}}

{{player2 |num=14|first=Jeffrey |last=Congdon|pos=PG|ft=6|in=1|lbs=180|DOB=October 17, 1943|college=Brigham Young University}}

{{player2 |num=12|first=John |last=Fairchild|pos=SF|ft=6|in=8|lbs=205|DOB=April 28, 1943 |college=Brigham Young University}}

{{player2 |num=22|first=Julian|last= Hammond|pos=SF|ft=6|in=5|lbs=205|DOB=May 27, 1943 |college=University of Tulsa}}

{{player2 |num=54|first=Wayne |last=Hightower|pos=PF|ft=6|in=8|lbs=192|DOB=January 14, 1940 |college=University of Kansas}}

{{player2 |num=32|first=Larry|last=Jones |dab=basketball|pos=PG|ft=6|in=2|lbs=180|DOB=September 22, 1942 |college=University of Toledo}}

{{player2 |num=24|first=Bill |last=McGill|pos=C|ft=6|in=9|lbs=225|DOB=September 16, 1939 |college=University of Utah}}

{{player2 |num=50 |first=Charles|last= Parks |dab=basketball|DOB= 1946|pos=F|ft=6|in=5|lbs=210|college=Idaho State University}}

{{player2 |num=34|first=Walter |last=Piatkowski|pos=PF|ft=6|in=8|lbs=220|DOB=June 11, 1945 |college=Bowling Green State University}}

{{player2 |num=44|first=Willie |last=Rogers |dab=basketball|pos=SG|ft=6|in=3|lbs=185|DOB=September 11, 1945 |college=University of Oklahoma}}

{{player2 |num=10|first=Grant|last=Simmons |dab=basketball|pos=PG|ft=6|in=3|lbs=190|DOB=March 7, 1943 |college=Nebraska}}

{{player2 |num=12|first=Levern |last=Tart|pos=SG|ft=6|in=2|lbs=195|DOB=June 1, 1942 |college=Bradley University}}

{{player2 |num=11|first=Bob |last=Verga|pos=SG|ft=6|in=1|lbs=190|DOB=September 7, 1945 |college=Duke University}}

{{player2 |num=30|first=Ken |last=Wilburn|pos=SF|ft=6|in=6|lbs=195|DOB=June 8, 1944 |college=Central State University}}

{{player2 |num=42|first=Lonnie|last= Wright|pos=SG|ft=6|in=2|lbs=205|DOB=January 23, 1944 |college=Colorado State University}}

{{NBA roster footer

| head_coach =

| asst_coach =

| otherlegend =

| otherlegend2 =

| roster_url =https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DNR/1969.html

}}

Season standings

= Eastern Division =

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|+

! Team !! W !! L !! PCT. !! GB

align="left" | Indiana Pacers4434.564-
align="left" | Miami Floridians4335.5511
align="left" | Kentucky Colonels4236.5382
align="left" | Minnesota Pipers3642.4628
align="left" | New York Nets1761.21827

=Western Division=

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|+

! Team !! W !! L !! PCT. !! GB

align="left" | Oakland Oaks6018.769-
align="left" | New Orleans Buccaneers4632.59014
align="left" | Denver Rockets4434.56416
align="left" | Dallas Chaparrals4137.52619
align="left" | Los Angeles Stars3345.42327
align="left" | Houston Mavericks2355.29537[https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/ABA_1969.html 1968-69 ABA Season Summary | Basketball-Reference.com]

Game log

  • [https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DNR/1969_games.html 1968-69 Denver Rockets Schedule and Results | Basketball-Reference.com]

