The 1970–71 The Floridians season was the third season of

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

in Florida and first as The Floridians, after two seasons as the Miami Floridians. In an attempt to appeal to the entire regional, game were played in five cities: Miami, Tampa,

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

, Jacksonville, and West Palm Beach. New head owner Ned Doyle decided to get rid of the entire team, except the coach. The Floridians finished 9th in points scored at 114.0 per game, but 5th in points allowed at 115.6 per game. The team's biggest losing streak was 6, which happened less than a month after the season began, though a 5-game winning streak followed that. But by the first half of the season, they were 17–25, and Blitman was fired after they had lost their fifth straight game on January 14 to make them 18–30. One day later, Bob Bass was hired by the team after resigning from Texas Tech. The next day, he won his first game, versus the Utah Stars. A seven-game winning streak near the end of the season helped clinch a playoff spot for the team, with the key win being versus the

Pittsburgh Condors The Pittsburgh Condors were a professional basketball team in the original American Basketball Association (ABA). Originally called the Pittsburgh Pipers, they were a charter franchise of the ABA and captured the first league title. The team pla ...

on March 28, the penultimate game of the season played in Jacksonville, beating them 130–117 to eliminate Pittsburgh. In the Semifinals, they overcame a 2–0 hole to tie the series up, but the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

won the next two games to win the series.

Roster

* 24 Charles Beasley - Shooting guard * 12 Clarence Brookins - Forward * 21 Mack Calvin - Point guard * 21/44 Warren Davis - Power forward * 15 Ronald Franz - Small forward * 51

Carl Fuller Carl Edmond Fuller (born January 10, 1946 in St. Augustine, Florida) is a retired professional basketball center who played two seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a member of The Floridians in the 1970–71 and 1971–72 sea ...

- Center * 41

Ira Harge Ira Lee Harge (born March 14, 1941) is a retired American professional basketball player. Born in Anguilla, Mississippi, Harge played high school basketball in Detroit, Michigan before starring in college at the University of New Mexico. He playe ...

- Center * 12 Rich Johnson - Center * 32 Larry Jones - Shooting guard * 11 Ron Nelson - Shooting guard * 52

Rich Niemann Richard W. Niemann (born July 2, 1946) is a former American basketball player who played at center in the National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association. Niemann was originally drafted in the fourth round of the 1968 NBA draf ...

- Center * 10 Fran O'Hanlon - Guard * 31 Sam Robinson - Small forward * 22 Dennis Stewart - Forward * 12

Al Tucker Albert Amos Tucker Jr. (February 24, 1943 – May 7, 2001) was an American professional basketball player. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Tucker is sometimes credited with inventing the alley-oop with his brother Gerald while at Oklahoma Baptist Universi ...

- Power forward * 14

Trooper Washington Thomas "Trooper" Washington (April 21, 1944 – November 19, 2004) was an American professional basketball player born and raised in Philadelphia. A 6'7" forward from Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, Washington was drafted in 1967 in the 5th r ...

- Power forward * 22 Greg Wittman - Power forward * 20

Lonnie Wright Lonnie Wright (January 23, 1945 – March 23, 2012) was an American professional basketball and football player who played in the same season for the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association and the Denver Broncos of the American ...

- Shooting guard

Final standings

Eastern Division

Playoffs

Eastern Division Semifinals ''The Floridians lose series, 4–2''

Awards and honors

1971 ABA All-Star Game The fourth American Basketball Association All-Star Game was played January 23, 1971 at Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina before an audience at 14,407. Al Bianchi of the Virginia Squires coached the East, with Bill Sharman of th ...

selections (game played on January 23, 1971) * Mack Calvin * Larry Jones

References

Floridians on Basketball Reference

External links

* ttp://www.remembertheaba.com/Floridians.html The Floridians page {{DEFAULTSORT:1970-71 Miami Floridians season Miami Floridians seasons Miami The Floridians, 1970-71 The Floridians, 1970-71