1968–69 Phoenix Suns season

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1968–69 Phoenix Suns season
Head coach	Johnny "Red" Kerr
General manager	Jerry Colangelo
Owner(s)	Richard Bloch
Arena	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Results
Record	16–66 (.195)
Place	Division: 7th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	KTAR
Phoenix Suns seasons
	1969–70 >

The 1968–69 Phoenix Suns season was the inaugural season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. In the season Suns' debut, head coach Red Kerr led the franchise to its first win in a victory over the Seattle SuperSonics. No other season for the Suns contained as many losses as the franchise's first season, and it would not be long before the team provided the city of Phoenix with its first opportunity to host a home playoff game. All home games were played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Dick Van Arsdale would become the franchise's first All-Star selection when he was selected to play in the 1969 All-Star Game. He was the team's second leading scorer at 21 points per game, behind eventual Hall of Fame member Gail Goodrich, who averaged 23.8, the seventh-highest in the league for the season. Goodrich was selected to replace an injured Jerry West in the All-Star Game.

Offseason

NBA Expansion Draft

Main article: 1968 NBA Expansion Draft

Along with the other expansion team that joined the league in 1968, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Suns participated in the league's fourth expansion draft.

Player	Pos.	Nationality	Previous team	Years of NBA experience	Career with the franchise	Ref.
Barnhill, JohnJohn Barnhill	G	United States	San Diego Rockets	6	—	^[1]
Bryant, EmEm Bryant	G	United States	New York Knicks	4	—	^[2]
Goodrich, GailGail Goodrich^	G	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	3	1968–1970	^[3]
Hamilton, DennisDennis Hamilton	F	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	1	—	^[4]
Johnson, NeilNeil Johnson	F/C	United States	New York Knicks	2	1968–1970	^[5]
Lattin, DaveDave Lattin	F/C	United States	San Francisco Warriors	1	1968–1969	^[6]
Long, PaulPaul Long	G	United States	Detroit Pistons	1	—	^[7]
McKenzie, StanStan McKenzie	G/F	United States	Baltimore Bullets	1	1968–1970	^[8]
McLemore, McCoyMcCoy McLemore	F/C	United States	Chicago Bulls	4	1968	^[9]
Melchionni, BillBill Melchionni	G	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	1	—	^[10]
Schellhase, DaveDave Schellhase	G	United States	Chicago Bulls	2	—	^[11]
Snyder, DickDick Snyder	G/F	United States	Atlanta Hawks	2	1968–1969	^[12]
Spitzer, CraigCraig Spitzer	C	United States	Chicago Bulls	1	—	^[13]
Tormohlen, BumperBumper Tormohlen	F/C	United States	Atlanta Hawks	5	—	^[14]
Van Arsdale, DickDick Van Arsdale⁺	G/F	United States	New York Knicks	3	1968–1977	^[15]
West, RolandRoland West	G	United States	Baltimore Bullets	1	—	^[16]
Wetzel, JohnJohn Wetzel	G/F	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	1	1970–1972; 1975–1976	^[17]
Wilson, GeorgeGeorge Wilson	C	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	4	1968–1969	^[18]

^	Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
*	Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-NBA Team
⁺	Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game

NBA Draft

Main article: 1968 NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	8	Gary Gregor	Forward	United States	South Carolina
2	22	Dick Cunningham	Center	United States	Murray State
3	36	Art Beatty	Center	United States	American
4	49	Rich Jones	Forward	United States	Memphis
5	64	Harry Hollines	Guard	United States	Denver
6	77	Rod Knowles	Center	United States	Davidson
7	92	Charles Parks	Forward	United States	Idaho State
8	105	Brian Clare	Center	United States	Denver
9	120	Mervin Jackson	Guard	United States	Utah
10	133	Lee Davis	Center	United States	North Carolina Central
11	147	Ron Boone	Guard	United States	Idaho State
12	160	Bill Davis	Forward	United States	Arizona
13	171	Pat Hobart	Forward	United States	California State

