1969–70 Cincinnati Royals season
Head coachBob Cousy
OwnersMax Jacobs
Jeremy Jacobs
ArenaCincinnati Gardens
Results
Record36–46 (.439)
PlaceDivision: 5th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWLWT
RadioWLW

The 1969–70 Cincinnati Royals season was one of the last years the franchise played in Cincinnati. In 1972, they moved to Kansas City. This was also the final season for Oscar Robertson, who went to the Milwaukee Bucks next season.

History

After his death in 1968, Louis Jacob's sons took over the ownership of the team. The first move of the young Jacobses was to hire in Kansas City sports manager Joe Axelson, a relative unknown in NBA circles who had befriended the ownership family. Axelson replaced the outgoing GM, Pepper Wilson, who had served with the franchise since it arrived in Cincinnati in 1957. The three then were able to draw in former Boston College coach and Boston Celtics legend Bob Cousy for the then-very high salary of $100,000 per season to replace Cincinnati favorite Ed Jucker as coach. Cousy arrived to considerable press to his new team.

Cousy wanted a young running team and began shipping out veterans who did not follow his new program. Jerry Lucas, a three-time First Team All-Pro with Cincinnati, was traded to the San Francisco Warriors in exchange for guard Jim King and forward Bill Turner. King and Turner combined to average ten points per game that season, then left the following season. Turner in fact joined Lucas in San Francisco. Lucas played four more NBA seasons and was a San Francisco NBA All-Star in 1971.

Cousy also sent long-time Cincinnati favorite Adrian Smith to San Francisco. Cousy attempted to trade Oscar Robertson to the Baltimore Bullets for Gus Johnson.[1] Robertson exercised his right to veto the trade. The team was known as "the Running Royals". Cincinnati topped the 110-point mark in each of the campaign's final 21 contests, and during a six-game span in mid-February, the team averaged 127 points.[1]

Cousy spoke often of a youth movement for the team that year, but ended up starting 36-year-old Johnny Green, 33-year-old Connie Dierking and 30-year-old Oscar Robertson. Tom Van Arsdale joined Robertson as NBA All-Stars. He then took the ball out of the hands of Robertson, the NBA's all-time point guard, and gave it to rookie Norm Van Lier, who did turn in an impressive season.

Adding still more to the story was Bob Cousy's decision to play at age 41. In order to be activated, the Royals had to trade solid reserve Bill Dinwiddie to the Boston Celtics so that Red Auerbach could release him from the Boston retired list. Cousy played seven games in November, and played poorly, having not played in the NBA for five seasons. Despite the hype and changes, the team was clearly worse than it had been the previous season. But the Jacobses and Axelson were already looking to sell the team anyway. This season marked the beginning of the end of the Cincinnati Royals as a result. The Royals failed to qualify for the playoffs. The Royals finished in 5th place with a 36–46 record.

Following the season, Robertson was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Flynn Robinson and Charlie Paulk. In 10 seasons with the Royals, Robertson averaged 29.3 points, 10.3 assists, and 8.5 rebounds per game.[1]

Roster

Cincinnati Royals roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
SF 21 Anderzunas, Wally 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Creighton
PG 19 Cousy, Bob 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Holy Cross
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)
SG 30 Gilliam, Herm 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Purdue
PF 20 Green, Johnny 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Michigan State
PG 17 King, Jim 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Tulsa
C 22 Rackley, Luther 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Xavier
PG 14 Robertson, Oscar 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Cincinnati
PF 13 Turner, Bill 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Akron
SF 5 Van Arsdale, Tom 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Indiana
PG 23 Van Lier, Norm 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 173 lb (78 kg) Saint Francis (PA)
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Draft picks

The Royals first round pick was star guard Herm Gilliam of Purdue. Gilliam was lost for much of the 1969–70 season with mandatory military service. The following year, he was selected by Buffalo in the expansion draft.

Second pick Luther Rackley had starred locally at Xavier as a solid 6'10 big man. He played one year for the Royals and then was selected by Cleveland in the expansion draft. Slender 6'7 Luther Green was the third Royals pick. He found better chances with the ABA's New York Nets and signed there.

