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| 1973–74 Capital Bullets season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Division champions | |||
| Head coach | K. C. Jones | ||
| General manager | Bob Ferry | ||
| Owner | Abe Pollin | ||
| Arena | Capital Centre Cole Field House(until Dec) | ||
| Results | |||
| Record | 47–35 (.573) | ||
| Place | Division: 1st (Central) Conference: 3rd (Eastern) | ||
| Playoff finish | Conference semifinals (lost toKnicks 3–4) | ||
Stats atBasketball Reference | |||
| Local media | |||
| Television | WDCA | ||
| Radio | WWDC (Frank Herzog) | ||
| |||
The1973–74 Capital Bullets season was the team's first in Washington, D.C. area, southwest from nearbyBaltimore. Prior to the1973–74 season, theBaltimore Bullets relocated toLandover, Maryland, a suburb east of Washington, and became theCapital Bullets.[1] It was also their only season under the Capital Bullets name. They also rebranded their jerseys, eschewing the previous orange and blue look for red, white, and blue.
The Bullets finished with a 47–35 record and won the Central Division.Wes Unseld was limited to 56 games due to injuries. In the playoffs, the Bullets fell to theNew York Knicks for the fifth time in six years, eliminated in seven games.[1] Following the season, the team was renamed as theWashington Bullets.
The newCapital Centre opened on December 2, 1973; the Bullets played their earlier home games this season atCole Field House at theUniversity of Maryland inCollege Park. They played several home games at Cole during their last seasons in Baltimore.[2][3]
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | Nick Weatherspoon | F |  United States | Illinois |
| 2 | 19 | Louie Nelson | G | United States | Washington |
| 3 | 48 | Tom Kozelko | F | United States | Toledo |
| 4 | 65 | Aron Stewart | G | United States | Richmond |
| 5 | 82 | Danny Traylor | C | United States | South Carolina |
| 6 | 99 | Mike Allocco | F | United States | Stonehill |
| 7 | 116 | Ronnie Hogue | G | United States | Georgia |
| 8 | 133 | Mark Jellison | G | United States | Northeastern |
| 9 | 148 | Mike Boylan | F | United States | Assumption |
| 10 | 162 | Dickie Kelly | G | United States | Bay CC |
| 11 | 172 | Dale Adams | F | United States | St. Mary's (Maryland) |
| 12 | 181 | Mike Battle | F | United States | George Washington |
| 13 | 187 | Chet Davis | G | United States | Morgan State |
| 14 | 192 | Howard White | G | United States | Maryland |
| 15 | 197 | Shorty Simmons | F | United States | St. Mary's (Maryland) |
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach Assistant(s) Legend
|
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Capital Bullets | 47 | 35 | .573 | – | 31–10 | 15–25 | 1–0 | 14–8 |
| Atlanta Hawks | 35 | 47 | .427 | 12 | 23–18 | 12–25 | 0–4 | 13–9 |
| Houston Rockets | 32 | 50 | .390 | 15 | 18–23 | 13–25 | 1–2 | 9–13 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 29 | 53 | .354 | 18 | 18–23 | 11–28 | 0–2 | 8–14 |
| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | |
| 1 | z-Boston Celtics | 56 | 26 | .683 | – |
| 2 | x-New York Knicks | 49 | 33 | .598 | 7 |
| 3 | y-Capital Bullets | 47 | 35 | .573 | 9 |
| 4 | x-Buffalo Braves | 42 | 40 | .512 | 14 |
| 5 | Atlanta Hawks | 35 | 47 | .427 | 21 |
| 6 | Houston Rockets | 32 | 50 | .390 | 24 |
| 7 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 29 | 53 | .354 | 27 |
| 8 | Philadelphia 76ers | 25 | 57 | .305 | 31 |
| 1973 preseason game log Total: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Preseason: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
| |||||||||
| 1973–74 schedule | |||||||||
Note: GP=Games played; MP=Minutes Played; FG=Field Goals; FGA=Field Goal Attempts; FG%=Field Goal Percentage; FT=Free Throws; FTA=Free Throws Attempts; FT%=Free Throw Percentage; ORB=Offensive Rebounds; DRB=Defensive Rebounds; TRB=Total Rebounds; AST=Assists; STL=Steals; BLK=Blocks; PF=Personal Fouls; PTS=Points; AVG=Average
| Player | GP | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | PF | PTS | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hayes | 81 | 3602 | 689 | 1627 | .423 | 357 | 495 | .721 | 354 | 1109 | 1463 | 163 | 86 | 240 | 252 | 1735 | 21.4 |
| Chenier | 76 | 2942 | 697 | 1607 | .434 | 274 | 334 | .820 | 114 | 274 | 388 | 239 | 155 | 67 | 135 | 1668 | 21.9 |
