This is the 23nd and last of a series of threads analyzing games played, games started and transactions for the 1980-81 season. Before reading any further, see the introductory thread below:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4961
DALLAS MAVERICKS – PART I
SEASON OVERVIEW
The Mavericks were a first-year expansion team. They had a 15-67 record. They finished sixth and last in the Midwest Division, and had the worst record in the NBA. The Mavericks did not qualify for the playoffs.
The Mavericks used 21 different players for the season, ten above the minimum, and the most of any NBA team.
ROSTER AND TRANSACTIONS
In a practice common for expansion teams up through the early 1980s, the Mavericks were allowed to carry two additional players on their active roster into the early part of the regular season. As a result, they had 13 players on their opening night roster. The team was allowed to carry up to 13 players for the first month of the season, then needed to get down to the standard 11.
OPENING NIGHT ROSTER
Darrell Allums
Winford Boynes
Marty Byrnes
Austin Carr
Ralph Drollinger
Terry Duerod
Joe Hassett
Geoff Huston
Abdul Jeelani
Tom LaGarde
Jim Spanarkel
Richard Washington
Jerome Whitehead
Notable unsigned draft pick: Kiki Vandeweghe.
IN-SEASON TRANSACTIONS
In the list below, anything which is underlined is the subject of discrepancies or guesswork, or is the result of further research beyond my usual sources.
10/28/80 – Placed Ralph Drollinger on the injured list; signed Scott Lloyd as a free agent.
10/30/80 – Traded Richard Washington and Jerome Whitehead to the Cavaliers for Bill Robinzine and two 1st round picks (1983 and 1986).
11/6/80 – Traded Austin Carr to the Bullets for future considerations.
11/15/80 – Waived Joe Hassett; signed Oliver Mack as a free agent.
12/1/80 – Waived Darrell Allums.
12/2/80 – Waived Terry Duerod; signed Brad Davis as a free agent; activated Ralph Drollinger from the injured list.
12/10/80 – Traded the draft rights to Kiki Vandeweghe and a 1986 1st round pick to the Nuggets for two 1st round picks (1981 and 1985).
1/2/81 – Placed Ralph Drollinger on the injured list; signed Monti Davis to a 10-day contract.
1/12/81 – Signed Stan Pietkiewicz to a 10-day contract.
1/21/81 – Signed Stan Pietkiewicz to a second 10-day contract.
1/28/81 – Signed Stan Pietkiewicz to a contract for the remainder of the season.
2/7/81 – Traded Geoff Huston and a 1983 3rd round pick to the Cavaliers for Chad Kinch and a 1985 1st round pick.
2/10/81 – Placed Abdul Jeelani on the injured list; signed Clarence Kea to a 10-day contract.
2/19/81 – Activated Abdul Jeelani from the injured list; waived Winford Boynes; signed Clarence Kea to a second 10-day contract.
3/2/81 – Signed Clarence Kea to a contract for the remainder of the season; announced the retirement of Ralph Drollinger.
NOTES/DISCREPANCIES
Carrying 13 players for the first month of the season:
Up until the 1980s, it was a common practice for NBA expansion teams to be allowed to carry a couple of extra players into the early part of the regular season. A check of the Google News Archive turns up several newspaper articles, covering final cuts around the NBA just before the start of the regular season, which state that the Mavericks were allowed to carry 13 players on their active roster for the first month of the season. A month into the season would have been approximately November 10. The Mavericks did not wait until the deadline to reduce the size of their roster. They dropped their active roster from 13 to 12 via the 10/30/80 trade with the Cavaliers in which they traded away two players while receiving only one player back. They got down to 11 by trading Austin Carr to the Bullets for future considerations on 11/6/80.
The Mavericks played eleven games with 13 players on their active roster, and two additional games with 12 players on their active roster. There are no TSN box scores which show them using thirteen players in a single game, but four show them using twelve: 10/11/80, 10/15/80, 10/21/80, and 10/29/80.
Injured list transactions:
10/28/80: Ralph Drollinger placed on IL. The Mavericks used the roster spot to sign Scott Lloyd. Both moves were reported in the transactions column in the following day’s (10/29) Globe, and in multiple 10/29 newspapers in the Google News Archive.
12/2/80: Drollinger activated. This was reported in the transactions column in the following day’s (12/3) Globe, and is also in multiple 12/3 newspapers in the Google News Archive. Drollinger filled the roster spot vacated when Darrell Allums was waived the previous day.
1/2/81: Drollinger placed on IL again. This was reported in the transactions column in the following day’s (1/3) Globe, and is also in multiple 1/3 newspapers in the Google News Archive. It is also in pst.com, likely sourced from a newspaper. The roster spot was used to sign Monti Davis to a 10-day contract.
2/10/81: The Mavericks signed Clarence Kea to a 10-day contract on 2/10/81. They must have made a corresponding move on or shortly before that date to open up a roster spot. While I have no documentation of this, by all appearances the corresponding move was to put Abdul Jeelani on the injured list. I have documentation that Jeelani was activated from the injured list on 2/19/81. Jeelani was absent from the five games preceding 2/19, and players who were placed on the injured list were required to miss a minimum of five games. The first game in that five-game stretch was on 2/10. Put all of that together, and Jeelani has to have been placed on the IL sometime between the end of the Mavericks’ game on 2/8 (he played in that game, so he couldn’t have been on the IL yet) and the start of their game on 2/10 (he has to have been on the IL at the time this game was played, to have met the five-game minimum). Most likely, it was done on 2/10, and Kea was signed at the same time.
2/19/81: Jeelani activated. This was reported in the transactions column in the following day’s (2/20) Globe, and is also in a couple of 2/20 newspapers in the Google News Archive. The Mavericks kept Kea, and made room for Jeelani by waiving Winford Boynes instead.
Austin Carr:
Most sources state that Carr was traded for “future considerations”, including contemporary media reports. b-r.com indicates that Carr was “sold”, however.
Joe Hassett/Oliver Mack:
Standard reference sources indicate that the Mavericks waived Hassett and signed Mack on 11/17/80. This date appears in the NBA Register, the Mavericks Media Guide, b-r.com, and pst.com. As is often the case, it’s possible that the NBA Register is really the only source here, and all of the others used the Register as their ultimate source.
The Globe, however, reported these moves in the transactions column in its 11/16 issue, suggesting that they actually happened on 11/15/80. A check of the Google News Archive turns up two additional papers reporting these in their 11/16 transactions columns, the Prescott (Ariz.) Courier and Lawrence (Kans.) Journal-World. The 11/16 Wilmington (N.C.) Star-News also has a brief blurb reporting on Mack’s signing, without mentioning Hassett. Mack was of regional interest to Star-News readers because he had played college basketball at East Carolina.
In addition to the 11/16 papers, the Google News Archive also has two papers reporting these moves in their 11/17 transactions columns, the Ocala (Fla.) Star-Banner and Sumter (S.C.) Daily Item. 11/16 was a Sunday, so it’s plausible that the transactions happened on 11/15, but these papers held over weekend transactions until their Monday edition. The Star-Banner in fact identifies its 11/17 transactions column as containing “weekend” transactions. In any event, being published in an 11/17 paper still suggests that these transactions happened earlier than the 11/17 date that appears in standard reference sources.
A check of the TSN box scores doesn’t help clarify things. The Mavericks played one game during the 11/15 – 11/17 period, which was on 11/16, but neither player appears in the box score. Hassett’s final appearance in a TSN box score for the Mavericks was on 11/11, while the first game Mack played for the Mavericks was on 11/21.
Since we have contemporary media sources reporting this in 11/16 papers, I think 11/15/80 is likely the correct date, and that is the date I am going with.
Kiki Vandeweghe trade:
On 12/10/80, the Mavericks traded the rights to unsigned first round pick Kiki Vandeweghe to the Nuggets, in a deal that also involved multiple future first round picks. The 12/10 date is confirmed by numerous media reports (including the transactions column in the following day’s Globe, and reports in a number of papers in the Google News Archive), both teams’ media guides, and pst.com. The NBA Guide reports the date as 12/3, however. This date also appears in b-r.com, which likely used the Register as its source.
It seems pretty clear to me that the 12/3 date is wrong. Where did it come from? “3” isn’t a logical typo for “10”. A Google News Archive search turns up a possible answer. Two different versions of an AP wire service story in 12/4/80 papers – the Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News and the Spokane (Wash.) Daily Chronicle – reported that the Mavericks had given the Nuggets permission to talk to Vandeweghe, in hopes of working out a deal. This presumably happened the previous day, on 12/3. The article is clear that “no trade has been consummated”, but maybe someone researching transactions for the NBA Register got this story got mixed up with reports of the later trade, leading to the date of the trade being shown as 12/3.
From media reports of the trade on 12/10, it is clear that Vandeweghe did not sign a contract until after the trade had been completed. His draft rights were traded, and he then signed a contract with the Nuggets.
10-day contracts:
The Mavericks signed Monti Davis to a 10-day contract on 1/2/81, placing Ralph Drollinger on the injured list to make room. This is well-documented in numerous sources. Davis was not retained when the 10-day contract expired on 1/12/81. Note that b-r.com shows Davis being “waived” on 1/12, but that isn’t really the right description. A player whose 10-day contract expires is not placed on waivers. He simply becomes a free agent, and can sign with any team. Both of the papers in the Google News Archive reporting on Stan Pietkiewicz’ initial signing (see the next paragraph) reported that Davis had been “cut”, which is more accurate, if less technical.
On 1/12/81, the Mavericks replaced Davis by signing Stan Pietkiewicz to a 10-day contract. Pietkiewicz was signed to a second 10-day contract on 1/21/81, then for the remainder of the season on 1/28/81. All three of these transactions appear in the Mavericks Media Guide, and in pst.com (though pst.com may have sourced these from the Mavericks Media Guide). None of these transactions appeared in the Globe transactions column. A search of the Google News Archive turned up two 1/13 papers with transactions columns that included Pietkiewicz signing his initial 10-day contract – the Bryan (Ohio) Times and the Ellensburg (Wash.) Daily Record – but nothing on his two subsequent contracts.
