2016 NBA/ABA Tournament of Champions: ABA Seeding Tournament

It's time to get the 2016 Tournament of Champions underway!

If you read my intro post, you know I'm going bigger this year. I didn't feel that it was enough to just bring in the 2016 NBA Champion. This time, since I had the resources, I wanted to include the nine ABA champions in the mix as well.

I have no idea how good these teams are in relation to the NBA champions that have participated in the last two tournaments, and I wasn't sure at first how I wanted to integrate the ABA teams into this. Originally, I was going to have seven groups of nine teams from the NBA for pool play and have the ABA be its own group. However, that guarantees four ABA teams advancing to the Elimination Round, and I'm not convinced those teams deserve four guaranteed spots.

Thus, the fairest way to do this is to pre-rank the ABA champions, and to do that, I am having those nine teams spend the early part of the month of May playing a round robin tournament. This one is only a single round robin to minimize the mileage on these players, though they'll have a month after this to rest up and prepare for the big time. In the grand scheme of things, these games don't really mean anything other than pride and the best ABA champion getting to avoid the '96 Bulls until the Elimination Round.

So, here's ultimately how this is going to work. The placing by each ABA team in this portion of the tournament will correspond to which pool that ABA team will join for the filling of the eight groups for Group Play. My simulator doesn't do neutral courts in the NBA, and normally given the schedule this would be a problem, as I usually play with the left team on the road at the right team. However, my scheduler decided to put the '73 Pacers on the left hand side of every round, which would have them playing eight road games while four teams get five home games. I went through and remedied this issue on the schedule page, with the Pacers' home games getting a special note to signify it. With this in place, every team will play four games at home and four games on the road, all determined randomly (including the case of the changed games, where I just switched home teams for the '73 Pacers).

In the event of a tie in the standings, head to head record will take care of any two-way tie. In the event of a three or more-team tie, head to head record will remain the top tiebreaker, but in case there's a rock-paper-scissors tie, I will go down to record against teams above the tie, then record against teams below the tie, then point differential. All simulations are once again provided by WhatIfSports.com.

Good luck to these ABA teams, and welcome to the Tournament of Champions!

Standings

Round 1

@ '71 Utah Stars 112, '73 Indiana Pacers 95
The Stars held the Pacers to 36.7 percent shooting, including a 1-12 day from beyond the arc. Zelmo Beaty led the Stars with 19 points and 14 rebounds, Donnie Freeman added 17 points off the bench, and Red Robbins grabbed 13 rebounds. George McGinnis led the Pacers and all scorers with 22 points, and Mel Daniels chipped in 15 points and 14 rebounds.

@ '76 New York Nets 112, '70 Pacers 92
New York jumped out to a sizable early lead and held firm most of the contest behind a balanced attack. John Williamson led all scorers with 19 points, while Julius Erving added 16 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Roger A. Brown paced Indiana with 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists, while Bill Netolicky chipped in 17 points. 

'69 Oakland Oaks 125, @ '72 Indiana Pacers 112
The Oaks used a 38-28 second quarter advantage to pull ahead at the break and steal a road win. The Pacers couldn't stop the Oaks' stars, as Gary Bradds destroyed the Pacers' bigs to the tune of 32 points and Rick Barry went off for 30 to lead Oakland. Seven Pacers did reach double figures in the barnburner, led by 20 points and 12 rebounds from Mel Daniels, George McGinnis added 16 and eight off the bench, and Freddie Lewis had a nice floor game of seven points, seven rebounds and eight assists. 

@ '74 New York Nets 112, '75 Kentucky Colonels 94
The Nets outscored the Colonels 36-14 in the third quarter, turning a six point game at halftime into a laugher. Larry Kenon destroyed the Colonels' interior defense with 29 points and 16 rebounds, Julius Erving added 22 points, and Billy Paultz added 10 points and 14 rebounds. Artis Gilmore paced Kentucky with 20 points and 14 rebounds, Wil Jones scored 16 points, and Dan Issel added 15.

Round 2

@ '75 Kentucky Colonels 104, '72 Indiana Pacers 95
Indiana blew a late third quarter 13 point lead after outscoring Kentucky 42-26 in the frame, then got outscored 30-10 in the fourth. Bird Averitt led all scorers with 23 points to lead the Colonels to victory, while Artis Gilmore had 19 points and 16 rebounds. Mel Daniels led the Pacers with 19 points and 17 rebounds and Roger A. Brown added 17 points.

