1974–75 Seattle SuperSonics season

The 1974–75 Seattle SuperSonics season was the 8th season of the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In their second season with Bill Russell as head coach and with rookies comprising half the roster, the SuperSonics finished the regular season in 4th place in the Western Conference with a 43–39 record and reached the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. After defeating the Detroit Pistons in 3 games in the first round in a best-of-three series, the team fell to the eventual NBA champions Golden State Warriors in six games.

1974–75 Seattle SuperSonics season
Head coachBill Russell
General managerBill Russell
ArenaSeattle Center Coliseum
Results
Record43–39 (.524)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Pacific)
Conference: 4th (Western)
Playoff finishWest Semifinals
(Lost to Warriors 2–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKTNT-TV
RadioKOMO

Offseason

Head coach Bill Russell anticipated a roster overhaul during the offseason.[1] After trading Dick Snyder on draft day to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange of the Cavs' first round selection, the SuperSonics selected center Tommy Burleson with the 3rd overall pick.[2]

Draft picks
Main article: 1974 NBA draft

Note: only draft picks who participated in at least one game in the NBA are listed.

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 3 Tommy Burleson Center  United States North Carolina State
2 26 Leonard Gray Forward  United States Long Beach State
3 44 Talvin Skinner Guard / Forward  United States Maryland Eastern Shore
5 80 Dean Tolson Forward  United States Arkansas
5 98 Wardell Jackson Forward  United States Ohio State
10 169 Rod Derline Guard  United States Seattle

Roster
Roster listing
1974–75 Seattle SuperSonics roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
G/F 40 Brisker, John 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1947–06–15 Toledo
SG 32 Brown, Fred 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 182 lb (83 kg) 1948–08–07 Iowa
C 16 Burleson, Tommy 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1952–02–24 North Carolina State
G 21 Clark, Archie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1941–07–15 Minnesota
G 25 Derline, Rod 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1952–03–11 Seattle
F/C 31 Fox, Jim 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1943–04–07 South Carolina
F 11 Gray, Leonard 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1951–12–19 Long Beach State
F/C 24 Haywood, Spencer 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1949–04–22 Detroit
F/C 42 Hummer, John 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1948–05–04 Princeton
F 30 Jackson, Wardell 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1951–07–18 Ohio State
G/F 22 Skinner, Talvin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1952–09–10 Maryland Eastern Shore
F 20 Tolson, Dean 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1951–11–25 Arkansas
PG 13 Watts, Donald 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1951–07–22 Xavier (Louisiana)
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

Season standings
Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Golden State Warriors 4834.585–31–1017–2419–11
x-Seattle SuperSonics 4339.524524–1619–2318–12
Portland Trail Blazers 3844.4631029–139–3116–14
Phoenix Suns 3250.3901622–1910–3112–18
Los Angeles Lakers 3052.3661821–209–3210–20
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Golden State Warriors4834.585–
2 y-Chicago Bulls4735.5731
3 x-Kansas City–Omaha Kings4438.5374
4 x-Seattle SuperSonics4339.5245
5 x-Detroit Pistons4042.4888
6 Portland Trail Blazers3844.46310
6 Milwaukee Bucks3844.46310
8 Phoenix Suns3250.39016
9 Los Angeles Lakers3052.36618
z – clinched division title
y – clinched division title
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents
1974–75 NBA records
Team ATL BOS BUF CHI CLE DET GSW HOU KCO LAL MIL NOJ NYK PHI PHO POR SEA WAS
Atlanta —0–41–30–43–42–21–32–52–22–22–23–50–42–24–01–33–13–5
Boston 4–0—5–43–13–13–11–34–02–24–04–04–07–25–33–14–02–22–2
Buffalo 3–14–5—1–33–12–23–12–21–34–01–34–05–36–33–12–23–12–2
Chicago 4–01–33–1—2–24–53–12–24–53–13–54–03–12–22–22–24–01–3
Cleveland 4–31–31–32–2—2–22–24–42–22–21–36–11–33–12–22–22–23–5
Detroit 2–21–32–25–42–2—1–32–22–63–13–64–02–23–12–23–12–21–3
Golden State 3–13–11–31–32–23–1—2–22–25–23–12–23–13–15–35–34–31–3
Houston 5–20–42–22–24–42–22–2—4–02–23–15–31–32–22–22–21–32–5
Kansas City-Omaha 2–22–23–15–42–26–22–20–4—3–16–32–22–21–33–13–11–31–3
Los Angeles 2–20–40–41–32–21–32–52–21–3—4–03–10–43–14–42–52–61–3
Milwaukee 2–20–43–15–33–16–31–31–33–60–4—3–13–13–12–22–21–30–4
New Orleans 5–30–40–40–41–60–42–23–52–21–31–3—2–22–21–32–21–30–7
New York 4–02–73–51–33–12–21–33–12–24–01–32–2—4–53–12–22–21–3
Philadelphia 2–23–53–62–21–31–31–32–23–11–31–32–25–4—2–22–22–21–3
Phoenix 0–41–31–32–22–22–23–52–21–34–42–23–11–32–2—1–64–31–3
Portland 3–10–42–22–22–21–33–52–21–35–22–22–22–22–26–1—2–61–3
Seattle 1–32–21–30–42–22–23–43–13–16–23–13–12–22–23–46–2—1–3
Washington 5–32–22–23–15–33–13–15–23–13–14–07–03–13–13–13–13–1—