On 2/10/81, the Mavericks signed Clarence Kea to a 10-day contract. Kea was signed to a second 10-day contract on 2/19/81, then for the remainder of the season on 3/2/81. All three of these transactions appear in the Mavericks Media Guide, and in pst.com (though pst.com may have sourced these from the Mavericks Media Guide). The Globe transactions column had only the signing on 2/19, which it described as a 10-day contract, but didn’t specify as Kea’s second. There is also one paper in the Google News Archive, the 2/19 Prescott (Ariz.) Courier, with the same information as the Globe.
The NBA Register shows Pietkiewicz and Kea each signing with the Mavericks “as a free agent”, on 1/12/81 and 2/10/81, respectively, with no mention of these being 10-day deals or of any subsequent contracts. As we’ve discussed in previous installments in this series, the Register typically wrote things up that way whenever a player who initially joined a team on a 10-day deal ending up sticking with the team for the remainder of the season. As a result, this shouldn’t be read as inconsistent with what other sources show. For Kea, b-r.com shows the same. They likely used the Register as their source.
b-r.com did not write up Pietkiewicz the same way as the Register. The only transaction they have for Pietkiewicz is his signing for the remainder of the season on 1/28/81. They don’t have his initial signing on 1/12 at all.
One additional note concerning b-r.com and Pietkiewicz, although it has nothing to do with 10-day contracts: It is well-documented from numerous sources that Pietkiewicz started the 1980-81 season with the Clippers, but was waived on 10/28/80. He was subsequently signed by the Mavericks in January, as described above. b-r.com shows Pietkiewicz being waived on 10/28/80 not by the Clippers, but by the Mavericks. This is obviously wrong, as Pietkiewicz was never with the Mavericks until later in the season. Whoever wrote up the transactions for b-r.com must have gotten the teams mixed up.
3rd round pick in Huston-Kinch trade:
On 2/7/81, the Mavericks traded Geoff Huston and a 3rd round pick to the Cavaliers for Chad Kinch and a 1985 1st round pick. Standard reference sources all agree that the 3rd round pick was in 1983, and that’s what actually ended up happening. If you look at the results of the 1983 draft, you’ll see that the Cavaliers had the Mavericks’ 3rd round pick that year. I also found a report on the trade in the Google News Archive, from the 2/9/81 Milwaukee Journal, indicating that the 3rd round pick was to be in 1983.
The Google News Archive has several newspapers with transactions columns, however, showing the 3rd round pick as a 1985 pick. (This trade did not appear in the Globe transactions column.) When I first encountered these, I wondered if the year of the pick was originally supposed to be 1985, then it was subsequently changed. But the one actual report on the trade in the Archive – as opposed to a transaction column – has it as a 1983 pick, as noted above. If the pick was originally supposed to be in 1985, how could that report be saying 1983, unless the change was made within a day or so of the trade? The 1981-82 NBA Register, published just a few months after the 1980-81 season ended, also shows the 3rd round pick as a 1983 pick.
I suspect that 1983 is and always was correct, and the 1985 date in those transactions columns may be a typo originating with the same wire service source, possibly a matter of erroneously listing both picks as 1985 when only the 1st round pick was supposed to be. Unless further evidence turns up suggesting that the pick was changed from 1985 to 1983, I’m assuming that it was always supposed to be in 1983.
Ralph Drollinger retirement:
Drollinger announced his retirement on 3/2/81. This is reported in numerous sources, including the Mavericks Media Guide, b-r.com, pst.com, the transactions column in the following day’s (3/3) Globe, and several other 3/3 newspapers in the Google News Archive. Drollinger was on the injured list at the time, and hadn’t actually appeared in a game since October. Newspaper articles indicate that Drollinger was potentially facing knee surgery, but decided to retire rather than proceed with the surgery. Drollinger was an NBA rookie, but this was actually his fifth season out of college (he had played for the Athletes In Action amateur team during the interim), so he was 28 years old. Given his age, and that he hadn’t really yet established himself in the NBA to begin with, the potential upside from the surgery just didn’t seem worth it, and Drollinger elected to move on to life after basketball.
Drollinger is the second player we’ve encountered who announced his retirement with the 1980-81 season in progress. The first was Jo Jo White. As with White, Drollinger’s retirement isn’t in the NBA Register, which may lead the reader to believe that Drollinger was with the Mavericks all season. As noted in our discussion of White, the explanation is that the Register didn’t typically report player retirements, although I’m aware of a few exceptions.
Why didn’t the Register typically report player retirements? It may be because, from a transaction standpoint, exactly what happens when a player announces his retirement is a bit mysterious. The NBA has something called the voluntarily retired list, but movement of players on and off of this list isn’t typically publicly reported, and not every player who retires is necessarily placed on it. Reports of Drollinger’s retirement published in the 3/3/81 Milwaukee Sentinel and Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard state, “A mutually satisfactory settlement of [Drollinger’s] contract was negotiated”, suggesting that the team bought out his contract. When a team buys out a player’s contract, the player is typically placed on waivers, but no such transaction is documented in this case. Based on public reports, all we can say is that Drollinger announced his retirement on 3/2/81.
GAMES STARTED INFO
MEDIA GUIDE
The 2015-16 Mavericks Media Guide has regular season games started stats for the franchise’s entire history. For 1980-81, it shows the following:
LaGarde 82
Lloyd 70
Mack 57
Huston 56
Spanarkel 49
Davis 26
Byrnes 18
Boynes 17
Jeelani 12
Duerod 8
Washington 7
Whitehead 4
Allums 3
Robinzine 1
TSN BOX SCORES
All but three of the TSN box scores for the 1980-81 Mavericks appear to list the players in “starters first” F-F-C-G-G order. The three exceptions were games on 2/14/81, 2/27/81 and 3/15/81. In all three cases, the first five players listed look like the regular starters, but with center Scott Lloyd in the fifth position rather than the expected third position. If we assume the first five players listed in these box scores were in fact the starters, at their usual positions, the games started totals for all players are in agreement with those in the Mavericks Media Guide, except for the discrepancy noted below.
NOTES/DISCREPANCIES
After making the above assumptions, there is one discrepancy between the Mavericks Media Guide and the TSN boxes, involving one game and two players. The Media Guide indicates that Geoff Huston started 56 games, and Jim Spanarkel 49. The TSN boxes suggest that Huston started 55 games, and Spanarkel 50. The source of the discrepancy is the game on 10/24/80. One would have expected Huston to start this game, but the TSN box score lists Spanarkel in the fifth position (starting guard), and Huston in the sixth position (first player off the bench).
In this series of articles, I am assuming that the games started numbers in team media guides are correct, and I have used the numbers from the Mavericks Media Guide in Part II below. In this case, I think the Media Guide is likely correct anyway. There’s no obvious reason why Spanarkel would have started that game in place of Huston. The TSN box scores show Huston starting every other game he played for the Mavericks, and do not show Spanarkel starting any other games at guard. Given the location of each player’s name in the box score, it’s very possible that the two are simply listed out of order.
1980-81 Dallas Mavericks Games Played/Started & Transactions
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1980-81 Dallas Mavericks Games Played/Started & Transactions
by MCT » Thu Aug 11, 2016 6:29 pm
Last edited by MCT on Thu Sep 28, 2017 12:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: 1980-81 Dallas Mavericks Games Played/Started & Transact
by MCT » Thu Aug 11, 2016 6:37 pm
DALLAS MAVERICKS – PART II
PLAYER INFORMATION
Players are listed based on a snapshot as of late February. This reflects how things stood after the Geoff Huston trade, and after the team had activated Abdul Jeelani from the injured list and released Winford Boynes.
TOM LaGARDE
History: 1st round pick of Nuggets in 1977. Selected from Sonics in expansion draft, May 1980.
Games Played (Regular Season 82 G, 32.6 MPG): LaGarde appeared in every game the Mavericks played.
Games Started (Regular Season: 82): LaGarde started every game the Mavericks played. Based on the TSN box scores, LaGarde’s starts were divided between center and forward. He started the first 11 games of the season at center (through 10/29/80), then switched to starting at power forward for the remaining 71 games of the season (from 10/31/80 on).
LaGarde shifted to power forward when the incumbent starter, Richard Washington, was traded. LaGarde was ultimately replaced as starting center by Scott Lloyd, although there was one game in between the two that was started by a different player (Darrell Allums).
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Center-Forward. Primary position is shown as C for all seasons of career. Even though the TSN box scores indicate that LaGarde started far more games at PF than at C, I agree with b-r.com’s assessment that his primary position was C. It appears to me that, even though LaGarde started at power forward, he would typically shift to center during games, and almost certainly played more minutes at center than he did at forward.
JIM SPANARKEL
History: 1st round pick of 76ers in 1979. Selected from 76ers in expansion draft, May 1980.
Games Played (Regular Season 82 G, 28.3 MPG): Spanarkel appeared in every game the Mavericks played.
Games Started (Regular Season: 49): As noted earlier, there is a discrepancy in Spanarkel’s games started between the Mavericks Media Guide and the TSN box scores. The media guide indicates that Spanarkel started 49 games. My analysis of the TSN box scores suggests that he started 50 games. The source of the discrepancy is the game on 10/24/80, and the issue is whether Spanarkel or Geoff Huston started the game at guard. As discussed earlier, I believe that the media guide is likely correct, and that Huston actually started that game at guard, not Spanarkel. If this is right, Spanarkel made 49 starts, all at small forward.
The TSN box scores indicate that Spanarkel typically came off the bench for the first several weeks of the season. During this period, several different players rotated in and out of the Mavericks’ starting frontcourt slots, with the majority of starts at small forward made by either Marty Byrnes or Abdul Jeelani. During this period, Spanarkel did make one start at small forward, which was on 10/31/80.