Regular season

Season standings

Eastern Division
 W L PCT GB
x-New York Knicks 6022.732–
x-Milwaukee Bucks 5626.6834
x-Baltimore Bullets 5032.61010
x-Philadelphia 76ers 4240.51218
Cincinnati Royals 3646.43924
Boston Celtics 3448.41526
Detroit Pistons 3151.37829

Record vs. opponents

1969–70 NBA records
Team ATL BAL BOS CHI CIN DET LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO SDR SFW SEA
Atlanta —2–46–05–23–33–34–33–34–23–32–44–25–24–2
Baltimore 4–2—5–25–14–35–24–23–31–53–43–36–02–45–1
Boston 0–62–5—3–33–34–32–41–64–32–42–44–25–12–4
Chicago 2–51–53–3—3–33–34–24–20–63–35–23–44–24–3
Cincinnati 3–33–43–33–3—4–22–42–52–54–33–34–22–41–5
Detroit 3–32–53–43–32–4—3–31–61–61–53–33–33–33–3
Los Angeles 3–42–44–22–44–23–3—3–32–44–23–45–25–26–0
Milwaukee 3–33–36–12–45–26–13–3—2–45–26–06–04–25–1
New York 2–45–13–46–05–26–14–24–2—5–26–05–15–14–2
Philadelphia 3–34–34–23–33–45–12–42–52–5—4–24–26–00–6
Phoenix 4–23–34–22–53–33–34–30–60–62–4—7–03–34–3
San Diego 2–40–62–44–32–43–32–50–61–52–40–7—5–24–2
San Francisco 2–54–21–52–44–23–32–52–41–50–63–32–5—3–4
Seattle 2–41–54–23–45–13–30–61–52–46–03–42–44–3—

