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Houston MavericksYears of existence: 1967-68 through 1968-69
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During the ABA's inaugural season (1967-68), only a few Houstonians bothered to come to the Sam Houston Coliseum to see their new pro team. Mavs players probably preferred playing on the road, since at least a few more people came out to watch them. On March 22, 1968, the Mavericks played a spirited game at New Orleans against the Bucs. Gary DeLaune, play-by-play man for the Mavs, described the game action to a sparse radio audience back in Houston.
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During their first season, Houston rarely had crowds over 500 people. During their dismal second season, however, attendance was low to legendary proportions. The Mavericks often had crowds of less than 100 people, although such low figures were never officially reported to the press. Instead, the Mavericks front office padded their attendance figures so that the team seemed to have a "respectable" 500 fans each night. In December of 1968, UPI reported that 246 people saw the Mavericks play a game in Sam Houston Coliseum, which held nearly 7,000 people. The night before, 5,300 fans had crowded into a high school gym in Houston to see the University of Houston play Southern Mississippi.
As the 1968-69 season wound down (and the entire league knew that the team would be moving to North Carolina for the 1969-70 season--see below), Houston's front office became less sensitive about admitting the team's attendance problems. In February of 1969, the Mavericks' "official" average attendance, as reported to the press, was 378 people per game. During March and April of 1969, the official figure dipped to 333 fans per contest.
On April 2, 1969, the Mavericks played their last game in Houston. The opponent was New York, and the announced attendance was 89. The Mavericks gave all 89 fans watching the finale a huge treat -- they crushed the Nets 149-132. Both the Mavericks' scoring output (149 points) and attendance figure (89 people) set official team records.
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 The photo above is from a Houston Mavericks home game in February 1969. The Dallas Chaparrals were the visiting team. Aside from a few fans in the front row, the Sam Houston Coliseum is completely empty. According to the Houston front office, the team's average home attendance during this particular month was 378. Judging from this photo, this figure is grossly padded.
At right is Willie Somerset (#12), out of Duquesne. Somerset was probably the best Mavericks player. During the 1967-68 season, he averaged 21.7 points per game. During the 1968-69 season, he upped his output to 23.8 points per game under very trying conditions. In November 1968, the league took over operation of the franchise. Apparently, the league wanted the team to fail badly so the franchise could easily be moved to greener pastures (like North Carolina). Somerset was helping the Mavericks too much with his high scoring output. So in late January 1969, the league traded him to the New York Nets for Bob Verga (who, strangely enough, had played his college ball at Duke). (photos courtesy of Michael Murphy) |
One of the first-year standouts for Houston was forward Art Becker, who made the 1st ABA All-Star team. Willie Somerset was also an excellent player for the Mavericks, averaging 21.7 points per game in 1967-68. During the Mavericks' second season (1968-69), their respected coach Slater Martin quit one month into the campaign. This prompted Art Becker to actually coach the team for a week, until a new coach (Jim Weaver) was found. Also during the Mavericks' second season, owner T.C. Morrow informed the league office that he would not spend any more money on the team. To prevent the Mavericks from folding in the middle of the season, the league took over the franchise and ran the team, even to the point of making trades and releasing players to keep the payroll down. Fortunately for the ABA, North Carolina businessman Jim Gardner agreed to buy the Mavericks in early January of 1969 for a reported $650,000. Gardner wanted to move the Mavericks to Carolina (where they would eventually become the Carolina Cougars), but agreed to finish the season in Houston.
About the only interesting thing to happen to the Mavericks on the court during their lame-duck stretch run was an amazing free throw streak that occurred on January 17, 1969 in New York. The Mavericks set an all-time pro record when they hit all 36 of their free throws in their victory over the Nets. Two Houston players, Tony Jackson and Stew Johnson, were a combined 25 for 25 from the line. The Mavericks actually hit 43 free throws in a row, because they had hit their last seven in a double overtime victory over the Minnesota Pipers the night before. Don Carlos broke the incredible string when he missed Houston's first foul shot versus Kentucky on January 18.
