1974–75 New York Nets season

The 1974–75 New York Nets season was the eighth season of the franchise in the American Basketball Association.

1974–75 New York Nets season
Head coach	Kevin Loughery
Arena	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	58–26 (.690)
Place	Division: 2nd (Eastern (ABA))
Playoff finish	Division semifinals (lost to Spirits 1–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WOR
Radio	WMCA

ABA Draft

Main article: 1974 ABA Draft

Round	Player	School/Club Team
1	Brian Winters	South Carolina
2	Rich Kelley	Stanford
3	Tom Boswell	South Carolina
4	Talvin Skinner	Maryland Eastern Shore
5	Eric Fernsten	San Francisco
6	Gary Brokaw	Notre Dame
7	Dean Tolson	Arkansas
8	AI Skinner	Massachusetts
9	Bob Fleischer	Duke

Roster

1974–75 New York Nets roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From SF 32 Erving, Julius 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1950-02-22 UMass PG 12 Gale, Mike 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1950-07-18 Elizabeth City State PF 35 Kenon, Larry 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1952-12-13 Memphis SF 4 Ladner, Wendell 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1948-10-06 Southern Miss SF 22 Manning, Ed 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1944-01-02 Jackson State PG 25 Melchionni, Bill 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1944-10-19 Villanova C 5 Paultz, Billy 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1948-07-30 St. John's SF 15 Schaeffer, Billy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1951-12-11 St. John's SG 30 Skinner, Al 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1952-06-16 UMass C 40 Sojourner, Willie 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1948-09-10 Weber State PG 14 Taylor, Brian 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1951-06-09 Princeton SG 23 Williamson, John 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1951-11-10 New Mexico State

Head coach Kevin Loughery Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Playoffs

Main article: 1975 ABA playoffs

Two days before the Semifinals began, the Nets and Colonels had a Tiebreaker game played to settle who would be the Eastern Division Champion and play the Memphis Sounds. Julius Erving scored 34 points for the Nets but Artis Gilmore grabbed 33 rebounds for Kentucky. The Colonels won the game 108–99 in Kentucky, thus the Nets were slated to play the Spirits.

Eastern Division semifinals vs. Spirits of St. Louis

Game	Date	Location	Score	Record	Attendance
1	April 6	New York	111–105	1–0	11,607
2	April 9	New York	97–115	1–1	10,621
3	April 11	St. Louis	108–113	1–2	6,199
4	April 13	St. Louis	89–100	1–3	7,719
5	April 15	New York	107–108	1–4	9,664