Game log
1974–75 game log
Total: 43–39 (Home: 24–16; Road: 19–23; Neutral: 1–0)
October: 6–2 (Home: 4–0; Road: 2–2)
November : 7–10 (Home: 3–3; Road: 4–7)
December : 5–7 (Home: 2–4; Road: 3–3)
January : 7–7 (Home: 3–3; Road: 4–4)
February : 7–8 (Home: 4–4; Road: 3–4)
March : 9–5 (Home: 6–1; Road: 3–4)
April : 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 2–0)
1974–75 season schedule

Playoffs
Main article: 1975 NBA Playoffs
1975 playoff game log
First round: 2–1 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–1)
Conference Semifinals: 2–4 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–2)
1975 playoff schedule

Player statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Season
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
John Brisker 2113.1.426.8571.6.9.3.17.7
Fred Brown 8133.0.480.8314.23.52.3.221.0
Tommy Burleson 8223.0.417.6877.01.4.81.910.1
Archie Clark 7732.2.495.8343.15.61.4.113.9
Rod Derline 5811.5.428.7681.0.8.4.15.6
Jim Fox 7523.5.469.8026.51.8.6.29.0
Leonard Gray 7530.4.489.7226.42.2.8.311.5
Spencer Haywood 6837.2.459.8119.32.0.81.622.4
John Hummer 4313.2.380.2752.4.9.2.22.2
Wardell Jackson 5616.8.397.7182.4.5.5.14.3
Kennedy McIntosh 616.8.207.6672.51.2.7.53.0
Talvin Skinner 7321.6.409.6494.71.2.7.24.8
Dean Tolson 194.6.432.6471.2.3.2.32.3
Slick Watts 8225.1.421.6083.26.12.3.16.8

Playoffs
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Fred Brown 830.0.496.8444.52.92.1.120.6
Tommy Burleson 940.4.513.75010.71.4.82.020.7
Archie Clark 929.9.436.9003.63.4.7.17.0
Rod Derline 610.7.545.8572.21.2.3.07.0
Jim Fox 85.0.286.5711.1.3.0.11.5
Leonard Gray 929.2.488.8465.02.21.3.69.9
Spencer Haywood 937.4.359.7709.02.0.81.215.7
John Hummer 611.3.0001.5.7.3.0.0
Talvin Skinner 923.4.467.7374.21.31.0.26.2
Dean Tolson 45.5.1251.0001.8.3.0.01.0
Slick Watts 931.1.462.5383.77.13.0.411.1

Awards and records

Transactions

Overview
Players added

Via draft

Via trade

 Players lost

Via draft
(1974 NBA Expansion Draft)

Via trade

Via free agency

Waived

Trades
May 28, 1974 To Seattle SuperSonics
1974 first round pick		 To Cleveland Cavaliers
Dick Snyder
1974 first round pick
August 20, 1974 [3] To Seattle SuperSonics
Archie Clark		 To Washington Bullets
Dick Gibbs
1975 third round pick

References
  1. Program may be needed to identify 'new' Sonics, Ellensburg Daily Record. May 30, 1974. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  2. Sonics draft Burleson, Ellensburg Daily Record. May 28, 1974. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  3. Seattle acquires Clark from Bullets, Bangor Daily News. August 20, 1974. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
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