1968–69 Denver Rockets season

1968–69 Denver Rockets season
Head coach	Bob Bass
Arena	Denver Auditorium Arena
Results
Record	44–34 (.564)
Place	Division: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finish	ABA Western Division Semi-finals (lost to Oaks 3–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

The 1968–69 ABA season was the second season of the Denver Nuggets. They ended their season with one less win compared to last season, but ended up in the playoffs once again. Out of the 11 ABA teams that season the Rockets were ranked second in offensive rating.

Roster

No.	Player	Position	Height	Weight	Birth Date	Experience (years)	College
40	Byron Beck	C	6-9	225	January 25, 1945	1	University of Denver
52	Larry Bunce	C	7-0	240	July 29, 1945	1	Utah State University
14	Jeffrey Congdon	PG	6-1	180	October 17, 1943	1	Brigham Young University
12	John Fairchild	SF	6-8	205	April 28, 1943	2	Brigham Young University
22	Julian Hammond	SF	6-5	205	May 27, 1943	1	University of Tulsa
54	Wayne Hightower	PF	6-8	192	January 14, 1940	6	University of Kansas
32	Larry Jones	PG	6-2	180	September 22, 1942	2	University of Toledo
24	Bill McGill	C	6-9	225	September 16, 1939	3	University of Utah
50	Charles Parks	F	6-5	210		R	Idaho State University
34	Walter Piatkowski	PF	6-8	220	June 11, 1945	R	Bowling Green State University
44	Willie Rogers	SG	6-3	185	September 11, 1945	R	University of Oklahoma
10	Grant Simmons	PG	6-3	190	March 7, 1943	1	University of Nebraska
12	Levern Tart	SG	6-2	195	June 1, 1942	1	Bradley University
11	Bob Verga	SG	6-1	190	September 7, 1945	1	Duke University
30	Ken Wilburn	SF	6-6	195	June 8, 1944	1	Central State University
42	Lonnie Wright	SG	6-2	205	January 23, 1944	1	Colorado State University

Season standings

Eastern Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Indiana Pacers	44	34	.564	-
Miami Floridians	43	35	.551	1
Kentucky Colonels	42	36	.538	2
Minnesota Pipers	36	42	.462	8
New York Nets	17	61	.218	27

Western Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Oakland Oaks	60	18	.769	-
New Orleans Buccaneers	46	32	.590	14
Denver Rockets	44	34	.564	16
Dallas Chaparrals	41	37	.526	19
Los Angeles Stars	33	45	.423	27
Houston Mavericks	23	55	.295	37

Game log

• 1968-69 Denver Rockets Schedule and Results | Basketball-Reference.com

Statistics

Rk	Player	Age	G	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	2P	2PA	2P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	TOV	PF	PTS
1	Larry Jones	26	75	40.6	10.1	21.7	.465	0.3	1.3	.240	9.8	20.4	.480	7.9	10.1	.778	2.2	4.4	6.6	3.4	2.9	3.6	28.4
2	Lonnie Wright	25	69	36.8	6.6	15.8	.416	0.3	1.2	.221	6.3	14.5	.433	3.0	4.0	.743	0.7	3.5	4.2	2.5	2.3	3.6	16.4
3	Wayne Hightower	29	67	34.6	4.6	11.4	.408	0.0	0.0	.000	4.6	11.3	.409	4.6	6.4	.730	2.3	7.3	9.6	3.0	2.6	3.6	13.9
4	Byron Beck	24	71	32.2	6.0	11.9	.502	0.0	0.0	.667	5.9	11.8	.501	2.6	3.4	.765	3.8	7.1	11.0	1.1	1.3	3.5	14.5
5	Julian Hammond	25	78	29.9	4.2	7.7	.547	0.0	0.0		4.2	7.7	.547	2.1	3.2	.652	3.4	4.3	7.7	1.6	1.9	2.7	10.6
6	Bob Verga	23	6	25.0	4.0	12.8	.312	0.2	0.5	.333	3.8	12.3	.311	3.0	4.7	.643	1.7	1.8	3.5	1.8	4.2	2.7	11.2
7	Walter Piatkowski	23	77	23.6	5.2	12.4	.417	0.4	1.1	.329	4.8	11.4	.426	1.5	2.0	.775	1.9	2.8	4.7	0.6	1.3	2.9	12.2
8	Bill McGill	29	78	22.6	5.3	9.6	.552	0.0	0.0		5.3	9.6	.552	2.3	3.4	.682	1.9	4.0	5.9	1.3	1.9	3.7	12.8
9	Levern Tart	26	20	17.3	2.8	8.0	.352	0.0	0.1	.000	2.8	7.9	.357	2.1	2.8	.750	1.3	1.3	2.6	2.2	2.1	2.0	7.7
10	Jeffrey Congdon	25	59	16.6	1.8	4.7	.386	0.1	0.5	.161	1.7	4.2	.415	1.2	1.4	.812	0.2	1.3	1.6	2.3	1.6	1.8	4.9
11	Grant Simmons	25	17	14.8	1.3	3.5	.373	0.1	0.1	.500	1.2	3.4	.368	1.2	1.7	.690	0.4	1.2	1.5	0.9	1.0	2.5	3.8
12	John Fairchild	25	11	12.3	1.1	3.1	.353	0.0	0.0		1.1	3.1	.353	1.5	2.2	.667	0.6	1.0	1.6	0.8	1.4	0.7	3.6
13	Ken Wilburn	24	37	11.1	1.9	4.9	.398	0.0	0.0		1.9	4.9	.398	0.8	1.5	.526	2.2	2.6	4.8	0.6	1.0	1.5	4.7
14	Larry Bunce	23	23	9.8	1.0	2.6	.373	0.0	0.0		1.0	2.6	.373	2.1	3.0	.700	0.7	1.8	2.5	0.1	0.9	1.9	4.0
15	Willie Rogers	23	40	7.4	0.7	2.0	.338	0.0	0.1	.000	0.7	1.9	.351	0.8	1.3	.596	0.4	0.8	1.2	0.4	0.8	1.3	2.1
16	Charles Parks		2	2.5	0.0	0.5	.000	0.0	0.0		0.0	0.5	.000	0.0	0.0		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.0

Playoffs

Western Division Semi-finals

Game	Date	Location	Score	Record	Attendance
1	April 5	Oakland	99–129	0–1	2,358
2	April 6	Oakland	122–119	1–1	1,580
3	April 8	Denver	99–121	1–2	5,062
4	April 10	Denver	109–108	2–2	5,431
5	April 12	Oakland	118–128	2–3	3,156
6	April 13	Denver	126–115	3–3	6,481
7	April 16	Oakland	102-115	3–4	5,123

Awards and records

• ABA All-Stars: Larry Jones, Byron Beck, Wayne Hightower
• ABA All-League Team: Larry Jones
• League-leading scorer: Larry Jones