1971–72 Buffalo Braves season

NBA professional basketball team season August 2023 March 2026 Buffalo Braves 1972 22 60 Atlantic 4 8 Dolph Schayes (0–1)Johnny McCarthy (22–59) Buffalo Memorial AuditoriumMaple Leaf Gardens WBEN-TV WBEN Did not qualify BUF The 1971–72 NBA season was the Buffalo Braves' second season in the NBA. A pair of rookies named Smith gave Buffalo fans reason for a bright future. On October 13, head coach Dolph Schayes was dismissed after losing the season opener and was replaced by Johnny McCarthy for the rest of the season. The Braves repeated their 22–60 record from their inaugural season, and occupied the Atlantic Division basement.http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/buffalo/bufbraves.html Buffalo Braves (1970–1978) April 22, 2008 April 5, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160405150307/http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/buffalo/bufbraves.html dead 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. Draft picks 1971 NBA draft 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 7 Emmette Bryant Em Bryant G 6 1 175 DePaul 40 Jerry Chambers F 6 5 190 Utah 13 Mike Davis Mike Davis (basketball, born 1946) G 6 3 185 Virginia Union 20 Dick Garrett G 6 3 185 Southern Illinois 42 Walt Hazzard G 6 3 185 UCLA 32 Fred Hilton G 6 3 185 Grambling State 25 Bill Hosket Bill Hosket, Jr. F 6 7 228 Ohio State 45 John Hummer F 6 9 230 Princeton 44 Bob Kauffman F 6 8 240 Guilford 3 Elmore Smith C 7 1 250 Kentucky State 9 Randy Smith Randy Smith (basketball) F 6 3 185 Buffalo State 35 Cornell Warner F 6 9 220 Jackson State Dolph Schayes Johnny McCarthy Johnny McCarthy Regular season Season standings BUF BUF z – clinched division title y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot Game log 1971–72 Game log # Date Opponent Score High points Record 1 October 12 Seattle 123–90 Chambers, Hazzard (14) 0–1 2 October 15 @ Cleveland 111–109 (OT) Walt Hazzard (35) 1–1 3 October 16 Cleveland 93–89 Bob Kauffman (24) 1–2 4 October 19 Los Angeles 123–106 Elmore Smith (20) 1–3 5 October 22 @ Milwaukee 105–124 Dick Garrett (19) 1–4 6 October 23 Boston 103–98 Bob Kauffman (25) 1–5 7 October 26 @ Golden State 91–89 Bob Kauffman (24) 2–5 8 October 28 @ Seattle 96–106 Bob Kauffman (27) 2–6 9 October 29 @ Portland 120–119 Fred Hilton (27) 3–6 10 October 31 @ Houston 87–102 Bob Kauffman (15) 3–7 11 November 3 Phoenix 100–98 Bob Kauffman (24) 3–8 12 November 5 @ Atlanta 122–117 (OT) Randy Smith (35) 4–8 13 November 6 Chicago 99–130 Bob Kauffman (28) 5–8 14 November 9 Portland 100–109 Bob Kauffman (30) 6–8 15 November 13 Milwaukee 127–106 Bob Kauffman (44) 6–9 16 November 16 Cincinnati 98–102 Walt Hazzard (27) 7–9 17 November 19 @ Baltimore 105–126 Jerry Chambers (19) 7–10 18 November 20 Detroit 105–96 Walt Hazzard (23) 7–11 19 November 23 Atlanta 97–102 Walt Hazzard (30) 8–11 20 November 24 @ Boston 100–108 Fred Hilton (23) 8–12 21 November 27 Golden State 110–91 Bob Kauffman (17) 8–13 22 November 30 Houston 115–101 Walt Hazzard (26) 8–14 23 December 2 N Baltimore 109–105 Mike Davis (25) 9–14 24 December 3 Cleveland 90–91 Bob Kauffman (23) 10–14 25 December 4 @ New York 90–130 Chambers, R. Smith (13) 10–15 26 December 7 Cincinnati 91–115 Fred Hilton (26) 11–15 27 December 10 Portland 101–100 (OT) Randy Smith (21) 11–16 28 December 14 Philadelphia 110–117 Walt Hazzard (26) 12–16 29 December 15 N Milwaukee 122–108 Bob Kauffman (29) 12–17 30 December 17 New York 115–95 Randy Smith (19) 12–18 31 December 18 @ Boston 91–124 Walt Hazzard (15) 