Statistics

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
Rk

!Player

!Age

!G

!MP

!FG

!FGA

!FG%

!3P

!3PA

!3P%

!2P

!2PA

!2P%

!FT

!FTA

!FT%

!ORB

!DRB

!TRB

!AST

!TOV

!PF

!PTS

1

|Larry Jones

|26

|75

|40.6

|10.1

|21.7

|.465

|0.3

|1.3

|.240

|9.8

|20.4

|.480

|7.9

|10.1

|.778

|2.2

|4.4

|6.6

|3.4

|2.9

|3.6

|28.4

2

|Lonnie Wright

|25

|69

|36.8

|6.6

|15.8

|.416

|0.3

|1.2

|.221

|6.3

|14.5

|.433

|3.0

|4.0

|.743

|0.7

|3.5

|4.2

|2.5

|2.3

|3.6

|16.4

3

|Wayne Hightower

|29

|67

|34.6

|4.6

|11.4

|.408

|0.0

|0.0

|.000

|4.6

|11.3

|.409

|4.6

|6.4

|.730

|2.3

|7.3

|9.6

|3.0

|2.6

|3.6

|13.9

4

|Byron Beck

|24

|71

|32.2

|6.0

|11.9

|.502

|0.0

|0.0

|.667

|5.9

|11.8

|.501

|2.6

|3.4

|.765

|3.8

|7.1

|11.0

|1.1

|1.3

|3.5

|14.5

5

|Julian Hammond

|25

|78

|29.9

|4.2

|7.7

|.547

|0.0

|0.0

|

|4.2

|7.7

|.547

|2.1

|3.2

|.652

|3.4

|4.3

|7.7

|1.6

|1.9

|2.7

|10.6

6

|Bob Verga

|23

|6

|25.0

|4.0

|12.8

|.312

|0.2

|0.5

|.333

|3.8

|12.3

|.311

|3.0

|4.7

|.643

|1.7

|1.8

|3.5

|1.8

|4.2

|2.7

|11.2

7

|Walter Piatkowski

|23

|77

|23.6

|5.2

|12.4

|.417

|0.4

|1.1

|.329

|4.8

|11.4

|.426

|1.5

|2.0

|.775

|1.9

|2.8

|4.7

|0.6

|1.3

|2.9

|12.2

8

|Bill McGill

|29

|78

|22.6

|5.3

|9.6

|.552

|0.0

|0.0

|

|5.3

|9.6

|.552

|2.3

|3.4

|.682

|1.9

|4.0

|5.9

|1.3

|1.9

|3.7

|12.8

9

|Levern Tart

|26

|20

|17.3

|2.8

|8.0

|.352

|0.0

|0.1

|.000

|2.8

|7.9

|.357

|2.1

|2.8

|.750

|1.3

|1.3

|2.6

|2.2

|2.1

|2.0

|7.7

10

|Jeffrey Congdon

|25

|59

|16.6

|1.8

|4.7

|.386

|0.1

|0.5

|.161

|1.7

|4.2

|.415

|1.2

|1.4

|.812

|0.2

|1.3

|1.6

|2.3

|1.6

|1.8

|4.9

11

|Grant Simmons

|25

|17

|14.8

|1.3

|3.5

|.373

|0.1

|0.1

|.500

|1.2

|3.4

|.368

|1.2

|1.7

|.690

|0.4

|1.2

|1.5

|0.9

|1.0

|2.5

|3.8

12

|John Fairchild

|25

|11

|12.3

|1.1

|3.1

|.353

|0.0

|0.0

|

|1.1

|3.1

|.353

|1.5

|2.2

|.667

|0.6

|1.0

|1.6

|0.8

|1.4

|0.7

|3.6

13

|Ken Wilburn

|24

|37

|11.1

|1.9

|4.9

|.398

|0.0

|0.0

|

|1.9

|4.9

|.398

|0.8

|1.5

|.526

|2.2

|2.6

|4.8

|0.6

|1.0

|1.5

|4.7

14

|Larry Bunce

|23

|23

|9.8

|1.0

|2.6

|.373

|0.0

|0.0

|

|1.0

|2.6

|.373

|2.1

|3.0

|.700

|0.7

|1.8

|2.5

|0.1

|0.9

|1.9

|4.0

15

|Willie Rogers

|23

|40

|7.4

|0.7

|2.0

|.338

|0.0

|0.1

|.000

|0.7

|1.9

|.351

|0.8

|1.3

|.596

|0.4

|0.8

|1.2

|0.4

|0.8

|1.3

|2.1

16

|Charles Parks

|

|2

|2.5

|0.0

|0.5

|.000

|0.0

|0.0

|

|0.0

|0.5

|.000

|0.0

|0.0

|

|0.0

|0.0

|0.0

|0.0

|0.0

|0.5

|0.0

Playoffs

Western Division Semi-finals{{cite web|url=http://www.remembertheaba.com/PlayoffPages/1969Playoffs.html |title=Remember the ABA: 1968-69 Regular Season Standings and Playoff Results |accessdate=2016-07-03 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017202704/http://remembertheaba.com/PlayoffPages/1969Playoffs.html |archivedate=2007-10-17 }}

class="wikitable" width="80%"
align="center" style="background:#C0362C;color:#000000;"

| Game

DateLocationScoreRecordAttendance
align="center" bgcolor=""

| 1

April 5Oakland99–1290–12,358
align="center" bgcolor=""

| 2

April 6Oakland122–1191–11,580
align="center" bgcolor=""

| 3

April 8Denver99–1211–25,062
align="center" bgcolor=""

| 4

April 10Denver109–1082–25,431
align="center" bgcolor=""

| 5

April 12Oakland118–1282–33,156
align="center" bgcolor=""

| 6

April 13Denver126–1153–36,481
align="center" bgcolor=""

| 7

April 16Oakland102-1153–45,123
align="center" bgcolor=""

Awards and records

  • ABA All-Stars: Larry Jones, Byron Beck, Wayne Hightower{{cite web|last=basketball-reference.com |title=1968 ABA All-Star Game |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/allstar/ABA_1968.html |accessdate=2008-07-13 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080709024030/http://www.basketball-reference.com/allstar/ABA_1968.html |archivedate=9 July 2008 |url-status=live }}
  • ABA All-League Team: Larry Jones[http://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAStatistics/Awards.html Remember the ABA: Year-to-Year Postseason Awards] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224223628/http://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAStatistics/Awards.html |date=December 24, 2010 }}
  • League-leading scorer: Larry Jones[https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DNR/1969.html 1968-69 Denver Rockets Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com]

Transactions

{{Empty section|date=December 2014}}

References

{{reflist}}

{{1968–69 ABA season by team}}

{{Denver Nuggets seasons}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1968-69 Denver Nuggets Season}}

Category:Denver Nuggets seasons

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