1968–69 Cincinnati Royals season

The 1968–69 NBA season was the Royals 21st season in the NBA and 12th season in Cincinnati.[1] The season was noteworthy for the team's fast start, in which the team was 15–6 by the end of November. But the team faded in the second half, failing to make the playoff cut in the tough Eastern Division.

1968–69 Cincinnati Royals season
Head coachEd Jucker
OwnersMax Jacobs
Jeremy Jacobs
ArenaCincinnati Gardens
Results
Record41–41 (.500)
PlaceDivision: 5th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWLWT
RadioWLW

Roster
Cincinnati Royals roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
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)
F 21 Hetzel, Fred 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Davidson
F/C 16 Lucas, Jerry 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Ohio State
PG 14 Robertson, Oscar 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Cincinnati
G 10 Smith, Adrian 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Kentucky
SF 5 Van Arsdale, Tom 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Indiana
C 13 Wesley, Walt 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Kansas
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Regular season

The regular season opened on the road October 16, 1968 against the brand-new Atlanta Hawks, which had just relocated from St. Louis. The Royals won 125–110 behind a balanced attack featuring a rotation of stars Oscar Robertson, Connie Dierking, Jerry Lucas, Adrian Smith, John Tresvant, Tom Van Arsdale and Walt Wesley. The Royals won their first three straight, including their home opener over Detroit on October 19 at Cincinnati Gardens arena. After a pair of losses, Cincinnati won their next six straight, bringing their record to a 9–2 start by November 12. Their 126–115 win over the 10-4 Baltimore Bullets that day gave them the best record in the league. The team went evenly through wins and losses before winning six more in a row in early December, bringing their record to 20–9 by December 15. Two wins in the team's second home, Cleveland Arena, were part of that streak. The December 15th win was another ' road ' home game played in Omaha, Nebraska, a site favored by team General Manager Joel Axelson. The win on the 15th put them in a tie for third-best record in the NBA with the Boston Celtics at 20–9, just behind Baltimore and the Philadelphia 76ers. It also prompted a Sports Illustrated article in their 12/09/1968 issue, ' Serious Contenders In A Funny City ', written by Frank Deford, which left-handedly praised the team, and harshly criticized the city's sports fans and management. The team soon faded after the article, going 21–32 the rest of the season to finish fifth in the East at .500, out of the 1969 NBA playoffs. Their record was better than the 37–45 mark of the Western Division San Diego Rockets, who did make those playoffs.

Season standings
Eastern Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Baltimore Bullets 5725.695–29–924–154–126–14
x-Philadelphia 76ers 5527.671226–824–165–323–17
x-New York Knicks 5428.659330–719–205–126–14
x-Boston Celtics 4834.585924–1221–193–323–17
Cincinnati Royals 4141.5001615-1316–2110–720–20
Detroit Pistons 3250.3902521–177–304–313–27
Milwaukee Bucks 2755.3293015–198–274–97–29

Record vs. opponents
1968-69 NBA Records
Team ATL BAL BOS CHI CIN DET LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO SDR SFW SEA
Atlanta —2–43–36–14–26–03–44–22–41–56–03–44–34–2
Baltimore 4–2—5–26–04–37–03–35–13–42–46–05–13–34–2
Boston 3–32–5—4–25–25–12–45–11–65–26–04–23–33–3
Chicago 1–60–62–4—1–53–33–45–12–41–54–23–34–34–3
Cincinnati 2–43–42–55–1—3–42–45–14–23–44–22–43–33–3
Detroit 0–60–71–53–34–3—3–32–43–43–44–23–32–44–2
Los Angeles 4–33–34–24–34–23–3—5–15–11–56–07–04–35–1
Milwaukee 2–41–51–51–51–54–21–5—0–60–66–24–23–33–5
New York 4–24–36–14–22–44–31–56–0—4–35–13–35–16–0
Philadelphia 5–14–22–55–14–34–35–16–03–4—5–14–22–46–0
Phoenix 0–60–60–62–42–42–40–62–61–51–5—1–72–43–3
San Diego 4–31–52–43–34–23–30–72–43–32–47–1—3–33–3
San Francisco 3–43–33–33–43–34–23–43–31–54–24–23–3—4–3
Seattle 2–42–43–33–43–32–41–55–30–60–63–33–33–4—
x – clinched playoff spot