On 12/6/80 Spanarkel was installed as the starter, displacing Jeelani. At that point, the Mavericks had 55 games remaining, and Spanarkel started 48 of them. The seven games after 12/6 that Spanarkel didn’t start were on 12/23/80; 1/8/81; two consecutive games on 1/24/81 & 1/27/81 (last two games before the All-Star break); and three games in a five-game stretch near the end of the season (didn’t start on 3/18, started on 3/20, didn’t start on 3/21, started on 3/24, didn’t start on 3/25). Spanarkel played in all of these games, so it isn’t clear to me why he didn’t start them. There may have simply been some uncertainty at times over whether to keep Spanarkel as the starter or replace him with someone else. For all games except the one on 1/8, Marty Byrnes started instead. The game on 1/8 was started by Bill Robinzine.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard-Forward. Primary position is shown as SF for 1980-81, but is SG for all other seasons of career. I can’t speak for how Spanarkel was used in other seasons, but I think b-r.com’s assessment that Spanarkel’s primary position this year was SF is correct, although he likely saw significant time at both SF and SG.
SCOTT LLOYD
History: 2nd round pick of Bucks in 1976. Signed as a free agent, October 1980.
Lloyd started the season with the Bucks, but was waived five games into the season without having appeared in any games. The Mavericks signed him on 10/28/80, about a week after the Bucks released him. The Mavericks made room for Lloyd on the roster by placing Ralph Drollinger on the injured list.
Games Played (Regular Season 72 G, 30.4 MPG): The Mavericks played a game on the day Lloyd was signed (10/28), in which he did not appear; it isn’t clear to me whether Lloyd was on the Mavericks’ roster yet when they played that game. In any event, Lloyd made his Mavericks debut in the team’s next game, the following day (10/29). At that point, the Mavericks had 72 regular season games remaining, and Lloyd played in all of them.
Games Started (Regular Season: 70): Lloyd came off the bench in his first two games for the Mavericks, then took over as starting center for his third game (11/4/80). He started every game for the rest of the season.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Center-Forward. Primary position is shown as C for all seasons of career, including 1980-81, except for one (1981-82, which is shown as PF).
BRAD DAVIS
History: 1st round pick of Lakers in 1977. Signed as a free agent, December 1980.
Davis did not start the season with the Mavericks. He was signed on 12/2/80. To make room on the roster, the Mavericks waived Terry Duerod.
Games Played (Regular Season 56 G, 30.1 MPG): The Mavericks played a game on the day Davis was signed (12/2), in which he did not appear; it isn’t clear to me whether Davis was on the Mavericks’ roster yet when they played that game. In any event, Davis made his Mavericks debut in the team’s next game (12/5). At that point, the Mavericks had 56 regular season games remaining, and Davis played in all of them.
Games Started (Regular Season: 26): Davis started the final 26 games of the season, from 2/8/81 on, taking over as the starting point guard when Geoff Huston was traded.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard. Primary position is shown as PG for all seasons of career.
OLIVER MACK
History: 2nd round pick of Lakers in 1979. Signed as a free agent, November 1980.
Mack started the season with the Bulls, but was waived five games into the season. As discussed earlier, there is a discrepancy between sources as to the exact date he was signed by the Mavericks, but it appears to have been on 11/15/80. To make room on the roster, the Mavericks waived Joe Hassett.
Games Played (Regular Season 62 G, 26.9 MPG): Depending on exactly what date Mack was signed, the Mavericks played at least one game, possibly two, between the time he was signed and the time he made his first appearance in a game for the Mavs, which was on 11/21/80. At the time Mack made his first appearance, the Mavericks had 62 regular season games remaining. Mack played in all of them.
Mack had appeared in three games for the Bulls earlier in the season, before they waived him. Between the Bulls and the Mavericks combined, he played in a total of 65 games this season.
Games Started (Regular Season: 57): Mack came off the bench in his first five games for the Mavericks, then took over as starting SG for his sixth game (12/2/80). He started every game for the rest of the season.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard. Primary position is shown as SG for all seasons of career.
BILL ROBINZINE
History: 1st round pick of Kings in 1975. Acquired in trade with Cavaliers, October 1980.
Robinzine started the season with the Cavaliers, but was traded to the Mavericks on 10/30/80, with two 1st round picks, in exchange for Richard Washington and Jerome Whitehead.
Games Played (Regular Season 70 G, 27.6 MPG): The Mavericks played a game the day after Robinzine was acquired (10/31), in which Robinzine did not appear. Following that game, the Mavericks had 70 regular-season games remaining, and Robinzine played in all of them. Robinzine had played in 8 games for the Cavaliers prior to the trade, giving him a total of 78 games played for the year.
Games Started (Regular Season: 1): The game Robinzine started was on 1/8/81. Robinzine started in place of Jim Spanarkel, although it’s not obvious to me why he did, as Spanarkel played in that game.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Forward. Primary position is shown as PF for all seasons of career.
MARTY BYRNES
History: 1st round pick of Suns in 1978. Selected from Lakers in expansion draft, May 1980.
Games Played (Regular Season 72 G, 18.9 MPG): Byrnes is credited with appearing in 72 regular season games, but I only noted him in 71 TSN box scores. b-r.com’s game log feature also shows Byrnes in only 71 box scores. It is possible that Byrnes was omitted from the box score to one game in which he did not compile any stats that would have been shown in the box score.
The eleven box scores from which Byrnes is missing are four consecutive games from 10/14/80 through 10/18/80; three consecutive games from 10/28/80 through 10/31/80; two consecutive games on 1/2/81 & 1/5/81; and two of the first three games following the All-Star break (absent on 2/3/81, present on 2/4, absent on 2/6/81).
Games Started (Regular Season: 18): The eighteen games Byrnes started were three consecutive games from 10/22/80 through 10/25/80; nine consecutive games from 11/4/80 through 11/21/80; a single game on 12/23/80; two consecutive games on 1/24/81 & 1/27/81 (last two games before the All-Star break); and three games in a five-game stretch near the end of the season (started on 3/18, didn’t start on 3/20, started on 3/21, didn’t start on 3/24, started on 3/25).
The majority of these games were in the early part of the season. During this period, several different players rotated in and out of the Mavericks’ starting frontcourt slots, with the majority of starts at small forward made by either Byrnes or Abdul Jeelani. After coming off the bench for the first six games of the season while Jeelani and Darrell Allums started, Byrnes took over as the starting small forward for three games beginning on 10/22. After another three games on the bench behind Jeelani and Jim Spanarkel, Byrnes took over as starter again for nine games beginning on 11/4. He was subsequently replaced again by Jeelani, who yielded after six games to Spanarkel, who would be the usual starter for the rest of the season. All of the games that Byrnes started after November were in place of Spanarkel. It’s not obvious to me why Byrnes started these games, however, as Spanarkel played in all of them. There may have simply been some uncertainty at times over whether to keep Spanarkel as the starter or replace him with Byrnes.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Forward. Primary position is shown as SF for all seasons of career.
ABDUL JEELANI
History: 3rd round pick of Cavaliers in 1976, as Gary Cole. Selected from Blazers in expansion draft, May 1980.
Games Played (Regular Season 66 G, 16.8 MPG): the sixteen games in which Jeelani did not appear were on 11/4/80; three consecutive games from 12/9/80 through 12/12/80; two consecutive games on 1/7/81 & 1/8/81; 1/27/81 (last game before the All-Star break); six consecutive games from 2/10/81 through 2/20/81; and three games in a five-game stretch from 2/26/81 through 3/6/81 (did not play on 2/26; played on 2/27; did not play on 3/1; played on 3/3; did not play on 3/6).
From approximately 2/10/81 to 2/19/81, Jeelani was on the injured list, covering the first five games of the six-game stretch he was absent from around that time. While Jeelani was on the IL, the Mavericks signed Clarence Kea to a 10-day contract as a fill-in. When Jeelani was ready to be activated, the Mavericks kept Kea and instead made room by waiving Winford Boynes.
Games Started (Regular Season: 12): The twelve games Jeelani started were the first four games of the season (through 10/17/80); two consecutive games on 10/28/80 & 10/29/80; and six consecutive games from 11/23/80 through 12/5/80. All of these games were in the early part of the season. During this period, several different players rotated in and out of the Mavericks’ starting frontcourt slots, with the majority of starts at small forward made by either Jeelani or Marty Byrnes. On 12/6/80, Jim Spanarkel replaced Jeelani as the starter. Spanarkel would be the usual starter for the rest of the season, and Jeelani made no further starts.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Forward-Center. Primary position is shown as SF for all seasons of career.
STAN PIETKIEWICZ
History: 7th round pick of Braves in 1978. Signed to a 10-day contract, January 1981.
Pietkiewicz started the season with the Clippers, but was waived seven games into the season. The Mavericks signed him to a 10-day contract on 1/12/81, followed by a second 10-day contract on 1/21/81, then a contract for the remainder of the season on 1/28/81. Pietkiewicz filled a roster spot which had been vacated earlier when Ralph Drollinger was placed on the injured list. The Mavericks had initially filled the roster spot by signing Monti Davis to a 10-day contract, but did not retain Davis after his 10-day contract expired. Drollinger never returned from the injured list – he retired with the season in progress, while still on the IL – so the roster spot was Pietkiewicz’ for the rest of the season.
Games Played (Regular Season 36 G, 12.0 MPG): At the time Pietkiewicz was signed, the Mavericks had 36 games remaining in the season. Pietkiewicz played in all of them.
Pietkiewicz had appeared in six games for the Clippers earlier in the season, before they waived him. Between the Clippers and the Mavericks combined, he played in a total of 42 games this season.
Games Started (Regular Season: 0): Pietkiewicz did not start any games.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard-Forward. Primary position is shown as SG for two of his three NBA seasons (including 1980-81), PG for the remaining season.
CLARENCE KEA
History: 8th round pick of Mavericks in 1980 (waived in training camp and did not start 1980-81 season with team). Signed to a 10-day contract, February 1981.
Kea did not start the season with the Mavericks. He had been with the team in the preseason, but was waived in training camp and did not start the 1980-81 season on an NBA roster. The Mavericks brought Kea back by signing him to a 10-day contract on 2/10/81. Kea filled a roster spot which had opened when Abdul Jeelani was apparently placed on the injured list. This was followed by a second 10-day contract on 2/19/81, then a contract for the remainder of the season on 3/2/81. When Jeelani was ready to return, the Mavericks kept Kea and made room by waiving another player (Winford Boynes).