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Nat.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB (Y-M-D)	From
5.5 !F/C	31	USA !	Fox, Jim	82 !6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1943–04–07	South Carolina
1.5 !G	25	USA !	Goodrich, Gail	73 !6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1943–04–23	UCLA
5.5 !F/C	44	USA !	Gregor, Gary	79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1945–08–13	South Carolina
5.5 !F/C	11	USA !	Johnson, Neil	79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1943–04–17	Creighton
5.5 !F/C	43	USA !	Lattin, Dave	78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1943–12–23	Texas-El Paso
2.5 !G/F	40	USA !	McKenzie, Stan	77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1944–10–06	NYU
2.5 !G/F	10	USA !	Snyder, Dick	77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	1944–02–01	Davidson
2.5 !G/F	5	USA !	Van Arsdale, Dick	77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1943–02–22	Indiana
2.5 !G/F	23	USA !	Warlick, Bob	77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1941–03–20	Pepperdine

Head coach

Johnny Kerr (Illinois)

Athletic trainer(s)

Joe Proski (Montana State)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended

Injured

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench
C	Jim Fox	Dave Lattin
PF	Gary Gregor	Neil Johnson
SF	Dick Van Arsdale	Stan McKenzie
SG	Dick Snyder	Bob Warlick
PG	Gail Goodrich

Regular season

Standings

Western Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Los Angeles Lakers	55	27	.671	–	32–9	21–18	2–0	30–10
x-Atlanta Hawks	48	34	.585	7	28–12	18–21	2–1	26–14
x-San Francisco Warriors	41	41	.500	14	22–19	18–21	1–1	20–20
x- San Diego Rockets	37	45	.451	18	25–16	8–25	4–4	20–20
Chicago Bulls	33	49	.402	22	19–21	12–25	2–3	19–21
Seattle SuperSonics	30	52	.366	25	18–18	6–29	6–5	15–23
Phoenix Suns	16	66	.195	39	11–26	4–28	1–12	8–30

Game log

1968–69 game log
Total: 16–66 (Home: 12–29; Road: 4–37)

October: 4–3 (Home: 3–2; Road: 1–1)

November: 1–12 (Home: 1–5; Road: 0–7)

December: 3–15 (Home: 2–5; Road: 1–10)

January: 3–12 (Home: 3–6; Road: 0–6)

February: 3–14 (Home: 2–4; Road: 1–10)

March: 2–10 (Home: 1–7; Road: 1–3)

1968–69 season schedule

Team-by-team results

Opponent	Home	Road	Total	All-time record	Suns leading scorer	Opp. leading scorer
Atlanta Hawks	0–3	0–3	0–6	0–6 (.000%)	Bob Warlick (16.4)	Zelmo Beaty (24.8)
Baltimore Bullets	0–3	0–3	0–6	0–6 (.000%)	Dick Van Arsdale (31.0)	Earl Monroe (26.8)
Boston Celtics	0–3	0–3	0–6	0–6 (.000%)	Dick Van Arsdale (18.2)	Bailey Howell (21.7)
Chicago Bulls	2–1	0–3	2–4	2–4 (.333%)	Gail Goodrich (26.7)	Bob Boozer (25.8)
Cincinnati Royals	1–2	1–2	2–4	2–4 (.333%)	Gail Goodrich (28.0)	Oscar Robertson (25.2)
Detroit Pistons	1–2	1–2	2–4	2–4 (.333%)	Gail Goodrich (22.7)	Dave DeBusschere (23.5)
Los Angeles Lakers	0–3	0–3	0–6	0–6 (.000%)	Dick Van Arsdale (26.7)	Wilt Chamberlain (31.2)
Milwaukee Bucks	2–2	0–4	2–6	2–6 (.250%)	Dick Van Arsdale (23.9)	Len Chappell (22.6)
New York Knicks	1–2	0–3	1–5	1–5 (.167%)	Gail Goodrich (21.0)	Willis Reed (27.3)
Philadelphia 76ers	1–2	0–3	1–5	1–5 (.167%)	Dick Van Arsdale (20.2)	Billy Cunningham (26.3)
San Diego Rockets	1–3	0–4	1–7	1–7 (.125%)	Gail Goodrich (30.5)	Elvin Hayes (31.6)
San Francisco Warriors	1–2	1–2	2–4	2–4 (.333%)	Gail Goodrich (29.0)	Nate Thurmond (24.8)
Seattle SuperSonics	2–1	1–2	3–3	3–3 (.500%)	Gail Goodrich (23.8)	Bob Rule (26.7)

Awards and honors

All-Star

Dick Van Arsdale was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his first All-Star selection.
Gail Goodrich was selected to replace Jerry West in the All-Star Game. It was his first All-Star selection.

