1960–61 Cincinnati Royals season

The 1960–61 season was the Royals 13th season in the NBA and its fourth in Cincinnati. The season was defined by the debut of Oscar Robertson. He would win the Rookie of the Year by nearly averaging a triple double for the entire season. The Big O averaged 30.5 points per game, 10.1 rebounds per game and 9.7 assists per game. He was also MVP of the 1961 NBA All-Star Game.[1] Robertson's arrival drew considerable publicity to a team on the verge of folding after the last two brutal seasons. Even a year ago, with the Royals playing before sparse crowds, the mantra was ' Robertson will be here next year '. The Royals actually had four key rookies that year arrive. Along with Robertson, previous #1 pick Bob Boozer, guard Ralph Davis, and college scorer Jay Arnette all arrived to boost the roster. Tom Marshall had served as coach the previous two difficult years. While many thought a bigger NBA name like Red Rocha should now take over, kindly small-college coach Charlie Wolf was inexpensively brought on to aid the young roster. Wolf moved Robertson to lead guard, and the team immediately improved. Jack Twyman, Wayne Embry and Arlen Bockhorn were solid starters in support of the new superstar. Robertson brought a brash leadership to the team, helping to organize the team's attack. The infusion of talented youth overall gave the team a real lift. No ordinary rookie, Robertson scored 30.5 points per game, led the NBA in assists by a clear margin, sank the third-highest number of free throws in the league, and was even second on the Royals in rebounding. He was a 6' 5 player unlike any seen before in the NBA. Robertson's debut was against the now-Los Angeles Lakers in their first game since moving from Minneapolis on October 19. It was also the rookie debut of the Lakers' Jerry West. Robertson triple-doubled in his first NBA game and led the Royals to the highest point total since moving to Cincinnati in the 140–123 win before a large Gardens crowd. Robertson produced large turnouts for the Royals all through November. But the team went 4–13 that month, ending their star's honeymoon. Injuries to the hard-worked Embry saw the team go 6–12 in January, souring the team's playoff chances. Star forward Twyman was the chief target of Robertson passes. Twyman's deadly jumper found the net at 25.3 points per game. The Royals would fall 1 game short of a playoff appearance as they finished in last place with a record of 33 wins and 46 losses.[1]

1960–61 Cincinnati Royals season
Head coachCharles Wolf
OwnersThomas E. Woods
ArenaCincinnati Gardens
Results
Record33–46 (.418)
PlaceDivision: 4th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWKRC-TV
RadioWKRC

Roster
1960–61 Cincinnati Royals roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
SG 11 Bockhorn, Arlen 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1933–07–08 Dayton
PF 13 Boozer, Bob 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1937–04–26 Kansas State
SG 10 Davis, Ralph 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1938–09–07 Cincinnati
C 15 Embry, Wayne 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1937–03–26 Miami (OH)
SF 51 Farmer, Mike 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1936–09–26 San Francisco
C 16 Jordon, Phil 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1933–09–12 Whitworth
C 51 Reed, Hub 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1936–10–04 Oklahoma City
PG 14 Robertson, Oscar 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1938–11–24 Cincinnati
SG 19 Rollins, Phil 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1934–01–19 Louisville
PF 21 Staverman, Larry 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1936–10–11 Thomas More
SF 31 Twyman, Jack 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1934–05–11 Cincinnati
PG 41 Wilfong, Win 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1933–03–18 Memphis
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster

Offseason

NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 1 Oscar Robertson  United States Cincinnati
2 9 Jay Arnette  United States Texas

Ralph Davis from the University of Cincinnati, a recommended teammate of Robertson, was the team's third pick that year. The team's previous #1 pick from last year, Bob Boozer from Kansas State, reported this year also. He had spent the previous year with the AAU Peoria Caterpillars. Robertson, Boozer and Arnette had all played on the famed 1960 U.S. Olympic team.

Regular season

Season standings
Western Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-St. Louis Hawks5128.646–29–515–207–325–14
x-Los Angeles Lakers3643.4561516–128–2012–1119–20
x-Detroit Pistons3445.4301720–113–1911–1518–21
Cincinnati Royals3346.4181818–138–197–1416–23

Record vs. opponents
1960-61 NBA Records
Team BOS CIN DET LAL NYK PHI STL SYR
Boston —7–38–28–210–38–56–410–3
Cincinnati 3–7—2–118–58–22–86–74–6
Detroit 2–811–2—4–95–55–53–104–6
Los Angeles 2–85–89–4—7–32–85–86–4
New York 3–102–85–53–7—2–111–95–8
Philadelphia 5–88–25–58–211–2—3–76–7
St. Louis 4–67–610–38–59–17–3—6–4
Syracuse 3–106–46–44–68–57–64–6—

