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1969–70  Cincinnati Royals season
Head coach Bob Cousy
OwnersMax Jacobs
Jeremy Jacobs
Arena Cincinnati Gardens
Results
Record36–46 (.439)
PlaceDivision: 5th ( Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television WLWT
Radio WLW
< 1968–69 1970–71 >

The 1969–70 Cincinnati Royals season was one of the last years the franchise played in Cincinnati. In 1972, they moved to Kansas City. This was also the final season for Oscar Robertson, who went to the Milwaukee Bucks next season.

History

After his death in 1968, Louis Jacob's sons took over the ownership of the team. The first move of the young Jacobses was to hire in Kansas City sports manager Joe Axelson, a relative unknown in NBA circles who had befriended the ownership family. Axelson replaced the outgoing GM, Pepper Wilson, who had served with the franchise since it arrived in Cincinnati in 1957. The three then were able to draw in former Boston College coach and Boston Celtics legend Bob Cousy for the then-very high salary of $100,000 per season to replace Cincinnati favorite Ed Jucker as coach. Cousy arrived to considerable press to his new team.

Cousy wanted a young running team and began shipping out veterans who did not follow his new program. Jerry Lucas, a three-time First Team All-Pro with Cincinnati, was traded to the San Francisco Warriors in exchange for guard Jim King and forward Bill Turner. King and Turner combined to average ten points per game that season, then left the following season. Turner in fact joined Lucas in San Francisco. Lucas played four more NBA seasons and was a San Francisco NBA All-Star in 1971.

Cousy also sent long-time Cincinnati favorite Adrian Smith to San Francisco. Cousy attempted to trade Oscar Robertson to the Baltimore Bullets for Gus Johnson. [1] Robertson exercised his right to veto the trade. The team was known as "the Running Royals". Cincinnati topped the 110-point mark in each of the campaign's final 21 contests, and during a six-game span in mid-February, the team averaged 127 points. [1]

Cousy spoke often of a youth movement for the team that year, but ended up starting 36-year-old Johnny Green, 33-year-old Connie Dierking and 30-year-old Oscar Robertson. Tom Van Arsdale joined Robertson as NBA All-Stars. He then took the ball out of the hands of Robertson, the NBA's all-time point guard, and gave it to rookie Norm Van Lier, who did turn in an impressive season.

Adding still more to the story was Bob Cousy's decision to play at age 41. In order to be activated, the Royals had to trade solid reserve Bill Dinwiddie to the Boston Celtics so that Red Auerbach could release him from the Boston retired list. Cousy played seven games in November, and played poorly, having not played in the NBA for five seasons. Despite the hype and changes, the team was clearly worse than it had been the previous season. But the Jacobses and Axelson were already looking to sell the team anyway. This season marked the beginning of the end of the Cincinnati Royals as a result. The Royals failed to qualify for the playoffs. The Royals finished in 5th place with a 36–46 record.

Following the season, Robertson was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Flynn Robinson and Charlie Paulk. In 10 seasons with the Royals, Robertson averaged 29.3 points, 10.3 assists, and 8.5 rebounds per game. [1]

Roster

Cincinnati Royals roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From
SF 21 Anderzunas, Wally 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Creighton
PG 19 Cousy, Bob 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Holy Cross
C 24 Dierking, Connie 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 222 lb (101 kg) Cincinnati
SF 15 Foster, Fred 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Miami (OH)
SG 30 Gilliam, Herm 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Purdue
PF 20 Green, Johnny 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Michigan State
PG 17 King, Jim 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Tulsa
C 22 Rackley, Luther 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Xavier
PG 14 Robertson, Oscar 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Cincinnati
PF 13 Turner, Bill 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Akron
SF 5 Van Arsdale, Tom 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Indiana
PG 23 Van Lier, Norm 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 173 lb (78 kg) Saint Francis (PA)
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Draft picks

The Royals first round pick was star guard Herm Gilliam of Purdue. Gilliam was lost for much of the 1969–70 season with mandatory military service. The following year, he was selected by Buffalo in the expansion draft.

Second pick Luther Rackley had starred locally at Xavier as a solid 6'10 big man. He played one year for the Royals and then was selected by Cleveland in the expansion draft. Slender 6'7 Luther Green was the third Royals pick. He found better chances with the ABA's New York Nets and signed there.