Games Played (Regular Season 16 G, 12.4 MPG): At the time Kea was signed, the Mavericks had 25 games remaining in the season. Kea did not play in his first game on the roster, which was on the day he signed; played in the next 14 consecutive games (2/11/81 through 3/10/81); then appeared in only two of the final ten games of the season (3/15/81 and 3/18/81).
Games Started (Regular Season: 0): Kea did not start any games.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Forward. Primary position is shown as PF for all seasons of career.
CHAD KINCH
History: 1st round pick of Cavaliers in 1980. Acquired in trade with Cavaliers, February 1981.
Kinch started the season with the Cavaliers, but was traded to the Mavericks on 2/7/81, with a 1st round pick, in exchange for Geoff Huston and a 3rd round pick.
Games Played (Regular Season 12 G, 8.8 MPG): The Mavericks played a game on the day Kinch was acquired (2/7). I’m not sure if the trade happened before or after that game was played, but following that game, the Mavericks had 25 games remaining. Kinch played in twelve of them. He played in the next eight games after 2/7 (2/10 through 2/24); didn’t play on 2/26; played in the next two games (2/28 & 3/1); didn’t play in the next two games (3/3 & 3/6); played on 3/8; then played in just one of the last eleven games of the season (the only game Kinch played in during this stretch was on 3/15). Kinch had played in 29 games for the Cavaliers prior to the trade, giving him a total of 41 games played for the year.
Games Started (Regular Season: 0): Kinch did not start any games for the Mavericks.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard. Primary position is shown as SG; this is the only season that Kinch played in the NBA.
INJURED LIST:
RALPH DROLLINGER
History: 7th round pick of Celtics in 1976. Signed as a free agent, June 1980. (Note: Drollinger had no regular-season NBA experience prior to this season.)
Drollinger started the season with the Mavericks, but announced his retirement on 3/2/81. Drollinger was injured for most the portion of the season he spent with the Mavericks. At the time he retired, the team had played 68 games, but Drollinger had only appeared in six of them. At the time of our snapshot, he was still with the team, but was on the injured list.
Games Played (Regular Season 6 G, 11.2 MPG): For a player who only appeared in six games, the story of Drollinger’s time with the Mavericks is fairly complicated:
--Drollinger appeared in the first six games of the season (through 10/21/80). For the next few games after that, he remained on the active roster, but did not play.
--On 10/28/80, the Mavericks placed Drollinger on the injured list. His spot on the active roster was filled by signing Scott Lloyd.
--On 12/2/80, Drollinger was activated from the injured list, filling the roster spot that had been vacated when Darrell Allums was waived the previous day. Drollinger would remain on the active roster for a month, but did not appear in any games. I’m not sure how that came about. One possibility is that the Mavericks expected Drollinger to be ready to play soon, but it turned out that he wasn’t. Another possibility is that, with the contract guarantee deadline looming, the team decided it didn’t want to carry any more than the minimum 11 players, and moved Drollinger to the active roster even though he wasn’t healthy enough to play. Whatever the Mavericks’ thinking, they effectively played a man short for the entire period.
--On 1/2/81, Drollinger was placed back on the IL. The roster spot was initially filled by signing Monti Davis to a 10-day contract. Davis was not retained after his 10-day contract, and the Mavericks then signed Stan Pietkiewicz to a 10-day contract. Pietkiewicz would ultimately stick for the remainder of the season.
--On 3/2/81, while still on the injured list, Drollinger announced his retirement.
Games Started (Regular Season: 0): Drollinger did not start any games.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Center. Primary position is shown as C; this is the only season that Drollinger played in the NBA.
NO LONGER WITH TEAM:
WINFORD BOYNES
History: 1st round pick of Nets in 1978. Selected from Nets in expansion draft, May 1980.
Boynes started the season with the Mavericks, but was waived on 2/19/81. For the previous several days, Abdul Jeelani had been on the injured list, and the Mavericks had signed Clarence Kea as a fill-in. When Jeelani was ready to return from the IL, the team kept Kea and made room for Jeelani on the active roster by waiving Boynes.
Games Played (Regular Season 44 G, 17.2 MPG): At the time Boynes was waived, the Mavericks had played 62 games. The eighteen games in which Boynes did not appear were on 11/11/80; three consecutive games from 12/2/80 through 12/6/80; a single game on 12/12/80; three consecutive games from 12/20/80 through 12/26/80; two consecutive games on 12/30/80 & 1/2/81; six games in a nine-game stretch from 1/16/81 through 2/6/81 (did not play on 1/16; played on 1/18; did not play on 1/20, 1/23 & 1/24; played on 1/27; did not play on 2/3; played on 2/4; did not play on 2/6); and two consecutive games on 2/15/80 & 2/17/80 (Boynes’ last two games on the Mavericks’ roster).
Note that Boynes played in 24 of the first 25 games of the season (through 11/29), but only 20 the 37 games between that point and the time he was waived.
Games Started (Regular Season: 17): The seventeen games Boynes started were the first twelve games of the season (through 10/31/81); a single game on 11/16/81; and four consecutive games from 11/23/80 through 11/29/80. Boynes began the season as the starting SG. He lost the job to Terry Duerod at the end of October, but started one game Duerod didn’t play in on 11/16, and eventually took the starting job back in late November. On 12/2, Oliver Mack replaced Boynes as the starter, and Boynes made no further starts after that.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard-Forward. Primary position is shown as SG for all seasons of career.
GEOFF HUSTON
History: 3rd round pick of Knicks in 1979. Selected from Knicks in expansion draft, May 1980.
Huston started the season with the Mavericks, but was traded to the Cavaliers on 2/7/81, with a 3rd round pick, in exchange for Chad Kinch and a 1st round pick.
Games Played (Regular Season 56 G, 33.8 MPG): The Mavericks played a game on the day Huston was traded. I’m not sure if the trade happened before or after that game was played, but the Mavericks had played 56 games prior to that date, and Huston had appeared in all of them. After the trade, Huston played in an additional 25 games for the Cavaliers, giving him a total of 81 games played for the year.
Games Started (Regular Season: 56): As noted earlier, there is a discrepancy in Huston’s games started between the Mavericks Media Guide and the TSN box scores. The media guide indicates that Huston started 56 games. My analysis of the TSN box scores suggests that he started 55 games. The source of the discrepancy is the game on 10/24/80, and the issue is whether Spanarkel or Geoff Huston started the game at guard. As discussed earlier, I believe that the media guide is likely correct, and that Huston actually started that game, not Spanarkel. If this is right, Huston made 56 starts, which means that he started every game he played for the Mavericks.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard. Primary position is shown as PG for all seasons of career.
TERRY DUEROD
History: 3rd round pick of Pistons in 1979. Selected from Pistons in expansion draft, May 1980.
Duerod started the season with the Mavericks, but was waived on 12/2/80. The Mavericks filled his roster spot by signing Brad Davis.
Games Played (Regular Season 18 G, 18.7 MPG): The Mavericks played a game on the day Duerod was waived (12/2). It isn’t clear to me whether Duerod was still on the Mavericks’ roster for that game, but he had appeared in 18 of the 25 games the Mavericks had played prior to that date. The seven games he had been absent from were three of the first four games of the season (did not play on 10/11 & 10/14; played on 10/15; did not play on 10/17); a single game on 11/16/80; and the last three games the Mavericks played prior to 12/2 (11/25/80 through 11/29/80).
Duerod was picked up by the Celtics a few days after the Mavericks waived him, and would finish out the season with them. He appeared in 32 regular season games with the Celtics, giving him a total of 50 regular season games played for the season.
Games Started (Regular Season: 8): The eight games Duerod started were eight games in a nine-game stretch from 11/4/80 through 11/21/80. The only game Duerod did not start during that period was on 11/16, when he did not play. When Duerod took over as the starter, he displaced Winford Boynes. After Duerod held the starting job for about three weeks, Boynes took it back again.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard. Primary position is shown as SF for the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Mavericks, but is SG for the remainder of his career (including the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Celtics). Note that Duerod’s primary position for the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Mavericks is shown as SF even though the old b-r.com header doesn’t indicate that Duerod played significantly at forward during his career. While I cannot definitively prove or disprove it, I am skeptical of b-r.com’s conclusion that Duerod’s primary position with the Mavericks was SF rather than his usual SG.
DARRELL ALLUMS
History: 5th round pick of Mavericks in 1980.
Allums started the season with the Mavericks, but was waived on 12/1/80. The Mavericks filled his roster spot the following day by activating Ralph Drollinger from the injured list.
Games Played (Regular Season 22 G, 12.5 MPG): Allums is credited with appearing in 22 regular season games, but I only noted him in 21 TSN box scores. b-r.com’s game log feature also shows Allums in only 21 box scores. It is possible that Allums was omitted from the box score to one game in which he did not compile any stats that would have been shown in the box score. At the time Allums was waived, the Mavericks had played 25 games.
Allums appears in the TSN box scores for 21 of the first 22 games of the season (through 11/23). He is absent from the box score for the game on 11/14/80, and for the last three games the Mavericks played before he was waived (11/25/80 through 11/29/80).
Games Started (Regular Season: 3): According to the TSN box scores, Allums started two consecutive games on 10/18/80 & 10/21/80, at forward; and one game on 10/31/80, at center. During the early part of the season, several different players rotated in and out of the Mavericks’ starting frontcourt slots. While Allums was obviously never a regular starter, he managed to start a few games along the way. Allums’ two starts at forward were in between starting stints by Abdul Jeelani and Marty Byrnes. Allums’ start at center on 10/31 came after incumbent starting power forward Richard Washington had been traded, and incumbent starting center Tom LaGarde was switched to starting at power forward. After one game, Allums was replaced by Scott Lloyd.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Forward. Primary position is shown as PF; this is the only season that Allums played in the NBA.
