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1971–72 The Floridians season

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1971–72 The Floridians season
Head coachBob Bass
Owner(s)James Edwin Doyle
ArenaMiami Beach Convention Center
Curtis Hixon Hall
Bayfront Arena
Jacksonville Coliseum
West Palm Beach Auditorium
Results
Record36–48 (.429)
PlaceDivision: 4th (Eastern)
Playoff finishLost in Division Semifinals
< 1970–71

The 1971–72 The Floridians season was the fourth and final season of American Basketball Association in Florida. For this season, 34 games were played in Miami, with the other home games being played in either Tampa or St. Petersberg. The Floridians edged out the Carolina Cougars for the final playoff spot by one game, with their 116–115 overtime victory proving key to clinching the spot, as their record was 35–45 and the Cougars record was at 33–49, with the Floridians not only having two more games to play than the Cougars but only needing to win once more to officially clinch, which they did four days later versus the Memphis Pros, 118–107. The team's biggest winning streak all season was 4, with their first half record being 19–23. They went 17–25 in the second half of the season, with a season high six game losing streak in that half. They finished 8th in points scored, at 112.8 per game and 8th in points allowed at 114.3 per game. In the Semifinals, they were swept by the Virginia Squires. After the season, the team was disbanded, due to attendance not improving despite trying to appeal to the region. Pro basketball would not return to the area until 1988 with the Miami Heat, who have worn throwback jerseys of the team on occasion as part of "Hardwood Classics Nights", doing so for the first time during the 2005–06 season.[1]

Roster

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1971–72 The Floridians roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
PF Will Allen 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) February 8, 1949 Miami (FL)
PG 21 Mack Calvin 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) July 27, 1947 USC
PF Rick Fisher 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) October 27, 1948 Colorado State
SF 15 Ron Franz 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) October 20, 1945 Kansas
C 51 Carl Fuller 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) January 10, 1946 Bethune–Cookman
C 41 Ira Harge 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) March 14, 1941 New Mexico
SG 15 Warren Jabali 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) August 29, 1946 Wichita State
SG 32 Larry Jones 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) September 22, 1942 Toledo
C 43 Manny Leaks 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) November 27, 1945 Niagara
PF 30 Willie Long 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) March 1, 1950 New Mexico
PF 43 Walt Piatkowski 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) June 11, 1945 Bowling Green
C 51 Craig Raymond 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) April 5, 1945 BYU
SF 31 Sam Robinson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) January 1, 1948 Long Beach State
SF 44 George Tinsley 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) September 19, 1946 Kentucky Wesleyan
PF 12 Al Tucker 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 190 lb (86 kg) February 24, 1943 Oklahoma Baptist
SG 20 Lonnie Wright 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) January 23, 1945 Colorado State
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster

Final standings

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Eastern Division

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Team W L % GB
Kentucky Colonels 68 16 .810 -
Virginia Squires 45 39 .536 23
New York Nets 44 40 .524 24
The Floridians 36 48 .429 32
Carolina Cougars 35 49 .417 33
Pittsburgh Condors 25 59 .298 43

Playoffs

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1972 playoff game log
Eastern Division Semifinals: 0–4 (home: 0–2; road: 0–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 March 31 @ Virginia L 107–114 Long, Jabali (22) Long, Jabali (17) Warren Jabali (7) Norfolk Scope
3,770 		0–1
2 April 1 @ Virginia L 100–125 Willie Long (22) Warren Jabali (13) Long, Tucker, Calvin (3) Hampton Coliseum
2,921 		0–2
3 April 4 Virginia L 113–118 Mack Calvin (27) Jabali, Raymond (12) Jabali, Calvin (8) Miami-Dade Junior College North
2,965 		0–3
4 April 6 Virginia L 106–115 Mack Calvin (23) Ron Franz (11) Mack Calvin (10) Miami-Dade Junior College North
3,117 		0–4
1972 schedule

Awards and honors

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1972 ABA All-Star Game selections (game played on January 29, 1972)

Dispersal Draft

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On June 13, 1972, months after participating in and completing the 1972 ABA draft, it was announced by ABA commissioner Jack Dolph that both The Floridians and Pittsburgh Condors franchises would go defunct for the 1972–73 ABA season due to neither team finding a viable location to help ensure their survival beyond the season, especially due to rumblings regarding a future NBA-ABA merger looking to not include either team alongside the Memphis Pros (who would soon afterward rebrand themselves into the Memphis Tams in an attempt to regain sustainability in the ABA) due to them all being considered the weakest links of the ABA at the time.[2][3] For The Floridians franchise, they would fold operations in what was considered to be a tax write-off by the ABA after failing to secure a relocation deal to Cincinnati and various plans involving cities like Montreal (which would have being outside of the United States of America region for the ABA), Albuquerque, San Diego (who ironically would host their own ABA franchise later that year in the San Diego Conquistadors expansion franchise), and Omaha (who was slated to be sold to Peter Swanson of Swanson Foods had the ABA allowed for the initial sale to go through) ultimately fell through for varying reasons. The ABA would host its first ever dispersal draft a month later on July 13 involving former Floridians and Condors players, with every remaining ABA team at that point in time taking at least one player that was on The Floridians at the time of the draft. The following Floridians players or drafted players would be drafted in this order by the rest of the ABA teams in this draft period.[4][5]

References

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  1. ^ "1971-72 the Floridians Schedule and Results".
  2. ^ https://newspaperarchive.com/findlay-republican-courier-jun-12-1972-p-15/
  3. ^ https://newspaperarchive.com/abilene-reporter-news-jun-14-1972-p-48/
  4. ^ Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695., pg. 426
  5. ^ "1972 ABA Draft". The Draft Review. June 6, 2007. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
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