George McGinnis' last game with the Pacers. After this season('74-'75), he would go to the 76ers. Also Dan Issel's last game with the Colonels. Was traded to Denver just before the '75-'76 ABA season.
Actually, Dan Issel was either traded or sold to the Baltimore ABA franchise (formerly the Memphis Sounds) some time in the summer of 1975. But when the Baltimore ownership group bounced check after check after check (including players' salary checks and coaches' salary checks), the ABA folded the franchise before the start of the 1975-1976 season. That made all of the players and coaches free agents, and Issel wound up signing with Denver. (Cf. LOOSE BALLS, Terry Pluto's excellent oral history of the ABA. Pluto's sources about the putative Baltimore Hustlers were Dan Issel and coach Joe Mullaney.) One more thing: this was also Roger Brown's last game with the Indiana Pacers. Brown had started the 1974-1975 season with the Memphis Sounds, then was traded to the Utah Stars on 1 November 1974 (he had played only 7 games with Memphis). He played 39 games with Utah, and was waived on 30 January 1975. Indiana signed him on 1 March 1975, and he played 10 late-season games for the Pacers. He played in all 6 games of Indiana's Western Division semifinal series victory over San Antonio, in 5 of the 7 games of Indiana's Western Division final series victory over Denver, and in 3 of the 5 games of the ABA championship series against Kentucky. In fact, the date of this game (22 May 1975) was Roger Brown's 33rd birthday.
@@jmccracken1963 I knew about the Dan Issel situation. John Y Brown was a businessman through and through. He claimed he lost over $500,000 in their championship season. But why would he do business with the Claws? They couldn't get their finances together. I read Loose Balls many times and the Colonels got screwed at the merger. Roger Brown was the 1st player signed by Indiana in 1967. By the time he started with the Pacers, he was already 24. The NBA banned him for trumped up gambling charges when he was in college(Dayton).
@@elwin38 it's a shame that they don't combine ABA & NBA stats on the official records. Roger Brown turned his game up to another level in the playoffs...
One of the mainstays of the 1974-1975 Kentucky Colonels - and he contributed a GREAT deal to their success that season - was guard Gene Littles. But he didn't play in this game; in fact, he barely played at all in the playoffs that year (only 2 games. 8 minutes total in the Eastern Division semifinal series against the Memphis Sounds; then all 5 games, but only 16 total minutes in the Eastern Division finals series against the Spirits of St. Louis; and only 1 game, 3 minutes total, in the league championship series against the Indiana Pacers). Did he suffer an injury late in the season? He played 61 games during the regular season, averaging 14.8 minutes per game as a mainly defense-minded guard (though he did also dish out 119 assists that season, and was 43 of 58 total at the free-throw line in those game).
@@lukecurrie5151 Yes, you are correct. After I asked the question I got smart and looked it up; he was traded to Memphis in the offseason. I’m sure Indiana was wishing they had him back when the went against Gilmore and Issel in the finals.
@@lukecurrie5151 And quite well, I might add. He averaged 23.2 points in 71 games for the Sounds that season. Then the Sounds lost to Kentucky in 5 games in the Eastern Division semifinals. I assume that Daniels was still on the club when the ABA sold the franchise to a group of investors from Baltimore, whose plan was to move it to their fair city and re-name it "Baltimore Hustlers." But they were undercapitalized, and when player and salary checks bounced time after time after time, the ABA investigated the situation and folded the franchise before the 1975-1976 season started. Daniels opted to play pro basketball in Italy during the 1975-1976 season, and then returned to play just 11 games for the New York Nets in 1976-1977, when the Nets, Pacers, Spurs, and Nuggets were absorbed into the NBA.
