The new owners exacerbated the situation in the fall of 1975 when they fired longtime (and popular) coach Al Bianchi. They did, but barely.Here are some Squires who played hard, and tried their best, during these dismal seasons. Johnson came to the Squires from the NBA Phoenix Suns. The team compiled a postseason mark of 6-6. The Squires were not part of the ABA-NBA merger.Even today, Squires fans don't like to discuss the team's last two years in the ABA (1974-75 and 1975-76). All columns may be sorted by clicking the column name. Eventually it became a question of whether the team could make payroll on a week-to-week basis, and survive for the remainder of the season. And the hot-shooting Williams replaced Charlie Scott and won over die-hard Squires fans.For the 1972-73 season, Erving was still with the team (despite his attempt to jump to the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA), and After the 1972-73 season, things fell apart for the franchise. Justifiably or not, most Squires fans felt that Earl Foreman had "sold out" the team. In Game 5 against the Nets, Scott unexpectedly scored 26 points and propelled the Squires to a crucial win. Although Erving was forced by the courts to return to the Squires, Virginia was financially unable to keep him for long. Center Jim Eakins (right, #42) was with the Squires in their very first year in Virginia (1970-71), along with defensive ace Fatty Taylor (above right, #14). With only 10 seconds left in the game, the Squires trailed the Colonels by one point and had the ball After a timeout, Gervin drove around three Kentucky defenders and hit a spectacular rainbow jumper to win the game for the Squires After the game, Gervin told Van Vance that he wanted to stay in Virginia as a Squire Streaming RealAudio Files -- RealPlayer plug-in required (free download While the sale of the team's best players may have preserved the financial viability of the Squires franchise, they decimated the team and alienated the fans. Johnson's rugged style was a good fit in the ABA. Al Bianchi coached the team. Some first-year Squires were holdovers from the 1969-70 Washington Caps squad (Virginia also added Neil Johnson (above left). In the first round of the 1971 ABA Playoffs, Virginia beat Rick Barry and the New York Nets in a tough six game series.
They won the ABA's Eastern Division by 11 games over the Kentucky Colonels. He also hit 25 of 31 free throws for an 80.6% mark. The Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Association ended the 1970-71 season with a record of 55 wins and 29 losses, finishing first in the ABA's Eastern Division. Recent Game Results Height of bar is margin of victory • Mouseover bar for details • Click for box score • Grouped by Month The Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Association ended the 1970-71 season with a record of 55 wins and 29 losses, finishing first in the ABA's Eastern Division, and compiled a postseason mark of 6-6. With the series tied three games apiece, the do-or-die seventh game was played at the Scope in Norfolk. During the first half of the season, Gervin played so well that at least a few fans were able to forgive the loss of Erving.But in late January 1974, word leaked out that the Squires had On February 1, 1974, Gervin was still with the Squires as they hosted the Kentucky Colonels at Hampton.
These two years were filled with countless losses (137 of them, to be exact), very rare victories (only 30 over the two seasons), bizarre-looking uniforms, and constant player-shuffling. 1972-73 Virginia Squires Roster and Stats. Johnson quickly took on the role of the team's "enforcer," and became a fan favorite.In each of their first two seasons in Virginia, the Squires almost made it to the ABA Finals. Clicking on a tab heading will display the specified set of statistics. Of course, Erving carried the team by averaging an amazing 33.3 points and 20.4 rebounds per game (leading the league in both categories in post-season play). And Erving tried to leave the Squires for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks in the fall of 1972. Erving was sold to the For Virginia Squires fans, the 1973-74 season was too frustrating for words. The Squires moved to Virginia in 1970 after spending one year in Washington, D.C. as the Washington Capitals (1969-70), and two years in Oakland as the Oakland Oaks (1967-69). WhatIfSports is a trademark of WhatIfSports.com, Inc. SimLeague, SimMatchup and iSimNow are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts, Inc. Used under license. Thankfully, he left for the Nuggets in 1975-76. He only lasted one year. The 1970-71 Virginia Squires roster is below.
Virginia Squires 1970-71 Roster and Stats. In the June 19th edition of the Denver Post, Mike Monroe There he was, standing on the runway of the Pittsburgh airport trying to flag a plane down (not a cab, a plane). They ran to 55 victories, third-best in the ABA. Previous Season. However, Game 7 was (at least by ABA standards) a low-scoring defensive affair, and the absence of Charlie Scott seemed to hurt Virginia. He was traded to the In the midst of all this turmoil, the Squires did keep some good players (at least for a while).