1968–69 Atlanta Hawks season

1968–69 Atlanta Hawks season
First season in Atlanta
Head coach Richie Guerin
Arena Alexander Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record 48–34 (.585)
Place Division: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finish West Division Finals
(Eliminated 1–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television WQXI-TV
Radio WQXI Radio, WKXI 94.1
< 1967–68 1969–70 >

The 1968-69 Atlanta Hawks season was the team's first season in Atlanta, after their relocation from St. Louis, where the franchise played the previous thirteen seasons. The franchise traded Lenny Wilkens to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for Walt Hazzard.[1] Hazzard would help lead the Hawks to a second place finish with a record of 48 wins and 34 losses. In the playoffs, the Hawks eliminated the San Diego Rockets in six games. In the Western Conference Finals, the Hawks challenged the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers would eliminate the Hawks in 5 games.[1]

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 13 Skip Harlicka Guard  United States South Carolina
10 131 Dwight Waller Forward  United States Tennessee State

[2]

Roster

Atlanta Hawks roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From
G 42 United States Abdul-Rahman, Mahdi style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) UCLA
C 31 United States Beaty, Zelmo style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Prairie View A&M
F/C 32 United States Bridges, Bill style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 228 lb (103 kg) Kansas
G/F 27 United States Caldwell, Joe style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Arizona State
F/C 24 United States Davis, Jim style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Colorado
G 18–19 United States Guerin, Richie style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Iona
F 12 United States Hamilton, Dennis style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Arizona State
G 21 United States Harlicka, Skip (DP) style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) South Carolina
G/F 23 United States Hudson, Lou style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Minnesota
G 20 United States Lehmann, George style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Campbell College
G 10 United States Ohl, Don style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Illinois
F/C 29 United States Silas, Paul style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Creighton
F 16–34 United States Waller, Dwight (DP) style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Tennessee State
Head coach


Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Western Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Los Angeles Lakers 55 27 .671 – 32–9 21–18 2–0 30–10
x-Atlanta Hawks 48 34 .585 7 28–12 18–21 2–1 26–14
x-San Francisco Warriors 41 41 .500 14 22–19 18–21 1–1 20–20
x- San Diego Rockets 37 45 .451 18 25–16 8–25 4–4 20–20
Chicago Bulls 33 49 .402 22 19–21 12–25 2–3 19–21
Seattle SuperSonics 30 52 .366 25 18–18 6–29 6–5 15–23
Phoenix Suns 16 66 .195 39 11–26 4–28 1–12 8–30

Game log

1968–69 Game Log
Total: 48–34
1968–69 Schedule

Playoffs

1969 Playoff Game Log
Total: 5–6
1968–69 Schedule

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

Season

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Mahdi Abdul-Rahman 80 30.3 .397 .707 3.3 5.9 11.2
Zelmo Beaty 72 35.8 .470 .731 11.1 1.8 21.5
Bill Bridges 80 36.6 .453 .677 14.2 3.7 11.8
Joe Caldwell 81 33.6 .507 .537 3.7 4.0 15.8
Jim Davis 78 17.5 .467 .667 6.8 1.2 8.8
Richie Guerin 27 17.5 .423 .770 2.2 3.7 5.6
Dennis Hamilton 25 5.6 .552 .400 1.2 0.3 3.0
Skip Harlicka 26 8.4 .456 .774 0.6 1.4 4.1
Lou Hudson 81 35.4 .492 .777 6.6 2.7 21.9
George Lehmann 11 12.5 .388 .667 0.8 2.5 5.5
Don Ohl 76 26.3 .427 .707 2.2 2.9 12.1
Paul Silas 79 23.5 .419 .613 9.4 1.8 8.7
Dwight Waller 11 2.6 .222 .429 0.9 0.1 0.6

Playoffs

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Mahdi Abdul-Rahman 11 32.7 .393 .787 3.0 3.9 14.0
Zelmo Beaty 11 43.0 .432 .672 12.9 2.3 22.5
Bill Bridges 11 40.2 .442 .708 16.2 3.4 15.6
Joe Caldwell 11 36.7 .485 .464 5.0 3.4 14.7
Jim Davis 8 6.5 .267 .625 2.1 0.1 1.6
Richie Guerin 3 10.7 .250 .500 1.7 2.3 1.0
Skip Harlicka 1 1.0 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
Lou Hudson 11 38.5 .468 .769 5.4 2.9 22.0
Don Ohl 11 17.6 .349 .591 1.2 1.5 6.6
Paul Silas 11 23.5 .362 .514 8.4 1.9 5.5

Awards and records

Awards

Transactions

Atlanta Hawks

 Players Added

Via Draft

Via Trade

 Players Lost

Via Trade

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Atlanta Hawks (1968–Present)
  2. ↑ Atlanta Hawks (1949 – ) 1968 Stats, History, Awards and More

See also