@ '69 Oakland Oaks 125, '76 New York Nets 118
Defense didn't apply, especially in the fourth quarter as the Oaks outscored New York 46-33, including a key 12-0 run to take the lead. Rick Barry scored 11 of his game-high 35 points in that final frame to pace Oakland, Warren Jabali had 30 points and 11 rebounds, and Jim Eakins added 17 points, 11 rebounds, and six blocks. Seven Nets scored in double figures, led by 20 points from Brian Taylor. Julius Erving notched 15 points and 18 rebounds while John Williamson added 19 points.

'71 Utah Stars 118, @ '70 Indiana Pacers 111
Indiana shot well, but hit only 20 of 33 free throws in a seven point loss while the Stars made the most of their trips to the stripe, hitting 31 of 39. Donnie Freeman had 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists off the bench to lead Utah, while Zelmo Beaty added 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Glen Combs chipped in 19 points. Roger A. Brown had 25 points to lead Indiana while Mel Daniels contributed 17 points, 26 rebounds and six blocks.

'73 Indiana Pacers 119, @ '68 Pittsburgh Pipers 110
George McGinnis had 25 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Pacers to their first victory of the tournament. Indiana shot 50 percent for the game, the first ABA team to do so in the Tournament of Champions, and also got 21 points off the bench from Freddie Lewis and 16 points and 13 rebounds from Mel Daniels. Chico Vaughn led the Pipers with 23 points, Art Heyman poured in 22, and Connie Hawkins added 19 points and 14 rebounds.

Round 3

@ '72 Indiana Pacers 153, '73 Indiana Pacers 145 (2OT)
Defense wasn't invited to our first paradox game. The '72 Pacers led by 11 after one, but had to rally from down eight starting the fourth, then blew a six point lead with under a minute to play, as '72 Roger A. Brown hit a baseline jumper with three seconds left to force overtime. Brown then went off in the extra sessions, scoring 10 of his game-high 39 points. '72 Mel Daniels added 21 points, 16 rebounds, and a game-high eight blocks, and '72 Bob Netolicky added 24 points off the bench. The '73 Pacers got 30 points and 13 rebounds from George McGinnis, 25 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks from their Mel Daniels, and 24 points from Billy Keller.

'76 New York Nets 121, @ '74 New York Nets 103
Our second paradox game had the '76 Nets shoot 53.4 percent from the floor en route to a big win, using a 35-20 second quarter advantage to pull away. '76 Julius Erving had 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lead his Nets, '76 John Williamson added 19 points, and Kim Hughes chipped in 12 points and 11 rebounds. Larry Kenon paced the '74 Nets with 23 points and 12 rebounds, '74 Julius Erving added 14 points, eight rebounds and eight blocks, and Billy Schaeffer dropped in 11 points off the bench.

'71 Utah Stars 134, @ '68 Pittsburgh Pipers 107
Utah brought some defense to the table, forcing 27 turnovers while only coughing it up seven times in a huge win. Willie Wise led the Stars with 23 points, eight rebounds and five steals, Zelmo Beaty had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Glen Combs added 15 points, seven assists and four steals. Chico Vaughn paced the Pipers with 20 points, Art Heyman chipped in 17, and Connie Hawkins put up 14 points and 16 rebounds.

'69 Oakland Oaks 130, @ '75 Kentucky Colonels 121
Kentucky only hit 22 of its 38 free throws in this game, and lost by nine. You do the math. The Colonels had almost no answer for Rick Barry, who went off for 28 points and eight rebounds, while Warren Jabari had 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to back him up. Dan Issel had 28 points and 16 rebounds to lead Kentucky, Louie Dampier and Bird Averitt each chipped in 23 points, and Artis Gilmore only managed 13 points but pulled down 16 rebounds.

Round 4

'75 Kentucky Colonels 108, @ '73 Indiana Pacers 92
The Colonels forced 17 turnovers while committing only eight to get back to .500 ball. Artis Gilmore destroyed the Pacers' interior defense to the tune of 27 points and 13 rebounds. Bird Averitt chipped in 17 points, and Wil Jones added 10 points and 14 rebounds for Kentucky. George McGinnis led the Pacers with 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Roger A. Brown had eight rebounds and six assists, but was held to just two points.

@ '70 Indiana Pacers 112, '68 Pittsburgh Pipers 109
Freddie Lewis threw a no look pass to an open Mel Daniels, whose finger roll with 13 seconds left won the game for Indiana. Daniels added two free throws with less than a second to go for good measure, registering four of his team-high 24 points to go with his 18 rebounds. Roger A. Brown added 20 points and 10 assists for the Pacers, while Bob Netolicky chipped in 18 points and 14 rebounds. Charlie Williams had 29 points for the Pipers, Art Heyman had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Connie Hawkins went off for 18 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.