Regular season

Season standings

Eastern Division
 W L PCT GB
x- New York Knicks 60 22 .732 –
x- Milwaukee Bucks 56 26 .683 4
x- Baltimore Bullets 50 32 .610 10
x- Philadelphia 76ers 42 40 .512 18
Cincinnati Royals 36 46 .439 24
Boston Celtics 34 48 .415 26
Detroit Pistons 31 51 .378 29

Record vs. opponents

1969–70 NBA records
Team ATL BAL BOS CHI CIN DET LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO SDR SFW SEA
Atlanta — 2–4 6–0 5–2 3–3 3–3 4–3 3–3 4–2 3–3 2–4 4–2 5–2 4–2
Baltimore 4–2 — 5–2 5–1 4–3 5–2 4–2 3–3 1–5 3–4 3–3 6–0 2–4 5–1
Boston 0–6 2–5 — 3–3 3–3 4–3 2–4 1–6 4–3 2–4 2–4 4–2 5–1 2–4
Chicago 2–5 1–5 3–3 — 3–3 3–3 4–2 4–2 0–6 3–3 5–2 3–4 4–2 4–3
Cincinnati 3–3 3–4 3–3 3–3 — 4–2 2–4 2–5 2–5 4–3 3–3 4–2 2–4 1–5
Detroit 3–3 2–5 3–4 3–3 2–4 — 3–3 1–6 1–6 1–5 3–3 3–3 3–3 3–3
Los Angeles 3–4 2–4 4–2 2–4 4–2 3–3 — 3–3 2–4 4–2 3–4 5–2 5–2 6–0
Milwaukee 3–3 3–3 6–1 2–4 5–2 6–1 3–3 — 2–4 5–2 6–0 6–0 4–2 5–1
New York 2–4 5–1 3–4 6–0 5–2 6–1 4–2 4–2 — 5–2 6–0 5–1 5–1 4–2
Philadelphia 3–3 4–3 4–2 3–3 3–4 5–1 2–4 2–5 2–5 — 4–2 4–2 6–0 0–6
Phoenix 4–2 3–3 4–2 2–5 3–3 3–3 4–3 0–6 0–6 2–4 — 7–0 3–3 4–3
San Diego 2–4 0–6 2–4 4–3 2–4 3–3 2–5 0–6 1–5 2–4 0–7 — 5–2 4–2
San Francisco 2–5 4–2 1–5 2–4 4–2 3–3 2–5 2–4 1–5 0–6 3–3 2–5 — 3–4
Seattle 2–4 1–5 4–2 3–4 5–1 3–3 0–6 1–5 2–4 6–0 3–4 2–4 4–3 —

