1973–74 Memphis Tams season

ABA basketball team season August 2023 Memphis Tams ABA 1974 Charlie Finley 21 63 Eastern 5th Butch van Breda Kolff Mid-South Coliseum Memphis Sounds The 1973–74 Memphis Tams season was the second and final season of the Memphis Tams under that name and fourth overall season of American Basketball Association basketball out in Memphis, as well as the seventh overall season of play when including the three seasons of play while out in New Orleans as the New Orleans Buccaneers. After the previous season had mercifully ended, doubt was put into play on whether the Tams would even stay in Memphis at all, as not only were the phone lines cut off from communication with the Tams organization, but the team's offices were closed during the offseason period as well. Charlie Finley tried to sell the team during this time, with a Rhode Island group being in discussion with Finley, but nothing ultimately came through from that; Finley subsequently dealt with a heart ailment for most of the summer as well, which arose a serious problem for the ABA, particularly with making schedules for the teams since they weren't even sure if the Tams were going to actually play this season by that point in time. The league's attempts to reach out to Finley finally came through by late August, with the schedules for the entire ABA being released properly on August 25 — just over a month before the season was officially due to start. The Tams hired Butch van Breda Kolff to coach the team on September 11, two days before the Tams' first preseason game began. The team ultimately floundered this season, losing 63 games in the process (which was the worst record an ABA team had to end a season at the time). They finished 9th in points scored per game, at 101.2, while finishing 8th in points allowed at 108.2 per game. At one point in the season (November 29-December 21), they lost 13 straight games, with a 12-game losing streak occurring later in the year. Their best winning streak lasted a total of only 2 games long, which they did four different times. After the season concluded, the league took over operations of the team from Finley. On July 17, 1974, Mike Storen (who was the ABA's commissioner during this season), funk/soul/disco singer Isaac Hayes, and businessmen Avron Fogelman and Kemmons Wilson bought the team, rebranding the team as the Memphis Sounds.https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MMT/1974.html 1973-74 Memphis Tams Roster and Stats ABA Draft 1973 ABA draft Interestingly, this year's ABA draft would involve four different types of drafts throughout the early 1973 year: a "Special Circumstances Draft" on January 15, a "Senior Draft" on April 25, a "Undergraduate Draft" also on April 25, and a "Supplemental Draft" on May 18. As such, the following selections were made in these respective drafts by the Tams, which could be considered the last official drafts the Memphis franchise would do in the ABA while using the Tams name if you don't include them using that team name during the 1974 ABA draft period. ABA Special Circumstances Draft Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 4 Larry Kenon PF United States United States Memphis State 2 15 Raymond Lewis PG United States United States Cal State Los Angeles The Tams' selection of Larry Kenon would prove to be one of the better selections made in the entire "Special Circumstances Draft" period, though Kenon would not play with the Memphis team this season despite being selected by them since he would be traded to the New York Nets before the season even began (that or sign up with the New York Nets since the Memphis Tams were acting as a franchise in purgatory following the months-long ABA draft period(s) on display in relation to the offseason period for the franchise). Kenon would also change his name from Larry to Muhsin Kenon once he retired from playing basketball altogether. Meanwhile, Raymond Lewis would never play for either the ABA or the NBA due to contract disputes involved with the NBA team that drafted him this season, the Philadelphia 76ers. ABA Senior Draft Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 1 2 Larry Finch SG United States United States Memphis State 2 11 Wendell Hudson F United States United States Alabama 3 21 Dave Langston G United States United States Drake 4 31 Harry Rogers PF United States United States St. Louis 5 41 Dennis Bell SF United States United States Drake 6 51 George Karl PG United States United States North Carolina 7 61 E. C. Coleman PF United States United States Houston Baptist 8 71 Rod Freeman SF United States United States Vanderbilt 9 81 Charles Mitchell F United States United States Eastern Kentucky 10 91 Chuck Iverson F United States United States South Dakota Despite the Tams having the worst record of the season in the ABA during the previous season, they would not obtain the #1 pick of not just the "Senior Draft", but also the "Undergraduate Draft" and "Supplemental Draft" as well due to the San Diego Conquistadors being created as the newest expansion team of the league that same season. With that being said, the "Senior Draft" done in April is often considered the official, main draft period of the 1973 ABA draft by basketball