1972–73 San Diego Conquistadors season

August 2023 San Diego Conquistadors ABA 1973 37 47 Western 4 K. C. Jones Peterson Gym Division Semifinals(lost to the Stars 0–4) 1 thumb | right | alt=The 1972–73 San Diego Conquistadors basketball team | The inaugural 1972–73 San Diego Conquistadors basketball team The 1972–73 San Diego Conquistadors season was the first season of the San Diego Conquistadors in the American Basketball Association. The Conquistadors were the first and only expansion team created for the ABA, who were made to make the league have 10 teams after the league previously lost both The Floridians and the Pittsburgh Condors franchises earlier in the season (with both teams ironically looking into San Diego as a relocation option earlier on), with Dr. Leonard Bloom being granted a team by the ABA for $1 million. However, a feud with Peter Graham, the proprietor of the San Diego Sports Arena, due to Graham being bitter for not being granted the San Diego ABA team meant that the Conquistadors would play their games in the 3,200 capacity Peterson Gym instead. Their first game ever played was held on a Friday night on October 13, 1972 versus the Denver Rockets, which they lost 100–109. The Conquistadors had a 16–26 first half of the season, with a ten-game losing streak in that half. In the second half, they went 21–21, with a nine-game losing streak in there, though they have a five-game winning streak near the end of the season that rose their win total from 25 to 30. The Q's (the official fan nickname of the Conquistadors) managed to get into the playoffs due to the Dallas Chaparrals losing to the Denver Rockets on March 25. They finished 9th in points scored with 109.0 points per game and 7th in points allowed with 113.2 points per game. They faced off against the Utah Stars in the semifinal round of the 1973 ABA Playoffs, but they were swept in four games in their first playoff run. https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SDA/1973.html 1972-73 San Diego Conquistadors Roster and Stats Basketball-Reference.com https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SDA/1973_games.html 1972-73 San Diego Conquistadors Schedule and Results Basketball-Reference.com ABA Expansion Draft 1972 ABA draft Nearly a month after the ABA completed its first dispersal draft decreasing the number of teams competing from 11 to 9 with the removal of "The Floridians" and Pittsburgh Condors franchises on July 13, 1972, the San Diego Conquistadors would officially be created with the ABA's first and only expansion draft on August 10 that year to expand the number of teams out to 10 teams instead.Bradley Robert D. The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts 2013 Scarecrow Press 9780810890695, pg. 422 With this expansion draft, the Conquistadors were allowed two selections of players from the nine remaining inaugural teams of the ABA (the Carolina Cougars (formerly the Houston Mavericks), Dallas Chaparrals (also previously known as the Texas Chaparrals for one season), Denver Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Kentucky Colonels, the recently rebranded Memphis Tams (previously the New Orleans Buccaneers and then the Memphis Pros some time before the dispersal draft occurred in July), New York Nets (formerly the New Jersey Americans), Utah Stars (previously the Anaheim Amigos and Los Angeles Stars), and Virginia Squires (previously the Oakland Oaks and Washington Caps)) in what could be considered one whole round on the surface level, but was actually two rounds of drafting instead (though the Pacers did allow for the Conquistadors to obtain the draft rights of Dwight Jones that Indiana obtained from "The Floridians" back in the July 1972 dispersal draft as an alternative choice for San Diego instead).https://apbr.org/abadrafts.html ABA Player Drafts APBR.org Dec 23, 2024 Robert Bradley John