Season Schedule

1969–70 Game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 15New York94–89Tom Van Arsdale (20)0–1
2October 17@ Boston110–108Oscar Robertson (25)1–1
3October 18Philadelphia134–123Luther Rackley (29)1–2
4October 22Los Angeles116–109Tom Van Arsdale (24)1–3
5October 24@ Baltimore126–131 (OT)Oscar Robertson (35)1–4
6October 25@ Philadelphia109–98Connie Dierking (27)2–4
7October 30@ Phoenix104–106Tom Van Arsdale (23)2–5
8October 31@ Seattle121–129Oscar Robertson (30)2–6
9November 1@ San Francisco97–120Oscar Robertson (26)2–7
10November 2@ Los Angeles124–116Tom Van Arsdale (41)3–7
11November 5San Diego120–133Oscar Robertson (33)4–7
12November 6San Francisco130–109Tom Van Arsdale (18)4–8
13November 8Baltimore121–130Oscar Robertson (38)5–8
14November 12Boston107–116Oscar Robertson (25)6–8
15November 15Detroit105–104Tom Van Arsdale (26)6–9
16November 18@ New York94–112Johnny Green (16)6–10
17November 19Los Angeles116–103Oscar Robertson (21)6–11
18November 21Chicago119–133Oscar Robertson (41)7–11
19November 23Phoenix123–137Oscar Robertson (39)8–11
20November 24@ Milwaukee129–104Tom Van Arsdale (29)9–11
21November 28N New York106–105Oscar Robertson (33)9–12
22November 29@ Atlanta111–128Oscar Robertson (22)9–13
23November 30Philadelphia107–115Tom Van Arsdale (31)10–13
24December 2@ Baltimore107–129Oscar Robertson (32)10–14
25December 3Seattle118–117Oscar Robertson (36)10–15
26December 5Atlanta127–156Johnny Green (31)11–15
27December 6@ Philadelphia102–120Fred Foster (27)11–16
28December 9@ New York103–101Oscar Robertson (31)12–16
29December 10Philadelphia121–122Oscar Robertson (35)13–16
30December 11@ Detroit116–119 (OT)Oscar Robertson (44)13–17
31December 13@ Phoenix110–126Fred Foster (19)13–18
32December 14@ Phoenix137–130 (2OT)Oscar Robertson (37)14–18
33December 17@ Seattle104–117Oscar Robertson (28)14–19
34December 19@ Los Angeles117–109Connie Dierking (31)15–19
35December 20@ San Diego111–126Oscar Robertson (33)15–20
36December 25San Francisco124–120 (OT)Oscar Robertson (38)15–21
37December 26N Atlanta130–110Oscar Robertson (28)16–21
38December 27Milwaukee110–112 (OT)Oscar Robertson (31)17–21
39December 29@ Detroit110–103Connie Dierking (29)18–21
40December 30San Diego120–125Tom Van Arsdale (29)19–21
41January 2@ Baltimore116–118Oscar Robertson (31)19–22
42January 3@ Atlanta104–102Tom Van Arsdale (30)20–22
43January 4Baltimore128–129Tom Van Arsdale (35)21–22
44January 6Phoenix124–128Oscar Robertson (29)22–22
45January 7@ Milwaukee119–138Fred Foster (32)22–23
46January 11N Phoenix125–118Johnny Green (27)22–24
47January 13N Milwaukee112–92Fred Foster (21)22–25
48January 15@ Chicago120–130Tom Van Arsdale (28)22–26
49January 16N Atlanta100–117Luther Rackley (23)22–27
50January 18@ Philadelphia116–141Luther Rackley (25)22–28
51January 22Boston104–111Oscar Robertson (40)23–28
52January 24@ Milwaukee109–125Tom Van Arsdale (25)23–29
53January 25Baltimore122–129Oscar Robertson (41)24–29
54January 26N Chicago116–115Oscar Robertson (36)25–29
55January 28Milwaukee126–114Johnny Green (25)25–30
56January 30@ Boston103–108Tom Van Arsdale (25)25–31
57January 31Detroit115–117Fred Foster (25)26–31
58February 1@ Chicago108–115Johnny Green (27)26–32
59February 3N Los Angeles124–114Tom Van Arsdale (36)26–33
60February 4Seattle121–115Tom Van Arsdale (29)26–34
61February 6New York135–92Tom Van Arsdale (21)26–35
62February 7@ New York114–121Connie Dierking (24)26–36
63February 8@ Boston117–130Tom Van Arsdale (38)26–37
64February 10@ Detroit117–115Connie Dierking (30)27–37
65February 11N Detroit113–124Tom Van Arsdale (32)28–37
66February 13@ San Francisco128–110Tom Van Arsdale (34)29–37
67February 15@ San Diego123–150Fred Foster (32)29–38
68February 18N Atlanta125–139 (OT)Tom Van Arsdale (27)29–39
69February 21Chicago119–127Tom Van Arsdale (30)30–39
70February 22Philadelphia116–136Connie Dierking (45)31–39
71March 1@ Milwaukee114–120Oscar Robertson (25)31–40
72March 2N Baltimore110–118Oscar Robertson (28)31–41
73March 4@ San Diego127–125Connie Dierking (31)32–41
74March 6@ Seattle122–126Tom Van Arsdale (26)32–42
75March 7@ San Francisco121–119Connie Dierking (33)33–42
76March 8@ Los Angeles116–144Tom Van Arsdale (26)33–43
77March 11Boston144–127Johnny Green (32)33–44
78March 12San Diego151–165Tom Van Arsdale (36)34–44
79March 15Seattle113–116Oscar Robertson (37)35–44
80March 16N Chicago140–142 (OT)Tom Van Arsdale (42)35–45
81March 20San Francisco118–111Tom Van Arsdale (32)35–46
82March 21@ New York136–120Connie Dierking (35)36–46

[2]

October 2–6 including a road win at Boston, November 8–7, December 9–8, the team finished December at a decent 19–21. January 7–10, including four-straight. February 5–8 and March 5–7 with the team tiring down the stretch. The team missed the playoffs by six games.

Awards and records

References

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