| Riordan | 81 | 3230 | 577 | 1223 | .472 | 136 | 174 | .782 | 120 | 260 | 380 | 264 | 102 | 14 | 237 | 1290 | 15.9 |
| Porter | 81 | 2339 | 477 | 997 | .478 | 180 | 249 | .723 | 79 | 100 | 179 | 469 | 95 | 9 | 319 | 1134 | 14.0 |
| Clark | 56 | 1786 | 315 | 675 | .467 | 103 | 131 | .786 | 44 | 97 | 141 | 285 | 59 | 6 | 122 | 733 | 13.1 |
| Weatherspoon | 65 | 1216 | 199 | 483 | .412 | 96 | 139 | .691 | 133 | 264 | 397 | 38 | 48 | 16 | 179 | 494 | 7.6 |
| Unseld | 56 | 1727 | 146 | 333 | .438 | 36 | 55 | .655 | 152 | 365 | 517 | 159 | 56 | 16 | 121 | 328 | 5.9 |
| Nelson | 49 | 556 | 93 | 215 | .433 | 53 | 73 | .726 | 26 | 44 | 70 | 52 | 31 | 2 | 62 | 239 | 4.9 |
| Leaks | 53 | 845 | 79 | 232 | .341 | 58 | 83 | .699 | 94 | 150 | 244 | 25 | 10 | 39 | 95 | 216 | 4.1 |
| Stallworth | 45 | 458 | 75 | 187 | .401 | 47 | 55 | .855 | 52 | 73 | 125 | 25 | 28 | 4 | 61 | 197 | 4.4 |
| Wesley | 39 | 400 | 71 | 151 | .470 | 26 | 43 | .605 | 63 | 73 | 136 | 14 | 9 | 20 | 74 | 168 | 4.3 |
| Kozelko | 49 | 573 | 59 | 133 | .444 | 23 | 32 | .719 | 52 | 72 | 124 | 25 | 21 | 7 | 82 | 141 | 2.9 |
| Rinaldi | 7 | 48 | 3 | 22 | .136 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 1.3 |
| Patterson | 2 | 8 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 |
Note: G=Games; MP=Minutes Played; FG=Field Goals; FGA=Field Goal Attempts; FG%=Field Goal Percentage; FT=Free Throws; FTA=Free Throw Attempts; FT%=Free Throw Percentage; ORB=Offensive Rebounds; DRB=Defensive Rebounds; TRB=Total Rebounds; AST=Assists; STL=Steals; BLK=Blocks; TOV=Turnovers; PF=Personal Fouls; PTS=Points
| G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 82 | 19730 | 3480 | 7886 | .441 | 1393 | 1869 | .745 | 1286 | 2887 | 4173 | 1770 | 703 | 441 | 1568 | 1746 | 8353 |
| Team/G | 240.6 | 42.4 | 96.2 | .441 | 17.0 | 22.8 | .745 | 15.7 | 35.2 | 50.9 | 21.6 | 8.6 | 5.4 | 19.1 | 21.3 | 101.9 | |
| Lg Rank | 13 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 14 | |
| Year/Year | 0.0% | -4.8% | 0.0% | -.022 | 7.7% | 7.3 | +.002 | -0.8% | -13.7% | 4.4% | -2.9% | ||||||
| Opponent | 82 | 19730 | 3496 | 7760 | .451 | 1239 | 1639 | .756 | 1206 | 2915 | 4121 | 1900 | 651 | 350 | 1651 | 1840 | 8231 |
| Opponent/G | 240.6 | 42.6 | 94.6 | .451 | 15.1 | 20.0 | .756 | 14.7 | 35.5 | 50.3 | 23.2 | 7.9 | 4.3 | 20.1 | 22.4 | 100.4 | |
| Lg Rank | 13 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 14 | 5 | |
| Year/Year | 0.0% | -1.0% | -3.1% | +.010 | -2.4% | -3.7% | +.010 | -2.5% | 2.6% | 9.4% | -1.2% |
| 1974 playoff game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Eastern Conference semifinals: 3–4 (home: 2–1; road: 1–3)
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| 1974 schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: GP=Games played; MP=Minutes Played; FG=Field Goals; FGA=Field Goal Attempts; FG%=Field Goal Percentage; FT=Free Throws; FTA=Free Throw Attempts; FT%=Free Throw Percentage; ORB=Offensive Rebounds; DRB=Defensive Rebounds; TRB=Total Rebounds; AST=Assists; STL=Steals; BLK=Blocks; PF=Personal Fouls; PTS=Points; AVG=Average
| Player | GP | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | PF | PTS | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hayes | 7 | 323 | 76 | 143 | .531 | 29 | 41 | .701 | 31 | 80 | 111 | 21 | 5 | 15 | 23 | 181 | 25.9 |
| Chenier | 7 | 310 | 62 | 137 | .453 | 33 | 37 | .892 | 6 | 37 | 43 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 19 | 157 | 22.4 |
| Riordan | 7 | 267 | 36 | 87 | .414 | 14 | 16 | .875 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 28 | 86 | 12.3 |
| Porter | 7 | 195 | 33 | 85 | .388 | 9 | 14 | .643 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 32 | 8 | 0 | 30 | 75 | 10.7 |
| Unseld | 7 | 297 | 31 | 63 | .492 | 9 | 15 | .600 | 22 | 63 | 85 | 27 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 71 | 10.1 |
| Clark | 7 | 162 | 20 | 59 | .339 | 11 | 20 | .550 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 51 | 7.3 |
| Kozelko | 7 | 58 | 10 | 13 | .769 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 23 | 3.3 |
| Weatherspoon | 7 | 9 | 19 | .474 | 2 | 5 | .400 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 20 | 2.9 | |
| Leaks | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1.0 | |
| Wesley | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