Season

Gary Gregor was named to the All-Rookie First Team.

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game
PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
Biedenbach, Ed !Ed Biedenbach	7	2.6	.000	.667	0.3	0.4	0.6
Fox, Jim !Jim Fox*	51	38.8	.470	.734	13.3	2.8	13.8
Goodrich, Gail !Gail Goodrich	81	40.0	.411	.747	5.4	6.4	23.8
Gregor, Gary !Gary Gregor	80	27.3	.415	.649	8.9	1.2	11.1
Johnson, Neil !Neil Johnson	80	16.5	.481^	.621	5.0	1.7	5.8
Knowles, Rod !Rod Knowles*	8	5.0	.286	.333	1.1	0.0	1.1
Lattin, Dave !Dave Lattin	68	14.5	.410	.634	4.8	0.7	6.0
McKenzie, Stan !Stan McKenzie	80	19.6	.427	.763+	3.1	1.5	9.3
McLemore, McCoy !McCoy McLemore*	31	22.9	.385	.773+	5.4	1.6	11.8
Snyder, Dick !Dick Snyder	81	26.0	.472^	.725	4.0	2.6	12.1
Van Arsdale, Dick !Dick Van Arsdale	80	42.4	.442	.705	6.9	4.8	21.0
Warlick, Bob !Bob Warlick*	63	15.5	.423	.606	2.4	2.1	8.0
Wilson, George !George Wilson*	41	31.6	.397	.616	12.3	1.9	11.6

* - Stats with the Suns.
^ - Minimum 230 field goals.
+ - Minimum 230 free throws.

Transactions

Trades

August 27, 1968	To Boston Celtics Em Bryant	To Phoenix Suns 1969 second-round draft pick ( Gene Williams)
September 11, 1968	To Atlanta Hawks Dennis Hamilton	To Phoenix Suns 1969 third-round draft pick ( Lloyd Kerr)
September 12, 1968	To Milwaukee Bucks Dick Cunningham	To Phoenix Suns 1973 second-round draft pick ( Gary Melchionni) Cash considerations
December 17, 1968	To Detroit Pistons McCoy McLemore	To Phoenix Suns Jim Fox 1969 third-round draft pick ( Lamar Green)
January 20, 1969	To Philadelphia 76ers George Wilson	To Phoenix Suns Jerry Chambers

Free agents

Additions

Date	Player	Contract	Former Team
October 18, 1968	Ed Biedenbach	Undisclosed	Los Angeles Lakers
November 8, 1968	Bob Warlick	Undisclosed	Milwaukee Bucks

Subtractions

Date	Player	Reason Left	New Team
October 1, 1968	Paul Long	Waived	Los Angeles Lakers
November 6, 1968	Rod Knowles	Waived	New York Nets (ABA)
November 21, 1968	Ed Biedenbach	Waived	n/a

References

^ "John Barnhill Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/barnhjo01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "Em Bryant Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/bryanem01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "Gail Goodrich Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 5 June 2010. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/goodrga01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "Dennis Hamilton Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 31 May 2010. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hamilde01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "Neil Johnson Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/johnsne02.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "Dave Lattin Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/lattida01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "Paul Long Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/longpa01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "Stan McKenzie Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mckenst01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "McCoy McLemore Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 5 May 2010. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mclemmc01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "Bill Melchionni Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/melchbi01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "Dave Schellhase Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/schelda01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "Dick Snyder Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/snydedi01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "Craig Spitzer Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/spitzcr01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "Bumper Tormohlen Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/tormobu01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "Dick Van Arsdale Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 12 May 2010. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/v/vanardi01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "Roland West Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/westro01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "John Wetzel Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wetzejo01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
^ "George Wilson Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wilsoge01.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.

v t e Phoenix Suns seasons
1960s										1968–69
1970s	1969–70	1970–71	1971–72	1972–73	1973–74	1974–75	1975–76	1976–77	1977–78	1978–79
1980s	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89
1990s	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94	1994–95	1995–96	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99
2000s	1999–00	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09
2010s	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12

1968–69 NBA season by team

Eastern	Baltimore Boston Cincinnati Detroit Milwaukee New York Philadelphia

Western	Atlanta Chicago Los Angeles Phoenix San Diego San Francisco Seattle

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