Grasso While this specific draft order isn't currently known, what is known is that Mike Barrett of the Virginia Squires was the #1 pick of that particular draft. Outside of that, the following players below are the selections made by the Conquistadors for their expansion draft. Round 1: Stew Johnson, Murray State University (Carolina Cougars) Round 1: George E. Johnson, Stephen F. Austin State University (Dallas Chaparrals) Round 1: Art Becker, Arizona State University (Denver Rockets) Round 1: George Peeples, University of Iowa (Indiana Pacers) Round 1: Les Hunter, Loyola University (Chicago) (Kentucky Colonels) Round 1: Don Sidle, University of Oklahoma (Memphis Tams) Round 1: Ollie Taylor, University of Houston (New York Nets) Round 1: Red Robbins, University of Tennessee (Utah Stars) Round 1: Mike Barrett, West Virginia Institute of Technology (Virginia Squires) Round 2: Larry Miller, University of North Carolina (Carolina Cougars) Round 2: Simmie Hill, West Texas State University (Dallas Chaparrals) Round 2: Chuck Williams, University of Colorado (Denver Rockets) Round 2: Draft rights to Dwight Jones, University of Houston (Indiana Pacers) Round 2: Lonnie Wright, Colorado State University (Kentucky Colonels) Round 2: Charlie Williams, Seattle University (Memphis Tams) Round 2: Gene Moore, Saint Louis University (New York Nets) Round 2: Mike Butler, Memphis State University (Utah Stars) Round 2: Craig Raymond, Brigham Young University (Virginia Squires) Roster San Diego Conquistadors 1972–73 #FFC62C #C60B1C #C60B1C #FFC62C 12 George Adams basketball SF 6 5 210 May 15, 1949 Gardner-Webb University 14 Henry Bacon SG 6 3 205 July 5, 1948 Louisville 20 Mike Barrett basketball SG 6 2 155 September 5, 1943 West Virginia Tech 40 Jerry Chambers SF 6 5 185 July 18, 1943 Utah 54 Simmie Hill SF 6 7 233 November 14, 1946 West Texas A&M University 13 Stew Johnson PF 6 8 220 August 19, 1944 Murray State 44 Larry Miller basketball player SG 6 4 190 April 4, 1946 UNC 55 Gene Moore basketball C 6 9 225 July 29, 1945 Saint Louis 52 Craig Raymond C 6 11 235 April 5, 1945 BYU 21 Red Robbins C 6 8 190 September 30, 1944 Tennessee 33, 42 Garfield Smith C 6 9 235 November 18, 1945 Eastern Kentucky University 53 Pete Smith basketball PF 6 6 205 1947 Valdosta State University 22 Ollie Taylor SG 6 2 194 March 7, 1947 Houston 23 Chuck Williams basketball PG 6 2 175 June 6, 1946 Colorado K.C. Jones https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SDA/1973.html<noinclude> Final standings Western Division + Team W L % GB Utah Stars 55 29 .655 - Indiana Pacers 51 33 .607 4 Denver Rockets 47 37 .560 8 San Diego Conquistadors 30 54 .357 25 Dallas Chaparrals 28 56 .333 27 ABA Playoffs 1973 ABA Playoffs San Diego Conquistadors 1973 yes #FFC62C #C60B1C San Diego Conquistadors ABA Western Division Semifinals yes no yes #C60B1C #FFC62C 0 2 0 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 2 | @ Utah | L 93–107 | Stew Johnson (22) | Red Robbins (8) | Chuck Williams (8) | Salt Palace7,268 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | April 4 |@ Utah | L 92–103 | Chuck Williams (23) | Red Robbins (17) | Taylor, Williams (5) | Salt Palace7,271 | 0–2 |- |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | April 7 | Utah | L 96–97 | Ollie Taylor (22) | Gene Moore (15) | Chuck Williams (5) | Peterson Gym1,729 | 0–3 |- |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | April 8 | Utah | L 98–120 | Stew Johnson (19) | Gene Moore (10) | Stew Johnson (4) | Peterson Gym1,394 | 0–4 |- SDA 1973 yes Awards and honors 1973 ABA All-Star Game selections (game played on February 6, 1973) Chuck Williams Stew Johnson References External links RememberTheABA.com 1972–73 regular season and playoff results San Diego Conquistadors page San Diego Conquistadors San Diego Conquistadors, 1972-73 San Diego Conquistadors, 1972-73 Category:San Diego Conquistadors