While Mel Daniels is probably the best remembered ABA Pacer, Roger Brown was an NBA-ready player caught up in the Connie Hawkins gambling mess. This was a nonexistent scandal, a guilt-by-association remnant of a real one, the CCNY point-shaving conspiracy of 1951. I watched him play against the Miami Floridians in 1968-69 season, the 2/2/69 game where he scored 33 with 13 boards (I looked up the box score). Dude was smooth within 15 feet and played bigger than his size in the paint, a combination of Havlicek and Baylor (though not exactly in the latter's class). His inclusion in the Hall of Fame feels like a make-up call, but I'm convinced Brown was nearly as good as Hawkins, who would have burned up the NBA if he had arrived before his knees required surgery. There were not enough arthroscopes in use back in the 1960s, meaning long incisions and inadequate medications to control inflammation without doing more harm than good, i.e., such as the long-term use of corticosteroids.
@@lukecurrie5151 Basketball Reference has him listed as the playing two seasons at center for the Pipers. I didn't see him play in person because he injured his knees in the 1968-69 season, which may have been serious enough to deny him his full greatness once he reached the NBA in the 1969-70 season. While averaging 20.1 points and 9.1 boards during his time with Phoenix isn't chicken feed, there were 2-3 each of those stats lost due to those creaky joints. The Hawk was one of the greatest leapers for his height, a playground legend in NYC, and a victim of a betting paranoia which started with the Black Sox scandal involving the 1919 World Series. If you're interested, read about the 1951 CCNY point-shaving scandal and mobster Frank Molinas, the guy who was also the figure which led the unfair blackballing of Hawkins and Roger Brown. Mr. Brown banked over $1 million in 1970s dollars as a settlement, though I'm not aware of the details of a settlement for Hawkins.
George McGinnis' last game with the Pacers. After this season('74-'75), he would go to the 76ers. Also Dan Issel's last game with the Colonels. Was traded to Denver just before the '75-'76 ABA season.
@@elwin38 He was great with the Pacers...
Actually, Dan Issel was either traded or sold to the Baltimore ABA franchise (formerly the Memphis Sounds) some time in the summer of 1975. But when the Baltimore ownership group bounced check after check after check (including players' salary checks and coaches' salary checks), the ABA folded the franchise before the start of the 1975-1976 season. That made all of the players and coaches free agents, and Issel wound up signing with Denver. (Cf. LOOSE BALLS, Terry Pluto's excellent oral history of the ABA. Pluto's sources about the putative Baltimore Hustlers were Dan Issel and coach Joe Mullaney.)
One more thing: this was also Roger Brown's last game with the Indiana Pacers. Brown had started the 1974-1975 season with the Memphis Sounds, then was traded to the Utah Stars on 1 November 1974 (he had played only 7 games with Memphis). He played 39 games with Utah, and was waived on 30 January 1975. Indiana signed him on 1 March 1975, and he played 10 late-season games for the Pacers. He played in all 6 games of Indiana's Western Division semifinal series victory over San Antonio, in 5 of the 7 games of Indiana's Western Division final series victory over Denver, and in 3 of the 5 games of the ABA championship series against Kentucky. In fact, the date of this game (22 May 1975) was Roger Brown's 33rd birthday.
@@jmccracken1963 I knew about the Dan Issel situation. John Y Brown was a businessman through and through. He claimed he lost over $500,000 in their championship season. But why would he do business with the Claws? They couldn't get their finances together. I read Loose Balls many times and the Colonels got screwed at the merger. Roger Brown was the 1st player signed by Indiana in 1967. By the time he started with the Pacers, he was already 24. The NBA banned him for trumped up gambling charges when he was in college(Dayton).
@@elwin38 it's a shame that they don't combine ABA & NBA stats on the official records. Roger Brown turned his game up to another level in the playoffs...
@@lukecurrie5151 They called him the "Rajah"🏀
3 titles in 10 years. PACERS!!
@davidjackson2690 Yea, what great teams they had, I wish there were more games available to watch...
The Kentucky Colonels were the best basketball team in the world at that point.
@sdwriter2626 Yea, they were great, I would have loved to see them play in the NBA. They should have been in the merger...
@@lukecurrie5151along with the Virginia Squires... Doctor Jay's old club...
@@JamalMcCoy-tx2vz most definitely...