'74 New York Nets 112, @ '71 Utah Stars 103
The Nets held the Stars under 40 percent shooting for the contest, using a 31-19 first quarter advantage to hand Utah its first loss of the tournament. Julius Erving was a big reason why, going off for 28 points and 11 rebounds, while John Williamson added 21 points. Larry Kenon and Billy Paultz each recorded double-doubles for the Nets as well. Zelmo Beaty led the Stars with 13 points and 17 rebounds, while George Stone notched a team-high 17 points off the bench.

@ '76 New York Nets 107, '72 Indiana Pacers 98
After managing just 14 first quarter points, the Pacers came back to within two points by halftime, but the Nets pulled back away in the second half to steal the win, as they held Indiana to just 36.5 percent shooting. Brian Taylor had 19 points to lead New York, Julius Erving added 16 points, 13 rebounds, and five steals, and Kim Hughes pulled down 17 rebounds to go with his 15 points. Roger A. Brown led the Pacers with a game-high 28 points, Freddie Lewis chipped in 18 points, and George McGinnis had 10 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.

Round 5

'70 Indiana Pacers 106, @ '73 Indiana Pacers 104
The final 40 seconds or so of this game made it an instant classic. George McGinnis had a pair of go-ahead jumpers from the left wing in the final 30 seconds sandwiching a John Barnhill dunk that gave the '70 Pacers a brief lead, but after the latter McGinnins bucket, '70 Freddie Lewis was inexplicably left wide open at the top of the key and drained a three at the buzzer. Lewis finished with just 10 points, but had a decent floor game in support of '70 Mel Daniels, who went off for 18 points and 25 rebounds, while Bob Netolicky added 18 and 12. George McGinnis finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the '73 Pacers, '73 Mel Daniels had 18 and 13, and '73 Billy Keller also added 18 points.

'69 Oakland Oaks 125, @ '71 Utah Stars 123
Another instant classic took place in Salt Lake City, as the Stars tied the game twice in the final 40 seconds, including on a three by Glen Combs, but Warren Jabali banked home a shot at the buzzer to keep the Oaks undefeated. It was two of 21 points for Jabali, who added 11 rebounds for Oakland, while Rick Barry and Gary Bradds each chipped in 23 points. Zelmo Beaty led the Stars with 21 points, George Stone had 19 off the bench, and Willie Wise added 14 points and 17 rebounds.

@ '76 New York Nets 128, '75 Kentucky Colonels 112
The Nets' defense came to play, forcing 23 turnovers, including 17 off of steals to move to 4-1. Julius Erving was a big reason for the victory, notching 28 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and five steals, while Brian Taylor and Ted McClain each chipped in 15 points, with McClain also recording five thefts. Dan Issel led the Colonels with 24 points, Artis Gilmore added 20, and Bird Averitt had 19 points to go with eight assists.

'68 Pittsburgh Pipers 114, @ '74 New York Nets 103
The Pipers attacked the basket at will, getting to the line 39 times and hitting 28 of them to pick up their first win of the tournament. Connie Hawkins was a driving force for the Pipers, recording 21 points and 10 rebounds, Art Heyman chipped in 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Ira Harge added 14 points, 18 rebounds, and six blocks. Julius Erving paced the Nets with 27 points and 10 rebounds, Billy Paultz had 16 and 10, and John Roche came off the bench with 17 points.

Round 6

@ '69 Oakland Oaks 141, '73 Indiana Pacers 122
The Oaks went to the line 55 times in this game, making 41 of them while the Pacers hit just nine of their 21 freebies in a blowout. Rick Barry had a monster game, going off for 41 points, including a 14-15 day at the free throw line. Doug Moe added 16 points off the bench, and Ira Harge chipped in 11 points and 15 rebounds. George McGinnis scored 28 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Pacers, while Freddie Lewis contributed 18 points, eight rebounds, and six assists off the bench.

@ '70 Indiana Pacers 112, '75 Kentucky Colonels 99
After leading by six at halftime, the Pacers put up 39 third quarter points to open up a lead as big as 22 points before calling off the dogs. Bob Netolicky and Mel Daniels went off for a combined 40 points and 29 rebounds, and Roger A. Brown added 17 points to lead Indiana to its third victory of the tournament. Artis Gilmore had 20 points and 17 rebounds in the Colonels' fourth loss of the tournament, but no other Kentucky player had more than 11 points.

