The 1967–68 Dallas Chaparrals season was the first season of the Chaparrals in the American Basketball Association. The Chaps fell to the New Orleans Buccaneers in the Division Finals after beating the Houston Mavericks in the Semifinals. That playoff victory would be their only victory for the Chaparrals, as they fell in the Semifinals throughout the next four years before officially moving the team to San Antonio to become the San Antonio Spurs. Their series victory over the Mavericks was also the only ABA Playoff series the franchise had (either as the Chaparrals or the Spurs) before the team survived the ABA-NBA merger that came up in 1976 as the San Antonio Spurs. This season also marked the first of five consecutive playoff appearances for the Chaparrals franchise alongside the first of fifteen playoff appearances in the team's first sixteen seasons of existence when including their seasons as the Spurs alongside the Chaparrals' seasons of play.
ABA Draft
First five rounds: #1. Matt Aitch, Michigan State University (Sr.) #2. Jim Burns, Northwestern University (Sr.) #3. Gary Gray, Oklahoma City University (Sr.) #4. Pat Riley, University of Kentucky (Sr.) #5. Jamie Thompson, Wichita State University (Sr.)
Extra Rounds: #6 Paul Brateris, Tennessee Wesleyan College (Sr.) #7 Jeff Fitch, East Texas State College (Sr.) #8 Ted Manning, North Carolina A&T State University (Sr.) #9 Duane Heckman, Dickinson College (Sr.) #10 Gilbert McDowell, Tennessee Wesleyan College (Sr.) #11 Jerry Southwood, Vanderbilt University (Sr.) #12 Tom Storm, Montana State University (Sr.)
It was later revealed by the Chaparrals' general manager at the time (and later, one-time future head coach) Max Williams that the draft ordering the team did that year was due to the team's original co-owner, Roland Speth (who later became the manager of The Monkees band), mistaking Williams' draft listing that he did in alphabetical order (with last names going from A-Z) as a list for the best possible talents being taken at hand as early as they could have done so.Pluto, Terry, Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association (Simon & Schuster, 1990), , pp. 55-56
Roster
Final standings Western Division + Team W L PCT. GB New Orleans Buccaneers 48 30 .615 – Dallas Chaparrals 46 32 .590 2 Denver Rockets 45 33 .577 3 Houston Mavericks 29 49 .372 19 Anaheim Amigos 25 53 .321 23 Oakland Oaks 22 56 .282 26
ABA Playoffs ABA Western Division Semifinals Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 March 23 Dallas 111–110 1–0 1,857 2 March 25 Dallas 115–97 2–0 891 3 March 26 Houston 116–103 3–0 3,117 Chaparrals win series 3–0
ABA Western Division Finals Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 April 5 New Orleans 99–104 0–1 3,332 2 April 9 New Orleans 112–109 1–1 5,287 3 April 10 Dallas 107–110 1–2 4,825 4 April 11 Dallas 103–119 1–3 3,623 5 April 13 New Orleans 107–108 1–4 4,614 Chaparrals lose series 4–1
Awards and honors 1968 ABA All-Star Game selections (game played on January 9, 1968) Cliff Hagan John Beasley
References
External links Chaparrals on Basketball Reference RememberTheABA.com 1967–68 regular season and playoff results RememberTheABA.com Dallas Chaparrals page