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| The jackpot goes to you if you can recognize the Houston Mavericks players in these photos. At left is the immortal (and surprised) Dick Clark , who only played 32 games with the team in 1968-69. In the middle and at right is the somewhat more recognizable Art Becker, out of Arizona State. Becker averaged 18.8 points per game in Houston's first season, and 13.4 points per game in 1968-69. (photos courtesy of Jon Singer and Michael Murphy) | ||
MEMORIES OF LEE MEADE: "People didn't go to Houston Maverick games unless they liked to be alone. The crowds generally were about 200-250. Of course, back then, the Chicago Bulls were only drawing 800 per game in Chicago."
MEMORIES OF KEITH MILLER: "My dad was Slater Martin's physician during the short tenure of our Houston franchise... I have an ABA basketball signed by that maiden Mavericks team some 33 years ago. The great old Coliseum is gone now and only a memory. But those were great days!"
MEMORIES OF BOB STEVENSON: "When the Mavericks came to town, there were a bunch of us surfers called the "Almeda Gang" who surfed at Freeport, Texas and hung out at the Blaker Surfboard Shop in Houston. Most of us went to the University of Houston and loved Cougar basketball, which at the time had some pretty good teams that were nationally ranked under coach Guy Lewis (Elvin Hayes, Don Chaney era).
About ten of us started going to Maverick games and paying, I think, about $2.00 for the cheap seats in the upper rafters. We got hooked right away, although we noticed that the Sam Houston Coliseum where the Mavs played was practically empty. As the season went along, we got more and more of our surfing buddies to attend the games and by the end of the season we were about 80-100 strong. I think we were probably two-thirds of the attendance at those games. We were a very boisterous bunch and enjoyed getting on the opposing players and coaches. The Mavericks front office recognized us as die-hard fans and we became known as the unofficial Maverick Fan Club. We continued paying the cheap seat price, but we were allowed to move down to courtside during the game, usually right behind the opponents bench. Boy, we really got into it then. We would verbally abuse the coaches and players (nothing dirty or derogatory), so much so, that I believe it affected their game.
Our favorite Maverick players were Stew Johnson, Art Becker and Tony Jackson. We loved to razz opposing players such as Bob Netolicky, Larry Bunce, and Red Robbins. Our favorite coach to infuriate was Bill Sharman of the L.A. Stars, who once had to be held back by his players from climbing into the stands to confront us. All in all it was a memorable time."
MEMORIES OF DEWITT MENYARD (Mavericks player, 1967-68): "Houston was a nice place and I enjoyed playing there. I had a OK season. Slater Martin was a hot headed coach, but he knew the game and I really enjoyed playing for him. In January 1968 I was named to the first ABA All-Star team. That was a big honor because the game was going to be played in Indiana, and that's where I was from. In fact, I was the only player in the All-Star game who had played high school ball in Indiana. For me coming back to Indiana to play in the very first ABA All-Star game, well, I was excited. Playing on the same court with Doug Moe, Connie Hawkins and Larry Brown all at the same time, and holding my own. I was young at that time and I learned a lot from the older players. I played that entire first year and three months of the second year. Then my knee went out and I went over to France. I ended up staying over there as a player and a coach for over 19 years."
MEMORIES OF MICHAEL MURPHY: "Early in the 1968-69 season, the ABA took over operation of the Houston franchise. But get this -- it seems that the league was determined to get the Mavs out of Houston, and that they were going to do that by making sure the team lost, hence the incredible roster turnover. However, it seems Commissioner Mikan and Co. made a mistake by sending Levern Tart to the Mavs. It seems that Tart sparked a mini-win streak -- three straight and four out of six, including back-to-back wins at Oakland (which would win the title that year) on Feb. 9 and 11 (129-123 and 101-100). Guess who was traded after six games? That's right -- Tart. Anyway, most of the Mavs were moved to other teams, and Mikan stocked the roster with as many guys with North Carolina roots as possible (Bob Verga from Duke, Willis Bennett from Winston-Salem, and Willie Porter, a native of Winston-Salem), to make it more attractive to the Carolina bunch that was considering buying the franchise. Amazing how things worked back then, isn't it?"
 Mavericks 1968-69 Prototype Home Warmup |
1967-68 Season
Record: 29-49, Fourth Place in Western Division
1968 Playoff Results:1968 Western Division Semifinals vs. Dallas Chaparrals (46-32)
Chaparrals won series, 3-2
Record: 23-55, Sixth Place in Western Division
Missed Playoffs
1967-68: Slater Martin
