1970–71 Virginia Squires season

ABA basketball team season August 2023 Virginia Squires ABA 1971 yes 55 29 Eastern 1st Al Bianchi Old Dominion University Fieldhouse Hampton ColiseumRichmond ColiseumRichmond ArenaNorfolk ScopeSalem Civic CenterRoanoke Civic Center Lost in Division Finals WAVY 10 WTAR Washington Caps The 1970–71 Virginia Squires season was the fourth season of the franchise and the first season for the state of Virginia in the American Basketball Association. After two seasons played as the Oakland Oaks (the second of which resulted in them winning the ABA Finals Championship) and one season played as the Washington Caps, owner Earl Foreman was convinced by the ABA to move his team from Washington, D.C. to the nearby state of Virginia. Like the Carolina Cougars before them and both "The Floridians" and Texas Chaparrals alongside them at the time, the Squires played their games as a regional franchise, primarily playing games in the cities of Norfolk, Hampton and Richmond, with Salem and Roanoke having occasional games as well. The Squires started play there on October 17, 1970, in the city of Norfolk, winning 133–116 over the Pittsburgh Condors. They then proceeded to win their next five games while having a 30–12 first half of the season, which was highlighted by a seven-game winning streak along the way. However, they then went 25–17 in the second half of the season, though they never lost more than two games in a row throughout the regular season. They finished the season first in points scored at 123.3 per game and 7th in points allowed at 119.7 per game. In the 1971 ABA Playoffs, they beat their new stateside rivals in the Kentucky Colonels in six games to advance to the Eastern Division Finals, but they were beaten in six games themselves by the New York Nets, who would lose the championship series to the Utah Stars that year. Before the season began for the Squires, on September 1, the Squires traded an unhappy Rick Barry to the New York Nets for $200,000 cash (with Barry claiming to have offered up more money for the Squires to leave the team himself instead). His unhappiness to the idea of playing in Virginia related to the notion of folksy life not appealing to him, with his ideal locations to play in at the time being in either California (which involved the risk of him returning to the Golden State Warriors of the rivaling NBA) or New York. Offsetting this loss for them, however, was rookie guard Charlie Scott from the University of North Carolina. Scott averaged 27.1 points per game during his rookie season in Virginia and was co-named the ABA's Rookie of the Year alongside Dan Issel of the Kentucky Colonels. Roster Virginia Squires 1970–71 #D50032 #FFFFFF #053CA4 #FFFFFF 20 Mike Barrett basketball, born 1943 PG 6 2 155 September 5, 1943 West Virginia Tech 11 Larry Brown basketball PG 5 9 160 September 14, 1940 UNC 16 Bill Bunting SF 6 8 200 August 26, 1947 UNC 34 Frank Card F 6 7 195 December 28, 1944 South Carolina State 40 George Carter basketball SF 6 4 210 January 10, 1944 St. Bonaventure 42 Jim Eakins C 6 11 215 May 24, 1946 BYU 31 George Irvine basketball SF 6 6 200 February 1, 1948 Washington 24 Neil Johnson basketball PF 6 7 220 April 17, 1943 Creighton Henry Logan basketball G 6 0 180 March 14, 1946 Western Carolina University 34 Mike Maloy PF 6 7 215 May 10, 1949 Davidson 15 Doug Moe SF 6 5 215 September 21, 1938 UNC 33 Charlie Scott basketball SG 6 5 175 December 15, 1948 UNC 22 Ray Scott basketball C 6 9 215 July 12, 1938 University of Portland 14, 54 Roland Taylor PG 6 0 175 March 13, 1946 La Salle Tiny Ron Taylor C 7 1 265 November 21, 1947 USC Al Bianchi https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/VIR/1971.html<noinclude> Final standings Eastern Division Eastern DivisionWLPCTGBVirginia Squires * 55 29 .655Kentucky Colonels * 44 40 .524 11.0New York Nets *4044.47615.0The Floridians *3747.44018.0Pittsburgh Condors 3648.42919.0Carolina Cougars 3450.40521.0 ABA Playoffs ABA Eastern Division Semifinals vs. New York Nets Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 April 2 Hampton (Virginia) 113–105 1–0 6,149 2 April 4 Hampton (Virginia) 114–108 2–0 7,143 3 April 6 New York 131–135 2–1 3,504 4 April 7 New York 127–130 2–2 4,134 5 April 9 Richmond (Virginia) 127–124 3–2 4,250 6 April 10 New York 118–114 4–2 3,016 Squires win series, 4–2 ABA Eastern Division Finals vs. Kentucky Colonels Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 April 15 Richmond (Virginia) 132–136 0–1 4,250 2 April 17 Norfolk (Virginia) 142–122 1–1 5,000 3 April 19 Kentucky 150–137 2–1 4,777 4 April 21 Kentucky 110–128 2–2 5,221 5 April 23 Hampton (Virginia) 107–115 2–3 10,013 6 April 24 Kentucky 117–129 2–4 12,822 Squires lose series, 4–2 Awards and honors 1971 ABA All-Star Game selections (game played on January 23, 1971) Charlie Scott George Carter Neil Johnson Bianchi was selected to coach the Eastern Division. ABA Coach of the Year: Al Bianchi ABA Rookie of the Year: Charlie Scott ABA First Team selection: Charlie Scott References 2 Squires on Basketball Reference External links RememberTheABA.com 1970–71 regular season and playoff results Virginia Squires page Category:Virginia Squires Virginia Squires Virginia Squires, 1970-71 Virginia Squires, 1970-71