1975 ABA Kentucky Colonels Vs Indiana Pacers ABA Finals Game 5

05.22.1975 ABA Kentucky Colonels Vs Indiana Pacers ABA Finals Game 5
www.basketball-reference.com/...

[@jmccracken1963]

One of the mainstays of the 1974-1975 Kentucky Colonels - and he contributed a GREAT deal to their success that season - was guard Gene Littles. But he didn't play in this game; in fact, he barely played at all in the playoffs that year (only 2 games. 8 minutes total in the Eastern Division semifinal series against the Memphis Sounds; then all 5 games, but only 16 total minutes in the Eastern Division finals series against the Spirits of St. Louis; and only 1 game, 3 minutes total, in the league championship series against the Indiana Pacers). Did he suffer an injury late in the season? He played 61 games during the regular season, averaging 14.8 minutes per game as a mainly defense-minded guard (though he did also dish out 119 assists that season, and was 43 of 58 total at the free-throw line in those game).

[@elwin38]

George McGinnis' last game with the Pacers. After this season('74-'75), he would go to the 76ers. Also Dan Issel's last game with the Colonels. Was traded to Denver just before the '75-'76 ABA season.

[@lukecurrie5151]

@@elwin38 He was great with the Pacers...

[@jmccracken1963]

Actually, Dan Issel was either traded or sold to the Baltimore ABA franchise (formerly the Memphis Sounds) some time in the summer of 1975. But when the Baltimore ownership group bounced check after check after check (including players' salary checks and coaches' salary checks), the ABA folded the franchise before the start of the 1975-1976 season. That made all of the players and coaches free agents, and Issel wound up signing with Denver. (Cf. LOOSE BALLS, Terry Pluto's excellent oral history of the ABA. Pluto's sources about the putative Baltimore Hustlers were Dan Issel and coach Joe Mullaney.) One more thing: this was also Roger Brown's last game with the Indiana Pacers. Brown had started the 1974-1975 season with the Memphis Sounds, then was traded to the Utah Stars on 1 November 1974 (he had played only 7 games with Memphis). He played 39 games with Utah, and was waived on 30 January 1975. Indiana signed him on 1 March 1975, and he played 10 late-season games for the Pacers. He played in all 6 games of Indiana's Western Division semifinal series victory over San Antonio, in 5 of the 7 games of Indiana's Western Division final series victory over Denver, and in 3 of the 5 games of the ABA championship series against Kentucky. In fact, the date of this game (22 May 1975) was Roger Brown's 33rd birthday.

[@elwin38]

@@jmccracken1963 I knew about the Dan Issel situation. John Y Brown was a businessman through and through. He claimed he lost over $500,000 in their championship season. But why would he do business with the Claws? They couldn't get their finances together. I read Loose Balls many times and the Colonels got screwed at the merger. Roger Brown was the 1st player signed by Indiana in 1967. By the time he started with the Pacers, he was already 24. The NBA banned him for trumped up gambling charges when he was in college(Dayton).

[@lukecurrie5151]

@@elwin38 it's a shame that they don't combine ABA & NBA stats on the official records. Roger Brown turned his game up to another level in the playoffs...

[@elwin38]

@@lukecurrie5151 They called him the "Rajah"🏀

[@sdwriter2626]

The Kentucky Colonels were the best basketball team in the world at that point.

[@lukecurrie5151]

@sdwriter2626 Yea, they were great, I would have loved to see them play in the NBA. They should have been in the merger...

[@JamalMcCoy-tx2vz]

​@@lukecurrie5151along with the Virginia Squires... Doctor Jay's old club...

[@lukecurrie5151]

@@JamalMcCoy-tx2vz most definitely...

[@matthewpredmore6523]

Where was Mel Daniels; was he injured?

[@lukecurrie5151]

He was playing with the Memphis Sounds that season...

[@matthewpredmore6523]

@@lukecurrie5151 Yes, you are correct. After I asked the question I got smart and looked it up; he was traded to Memphis in the offseason. I’m sure Indiana was wishing they had him back when the went against Gilmore and Issel in the finals.

[@lukecurrie5151]

@matthewpredmore6523 Most definitely, they should have kept him. He was an amazing player...

[@jmccracken1963]

@@lukecurrie5151 And quite well, I might add. He averaged 23.2 points in 71 games for the Sounds that season. Then the Sounds lost to Kentucky in 5 games in the Eastern Division semifinals. I assume that Daniels was still on the club when the ABA sold the franchise to a group of investors from Baltimore, whose plan was to move it to their fair city and re-name it "Baltimore Hustlers." But they were undercapitalized, and when player and salary checks bounced time after time after time, the ABA investigated the situation and folded the franchise before the 1975-1976 season started. Daniels opted to play pro basketball in Italy during the 1975-1976 season, and then returned to play just 11 games for the New York Nets in 1976-1977, when the Nets, Pacers, Spurs, and Nuggets were absorbed into the NBA.

[@lukecurrie5151]

@jmccracken1963 ok, cool. Do you have any idea on Mel Daniels stats while playing in Italy?