historians. Also, the Tams would end up selecting a future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, albeit as a future head coach in the making, with the selection of George Karl as the 51st pick of the "Senior Draft"; Karl would make his name well known in coaching circles in the rivaling NBA following his short playing career (which had him playing for the newly-renamed San Antonio Spurs franchise that still exists to this day from 1973 until 1978 due to the Tams either trading him to the Spurs during the offseason or Karl signing with the Spurs during the offseason due to the Tams being in franchise purgatory at the time), with his coaching prowess leading many NBA teams to being playoff-caliber squads throughout most of his tenure outside of his final years while coaching with the Sacramento Kings being his biggest duds there, to the point of being one game shy from coaching 2,000 NBA games in the process there. ABA Undergraduate Draft Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 11 (1) 102 (2) David Thompson SG United States United States North Carolina State 12 (2) 111 (11) Larry Robinson F United States United States Texas The "Undergraduate Draft" is considered a continuation of the "Senior Draft" that was done earlier that same day, hence the numbering of the rounds and draft picks here. Thompson would later be considered the unofficial #1 pick of the final ABA draft ever done when the Virginia Squires drafted him as the #1 pick there (though the Denver Nuggets had a bonus round pick that was officially considered the #1 pick that year by most basketball historians), though the Squires would trade him to the Nuggets later in the final ABA season ever played, meaning the Nuggets held both the unofficial and official #1 ABA draft picks of 1975, both of which were previously selected in the 1973 "Undergraduate Draft" by other teams (in the case of who's considered the official #1 pick of the 1975 ABA draft, Marvin Webster, was selected after David Thompson in this particular draft as a second round pick there). ABA Supplemental Draft Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 1 2 Wardell Jeffries G USA United States Oklahoma Baptist 2 9 Slick Watts PG USA United States Xavier University of Louisiana 3 17 Roy Simpson F USA United States Furman 4 25 Norman Russell C USA United States Oklahoma City 5 32 Aaron Covington G USA United States Canisius College 6 38 Fred Lavaroni F USA United States Santa Clara 7 45 John Wolfenberg F USA United States Valparaiso 8 51 Jim Crawford F USA United States La Salle College 9 57 Rick Williams G USA United States Iowa 10 61 Joe Wise G USA United States Bridgewater State College 11 64 Reed Johnson G USA United States Oklahoma Christian College 12 67 Greg Jurcisin C USA United States Connecticut None of the twelve players selected in the "Supplemental Draft" would ever play for the Tams once this draft concluded in May, though the Memphis franchise would arguably select the most successful draft prospect from the "Supplemental Draft" with second round pick Slick Watts from Xavier University of Louisiana. While Watts would never play in the ABA, he would find success in the NBA despite going undrafted in the 1973 NBA draft by comparison, with his best year coming in 1976 with the Seattle SuperSonics due to him not just leading the NBA in both steals and assists, but also being a member of the All-NBA Defensive First Team and winning the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award that year as well. Roster Memphis Tams 1973–74 #007A33 #FFC62C #FFC62C #007A33 33 Jim Ard C 6 8 215 September 19, 1948 Cincinnati 15 Johnny Baum SF 6 5 200 June 17, 1946 Temple 20 Glen Combs PG 6 2 185 October 30, 1946 Virginia Tech 34 Lee Davis C 6 8 235 October 11, 1945 NC Central 32 Randy Denton C 6 10 240 February 18, 1949 Duke 30 Charles Edge basketball SF 6 6 210 February 23, 1950 LeMoyne-Owen College 21 Larry Finch SG 6 2 185 February 16, 1951 Memphis 25 Mike Jackson basketball PF 6 7 215 July 31, 1949 California State University, Los Angeles 11 Wil Jones basketball, born 1947 PF 6 8 205 February 27, 1947 Albany State University 24 Mo Layton PG 6 1 180 December 24, 1948 USC 24 George Lehmann PG 6 0 180 May 1, 1941 Campbell 35 Erwin Mueller PF 6 8 230 March 12, 1944 S an Francisco 14 Johnny Neumann SG 6 6 200 September 11, 1951 Ole Miss 25 Joe Reaves SF 6 5 210 May 27, 1950 Bethel College 35 Ronnie Robinson basketball PF 6 8 200 March 9, 1951 Memphis 10 Wil Robinson SG 6 2 175 December 25, 1949 West Virginia 23 George Thompson basketball SG 6 2 200 November 29, 1947 Marquette 20 Joby Wright PF 6 8 220 September 5, 1950 Indiana Butch van Breda Kolff https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MMT/1974.html Final standings Eastern Division + Team W L % GB New York Nets 55 29 .655 - Kentucky Colonels 53 31 .631 2 Carolina Cougars 47 37 .560 8 Virginia Squires 28 56 .333 27 Memphis Tams 21 63 .250 34 Awards and honors 1974 ABA All-Star Game selection (game played on January 30, 1974) George Thompson References External links RememberTheABA.com 1973–74 regular season and playoff results Memphis Tams page Memphis Tams Memphis Tams, 1973-74 Memphis Tams, 1973-74 Category:Basketball in Memphis, Tennessee