@ '76 New York Nets 112, '68 Pittsburgh Pipers 111
John Williamson's floater with two seconds left on the clock proved to be the difference after Charlie Williams missed a 13 foot jumper at the buzzer for the Pipers. It was a tough loss for a Pittsburgh team that forced 22 turnovers, but the Nets hit 52.1 percent of their shots to escape with the home win. Julius Erving had a near triple-double of 23 points, nine rebounds, and 12 assists, Williamson's game winner saw him finish with 15 points, and Ted McClain added 16 off the bench. His shot spoiled a 31 point, 12 rebound night from Art Heyman. Connie Hawkins chipped in 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Ira Harge had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Pipers.

@ '72 Indiana Pacers 110, '74 New York Nets 98
The Pacers jumped out to an early 15-2 lead, led 30-15 after one quarter, and never looked back in this one. Bob Netolicky scored eight of his game-high 25 points in the frame while grabbing 11 rebounds, and Mel Daniels had 16 and 20 to help push the Pacers to victory. Julius Erving led the Nets with 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four blocks in a solid floor game, Larry Kenon added 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Billy Paultz chipped in six points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks.

Round 7

@ '75 Kentucky Colonels 131, '68 Pittsburgh Pipers 108
The Colonels owned a 70-54 edge on the glass and used a 13-0 run midway through the first quarter to make this a laugher. Artis Gilmore led the way for Kentucky with 22 points and 14 rebounds, Louie Dampier had 21 points and 10 assists, and Bird Averitt added 19 points, six rebounds and eight assists. Chico Vaughn paced the scoring for the Pipers with 20 points, while Connie Hawkins chipped in 19 points and 11 rebounds. Art Heyman had 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Pittsburgh.

@ '69 Oakland Oaks 129, '74 New York Nets 120
Oakland got to the line 46 times and made 37 of them in a game that was pretty tightly contested throughout despite Oakland also outrebounding the Nets by 21. Rick Barry had a game-high 31 points to lead the Oaks, Gary Bradds added 23, Warren Jabali had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Ira Harge pulled down 22 rebounds. Julius Erving's 28 points could only do so much, as no Net reached double digit rebounds. Billy Paultz added 17 points for New York and Larry Kenon had 15 before fouling out. The Oaks have clinched first place in the ABA Seeding Tournament.

'72 Indiana Pacers 126, @ '70 Indiana Pacers 110
Both teams showed up to play offense in this one: both Pacers squads topped 50 percent shooting, but the '72 team forced 23 turnovers, got to the line a little more often, and had 29 assists to earn the paradox victory. '72 Billy Keller had a great day from the floor, scoring 20 points in just 26 minutes. '72 Mel Daniels added 19 points and 16 rebounds, and '72 Bob Netolicky chipped in 18 points. '70 Freddie Lewis had 22 points to lead all scorers, and Art Becker chipped in 14 off the bench for the hosts.

@ '71 Utah Stars 133, '76 New York Nets 122
The Stars got to the line a whopping 51 times, hitting 43 of them to earn a key tiebreaker against the team just half a game ahead of them. Zelmo Beaty led Utah with 24 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks, Red Robbins and Willie Wise each added 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Merv Jackson also dropped in 16 points. Julius Erving had 28 points and 13 rebounds in the loss, John Williamson added 18 points, and Swen Nater contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Round 8

'74 New York Nets 116, @ '73 Indiana Pacers 114
The Nets led by as many as 18 in the second quarter and were up by 12 going into the final stanza, but the Pacers fought valiantly back, tying the game with under four minutes to play. The Nets retook the lead, but never put Indiana away, as Mel Daniels clanked a fadeaway at the buzzer that would have tied the contest. Julius Erving had 26 points and 14 rebounds for New York, Larry Kenon went off for 23 points and 17 boards, and Billy Paultz chipped in 19 points and 15 rebounds. Donnie Freeman drove the pace car for Indiana with 20 points, while Roger A. Brown contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds.

'72 Indiana Pacers 130, @ '68 Pittsburgh Pipers 122
Despite getting outrebounded 66-50, the Pacers were in firm control throughout thanks to shooting 52.7 percent from the floor and getting balanced scoring from everyone. Seven of the nine players who saw action scored in double figures, led by Roger A. Brown with 24. Billy Keller added 22, and Freddie Lewis and Bob Netolicky each chipped in 19. Chico Vaughn led all scorers with 28 points for Pittsburgh, Art Heyman had 18 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and Connie Hawkins had 17, 10, and seven.