Game log
1960–61 Game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 19Los Angeles123–140Jack Twyman (30)1–0
2October 20@ New York113–105Oscar Robertson (28)2–0
3October 22New York117–119Phil Jordon (28)3–0
4October 23St. Louis103–114Oscar Robertson (32)4–0
5October 26@ Detroit117–131Jack Twyman (33)4–1
6October 27Syracuse140–143 (OT)Oscar Robertson (39)5–1
7October 29@ St. Louis97–113Oscar Robertson (17)5–2
8November 1Philadelphia131–113Phil Jordon (18)5–3
9November 5@ Boston113–104Oscar Robertson (25)6–3
10November 8Boston136–120Jack Twyman (32)6–4
11November 11N Boston110–128Jack Twyman (29)6–5
12November 12@ Detroit112–116Jack Twyman (25)6–6
13November 13Detroit125–113Robertson, Twyman (34)6–7
14November 15Philadelphia115–124Oscar Robertson (44)7–7
15November 16@ Syracuse87–124Jack Twyman (22)7–8
16November 18St. Louis128–129 (OT)Oscar Robertson (36)8–8
17November 19@ St. Louis120–121Oscar Robertson (37)8–9
18November 20Boston120–103Oscar Robertson (21)8–10
19November 22N Los Angeles133–118Phil Jordon (25)8–11
20November 23Los Angeles118–122Oscar Robertson (31)9–11
21November 24N Los Angeles108–100Jack Twyman (35)9–12
22November 26@ Philadelphia108–138Oscar Robertson (26)9–13
23November 27New York122–118 (OT)Oscar Robertson (42)9–14
24November 29N Syracuse129–105Jack Twyman (31)9–15
25December 1Syracuse137–126Oscar Robertson (41)9–16
26December 4N Detroit116–115Oscar Robertson (34)9–17
27December 6@ New York117–112Jack Twyman (28)10–17
28December 7Los Angeles112–114Oscar Robertson (38)11–17
29December 8N Boston118–115Robertson, Twyman (36)12–17
30December 9@ Boston123–146Jack Twyman (29)12–18
31December 13N Syracuse107–105Jack Twyman (37)12–19
32December 14New York114–121Arlen Bockhorn (35)13–19
33December 16Los Angeles116–130Oscar Robertson (39)14–19
34December 18Philadelphia128–112Oscar Robertson (31)14–20
35December 20N Boston112–115Jack Twyman (36)14–21
36December 25Detroit119–126Oscar Robertson (32)15–21
37December 26@ Detroit132–137Oscar Robertson (43)15–22
38December 27Syracuse124–129Oscar Robertson (45)16–22
39December 28N New York104–114Oscar Robertson (38)17–22
40December 29@ Philadelphia124–128Oscar Robertson (36)17–23
41December 30N Philadelphia130–136Oscar Robertson (38)18–23
42January 1St. Louis112–114Oscar Robertson (28)19–23
43January 2N Syracuse125–126Oscar Robertson (42)20–23
44January 4@ Syracuse134–126Oscar Robertson (32)21–23
45January 5Boston125–107Oscar Robertson (38)21–24
46January 10@ St. Louis110–119Oscar Robertson (31)21–25
47January 11@ Detroit122–126Oscar Robertson (29)21–26
48January 12N Detroit124–112Oscar Robertson (31)21–27
49January 14@ Los Angeles114–123Oscar Robertson (45)21–28
50January 15@ Los Angeles109–105Jack Twyman (31)22–28
51January 18N Detroit144–128Ralph Davis (25)22–29
52January 19New York129–122Jack Twyman (34)22–30
53January 21N Detroit130–106Jack Twyman (22)22–31
54January 22St. Louis108–115Wayne Embry (28)23–31
55January 24Detroit106–104Jack Twyman (37)23–32
56January 25@ Detroit125–138Jack Twyman (21)23–33
57January 27Syracuse138–126Jack Twyman (37)23–34
58January 28@ St. Louis116–136Jack Twyman (34)23–35
59January 30Boston88–116Jack Twyman (41)24–35
60February 2@ Philadelphia118–133Jack Twyman (25)24–36
61February 3N Philadelphia136–135Wayne Embry (37)24–37
62February 5@ Syracuse115–129Oscar Robertson (38)24–38
63February 6N Los Angeles110–101Oscar Robertson (37)24–39
64February 9N New York115–119Wayne Embry (23)25–39
65February 11@ St. Louis122–123Oscar Robertson (38)25–40
66February 12@ New York105–104Oscar Robertson (32)26–40
67February 13N Los Angeles100–104Oscar Robertson (40)27–40
68February 16St. Louis107–133Oscar Robertson (31)28–40
69February 19Los Angeles106–112Oscar Robertson (43)29–40
70February 21@ St. Louis114–126Oscar Robertson (36)29–41
71February 22N Philadelphia132–131Oscar Robertson (39)29–42
72February 25Philadelphia129–120Oscar Robertson (39)29–43
73February 26St. Louis148–122Jack Twyman (25)29–44
74February 28N St. Louis105–131Jack Twyman (24)30–44
75March 1Detroit122–137Oscar Robertson (37)31–44
76March 5@ New York124–118Robertson, Twyman (27)32–44
77March 7N Boston121–124Oscar Robertson (32)32–45
78March 11@ Los Angeles108–105Jack Twyman (23)33–45
79March 12@ Los Angeles122–123Oscar Robertson (38)33–46

Player statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Arlen Bockhorn
Bob Boozer
Ralph Davis
Wayne Embry
Mike Farmer
Phil Jordon
Hub Reed
Oscar Robertson
Phil Rollins
Larry Staverman
Jack Twyman
Win Wilfong

Awards and honors
  • Oscar Robertson, 1960–61 NBA Rookie Of The Year, First Team All-NBA selection, MVP of the 1961 NBA All-Star Game.[2]
  • Jack Twyman, NBA- All-Star, top ten NBA scorer.

References
  1. Cincinnati Royals (1957–1972)
  2. Numbelievable!, p.33, Michael X. Ferraro and John Venziano, Triumph Books, 2007, Chicago, Illinois, ISBN 978-1-57243-990-0
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