1971–72 Buffalo Braves season

1971–72 Buffalo Braves season
1971–72 Buffalo Braves season
Head coach	Dolph Schayes
Arena	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium; Maple Leaf Gardens
Results
Record	22–60 (.268)
Place	Division: 4th (Atlantic); Conference: 8th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WBEN-TV
Radio	WBEN
< 1970–71	1972–73 >

A pair of rookies named Smith gave Buffalo fans reason for a bright future. The Braves repeated their 22–60 record from their inaugural season, and occupied the Atlantic Division basement.^[1] Elmore Smith and Randy Smith each had out standing rookie seasons with Elmore averaging 17.3 points per game and 15.2 rebounds per game, while Randy added 13.4 points per game.^[1]

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	3	Elmore Smith	Center	United States	Kentucky State
2	19	Fred Hilton	Guard	United States	Grambling
2	26	Amos Thomas	Forward	United States	Southwestern Oklahoma
2	30	Spencer Haywood	Forward	United States	Detroit Mercy
4	53	Jim O'Brien	Guard	United States	Boston College
5	70	Garry Nelson	Forward	United States	Duquesne
6	87	Glen Summors	Forward	United States	Gannon
7	104	Randy Smith	Guard	United States	Buffalo State
8	121	Craig Love	Center	United States	Ohio
9	138	Gary Stewart	Forward	United States	Canisius College
10	154	Don Ward	Guard	United States	Colgate University
11	170	Bill Warner	Forward	United States	Arizona
12	184	Butch Webster	Forward	United States	LSU
13	197	Pete Smith	Forward	United States	Valdosta
14	209	Ray Lavender	Center	United States	Drury College
15	218	William Chatmon	Forward	United States	Baylor
16	226	James Douglas	Guard	United States	Memphis
17	230	Nelson Isley	Guard	United States	LSU
18	233	Joey Meyer	Guard	United States	DePaul

Roster

Buffalo Braves 1971–72 roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Ht.	Wt.
G	7	Bryant, Emmette	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	DePaul
F	40	Chambers, Jerry	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Utah
G	13	Davis, Mike	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Virginia Union
G	20	Garrett, Dick	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Southern Illinois
G	42	Hazzard, Walt	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	UCLA
G	32	Hilton, Fred	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Grambling
F	25	Hosket, Bill	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	228 lb (103 kg)	Ohio State
F	45	Hummer, John	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Princeton
F	44	Kauffman, Bob	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Guilford College
C	3	Smith, Elmore	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Kentucky State
F	9	Smith, Randy	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Buffalo State
F	35	Warner, Cornell	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jackson State

Head coach

Assistant coach(es)

Johnny McCarthy

Legend

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

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
y-Boston Celtics	56	26	.683	–	32–9	21–16	3–1	15–3
x-New York Knicks	48	34	.585	8	27–14	20–19	1–1	11–7
Philadelphia 76ers	30	52	.366	26	14–23	14–26	2–3	6–12
Buffalo Braves	22	60	.268	34	13–27	8–31	1–2	4–14

#	Eastern Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT
1	z-Boston Celtics	56	26	.683
2	y-Baltimore Bullets	38	44	.463
3	x-New York Knicks	48	34	.585
4	x-Atlanta Hawks	36	46	.439

5	Philadelphia 76ers	30	52	.366
5	Cincinnati Royals	30	52	.366
7	Cleveland Cavaliers	23	59	.280
8	Buffalo Braves	22	60	.268

z – clinched division title

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

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	—

Player statistics

Note: 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

Player	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
Bob Kauffman	77	41.6	.497	.795	10.2	3.9	18.9
Elmore Smith	78	40.8	.454	.534	15.2	1.4	17.3
Walt Hazzard	72	33.2	.451	.782	3.0	5.6	15.8
Randy Smith	76	27.6	.482	.622	4.8	2.5	13.4
Dick Garrett	73	26.1	.442	.866	3.1	2.3	10.8
Em Bryant	54	22.6	.459	.600	2.4	3.8	5.1
Fred Hilton	61	22.1	.389	.738	2.6	1.9	11.6
John Hummer	55	21.6	.390	.468	4.2	1.3	5.2
Cornell Warner	62	20.0	.443	.744	6.1	0.9	6.2
Mike Davis	62	17.2	.425	.767	1.9	1.3	9.1
Jerry Chambers	26	14.2	.433	.688	2.6	0.9	6.8
Bill Hosket	44	13.5	.492	.808	2.8	0.9	5.0

^[2]

Awards and honors

Bob Kauffman, NBA All-Star

Transactions

The Braves were involved in the following transactions during the 1971–72 season.

Coaching Change

In-season
Outgoing coach	Date Removed	1971-72 Record	Incoming coach
Dolph Schayes	Fired, October 13, 1971	0-1	Johnny McCarthy

Trades

July 26, 1971

To Buffalo Braves

Walt Hazzard & Jerry Chambers

To Atlanta Hawks

Don May & Herm Gilliam

Free agents

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team

Subtractions

Player	Left	New team
Nate Bowman	free agency, July 1	Pittsburgh Condors (ABA)
Paul Long	free agency, July 1	Portland Trail Blazers
Mike Lynn	free agency, July 1	Utah Stars (ABA)
Mike Silliman	free agency, July 1	Retired
George Wilson	free agency, July 1	Retired

References

[Buffalo_Braves_1970–1978-1] Buffalo Braves (1970–1978)

[2] ttps://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BUF/1972.html

[1]

[2]