JOE HASSETT
Hassett started the season with the Mavericks, but was waived in November. As discussed earlier, there is a discrepancy between sources as to the exact date he was waived, but it appears to have been on 11/15/80. The Mavericks filled his roster spot by signing Oliver Mack.
History: 3rd round pick of Sonics in 1977. Selected from Pacers in expansion draft, May 1980.
Games Played (Regular Season 17 G, 16.5 MPG): Hassett is credited with appearing in 17 regular season games for the Mavericks, but I only noted him in 16 TSN box scores. b-r.com’s game log feature also shows Hassett in only 16 box scores. It is possible that Hassett was omitted from the box score to one game in which he did not compile any stats that would have been shown in the box score.
Hassett appears in the TSN box scores for 16 of the first 17 games of the season (all games through 11/11, except 11/6/80). Depending on exactly what date Hassett was waived, he is also absent from least one box score after 11/11, possibly two (11/14, 11/16).
Hassett was picked up by the Warriors in February and would finish out the season with them. He appeared in 24 games with the Warriors, giving him a total of 41 games played for the season.
Games Started (Regular Season: 0): Hassett did not start any games.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard. Primary position is shown as SG for all seasons of career.
AUSTIN CARR
History: 1st round pick of Cavaliers in 1971. Selected from Cavaliers in expansion draft, May 1980.
Carr started the season with the Mavericks, but was traded to the Bullets for future considerations on 11/6/80.
Games Played (Regular Season 8 G, 9.6 MPG): At the time Carr was traded, the Mavericks had played thirteen games. Carr had appeared in eight of them. Carr played in the first four games of the season (through 10/17); didn’t play on 10/18; played on 10/21; didn’t play in three consecutive games from 10/22 through 10/25; played in three consecutive games from 10/28 through 10/31; and didn’t play on 11/4.
The Mavericks played a game on the day they traded Carr (11/6), but it is apparent that Carr was traded before the game. The game was against the Bullets, and Carr played in the game for the Bullets. After the trade, Carr played in an additional 39 games for the Bullets, giving him a total of 47 games played for the year.
Games Started (Regular Season: 0): Carr did not start any games.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard. Primary position is shown as SG for all seasons of career.
RICHARD WASHINGTON
History: 1st round pick of Kings in 1976. Selected from Bucks in expansion draft, May 1980.
Washington started the season with the Mavericks, but was traded to the Cavaliers on 10/30/80, with Jerome Whitehead, in exchange for Bill Robinzine and two 1st round picks.
Games Played (Regular Season 11 G, 27.9 MPG): At the time Washington was traded, the Mavericks had played 11 games. Washington had appeared in all of them. After the trade, Washington played in an additional 69 games for the Cavaliers, giving him a total of 80 games played for the year.
Games Started (Regular Season: 7): Washington started seven consecutive games from 10/18/80 through 10/29/80. Washington came off the bench for the first four games of the season, then replaced Jerome Whitehead as the starting power forward. After seven games as the starter, he was traded.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Forward-Center. Primary position is shown as PF for all seasons of career.
JEROME WHITEHEAD
History: 2nd round pick of Braves in 1978. Selected from Jazz in expansion draft, May 1980.
Whitehead started the season with the Mavericks, but was traded to the Cavaliers on 10/30/80, with Richard Washington, in exchange for Bill Robinzine and two 1st round picks.
Games Played (Regular Season 7 G, 16.9 MPG): At the time Whitehead was traded, the Mavericks had played eleven games. Whitehead had appeared in seven of them. He played in the first five games of the season (through 10/18), was absent from the next four games, then played in the last two games the Mavericks played before he was traded (10/28 & 10/29).
The Mavericks were the first of three NBA teams Whitehead played for in 1980-81. The Cavaliers waived him in November, but the Clippers picked him up in January, and he would finish out the season with them. Whitehead played in a total of 48 games for the season, including 7 games with the Mavericks, 3 games with the Cavaliers, and 38 games with the Clippers.
Games Started (Regular Season: 4): Whitehead started at power forward for the first four games of the season (through 10/17/80). He was then replaced by Richard Washington.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Center-Forward. Primary position is shown as C for all seasons of career.
MONTI DAVIS
History: 1st round pick of 76ers in 1980. Signed to a 10-day contract, January 1981.
Davis started the season with the 76ers, but was waived five games into the season. The Mavericks signed him to a 10-day contract on 1/2/81, filling a roster spot which opened when Ralph Drollinger was placed on the injured list. Davis was not retained after the 10-day contract expired. The Mavericks instead signed a different player to a 10-day contract (Stan Pietkiewicz). During his time with the 76ers, Davis had appeared in one game. He also played in one game during his time with the Mavericks. Those two games were the only NBA games Davis would ever play in.
Games Played (Regular Season 1 G, 8.0 MPG): The one game that Davis played in for the Mavericks was on 1/5/81. Note that during the short period Davis was with the Mavericks, the team had two players with the surname Davis. The other was Brad Davis.
Games Started (Regular Season: 0): Davis did not start any games.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Forward. Primary position is shown as PF; this is the only season that Davis played in the NBA.
PLAYER INFORMATION
Players are listed based on a snapshot as of late February. This reflects how things stood after the Geoff Huston trade, and after the team had activated Abdul Jeelani from the injured list and released Winford Boynes.
TOM LaGARDE
History: 1st round pick of Nuggets in 1977. Selected from Sonics in expansion draft, May 1980.
Games Played (Regular Season 82 G, 32.6 MPG): LaGarde appeared in every game the Mavericks played.
Games Started (Regular Season: 82): LaGarde started every game the Mavericks played. Based on the TSN box scores, LaGarde’s starts were divided between center and forward. He started the first 11 games of the season at center (through 10/29/80), then switched to starting at power forward for the remaining 71 games of the season (from 10/31/80 on).
LaGarde shifted to power forward when the incumbent starter, Richard Washington, was traded. LaGarde was ultimately replaced as starting center by Scott Lloyd, although there was one game in between the two that was started by a different player (Darrell Allums).
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Center-Forward. Primary position is shown as C for all seasons of career. Even though the TSN box scores indicate that LaGarde started far more games at PF than at C, I agree with b-r.com’s assessment that his primary position was C. It appears to me that, even though LaGarde started at power forward, he would typically shift to center during games, and almost certainly played more minutes at center than he did at forward.
JIM SPANARKEL
History: 1st round pick of 76ers in 1979. Selected from 76ers in expansion draft, May 1980.
Games Played (Regular Season 82 G, 28.3 MPG): Spanarkel appeared in every game the Mavericks played.
Games Started (Regular Season: 49): As noted earlier, there is a discrepancy in Spanarkel’s games started between the Mavericks Media Guide and the TSN box scores. The media guide indicates that Spanarkel started 49 games. My analysis of the TSN box scores suggests that he started 50 games. The source of the discrepancy is the game on 10/24/80, and the issue is whether Spanarkel or Geoff Huston started the game at guard. As discussed earlier, I believe that the media guide is likely correct, and that Huston actually started that game at guard, not Spanarkel. If this is right, Spanarkel made 49 starts, all at small forward.
The TSN box scores indicate that Spanarkel typically came off the bench for the first several weeks of the season. During this period, several different players rotated in and out of the Mavericks’ starting frontcourt slots, with the majority of starts at small forward made by either Marty Byrnes or Abdul Jeelani. During this period, Spanarkel did make one start at small forward, which was on 10/31/80.
On 12/6/80 Spanarkel was installed as the starter, displacing Jeelani. At that point, the Mavericks had 55 games remaining, and Spanarkel started 48 of them. The seven games after 12/6 that Spanarkel didn’t start were on 12/23/80; 1/8/81; two consecutive games on 1/24/81 & 1/27/81 (last two games before the All-Star break); and three games in a five-game stretch near the end of the season (didn’t start on 3/18, started on 3/20, didn’t start on 3/21, started on 3/24, didn’t start on 3/25). Spanarkel played in all of these games, so it isn’t clear to me why he didn’t start them. There may have simply been some uncertainty at times over whether to keep Spanarkel as the starter or replace him with someone else. For all games except the one on 1/8, Marty Byrnes started instead. The game on 1/8 was started by Bill Robinzine.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard-Forward. Primary position is shown as SF for 1980-81, but is SG for all other seasons of career. I can’t speak for how Spanarkel was used in other seasons, but I think b-r.com’s assessment that Spanarkel’s primary position this year was SF is correct, although he likely saw significant time at both SF and SG.
SCOTT LLOYD
History: 2nd round pick of Bucks in 1976. Signed as a free agent, October 1980.
Lloyd started the season with the Bucks, but was waived five games into the season without having appeared in any games. The Mavericks signed him on 10/28/80, about a week after the Bucks released him. The Mavericks made room for Lloyd on the roster by placing Ralph Drollinger on the injured list.
Games Played (Regular Season 72 G, 30.4 MPG): The Mavericks played a game on the day Lloyd was signed (10/28), in which he did not appear; it isn’t clear to me whether Lloyd was on the Mavericks’ roster yet when they played that game. In any event, Lloyd made his Mavericks debut in the team’s next game, the following day (10/29). At that point, the Mavericks had 72 regular season games remaining, and Lloyd played in all of them.
Games Started (Regular Season: 70): Lloyd came off the bench in his first two games for the Mavericks, then took over as starting center for his third game (11/4/80). He started every game for the rest of the season.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Center-Forward. Primary position is shown as C for all seasons of career, including 1980-81, except for one (1981-82, which is shown as PF).
BRAD DAVIS
History: 1st round pick of Lakers in 1977. Signed as a free agent, December 1980.
Davis did not start the season with the Mavericks. He was signed on 12/2/80. To make room on the roster, the Mavericks waived Terry Duerod.
Games Played (Regular Season 56 G, 30.1 MPG): The Mavericks played a game on the day Davis was signed (12/2), in which he did not appear; it isn’t clear to me whether Davis was on the Mavericks’ roster yet when they played that game. In any event, Davis made his Mavericks debut in the team’s next game (12/5). At that point, the Mavericks had 56 regular season games remaining, and Davis played in all of them.