One of the mainstays of the 1974-1975 Kentucky Colonels - and he contributed a GREAT deal to their success that season - was guard Gene Littles. But he didn't play in this game; in fact, he barely played at all in the playoffs that year (only 2 games. 8 minutes total in the Eastern Division semifinal series against the Memphis Sounds; then all 5 games, but only 16 total minutes in the Eastern Division finals series against the Spirits of St. Louis; and only 1 game, 3 minutes total, in the league championship series against the Indiana Pacers).
Did he suffer an injury late in the season? He played 61 games during the regular season, averaging 14.8 minutes per game as a mainly defense-minded guard (though he did also dish out 119 assists that season, and was 43 of 58 total at the free-throw line in those game).
Where was Mel Daniels; was he injured?
He was playing with the Memphis Sounds that season...
@@lukecurrie5151 Yes, you are correct. After I asked the question I got smart and looked it up; he was traded to Memphis in the offseason. I’m sure Indiana was wishing they had him back when the went against Gilmore and Issel in the finals.
@matthewpredmore6523 Most definitely, they should have kept him. He was an amazing player...
@@lukecurrie5151 And quite well, I might add. He averaged 23.2 points in 71 games for the Sounds that season. Then the Sounds lost to Kentucky in 5 games in the Eastern Division semifinals.
I assume that Daniels was still on the club when the ABA sold the franchise to a group of investors from Baltimore, whose plan was to move it to their fair city and re-name it "Baltimore Hustlers." But they were undercapitalized, and when player and salary checks bounced time after time after time, the ABA investigated the situation and folded the franchise before the 1975-1976 season started. Daniels opted to play pro basketball in Italy during the 1975-1976 season, and then returned to play just 11 games for the New York Nets in 1976-1977, when the Nets, Pacers, Spurs, and Nuggets were absorbed into the NBA.
@jmccracken1963 ok, cool. Do you have any idea on Mel Daniels stats while playing in Italy?
While Mel Daniels is probably the best remembered ABA Pacer, Roger Brown was an NBA-ready player caught up in the Connie Hawkins gambling mess. This was a nonexistent scandal, a guilt-by-association remnant of a real one, the CCNY point-shaving conspiracy of 1951. I watched him play against the Miami Floridians in 1968-69 season, the 2/2/69 game where he scored 33 with 13 boards (I looked up the box score). Dude was smooth within 15 feet and played bigger than his size in the paint, a combination of Havlicek and Baylor (though not exactly in the latter's class). His inclusion in the Hall of Fame feels like a make-up call, but I'm convinced Brown was nearly as good as Hawkins, who would have burned up the NBA if he had arrived before his knees required surgery. There were not enough arthroscopes in use back in the 1960s, meaning long incisions and inadequate medications to control inflammation without doing more harm than good, i.e., such as the long-term use of corticosteroids.
@jefferyroy2566 Wow, it would have great to watch those two great Legends play. Do you remember if Connie Hawkins played centre for The Pipers at all?
@@lukecurrie5151 Basketball Reference has him listed as the playing two seasons at center for the Pipers. I didn't see him play in person because he injured his knees in the 1968-69 season, which may have been serious enough to deny him his full greatness once he reached the NBA in the 1969-70 season. While averaging 20.1 points and 9.1 boards during his time with Phoenix isn't chicken feed, there were 2-3 each of those stats lost due to those creaky joints. The Hawk was one of the greatest leapers for his height, a playground legend in NYC, and a victim of a betting paranoia which started with the Black Sox scandal involving the 1919 World Series. If you're interested, read about the 1951 CCNY point-shaving scandal and mobster Frank Molinas, the guy who was also the figure which led the unfair blackballing of Hawkins and Roger Brown. Mr. Brown banked over $1 million in 1970s dollars as a settlement, though I'm not aware of the details of a settlement for Hawkins.
@jefferyroy2566 ok cool, thanks for your reply. I created him on NBA2K and I was curious about his the position he played in the ABA.