1975–76 Denver Nuggets season

The 1975–76 Denver Nuggets season was Denver's ninth and final season in the American Basketball Association (ABA). Prior to the season, the team moved their home games from the Denver Auditorium Arena to the new McNichols Arena. At the conclusion of the season the team would join the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was led by an eventual hall of fame coach, Larry Brown.

1975–76 Denver Nuggets season
Head coachLarry Brown
ArenaMcNichols Sports Arena
Results
Record60–24 (.714)
PlaceDivision: 1st
Conference: 1st
Playoff finishABA Finals
(lost to Nets 2–4)
< 1974–75 1976–77 >

ABA Draft

edit
Player School/Club Team
Bill Willoughby Dwight Morrow H.S. Englewood NJ
Tom Kropp Kearney State
Monte Towe North Carolina State
Bob Fleischer Duke University
Jim Moore Utah State
Charles Russell Alabama
Mike Odems Western Kentucky
Owen Brown Maryland
Marvin Webster Morgan State

Season standings

edit
Team Wins Loses Pct.
Denver Nuggets 60 24 .714
New York Nets 55 29 .655
San Antonio Spurs 50 34 .595
Kentucky Colonels 46 38 .548
Indiana Pacers 39 45 .464
Spirits of St. Louis 35 49 .417
San Diego Sails 3 8 .273
Utah Stars 4 12 .250
Virginia Squires 15 68 .181

Player stats

edit

Note: PG= per game; M= Minutes; R= Rebounds; A= Assists; S = Steals; B = Blocks; P = Points; T = Turnovers; PF = Personal fouls

Player Age Games played MPG RPG APG SPG BPG TPG PFPG PPG
David Thompson 21 83 37.4 6.3 3.7 1.6 1.2 3.0 3.4 26.0
Ralph Simpson 26 84 37.2 5.4 7.1 1.8 0.3 4.3 2.2 18.0
Bobby Jones 24 83 34.3 9.5 4.0 2.0 2.2 2.8 3.0 14.9
Dan Issel 27 84 34.0 11.0 2.4 1.2 0.7 2.4 3.2 23.0
Chuck Williams 29 79 32.0 2.7 4.7 1.5 0.1 2.3 2.7 11.0
Gus Gerard 22 60 19.8 5.0 2.0 0.9 0.9 2.4 2.8 9.9
Byron Beck 31 80 19.8 4.4 1.5 0.6 0.3 1.1 2.4 9.6
Claude Terry 26 79 17.1 1.9 1.8 0.5 0.1 1.2 1.5 7.1
Jim Bradley 23 7 15.3 4.3 1.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 3.7 4.6
Marvin Webster 23 38 10.5 4.6 0.8 0.2 1.4 1.0 1.6 4.3
Monte Towe 22 64 9.0 0.9 2.1 0.6 0.1 1.3 1.3 3.0
Roger Brown 25 37 7.9 2.0 0.6 0.2 0.6 0.5 1.7 2.0
James Foster 24 48 7.3 0.9 1.0 0.4 0.1 1.3 1.6 3.1
George Irvine 27 3 4.7 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.3 1.3

[1]

Roster

edit
Number Player Position Height Weight Birth date Experience (in years) College
40 Byron Beck PF 6-9 225 January 25, 1945 8 University of Denver
10 Jim Bradley PF 6-8 215 March 16, 1952 2 Northern Illinois University
20 Roger Brown C 6-11 225 February 23, 1950 2 University of Kansas
15 James Foster PG 6-1 175 December 16, 1951 1 University of Connecticut
22 Gus Gerard SF 6-8 200 July 27, 1953 1 University of Virginia
30 George Irvine SF 6-6 200 February 1, 1948 5 University of Washington
25 Dan Issel C 6-9 235 October 25, 1948 5 University of Kentucky
24 Bobby Jones PF 6-9 210 December 18, 1951 1 University of North Carolina
44 Ralph Simpson SG 6-5 200 August 10, 1949 5 Michigan State University
21 Claude Terry SG 6-4 195 January 12, 1950 3 Stanford University
33 David Thompson SF 6-4 195 July 13, 1954 R North Carolina State University
13 Monte Towe PG 5-7 150 September 27, 1953 R North Carolina State University
10 Marvin Webster C 7-1 225 April 13, 1952 R Morgan State University
11 Chuck Williams PG 6-2 175 June 6, 1946 5 University of Colorado

Playoffs

edit

Semifinals [2]

Game Date Location Score Record Attendance
1 April 15 Denver 110–107 1–0 15,234
2 April 17 Denver 110–138 1–1 16,384
3 April 19 Kentucky 114–126 1–2 9,644
4 April 21 Kentucky 108–106 2–2 11,444
5 April 22 Denver 127–117 3–2 17,068
6 April 25 Kentucky 119–115 3–3 6,312
7 April 28 Denver 133–110 4–3 18,821

Nuggets win series, 4–3

ABA Finals [2]

Game Date Location Score Record Attendance
1 May 1 Denver 118–120 0–1 19,034
2 May 4 Denver 127–121 1–1 19,107
3 May 6 New York 111–117 1–2 12,243
4 May 8 New York 112–121 1–3 15,934
5 May 11 Denver 118–110 2–3 18,881
6 May 13 New York 106–112 2–4 15,934

Nuggets lose series 4-2

Awards, records, and honors

edit

ABA All-Stars

edit
  • Byron Beck
  • Roger Brown
  • James Foster
  • Gus Gerard
  • Dan Issel
  • Bobby Jones
  • Ralph Simpson
  • Claude Terry
  • David Thompson
  • Monte Towe
  • Chuck Williams[3]

All-ABA Teams

edit

All-Defensive Team

edit
  • Don Buse- 1st team
  • Bobby Jones- 1st team

All-Rookie Team

edit
  • David Thompson

References

edit
  1. ^ 1975-76 Denver Nuggets Roster and Stats
  2. ^ a b "Remember the ABA: 1975-76 Regular Season Standings and Playoff Results". Archived from the original on November 29, 2010. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  3. ^ 1975-76 ABA Season Summary