12–19 32 December 21 Los Angeles 117–103 Randy Smith (26) 12–20 33 December 25 @ Atlanta 117–140 Randy Smith (24) 12–21 34 December 27 Philadelphia 121–112 Randy Smith (24) 12–22 35 December 28 @ Los Angeles 87–105 Elmore Smith (32) 12–23 36 December 30 @ Phoenix 102–123 Walt Hazzard (25) 12–24 37 January 1 @ Seattle 83–97 Elmore Smith (21) 12–25 38 January 2 @ Portland 90–108 Fred Hilton (26) 12–26 39 January 4 @ Golden State 86–112 Elmore Smith (22) 12–27 40 January 7 Phoenix 123–110 Walt Hazzard (23) 12–28 41 January 8 @ Cincinnati 97–87 Bob Kauffman (28) 13–28 42 January 9 @ Detroit 96–101 Elmore Smith (22) 13–29 43 January 11 Cincinnati 109–107 (OT) Bob Kauffman (25) 13–30 44 January 12 @ Philadelphia 111–109 Elmore Smith (26) 14–30 45 January 14 Portland 102–100 Bob Kauffman (28) 14–31 46 January 21 Chicago 113–93 Walt Hazzard (15) 14–32 47 January 25 Atlanta 123–110 Fred Hilton (21) 14–33 48 January 26 @ Baltimore 114–115 (OT) Walt Hazzard (30) 14–34 49 January 28 Seattle 104–93 Elmore Smith (23) 14–35 50 January 30 @ Cleveland 99–98 Walt Hazzard (26) 15–35 51 February 1 Cleveland 104–99 Walt Hazzard (26) 15–36 52 February 2 @ Philadelphia 104–119 Bob Kauffman (24) 15–37 53 February 4 New York 103–84 Walt Hazzard (17) 15–38 54 February 5 @ Chicago 96–130 Elmore Smith (24) 15–39 55 February 6 @ Cleveland 121–108 Walt Hazzard (38) 16–39 56 February 8 Milwaukee 126–108 Fred Hilton (30) 16–40 57 February 9 @ Boston 112–139 Bob Kauffman (23) 16–41 58 February 11 Detroit 88–95 Bob Kauffman (21) 17–41 59 February 12 @ Detroit 87–113 Elmore Smith (17) 17–42 60 February 13 @ Atlanta 119–133 Mike Davis (28) 17–43 61 February 15 Golden State 103–100 Mike Davis (23) 17–44 62 February 18 Houston 108–96 Bob Kauffman (19) 17–45 63 February 19 @ New York 95–100 Elmore Smith (27) 17–46 64 February 22 Baltimore 98–99 Bob Kauffman (26) 18–46 65 February 24 N Cincinnati 108–97 Elmore Smith (23) 18–47 66 February 25 Boston 117–115 Elmore Smith (40) 18–48 67 February 29 Atlanta 99–89 Elmore Smith (23) 18–49 68 March 1 @ Philadelphia 99–108 Kauffman, E. Smith (19) 18–50 69 March 3 New York 97–105 Fred Hilton (31) 19–50 70 March 5 @ Phoenix 103–131 Randy Smith (24) 19–51 71 March 7 @ Portland 94–98 Elmore Smith (24) 19–52 72 March 11 @ Houston 100–121 Dick Garrett (17) 19–53 73 March 12 @ Los Angeles 102–141 Walt Hazzard (25) 19–54 74 March 14 Philadelphia 105–108 Elmore Smith (33) 20–54 75 March 17 @ Chicago 103–126 Randy Smith (19) 20–55 76 March 18 Detroit 103–116 Elmore Smith (32) 21–55 77 March 19 @ Cincinnati 105–136 Randy Smith (22) 21–56 78 March 21 Baltimore 100–114 Elmore Smith (29) 22–56 79 March 22 @ New York 99–123 Randy Smith (19) 22–57 80 March 24 @ Detroit 105–112 Randy Smith (33) 22–58 81 March 25 Boston 121–116 Elmore Smith (27) 22–59 82 March 26 @ Baltimore 101–119 Hilton, Warner (18) 22–60 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 APGPPG 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 5.0https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BUF/1972.html 1971-72 Buffalo Braves Roster and Stats 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 52% Additions Player Signed Former team Subtractions Player Left New team Nate Bowman free agency, July 1 Pittsburgh Condors Paul Long free agency, July 1 Portland Trail Blazers Mike Lynn free agency, July 1 Utah Stars Mike Silliman free agency, July 1 Retired George Wilson free agency, July 1 Retired References Braves on Database Basketball Braves on Basketball Reference Buffalo Category:Buffalo Braves seasons Buffalo Buffalo