@ '75 Kentucky Colonels 122, '71 Utah Stars 115
This is a huge win for Kentucky, who finishes at .500 for the ABA portion of the schedule, and a tough loss for Utah, who might have lost out on a Pool B spot for Group Play. The Colonels hit more free throws (28) than the Stars took (23), which probably had a huge hand in the big victory. Artis Gilmore had 25 points and 15 rebounds, Dan Issel went off for 25 points as well, and Bird Averitt chipped in 23 points, including an 11-13 day from the stripe. Zelmo Beaty had 18 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Stars, Donnie Freeman came off the bench for 18 points, and George Stone had a solid game with 14 points and 11 rebounds, also off the Utah bench.

@ '69 Oakland Oaks 114, '70 Indiana Pacers 105
The Oaks held Indiana to just 36.4 percent shooting for their seventh win against ABA competition. The Oaks have nothing more to play for, but that didn't stop Rick Barry from exploding for 34 points and eight rebounds while Gary Bradds added 22 and 11 and Warren Jabali chipping in 19 points. Roger A. Brown had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers, Bob Netolicky added 16 points, and Mel Daniels had 15 points and 22 rebounds.

Round 9

'76 New York Nets 123, @ '73 Indiana Pacers 122
Julius Erving took over the game in the final minute, scoring New York's final six points, including throwing down the game-winning dunk with two seconds left to answer a Billy Keller three. The dunk saw Erving reach 29 points to go with his 15 rebounds. John Williamson added 20 points and five steals for the Nets, and Swen Nater had 18 points and 12 rebounds to get New York to second place in the group. Mel Daniels finished with 26 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Pacers, while George McGinnis added 26 points of his own. Eight Pacers scored in double figures.

'71 Utah Stars 123, @ '72 Indiana Pacers 114
Utah got aggressive, repeatedly attacking the basket to the tune of 41 free throws while Indiana took just 12, but a lineup change also may have been a catalyst to victory. Donnie Freeman got the start at point guard and went off for 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, while Zelmo Beaty has emerged as a major threat for Utah with 25 points and 15 rebounds. Rick Mount had a game-high 28 points off the bench for Indiana, while Mel Daniels went off for 18 points and 21 rebounds. Utah's win puts them in third place in the group. The Pacers, meanwhile, drop all the way to sixth place after dropping a rock-paper-scissors tiebreaker with the '74 Nets and '75 Colonels and the head to head tiebreaker with the Colonels.

@ '74 New York Nets 120, '70 Indiana Pacers 104
New York shot 52.4 percent from the floor to force said tie with the '72 Pacers and the '75 Colonels, jumping out to a double digit lead just four and a half minutes into the game. The Nets also forced 28 turnovers to help establish their dominance. Larry Kenon had a game-high 27 points and team-high 15 rebounds, John Williamson added 20 points, and Julius Erving filled the stat sheet with 18 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, five blocks, and four steals. Mel Daniels led the Pacers with 22 points, 19 rebounds, and six blocks, while Freddie Lewis contributed 20 points. The Nets jump into fourth place by virtue of being the only 4-4 team to beat the '71 Utah Stars.

@ '68 Pittsburgh Pipers 125, '69 Oakland Oaks 122
With Oakland having nothing to play for, I sat Rick Barry and Warren Jabali on the depth chart (though Barry would play a few minutes) and decided to let the chips fall where they may. It leads to the Pipers being the only team to knock off Oakland in the ABA Seeding Tournament after Connie Hawkins went off for 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead Pittsburgh to its second victory. Chico Vaughn added 22 points, Charlie Williams had 20, and Art Heyman had 17 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. Gary Bradds had 22 points in 23 minutes for the Oaks, Larry Brown chipped in 17, and Ira Harge finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds. The Pipers move up to eighth place with the victory.

Like I mentioned above, other than the '69 Oaks getting bragging rights over their ABA brethren, finishing in first place means almost nothing in the grand scheme of things. This tournament was just to give me a base line to work with when I'm filling the groups for the start of Group Play in July. Please also note if you're looking at the group standings that their tiebreaker scenarios are different from what I'm using with the Tournament of Champions. Those tiebreaker scenarios should be fairly well explained in the Round 9 games.

There is one more matter left to take care of. 74 teams are part of the 2016 NBA/ABA Tournament of Champions, including the yet to be determined 2016 NBA Champion. They will get their invitation to this tournament after the NBA Finals. In the meantime, to make the numbers work better, we have to knock a couple teams off. Check back in June to see just who is falling off the table.