Games Started (Regular Season: 26): Davis started the final 26 games of the season, from 2/8/81 on, taking over as the starting point guard when Geoff Huston was traded.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard. Primary position is shown as PG for all seasons of career.
OLIVER MACK
History: 2nd round pick of Lakers in 1979. Signed as a free agent, November 1980.
Mack started the season with the Bulls, but was waived five games into the season. As discussed earlier, there is a discrepancy between sources as to the exact date he was signed by the Mavericks, but it appears to have been on 11/15/80. To make room on the roster, the Mavericks waived Joe Hassett.
Games Played (Regular Season 62 G, 26.9 MPG): Depending on exactly what date Mack was signed, the Mavericks played at least one game, possibly two, between the time he was signed and the time he made his first appearance in a game for the Mavs, which was on 11/21/80. At the time Mack made his first appearance, the Mavericks had 62 regular season games remaining. Mack played in all of them.
Mack had appeared in three games for the Bulls earlier in the season, before they waived him. Between the Bulls and the Mavericks combined, he played in a total of 65 games this season.
Games Started (Regular Season: 57): Mack came off the bench in his first five games for the Mavericks, then took over as starting SG for his sixth game (12/2/80). He started every game for the rest of the season.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard. Primary position is shown as SG for all seasons of career.
BILL ROBINZINE
History: 1st round pick of Kings in 1975. Acquired in trade with Cavaliers, October 1980.
Robinzine started the season with the Cavaliers, but was traded to the Mavericks on 10/30/80, with two 1st round picks, in exchange for Richard Washington and Jerome Whitehead.
Games Played (Regular Season 70 G, 27.6 MPG): The Mavericks played a game the day after Robinzine was acquired (10/31), in which Robinzine did not appear. Following that game, the Mavericks had 70 regular-season games remaining, and Robinzine played in all of them. Robinzine had played in 8 games for the Cavaliers prior to the trade, giving him a total of 78 games played for the year.
Games Started (Regular Season: 1): The game Robinzine started was on 1/8/81. Robinzine started in place of Jim Spanarkel, although it’s not obvious to me why he did, as Spanarkel played in that game.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Forward. Primary position is shown as PF for all seasons of career.
MARTY BYRNES
History: 1st round pick of Suns in 1978. Selected from Lakers in expansion draft, May 1980.
Games Played (Regular Season 72 G, 18.9 MPG): Byrnes is credited with appearing in 72 regular season games, but I only noted him in 71 TSN box scores. b-r.com’s game log feature also shows Byrnes in only 71 box scores. It is possible that Byrnes was omitted from the box score to one game in which he did not compile any stats that would have been shown in the box score.
The eleven box scores from which Byrnes is missing are four consecutive games from 10/14/80 through 10/18/80; three consecutive games from 10/28/80 through 10/31/80; two consecutive games on 1/2/81 & 1/5/81; and two of the first three games following the All-Star break (absent on 2/3/81, present on 2/4, absent on 2/6/81).
Games Started (Regular Season: 18): The eighteen games Byrnes started were three consecutive games from 10/22/80 through 10/25/80; nine consecutive games from 11/4/80 through 11/21/80; a single game on 12/23/80; two consecutive games on 1/24/81 & 1/27/81 (last two games before the All-Star break); and three games in a five-game stretch near the end of the season (started on 3/18, didn’t start on 3/20, started on 3/21, didn’t start on 3/24, started on 3/25).
The majority of these games were in the early part of the season. During this period, several different players rotated in and out of the Mavericks’ starting frontcourt slots, with the majority of starts at small forward made by either Byrnes or Abdul Jeelani. After coming off the bench for the first six games of the season while Jeelani and Darrell Allums started, Byrnes took over as the starting small forward for three games beginning on 10/22. After another three games on the bench behind Jeelani and Jim Spanarkel, Byrnes took over as starter again for nine games beginning on 11/4. He was subsequently replaced again by Jeelani, who yielded after six games to Spanarkel, who would be the usual starter for the rest of the season. All of the games that Byrnes started after November were in place of Spanarkel. It’s not obvious to me why Byrnes started these games, however, as Spanarkel played in all of them. There may have simply been some uncertainty at times over whether to keep Spanarkel as the starter or replace him with Byrnes.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Forward. Primary position is shown as SF for all seasons of career.
ABDUL JEELANI
History: 3rd round pick of Cavaliers in 1976, as Gary Cole. Selected from Blazers in expansion draft, May 1980.
Games Played (Regular Season 66 G, 16.8 MPG): the sixteen games in which Jeelani did not appear were on 11/4/80; three consecutive games from 12/9/80 through 12/12/80; two consecutive games on 1/7/81 & 1/8/81; 1/27/81 (last game before the All-Star break); six consecutive games from 2/10/81 through 2/20/81; and three games in a five-game stretch from 2/26/81 through 3/6/81 (did not play on 2/26; played on 2/27; did not play on 3/1; played on 3/3; did not play on 3/6).
From approximately 2/10/81 to 2/19/81, Jeelani was on the injured list, covering the first five games of the six-game stretch he was absent from around that time. While Jeelani was on the IL, the Mavericks signed Clarence Kea to a 10-day contract as a fill-in. When Jeelani was ready to be activated, the Mavericks kept Kea and instead made room by waiving Winford Boynes.
Games Started (Regular Season: 12): The twelve games Jeelani started were the first four games of the season (through 10/17/80); two consecutive games on 10/28/80 & 10/29/80; and six consecutive games from 11/23/80 through 12/5/80. All of these games were in the early part of the season. During this period, several different players rotated in and out of the Mavericks’ starting frontcourt slots, with the majority of starts at small forward made by either Jeelani or Marty Byrnes. On 12/6/80, Jim Spanarkel replaced Jeelani as the starter. Spanarkel would be the usual starter for the rest of the season, and Jeelani made no further starts.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Forward-Center. Primary position is shown as SF for all seasons of career.
STAN PIETKIEWICZ
History: 7th round pick of Braves in 1978. Signed to a 10-day contract, January 1981.
Pietkiewicz started the season with the Clippers, but was waived seven games into the season. The Mavericks signed him to a 10-day contract on 1/12/81, followed by a second 10-day contract on 1/21/81, then a contract for the remainder of the season on 1/28/81. Pietkiewicz filled a roster spot which had been vacated earlier when Ralph Drollinger was placed on the injured list. The Mavericks had initially filled the roster spot by signing Monti Davis to a 10-day contract, but did not retain Davis after his 10-day contract expired. Drollinger never returned from the injured list – he retired with the season in progress, while still on the IL – so the roster spot was Pietkiewicz’ for the rest of the season.
Games Played (Regular Season 36 G, 12.0 MPG): At the time Pietkiewicz was signed, the Mavericks had 36 games remaining in the season. Pietkiewicz played in all of them.
Pietkiewicz had appeared in six games for the Clippers earlier in the season, before they waived him. Between the Clippers and the Mavericks combined, he played in a total of 42 games this season.
Games Started (Regular Season: 0): Pietkiewicz did not start any games.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard-Forward. Primary position is shown as SG for two of his three NBA seasons (including 1980-81), PG for the remaining season.
CLARENCE KEA
History: 8th round pick of Mavericks in 1980 (waived in training camp and did not start 1980-81 season with team). Signed to a 10-day contract, February 1981.
Kea did not start the season with the Mavericks. He had been with the team in the preseason, but was waived in training camp and did not start the 1980-81 season on an NBA roster. The Mavericks brought Kea back by signing him to a 10-day contract on 2/10/81. Kea filled a roster spot which had opened when Abdul Jeelani was apparently placed on the injured list. This was followed by a second 10-day contract on 2/19/81, then a contract for the remainder of the season on 3/2/81. When Jeelani was ready to return, the Mavericks kept Kea and made room by waiving another player (Winford Boynes).
Games Played (Regular Season 16 G, 12.4 MPG): At the time Kea was signed, the Mavericks had 25 games remaining in the season. Kea did not play in his first game on the roster, which was on the day he signed; played in the next 14 consecutive games (2/11/81 through 3/10/81); then appeared in only two of the final ten games of the season (3/15/81 and 3/18/81).
Games Started (Regular Season: 0): Kea did not start any games.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Forward. Primary position is shown as PF for all seasons of career.
CHAD KINCH
History: 1st round pick of Cavaliers in 1980. Acquired in trade with Cavaliers, February 1981.
Kinch started the season with the Cavaliers, but was traded to the Mavericks on 2/7/81, with a 1st round pick, in exchange for Geoff Huston and a 3rd round pick.
Games Played (Regular Season 12 G, 8.8 MPG): The Mavericks played a game on the day Kinch was acquired (2/7). I’m not sure if the trade happened before or after that game was played, but following that game, the Mavericks had 25 games remaining. Kinch played in twelve of them. He played in the next eight games after 2/7 (2/10 through 2/24); didn’t play on 2/26; played in the next two games (2/28 & 3/1); didn’t play in the next two games (3/3 & 3/6); played on 3/8; then played in just one of the last eleven games of the season (the only game Kinch played in during this stretch was on 3/15). Kinch had played in 29 games for the Cavaliers prior to the trade, giving him a total of 41 games played for the year.
Games Started (Regular Season: 0): Kinch did not start any games for the Mavericks.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard. Primary position is shown as SG; this is the only season that Kinch played in the NBA.
INJURED LIST:
RALPH DROLLINGER
History: 7th round pick of Celtics in 1976. Signed as a free agent, June 1980. (Note: Drollinger had no regular-season NBA experience prior to this season.)
Drollinger started the season with the Mavericks, but announced his retirement on 3/2/81. Drollinger was injured for most the portion of the season he spent with the Mavericks. At the time he retired, the team had played 68 games, but Drollinger had only appeared in six of them. At the time of our snapshot, he was still with the team, but was on the injured list.
Games Played (Regular Season 6 G, 11.2 MPG): For a player who only appeared in six games, the story of Drollinger’s time with the Mavericks is fairly complicated:
--Drollinger appeared in the first six games of the season (through 10/21/80). For the next few games after that, he remained on the active roster, but did not play.
