1967–68 Chicago Bulls season

1967–68 Chicago Bulls season
Head coach	Johnny "Red" Kerr
Arena	Chicago Stadium
Results
Record	29–53 (.354)
Place	Division: 4th (Western)
Playoff finish	West Division Semifinals (Eliminated 1-4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WGN-TV
Radio	WGN Radio

The 1967–68 Chicago Bulls season was the second season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Draft picks

Main article: 1967 NBA Draft

Note: This is not an extensive list; it only covers the first and second rounds, and any other players drafted by the franchise that played at least one NBA game.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	3	Clem Haskins	G	United States	Western Kentucky
2	15	Byron Beck	F/C	United States	Denver
4	34	Jim Burns	G	United States	Northwestern

Roster

Chicago Bulls roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From F/C 14 Barnes, Jim 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) University of Texas at El Paso F 19 Boozer, Bob 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Kansas State G 6 Burns, Jim 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Northwestern F 16 Clemens, Barry 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Ohio Wesleyan G/F 15 Erickson, Keith 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) UCLA C 17 Harding, Reggie 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 249 lb (113 kg) Detroit Eastern HS G 11 Haskins, Clem 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Western Kentucky F/C 18 McLemore, McCoy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Drake F/C 14 Mueller, Erwin 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) San Francisco G 5 Robinson, Flynn 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Wyoming G 5 Rodgers, Guy 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Temple G 8 Schellhase, Dave 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Purdue G/F 4 Sloan, Jerry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Evansville C 17 Spitzer, Craig 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Tulane F/C 7 Washington, Jim 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Villanova F 6, 9 Wilburn, Ken 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Central State	Head coach Johnny Kerr (St. John's) Assistant coach(es) None Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

After that promising beginning the Bulls fell apart. During the 1967-68 NBA season the club traded Guy Rodgers, the steadiest player on the squad, to the Cincinnati Royals for Flynn Robinson and two future draft choices. Chicago lost its first nine games, slumping to 1-15 before climbing back to respectability. The Bulls went 28-38 the rest of the way but still finished 29-53.

Even that record was better than those of the new expansion teams in Seattle and San Diego, so the Bulls still snuck into the playoffs, where they were drubbed by the Lakers in the division semifinals. Bob Boozer, a 6-8 forward who had the most productive seasons of his 11-year career while playing for Chicago, led the team in scoring with 21.5 points per game, and Jim Washington topped the club in rebounding with 10.1 boards per contest.

When Jerry Colangelo left the Bulls' front office to run the Phoenix Suns expansion franchise, he took Kerr along as coach. Kerr's replacement for the 1968-69 season was Dick Motta, who had won three Big Sky Conference championships at Weber State. Motta was an unlikely choice, but he proved to be a fortuitous one. In the early 1970s he molded Chicago into a tough, defensive-minded squad that was always ready to challenge the opposition, even if it couldn't match up in talent.

Chicago owned the fourth overall pick in the 1968 NBA Draft and selected 7-foot, 265-pound center Tom Boerwinkle of Tennessee. Boerwinkle would spend his entire 10-year career with Chicago and wind up as the Bulls' all-time leading rebounder with 5,745 career boards.

Season standings

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-St. Louis Hawks	56	26	.683	–	25–7	22–13	9–6	31–9
x-Los Angeles Lakers	52	30	.634	4	30–11	18–19	4–0	28–12
x-San Francisco Warriors	43	39	.524	13	27–14	16–23	0–2	24–16
x-Chicago Bulls	29	53	.354	27	11–22	12–24	6–7	11–29
Seattle SuperSonics	23	59	.280	33	10–21	7–24	6–14	15–25
San Diego Rockets	15	67	.183	41	8–33	4–26	3–8	11–29

Playoffs

West Division Semifinals

(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (4) Chicago Bulls: Lakers win series 4-1

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 109, Chicago 101
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 113, Chicago 106
• Game 3 @ Chicago: Chicago 104, Los Angeles 98
• Game 4 @ Chicago: Los Angeles 93, Chicago 87
• Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 122, Chicago 99

Player statistics

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

Awards and records

Bob Boozer, NBA All-Star Game

References

• [1]

See also

• 1967-68 NBA season