Game log
1968–69 Game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 16@ Atlanta125–110Dierking, Robertson (24)1–0
2October 19Detroit115–127Oscar Robertson (24)2–0
3October 22Los Angeles103–107Oscar Robertson (28)3–0
4October 23@ Boston101–108Connie Dierking (25)3–1
5October 26@ New York92–98Jerry Lucas (23)3–2
6October 30New York114–118Oscar Robertson (34)4–2
7November 1Milwaukee114–132Oscar Robertson (29)5–2
8November 2@ Philadelphia119–113Oscar Robertson (25)6–2
9November 6Chicago122–133Oscar Robertson (31)7–2
10November 9@ Chicago110–104Oscar Robertson (33)8–2
11November 12@ Baltimore126–115Tom Van Arsdale (32)9–2
12November 13Baltimore115–111Jerry Lucas (26)9–3
13November 14@ New York110–101Oscar Robertson (29)10–3
14November 15@ Boston105–116Oscar Robertson (28)10–4
15November 16Atlanta125–130Oscar Robertson (31)11–4
16November 19@ Detroit107–121Dierking, Robertson (23)11–5
17November 20San Francisco107–113Oscar Robertson (29)12–5
18November 23Philadelphia120–105Tom Van Arsdale (29)12–6
19November 27@ Atlanta91–94Oscar Robertson (24)12–7
20November 29N Detroit112–122Oscar Robertson (40)13–7
21November 30Atlanta126–109Oscar Robertson (24)13–8
22December 3@ Baltimore129–127Oscar Robertson (38)14–8
23December 7Boston117–114 (OT)Jerry Lucas (31)14–9
24December 8N New York115–120Jerry Lucas (32)15–9
25December 10@ Milwaukee107–96Tom Van Arsdale (23)16–9
26December 11San Diego110–116Oscar Robertson (34)17–9
27December 13N Phoenix123–130 (OT)Oscar Robertson (34)18–9
28December 14Milwaukee115–121Oscar Robertson (29)19–9
29December 15N Phoenix101–119Tom Van Arsdale (28)20–9
30December 17@ Los Angeles108–112Oscar Robertson (28)20–10
31December 18@ Phoenix114–123Jerry Lucas (24)20–11
32December 21@ San Diego124–132Oscar Robertson (39)20–12
33December 25Chicago98–103Connie Dierking (31)21–12
34December 26@ Chicago96–104Tom Van Arsdale (28)21–13
35December 28Philadelphia128–123Jerry Lucas (34)21–14
36December 31@ Boston114–112Connie Dierking (28)22–14
37January 1N San Francisco106–101Oscar Robertson (37)22–15
38January 2N Milwaukee109–113Tom Van Arsdale (28)23–15
39January 3Baltimore130–125Oscar Robertson (42)23–16
40January 6N Chicago106–104Connie Dierking (25)24–16
41January 7Milwaukee116–101Jerry Lucas (22)24–17
42January 9N Seattle119–110Connie Dierking (29)24–18
43January 11@ Detroit115–118John Tresvant (24)24–19
44January 12Detroit113–111Oscar Robertson (36)24–20
45January 16N San Diego109–120Jerry Lucas (27)25–20
46January 17@ Los Angeles107–128Jerry Lucas (27)25–21
47January 19@ Los Angeles117–132Tom Van Arsdale (30)25–22
48January 21@ San Francisco113–107 (OT)Tom Van Arsdale (28)26–22
49January 26N Los Angeles126–113Connie Dierking (32)26–23
50January 28San Francisco107–100Oscar Robertson (23)26–24
51January 30N Philadelphia115–116Tom Van Arsdale (26)27–24
52January 31@ Boston101–116Connie Dierking (25)27–25
53February 1Seattle96–111Oscar Robertson (26)28–25
54February 4N Detroit114–125Oscar Robertson (37)29–25
55February 5@ San Diego93–110Oscar Robertson (22)29–26
56February 6N Phoenix103–124Fred Hetzel (32)30–26
57February 7@ Seattle97–102Oscar Robertson (22)30–27
58February 8@ San Francisco117–116Oscar Robertson (35)31–27
59February 11N Philadelphia129–112Adrian Smith (22)31–28
60February 12San Diego118–114Tom Van Arsdale (28)31–29
61February 15@ Chicago111–101Oscar Robertson (21)32–29
62February 16Phoenix125–113Tom Van Arsdale (23)32–30
63February 17@ Baltimore117–112Oscar Robertson (26)33–30
64February 18N Atlanta123–124Oscar Robertson (33)33–31
65February 19New York100–110Tom Van Arsdale (21)34–31
66February 23Baltimore126–109Oscar Robertson (31)34–32
67February 25Philadelphia120–119Jerry Lucas (28)34–33
68February 27@ San Diego112–127Tom Van Arsdale (23)34–34
69February 28@ San Francisco115–131Tom Van Arsdale (23)34–35
70March 1@ Seattle122–134Connie Dierking (36)34–36
71March 3@ Seattle113–107Jerry Lucas (34)35–36
72March 4@ Phoenix141–122Tom Van Arsdale (31)36–36
73March 6@ Milwaukee112–110Walt Wesley (25)37–36
74March 7@ Detroit105–114Oscar Robertson (26)37–37
75March 9@ Atlanta107–134Smith, Van Arsdale (15)37–38
76March 13Boston110–120Oscar Robertson (21)38–38
77March 14N Baltimore128–130 (OT)Oscar Robertson (33)38–39
78March 15@ New York108–121Oscar Robertson (24)38–40
79March 19Los Angeles128–136 (OT)Oscar Robertson (28)39–40
80March 21N Boston119–145Tom Van Arsdale (20)39–41
81March 22Seattle127–134Jerry Lucas (30)40–41
82March 24@ Philadelphia125–119Connie Dierking (21)41–41

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
Zaid Abdul-Aziz
Connie Dierking 8231.0.430.7629.02.716.3
Bill Dinwiddie 69
Fred Foster
Pat Frink
Fred Hetzel
Jerry Lucas 7441.6.551.75518.44.118.3
Oscar Robertson 7943.8.486.8386.49.824.7
Doug Sims
Adrian Smith 73
John Tresvant 5133.0.4508.2
Al Tucker
Tom Van Arsdale 7739.7.444.7472.719.4
Walt Wesley 82

There was no 3-point line in use this season, blocks and steals were not yet kept NBA statistics.

Awards and records
  • Oscar Robertson, All-NBA First Team
  • Robertson and Jerry Lucas were each named starters to the Eastern squad for the 1969 NBA All-Star Game. Tom Van Arsdale would make the All Star Team the following season.

Transactions
  • February 1, 1969 : starter John Tresvant was traded to Seattle for Al Tucker.

References
  1. 1968–69 Cincinnati Royals
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