Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Brooklyn Nets - Know Your Team; 1967-1968

From the desk of:   THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH




DECEMBER - 2010
 
 


BROOKLYN NETS: Know Your Team.


Moving the Nets to Brooklyn damn near took an act of Congress when you consider how long ago they should have already been here.  But the fact this organization survived its first two years of existence is a modern miracle.






1967 - 1968
FIRST TWO SEASONS UNDER ARTHUR BROWN
 

Founded in 1967, the team we now call the Brooklyn Nets were charter members of the old American Basketball Association.  More importantly and particular to the Nets, they were entering New York Knickerbocker country.  While the original plan was to set camp within New York City, the organization was forced to open its inaugural season inside an armory in Teaneck, New Jersey.  They played their first ABA season as the New Jersey Americans.


That first edition featured household names like Levern Tart, John Mathis, Walt Simon, Barry Liebowicz, Stew Johnson, Dan Anderson, Dexter Westbrook, Al Beard, Tony Jackson, John Austin, Jim Caldwell, Mel Nowell, Art Heyman, Bruce Spraggins, Bobby Lloyd, and Bob McIntyre.  They made the playoffs that first season.  But due to snafus in arena scheduling, and a lack of adequate alternatives, the Americans were forced to forfeit.


In 1968, the team moved its home games to Commack, Long Island.  The organization changed its name and officially became the New York Nets.  Year two in the ABA was a far less successful endeavour that 1967 was.  The team finished last with a 17-61 record.  Compared to their first season in Teaneck, attendance plummeted in Long Island.  At the conclusion of the 1968 season, the original owner of the team, Art Brown, put the team up for sale.




PREVIOUS SERIES:  BARCLAYS CENTER - THIRTY PICTURES IN THIRTY DAYS
 






Mike.BTB

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