--On 10/28/80, the Mavericks placed Drollinger on the injured list. His spot on the active roster was filled by signing Scott Lloyd.
--On 12/2/80, Drollinger was activated from the injured list, filling the roster spot that had been vacated when Darrell Allums was waived the previous day. Drollinger would remain on the active roster for a month, but did not appear in any games. I’m not sure how that came about. One possibility is that the Mavericks expected Drollinger to be ready to play soon, but it turned out that he wasn’t. Another possibility is that, with the contract guarantee deadline looming, the team decided it didn’t want to carry any more than the minimum 11 players, and moved Drollinger to the active roster even though he wasn’t healthy enough to play. Whatever the Mavericks’ thinking, they effectively played a man short for the entire period.
--On 1/2/81, Drollinger was placed back on the IL. The roster spot was initially filled by signing Monti Davis to a 10-day contract. Davis was not retained after his 10-day contract, and the Mavericks then signed Stan Pietkiewicz to a 10-day contract. Pietkiewicz would ultimately stick for the remainder of the season.
--On 3/2/81, while still on the injured list, Drollinger announced his retirement.
Games Started (Regular Season: 0): Drollinger did not start any games.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Center. Primary position is shown as C; this is the only season that Drollinger played in the NBA.
NO LONGER WITH TEAM:
WINFORD BOYNES
History: 1st round pick of Nets in 1978. Selected from Nets in expansion draft, May 1980.
Boynes started the season with the Mavericks, but was waived on 2/19/81. For the previous several days, Abdul Jeelani had been on the injured list, and the Mavericks had signed Clarence Kea as a fill-in. When Jeelani was ready to return from the IL, the team kept Kea and made room for Jeelani on the active roster by waiving Boynes.
Games Played (Regular Season 44 G, 17.2 MPG): At the time Boynes was waived, the Mavericks had played 62 games. The eighteen games in which Boynes did not appear were on 11/11/80; three consecutive games from 12/2/80 through 12/6/80; a single game on 12/12/80; three consecutive games from 12/20/80 through 12/26/80; two consecutive games on 12/30/80 & 1/2/81; six games in a nine-game stretch from 1/16/81 through 2/6/81 (did not play on 1/16; played on 1/18; did not play on 1/20, 1/23 & 1/24; played on 1/27; did not play on 2/3; played on 2/4; did not play on 2/6); and two consecutive games on 2/15/80 & 2/17/80 (Boynes’ last two games on the Mavericks’ roster).
Note that Boynes played in 24 of the first 25 games of the season (through 11/29), but only 20 the 37 games between that point and the time he was waived.
Games Started (Regular Season: 17): The seventeen games Boynes started were the first twelve games of the season (through 10/31/81); a single game on 11/16/81; and four consecutive games from 11/23/80 through 11/29/80. Boynes began the season as the starting SG. He lost the job to Terry Duerod at the end of October, but started one game Duerod didn’t play in on 11/16, and eventually took the starting job back in late November. On 12/2, Oliver Mack replaced Boynes as the starter, and Boynes made no further starts after that.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard-Forward. Primary position is shown as SG for all seasons of career.
GEOFF HUSTON
History: 3rd round pick of Knicks in 1979. Selected from Knicks in expansion draft, May 1980.
Huston started the season with the Mavericks, but was traded to the Cavaliers on 2/7/81, with a 3rd round pick, in exchange for Chad Kinch and a 1st round pick.
Games Played (Regular Season 56 G, 33.8 MPG): The Mavericks played a game on the day Huston was traded. I’m not sure if the trade happened before or after that game was played, but the Mavericks had played 56 games prior to that date, and Huston had appeared in all of them. After the trade, Huston played in an additional 25 games for the Cavaliers, giving him a total of 81 games played for the year.
Games Started (Regular Season: 56): As noted earlier, there is a discrepancy in Huston’s games started between the Mavericks Media Guide and the TSN box scores. The media guide indicates that Huston started 56 games. My analysis of the TSN box scores suggests that he started 55 games. The source of the discrepancy is the game on 10/24/80, and the issue is whether Spanarkel or Geoff Huston started the game at guard. As discussed earlier, I believe that the media guide is likely correct, and that Huston actually started that game, not Spanarkel. If this is right, Huston made 56 starts, which means that he started every game he played for the Mavericks.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard. Primary position is shown as PG for all seasons of career.
TERRY DUEROD
History: 3rd round pick of Pistons in 1979. Selected from Pistons in expansion draft, May 1980.
Duerod started the season with the Mavericks, but was waived on 12/2/80. The Mavericks filled his roster spot by signing Brad Davis.
Games Played (Regular Season 18 G, 18.7 MPG): The Mavericks played a game on the day Duerod was waived (12/2). It isn’t clear to me whether Duerod was still on the Mavericks’ roster for that game, but he had appeared in 18 of the 25 games the Mavericks had played prior to that date. The seven games he had been absent from were three of the first four games of the season (did not play on 10/11 & 10/14; played on 10/15; did not play on 10/17); a single game on 11/16/80; and the last three games the Mavericks played prior to 12/2 (11/25/80 through 11/29/80).
Duerod was picked up by the Celtics a few days after the Mavericks waived him, and would finish out the season with them. He appeared in 32 regular season games with the Celtics, giving him a total of 50 regular season games played for the season.
Games Started (Regular Season: 8): The eight games Duerod started were eight games in a nine-game stretch from 11/4/80 through 11/21/80. The only game Duerod did not start during that period was on 11/16, when he did not play. When Duerod took over as the starter, he displaced Winford Boynes. After Duerod held the starting job for about three weeks, Boynes took it back again.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard. Primary position is shown as SF for the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Mavericks, but is SG for the remainder of his career (including the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Celtics). Note that Duerod’s primary position for the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Mavericks is shown as SF even though the old b-r.com header doesn’t indicate that Duerod played significantly at forward during his career. While I cannot definitively prove or disprove it, I am skeptical of b-r.com’s conclusion that Duerod’s primary position with the Mavericks was SF rather than his usual SG.
DARRELL ALLUMS
History: 5th round pick of Mavericks in 1980.
Allums started the season with the Mavericks, but was waived on 12/1/80. The Mavericks filled his roster spot the following day by activating Ralph Drollinger from the injured list.
Games Played (Regular Season 22 G, 12.5 MPG): Allums is credited with appearing in 22 regular season games, but I only noted him in 21 TSN box scores. b-r.com’s game log feature also shows Allums in only 21 box scores. It is possible that Allums was omitted from the box score to one game in which he did not compile any stats that would have been shown in the box score. At the time Allums was waived, the Mavericks had played 25 games.
Allums appears in the TSN box scores for 21 of the first 22 games of the season (through 11/23). He is absent from the box score for the game on 11/14/80, and for the last three games the Mavericks played before he was waived (11/25/80 through 11/29/80).
Games Started (Regular Season: 3): According to the TSN box scores, Allums started two consecutive games on 10/18/80 & 10/21/80, at forward; and one game on 10/31/80, at center. During the early part of the season, several different players rotated in and out of the Mavericks’ starting frontcourt slots. While Allums was obviously never a regular starter, he managed to start a few games along the way. Allums’ two starts at forward were in between starting stints by Abdul Jeelani and Marty Byrnes. Allums’ start at center on 10/31 came after incumbent starting power forward Richard Washington had been traded, and incumbent starting center Tom LaGarde was switched to starting at power forward. After one game, Allums was replaced by Scott Lloyd.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Forward. Primary position is shown as PF; this is the only season that Allums played in the NBA.
JOE HASSETT
Hassett started the season with the Mavericks, but was waived in November. As discussed earlier, there is a discrepancy between sources as to the exact date he was waived, but it appears to have been on 11/15/80. The Mavericks filled his roster spot by signing Oliver Mack.
History: 3rd round pick of Sonics in 1977. Selected from Pacers in expansion draft, May 1980.
Games Played (Regular Season 17 G, 16.5 MPG): Hassett is credited with appearing in 17 regular season games for the Mavericks, but I only noted him in 16 TSN box scores. b-r.com’s game log feature also shows Hassett in only 16 box scores. It is possible that Hassett was omitted from the box score to one game in which he did not compile any stats that would have been shown in the box score.
Hassett appears in the TSN box scores for 16 of the first 17 games of the season (all games through 11/11, except 11/6/80). Depending on exactly what date Hassett was waived, he is also absent from least one box score after 11/11, possibly two (11/14, 11/16).
Hassett was picked up by the Warriors in February and would finish out the season with them. He appeared in 24 games with the Warriors, giving him a total of 41 games played for the season.
Games Started (Regular Season: 0): Hassett did not start any games.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard. Primary position is shown as SG for all seasons of career.
AUSTIN CARR
History: 1st round pick of Cavaliers in 1971. Selected from Cavaliers in expansion draft, May 1980.
Carr started the season with the Mavericks, but was traded to the Bullets for future considerations on 11/6/80.
Games Played (Regular Season 8 G, 9.6 MPG): At the time Carr was traded, the Mavericks had played thirteen games. Carr had appeared in eight of them. Carr played in the first four games of the season (through 10/17); didn’t play on 10/18; played on 10/21; didn’t play in three consecutive games from 10/22 through 10/25; played in three consecutive games from 10/28 through 10/31; and didn’t play on 11/4.
The Mavericks played a game on the day they traded Carr (11/6), but it is apparent that Carr was traded before the game. The game was against the Bullets, and Carr played in the game for the Bullets. After the trade, Carr played in an additional 39 games for the Bullets, giving him a total of 47 games played for the year.
Games Started (Regular Season: 0): Carr did not start any games.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Guard. Primary position is shown as SG for all seasons of career.
RICHARD WASHINGTON
History: 1st round pick of Kings in 1976. Selected from Bucks in expansion draft, May 1980.
Washington started the season with the Mavericks, but was traded to the Cavaliers on 10/30/80, with Jerome Whitehead, in exchange for Bill Robinzine and two 1st round picks.