Season Schedule

1969–70 Game log
# Date Opponent Score High points Record
1 October 15 New York 94–89 Tom Van Arsdale (20) 0–1
2 October 17 @ Boston 110–108 Oscar Robertson (25) 1–1
3 October 18 Philadelphia 134–123 Luther Rackley (29) 1–2
4 October 22 Los Angeles 116–109 Tom Van Arsdale (24) 1–3
5 October 24 @ Baltimore 126–131 (OT) Oscar Robertson (35) 1–4
6 October 25 @ Philadelphia 109–98 Connie Dierking (27) 2–4
7 October 30 @ Phoenix 104–106 Tom Van Arsdale (23) 2–5
8 October 31 @ Seattle 121–129 Oscar Robertson (30) 2–6
9 November 1 @ San Francisco 97–120 Oscar Robertson (26) 2–7
10 November 2 @ Los Angeles 124–116 Tom Van Arsdale (41) 3–7
11 November 5 San Diego 120–133 Oscar Robertson (33) 4–7
12 November 6 San Francisco 130–109 Tom Van Arsdale (18) 4–8
13 November 8 Baltimore 121–130 Oscar Robertson (38) 5–8
14 November 12 Boston 107–116 Oscar Robertson (25) 6–8
15 November 15 Detroit 105–104 Tom Van Arsdale (26) 6–9
16 November 18 @ New York 94–112 Johnny Green (16) 6–10
17 November 19 Los Angeles 116–103 Oscar Robertson (21) 6–11
18 November 21 Chicago 119–133 Oscar Robertson (41) 7–11
19 November 23 Phoenix 123–137 Oscar Robertson (39) 8–11
20 November 24 @ Milwaukee 129–104 Tom Van Arsdale (29) 9–11
21 November 28 N New York 106–105 Oscar Robertson (33) 9–12
22 November 29 @ Atlanta 111–128 Oscar Robertson (22) 9–13
23 November 30 Philadelphia 107–115 Tom Van Arsdale (31) 10–13
24 December 2 @ Baltimore 107–129 Oscar Robertson (32) 10–14
25 December 3 Seattle 118–117 Oscar Robertson (36) 10–15
26 December 5 Atlanta 127–156 Johnny Green (31) 11–15
27 December 6 @ Philadelphia 102–120 Fred Foster (27) 11–16
28 December 9 @ New York 103–101 Oscar Robertson (31) 12–16
29 December 10 Philadelphia 121–122 Oscar Robertson (35) 13–16
30 December 11 @ Detroit 116–119 (OT) Oscar Robertson (44) 13–17
31 December 13 @ Phoenix 110–126 Fred Foster (19) 13–18
32 December 14 @ Phoenix 137–130 (2OT) Oscar Robertson (37) 14–18
33 December 17 @ Seattle 104–117 Oscar Robertson (28) 14–19
34 December 19 @ Los Angeles 117–109 Connie Dierking (31) 15–19
35 December 20 @ San Diego 111–126 Oscar Robertson (33) 15–20
36 December 25 San Francisco 124–120 (OT) Oscar Robertson (38) 15–21
37 December 26 N Atlanta 130–110 Oscar Robertson (28) 16–21
38 December 27 Milwaukee 110–112 (OT) Oscar Robertson (31) 17–21
39 December 29 @ Detroit 110–103 Connie Dierking (29) 18–21
40 December 30 San Diego 120–125 Tom Van Arsdale (29) 19–21
41 January 2 @ Baltimore 116–118 Oscar Robertson (31) 19–22
42 January 3 @ Atlanta 104–102 Tom Van Arsdale (30) 20–22
43 January 4 Baltimore 128–129 Tom Van Arsdale (35) 21–22
44 January 6 Phoenix 124–128 Oscar Robertson (29) 22–22
45 January 7 @ Milwaukee 119–138 Fred Foster (32) 22–23
46 January 11 N Phoenix 125–118 Johnny Green (27) 22–24
47 January 13 N Milwaukee 112–92 Fred Foster (21) 22–25
48 January 15 @ Chicago 120–130 Tom Van Arsdale (28) 22–26
49 January 16 N Atlanta 100–117 Luther Rackley (23) 22–27
50 January 18 @ Philadelphia 116–141 Luther Rackley (25) 22–28
51 January 22 Boston 104–111 Oscar Robertson (40) 23–28
52 January 24 @ Milwaukee 109–125 Tom Van Arsdale (25) 23–29
53 January 25 Baltimore 122–129 Oscar Robertson (41) 24–29
54 January 26 N Chicago 116–115 Oscar Robertson (36) 25–29
55 January 28 Milwaukee 126–114 Johnny Green (25) 25–30
56 January 30 @ Boston 103–108 Tom Van Arsdale (25) 25–31
57 January 31 Detroit 115–117 Fred Foster (25) 26–31
58 February 1 @ Chicago 108–115 Johnny Green (27) 26–32
59 February 3 N Los Angeles 124–114 Tom Van Arsdale (36) 26–33
60 February 4 Seattle 121–115 Tom Van Arsdale (29) 26–34
61 February 6 New York 135–92 Tom Van Arsdale (21) 26–35
62 February 7 @ New York 114–121 Connie Dierking (24) 26–36
63 February 8 @ Boston 117–130 Tom Van Arsdale (38) 26–37
64 February 10 @ Detroit 117–115 Connie Dierking (30) 27–37
65 February 11 N Detroit 113–124 Tom Van Arsdale (32) 28–37
66 February 13 @ San Francisco 128–110 Tom Van Arsdale (34) 29–37
67 February 15 @ San Diego 123–150 Fred Foster (32) 29–38
68 February 18 N Atlanta 125–139 (OT) Tom Van Arsdale (27) 29–39
69 February 21 Chicago 119–127 Tom Van Arsdale (30) 30–39
70 February 22 Philadelphia 116–136 Connie Dierking (45) 31–39
71 March 1 @ Milwaukee 114–120 Oscar Robertson (25) 31–40
72 March 2 N Baltimore 110–118 Oscar Robertson (28) 31–41
73 March 4 @ San Diego 127–125 Connie Dierking (31) 32–41
74 March 6 @ Seattle 122–126 Tom Van Arsdale (26) 32–42
75 March 7 @ San Francisco 121–119 Connie Dierking (33) 33–42
76 March 8 @ Los Angeles 116–144 Tom Van Arsdale (26) 33–43
77 March 11 Boston 144–127 Johnny Green (32) 33–44
78 March 12 San Diego 151–165 Tom Van Arsdale (36) 34–44
79 March 15 Seattle 113–116 Oscar Robertson (37) 35–44
80 March 16 N Chicago 140–142 (OT) Tom Van Arsdale (42) 35–45
81 March 20 San Francisco 118–111 Tom Van Arsdale (32) 35–46
82 March 21 @ New York 136–120 Connie Dierking (35) 36–46

[2]

October 2–6 including a road win at Boston, November 8–7, December 9–8, the team finished December at a decent 19–21. January 7–10, including four-straight. February 5–8 and March 5–7 with the team tiring down the stretch. The team missed the playoffs by six games.

Awards and records

References

  1. ^ a b c Cincinnati Royals (1957–1972)
  2. ^ 1969–70 Cincinnati Royals Games – Basketball-Reference.com
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