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Clippers set franchise mark for most wins (Braves held old record)


ChevyVanMiller

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Love the Braves. Who remembers going to games at the old Aud watching players like McAdoo, Smith, Ernie D and more?

 

http://scores.espn.g...ameId=400278108

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nmAmtk8F0M

Yes! About 10 years ago a sports freak I know bet me 100 bucks that Buffalo never had a NBA team. He lives in St. Paul.Easiest money I ever made. I think you could get into the oranges for like 2 bucks on certain games.
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Yes! About 10 years ago a sports freak I know bet me 100 bucks that Buffalo never had a NBA team. He lives in St. Paul.Easiest money I ever made. I think you could get into the oranges for like 2 bucks on certain games.

 

Bells Supermarkets had that promotion. I remember bringing my binoculars so that I could see the wedding ring on Swen Nater's sneakerlaces.

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The Braves still hold the record for most points in a quarter: 58 by the Buffalo Braves at the Boston Celtics on October 20, 1972

 

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Also, Ernie D shares the rookie record for most assists in a game (25 @ Portland January 1, 1974)

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The Braves have been mentioned a couple of times this season. When Mike Brown was fired from the Lakers early this year, the name Dolph Schayes came up. Dolph Schayes was the Buffalo Braves first coach who was fired or resigned (depending on the source) after the first game of the 1971-72 season (season two of the Braves). Schayes' departure was the quickest on record in one season.

 

Randy Smith. Wow!!! Three sport star from Buffalo State. Basketball, soccer and track!

 

Fred Hilton!!! I used to listen to the games on WBEN with Van Miller calling the games. "Hilton from thirty feet!!!"...

 

Two days ago I saw Bill Walton riding his bike along the San Diego shoreline. If the Braves had lasted a few more seasons, Walton COULD (!) have been a Buffalo Brave as he left Portland as a free agent to his hometown San Diego Clippers for the 1978-79 season.

 

If you look at the names of those who played for the Braves it is impressive. Adrian Dantley was the third Braves draft choice to be Rookie of the Year (in the course of five seasons- also Bob McAdoo and Ernie Digregorio) . In 1976-77. Bob McAdoo, Randy Smith and Adrian Dantley all averaged more than twenty points per game. Moses Malone played for the Braves an entire two games (strange)! Tiny Archibald was traded to the Braves but he never played a game for them in his only season as a Brave because of a knee injury (unfortunate)...

 

The NBA owners went along with John Y. Brown who sold off the Braves players for cash and very bad trades so as to make the Braves more attractive for sale and relocation. In roughly two years, the ownership dismantled a playoff caliber team and then demanded that Buffalo fans buy a certain amount of season tickets or the team would move. Sadly, the fans (justifiably) didn't buy the mandated level of season tickets and the team left for San Diego.

 

This subject got me going and this is what I found on the Braves mostly through www.basketball-reference.com.

 

Here are the Braves attendance ranks for the years of 1971-72 thru 1975-76:

 

1971-72 6th/17 teams,

1972-73 9th/17,

1973-74 4th/17 and

1974-75 5th/18.

 

The Braves greatest attendance total was in the 1974-75 season, 467,267.

The Braves worst attendance figure was 204,053 14th/17.

The last year in Buffalo attendance had slid to 19th/21, a total of 252,457.

 

In San Diego, the Clippers reached their highest league attendance rank and total in 1979-80 of 19th/22 and 325,012.

The Clippers worst attendance was in 1982-83 when they ranked 23rd/ 23 with 158,887.

 

To put things in perspective the now L. A. Clippers set their greatest attendance mark of 755, 261 in 2006-07 at Staples Center for a NBA rank of 11th. Currently, the Clippers are ranked 5th at 286,114. I am not sure of the record but for point of illustration, San Antonio had 913,175 in 2001-02.

 

Interestingly, the Braves came into being the same year as the Sabres in 1970-71 along with two other NBA franchises, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

 

Could the Braves have competed economically in today's NBA? I doubt it. My guess is the NBA may have to contract in the next few years (like the NHL).

 

In any case, the Braves were part of a golden era of Buffalo sports. The Braves story is a classic story on how to run a sports franchise into the ground. After the Braves left, I never attended another NBA game. I skip that part of the sports report. I do follow college basketball. Basketball is a great sport to play and watch. Franchise shifts are demoralizing yet life moves on. My Braves pennant is still posted on the wall.

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Jack Ramsey put together a really nice squad although they were just a tad not good enough to beat the Celtics in a 7 game series.

 

Cotton Fitzsimmons also put together a really nice team.

 

I loved the Braves. Those were the days, watching OJ Simpson, Gilbert Perreault, and Bob McAdoo as a kid.

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Loved the Braves, AND the AUD. No better place to watch a game, including Friday Night Wrestling with Chuck Healey at the mic, BUT when the Braves were stolen, I stopped following the NBA.

 

Likewise, IF the BILLS ever leave it will be What NFL? for me!.

 

I stopped after jordan. The braves were entertaining.

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Loved the Braves, AND the AUD. No better place to watch a game, including Friday Night Wrestling with Chuck Healey at the mic, BUT when the Braves were stolen, I stopped following the NBA.

 

Likewise, IF the BILLS ever leave it will be What NFL? for me!.

 

Same here about following the NBA, when the Braves were stolen by the Stern and the Boston Celtics... They should have moved Boston to the West Coast! Why take our team?

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