1968–69 Atlanta Hawks season

1968–69 Atlanta Hawks season
Head coach	Richie Guerin
Arena	Alexander Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	48–34 (.585)
Place	Division: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finish	West Division Finals (Eliminated 1–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WQXI-TV
Radio	WQXI

The 1968–69 Atlanta Hawks season was the team's first season in Atlanta, after their relocation from St. Louis, where the franchise played the previous thirteen seasons. The franchise traded Lenny Wilkens to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for Walt Hazzard. Hazzard would help lead the Hawks to a second-place finish with a record of 48 wins and 34 losses. In the playoffs, the Hawks eliminated the San Diego Rockets in six games. In the Western Conference Finals, the Hawks challenged the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers would eliminate the Hawks in 5 games.

Draft picks

Main article: 1968 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	13	Skip Harlicka	Guard	United States	South Carolina
10	131	Dwight Waller	Forward	United States	Tennessee State

Roster

Atlanta Hawks roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From G 42 Abdul-Rahman, Mahdi 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) UCLA C 31 Beaty, Zelmo 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Prairie View A&M F/C 32 Bridges, Bill 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 228 lb (103 kg) Kansas G/F 27 Caldwell, Joe 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Arizona State F/C 24 Davis, Jim 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Colorado G 18–19 Guerin, Richie 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Iona F 12 Hamilton, Dennis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Arizona State G 21 Harlicka, Skip (DP) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) South Carolina G/F 23 Hudson, Lou 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Minnesota G 20 Lehmann, George 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Campbell College G 10 Ohl, Don 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Illinois F/C 29 Silas, Paul 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Creighton F 16–34 Waller, Dwight (DP) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Tennessee State

Head coach Richie Guerin (Iona) Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Los Angeles Lakers	55	27	.671	–	32–9	21–18	2–0	30–10
x-Atlanta Hawks	48	34	.585	7	28–12	18–21	2–1	26–14
x-San Francisco Warriors	41	41	.500	14	22–19	18–21	1–1	20–20
x-San Diego Rockets	37	45	.451	18	25–16	8–25	4–4	20–20
Chicago Bulls	33	49	.402	22	19–21	12–25	2–3	19–21
Seattle SuperSonics	30	52	.366	25	18–18	6–29	6–5	15–23
Phoenix Suns	16	66	.195	39	11–26	4–28	1–12	8–30

Record vs. opponents

1968–69 NBA records
Team	ATL	BAL	BOS	CHI	CIN	DET	LAL	MIL	NYK	PHI	PHO	SDR	SFW	SEA
Atlanta	—	2–4	3–3	6–1	4–2	6–0	3–4	4–2	2–4	1–5	6–0	3–4	4–3	4–2
Baltimore	4–2	—	5–2	6–0	4–3	7–0	3–3	5–1	3–4	2–4	6–0	5–1	3–3	4–2
Boston	3–3	2–5	—	4–2	5–2	5–1	2–4	5–1	1–6	5–2	6–0	4–2	3–3	3–3
Chicago	1–6	0–6	2–4	—	1–5	3–3	3–4	5–1	2–4	1–5	4–2	3–3	4–3	4–3
Cincinnati	2–4	3–4	2–5	5–1	—	3–4	2–4	5–1	4–2	3–4	4–2	2–4	3–3	3–3
Detroit	0–6	0–7	1–5	3–3	4–3	—	3–3	2–4	3–4	3–4	4–2	3–3	2–4	4–2
Los Angeles	4–3	3–3	4–2	4–3	4–2	3–3	—	5–1	5–1	1–5	6–0	7–0	4–3	5–1
Milwaukee	2–4	1–5	1–5	1–5	1–5	4–2	1–5	—	0–6	0–6	6–2	4–2	3–3	3–5
New York	4–2	4–3	6–1	4–2	2–4	4–3	1–5	6–0	—	4–3	5–1	3–3	5–1	6–0
Philadelphia	5–1	4–2	2–5	5–1	4–3	4–3	5–1	6–0	3–4	—	5–1	4–2	2–4	6–0
Phoenix	0–6	0–6	0–6	2–4	2–4	2–4	0–6	2–6	1–5	1–5	—	1–7	2–4	3–3
San Diego	4–3	1–5	2–4	3–3	4–2	3–3	0–7	2–4	3–3	2–4	7–1	—	3–3	3–3
San Francisco	3–4	3–3	3–3	3–4	3–3	4–2	3–4	3–3	1–5	4–2	4–2	3–3	—	4–3
Seattle	2–4	2–4	3–3	3–4	3–3	2–4	1–5	5–3	0–6	0–6	3–3	3–3	3–4	—

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

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Mahdi Abdul-Rahman	80		30.3	.397		.707	3.3	5.9			11.2
Zelmo Beaty	72		35.8	.470		.731	11.1	1.8			21.5
Bill Bridges	80		36.6	.453		.677	14.2	3.7			11.8
Joe Caldwell	81		33.6	.507		.537	3.7	4.0			15.8
Jim Davis	78		17.5	.467		.667	6.8	1.2			8.8
Richie Guerin	27		17.5	.423		.770	2.2	3.7			5.6
Dennis Hamilton	25		5.6	.552		.400	1.2	0.3			3.0
Skip Harlicka	26		8.4	.456		.774	0.6	1.4			4.1
Lou Hudson	81		35.4	.492		.777	6.6	2.7			21.9
George Lehmann	11		12.5	.388		.667	0.8	2.5			5.5
Don Ohl	76		26.3	.427		.707	2.2	2.9			12.1
Paul Silas	79		23.5	.419		.613	9.4	1.8			8.7
Dwight Waller	11		2.6	.222		.429	0.9	0.1			0.6

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Mahdi Abdul-Rahman	11		32.7	.393		.787	3.0	3.9			14.0
Zelmo Beaty	11		43.0	.432		.672	12.9	2.3			22.5
Bill Bridges	11		40.2	.442		.708	16.2	3.4			15.6
Joe Caldwell	11		36.7	.485		.464	5.0	3.4			14.7
Jim Davis	8		6.5	.267		.625	2.1	0.1			1.6
Richie Guerin	3		10.7	.250		.500	1.7	2.3			1.0
Skip Harlicka	1		1.0	.000		.000	0.0	0.0			0.0
Lou Hudson	11		38.5	.468		.769	5.4	2.9			22.0
Don Ohl	11		17.6	.349		.591	1.2	1.5			6.6
Paul Silas	11		23.5	.362		.514	8.4	1.9			5.5

Awards

• Bill Bridges, NBA All-Defensive Second Team

Transactions

Atlanta Hawks

Players Added Via Draft Skip Harlicka Dwight Waller Via Trade Mahdi Abdul-Rahman (From SuperSonics)

Players Lost Via Trade Lenny Wilkens (To SuperSonics)