Games Played (Regular Season 11 G, 27.9 MPG): At the time Washington was traded, the Mavericks had played 11 games. Washington had appeared in all of them. After the trade, Washington played in an additional 69 games for the Cavaliers, giving him a total of 80 games played for the year.
Games Started (Regular Season: 7): Washington started seven consecutive games from 10/18/80 through 10/29/80. Washington came off the bench for the first four games of the season, then replaced Jerome Whitehead as the starting power forward. After seven games as the starter, he was traded.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Forward-Center. Primary position is shown as PF for all seasons of career.
JEROME WHITEHEAD
History: 2nd round pick of Braves in 1978. Selected from Jazz in expansion draft, May 1980.
Whitehead started the season with the Mavericks, but was traded to the Cavaliers on 10/30/80, with Richard Washington, in exchange for Bill Robinzine and two 1st round picks.
Games Played (Regular Season 7 G, 16.9 MPG): At the time Whitehead was traded, the Mavericks had played eleven games. Whitehead had appeared in seven of them. He played in the first five games of the season (through 10/18), was absent from the next four games, then played in the last two games the Mavericks played before he was traded (10/28 & 10/29).
The Mavericks were the first of three NBA teams Whitehead played for in 1980-81. The Cavaliers waived him in November, but the Clippers picked him up in January, and he would finish out the season with them. Whitehead played in a total of 48 games for the season, including 7 games with the Mavericks, 3 games with the Cavaliers, and 38 games with the Clippers.
Games Started (Regular Season: 4): Whitehead started at power forward for the first four games of the season (through 10/17/80). He was then replaced by Richard Washington.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Center-Forward. Primary position is shown as C for all seasons of career.
MONTI DAVIS
History: 1st round pick of 76ers in 1980. Signed to a 10-day contract, January 1981.
Davis started the season with the 76ers, but was waived five games into the season. The Mavericks signed him to a 10-day contract on 1/2/81, filling a roster spot which opened when Ralph Drollinger was placed on the injured list. Davis was not retained after the 10-day contract expired. The Mavericks instead signed a different player to a 10-day contract (Stan Pietkiewicz). During his time with the 76ers, Davis had appeared in one game. He also played in one game during his time with the Mavericks. Those two games were the only NBA games Davis would ever play in.
Games Played (Regular Season 1 G, 8.0 MPG): The one game that Davis played in for the Mavericks was on 1/5/81. Note that during the short period Davis was with the Mavericks, the team had two players with the surname Davis. The other was Brad Davis.
Games Started (Regular Season: 0): Davis did not start any games.
b-r.com position info: Position in old b-r.com header is listed as Forward. Primary position is shown as PF; this is the only season that Davis played in the NBA.
Last edited by MCT on Thu Nov 23, 2017 3:26 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: 1980-81 Dallas Mavericks Games Played/Started & Transact
by MCT » Thu Aug 11, 2016 6:39 pm
DALLAS MAVERICKS – PART III
PLAYERS BY POSITION
STARTERS
None of the Mavericks’ five starting slots were really held by the same player all year, but all settled down at some point in the season, making a snapshot lineup pretty easy to work out (Lloyd at center; LaGarde and Spanarkel at forward; Davis and Mack at guard). Let’s look at things position by position.
C: Tom LaGarde began the season as the regular starter at center, but was shifted to starting at power forward after eleven games. One game later, the recently signed Scott Lloyd took over as the starting center, and would hold down the role for the rest of the season.
PF: Jerome Whitehead started the first four games of the season, followed by Richard Washington for the next seven. At that point, Washington and Whitehead were both traded to Cleveland, and Tom LaGarde was shifted from starting at center to starting at power forward. LaGarde would hold down the role for the remainder of the season.
SF: in the early part of the season, this slot was very unstable, with several players rotating in and out of the starting role. The most common starters were Marty Byrnes and Abdul Jeelani. In early December, Jim Spanarkel was installed as the regular starter, and would continue in that role for the remainder of the season.
PG: Geoff Huston was the regular starter until he was traded to Cleveland in early February. At that point, Brad Davis took over.
SG: the initial starter was Winford Boynes. Terry Duerod replaced him at the beginning of November, but lost the role back to Boynes later that same month. In early December, the recently signed Oliver Mack took over as the starter, and would remain the regular starter for the rest of the season.
RESERVES
Of the players classified as reserves in our snapshot lineup, the one who played the most minutes per game was by far PF Bill Robinzine (27.6). I believe that Robinzine played so many minutes because the player he was playing behind, Tom LaGarde, was also serving as the team’s backup center. LaGarde would start at power forward, but would swing to center during games, opening up a lot of minutes for Robinzine to play.
Next come Marty Byrnes (18.9 mpg) and Abdul Jeelani (16.8 mpg). Both were SFs who started for some short periods, especially in the early part of the season, but were reserves for the bulk of the year. I believe the reason the Mavericks had two SFs so high on their reserve depth chart is that Jim Spanarkel, who started at SF for much of the season, was also seeing significant time at SG. This opened up minutes at SF for both Byrnes and Jeelani.
The next player is the snapshot lineup was Stan Pietkiewicz (12.0 mpg). Pietkiewicz joined the team in January, initially on a 10-day contract, and was an everyday player for the rest of the season. His primary position is shown as SG, but he looks to have been a combo guard and may have played some PG as well.
The last two players on the bench were Clarence Kea (12.4 mpg), and Chad Kinch (8.8 mpg). Kea joined the team in February, initially on a 10-day contract. He was an everyday player into early March, but played very little over the final three weeks of the season. He was a PF who apparently picked up whatever minutes were left behind Robinzine. Kinch was acquired from Cleveland in early February in the Geoff Huston trade. Like Kea, he was initially a regular rotation player, but saw very little playing time over the final three weeks of the season. His primary position is shown as SG.
This obviously reflects things as they stood after the roster moves the Mavericks made in February. Before that, some of this would have looked different. Before the trade of Geoff Huston, Brad Davis would likely have been near the top of the reserve depth chart, while Chad Kinch wasn’t here yet. The Mavs also effectively dropped Winford Boynes – probably the last player on the bench in the later stages of his stay with the team – and replaced him with Clarence Kea. These moves seem to have left the Mavericks with a lot less backcourt depth than they had earlier in the season. Until Huston was traded, Davis was clearly the backup PG, and has to have been playing a decent number of minutes. After the trade, there was no backup on the roster shown with a primary position of PG. I assume that Stan Pietkiewicz, and maybe Chad Kinch, could play PG if needed.
POSITION NOTES
Tom LaGarde:
Even though LaGarde was the regular starter at power forward for most of the season, b-r.com shows his primary position as center. I think b-r.com’s assessment of LaGarde’s primary position is correct. After the end of October, LaGarde and starting center Scott Lloyd were the only two players on the Mavericks’ roster who are shown with a primary position of center. It appears to me that LaGarde was effectively both the starter at power forward and the backup center. He would start at forward, but would shift to center during games, and almost certainly logged more minutes at center than he did at forward.
Let’s take every player on the Mavericks except LaGarde, and organize them into two groups: those with a primary position of center (Lloyd, Whitehead and Drollinger) and those with a primary position elsewhere. If you add up the minutes for each group and compare them with the minutes available at each position, you are left with 1585 minutes at center and 1085 minutes elsewhere. This should be a rough approximation of how many minutes were available for LaGarde at each position (1585 at C, 1085 at F).
These numbers may not be exact, because the Mavericks had other players who may have swung back and forth between forward and center to some degree. But they suggest that LaGarde almost certainly saw significant time at both positions, and they support b-r.com’s conclusion that center was the position he played the most.
Jim Spanarkel:
1980-81 is the only season of Spanarkel’s career for which b-r.com shows his primary position as SF. Every other season is SG. I can’t speak for other seasons, but I think that b-r.com’s assessment of Spanarkel’s primary position for 1980-81 is correct. Spanarkel started for much of the season at SF, and it appears to me that he got the majority of his minutes at forward, but that he would also swing to SG during games, and played significant minutes there as well.
Let’s take every player on the Mavericks except Spanarkel, and organize them into two groups: those with a primary position in the frontcourt and those with a primary position in the backcourt. If you add up the minutes for each group and compare them with the minutes available at each position, you are left with 1300 minutes at forward and 1017 minutes at guard. This should be a rough approximation of how many minutes were available for Spanarkel at each position.
These numbers may not be exact, because the Mavericks had other players who may have swung back and forth between forward and guard to some degree. Most notably, they take at face value b-r.com’s claim that Terry Duerod’s primary position during the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Mavericks was SF rather than his typical SG. I am skeptical of that (see below), and moving some or all of Duerod’s minutes to guard would tip the balance of minutes available for Spanarkel more heavily towards forward. In any event, these numbers suggest to me that Spanarkel saw significant time at both positions, but that forward was the position he played the most.
Terry Duerod:
In his old b-r.com header, Duerod’s position is listed as “Guard”, and his primary position is shown as SG for every season of his career except for the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Mavericks (even the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Celtics is shown as SG). But Duerod’s primary position for the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Mavericks is shown as SF.
Duerod was with the Mavericks only briefly and didn’t play a large number of minutes from the perspective of the season as a whole. The Mavericks also had multiple other players who conceivably could have swung back and forth between forward and guard. For these reasons, it is difficult to reach any definitive conclusions about how many minutes Duerod played at each position. I am skeptical of b-r.com’s assessment that Duerod’s primary position with the Mavericks was SF rather than SG, however. Duerod started a number of games at guard, and given the other personnel the team had, I don’t see why they would have had a pressing need to use Duerod at forward. As in other cases like this that we’ve encountered, I am curious as to exactly why b-r.com concluded that Duerod’s primary position was SF.
As always, I would be interested in any information anyone has about how any of the players on the 1980-81 Mavericks were used, this season or elsewhere in their careers.
TRIVIA
Oldest Player: Austin Carr, born 3/10/48 (age 32). Carr was nearly six years older than any other player on the Mavericks’ opening night roster. After Carr was traded in November, the oldest member of the Mavericks was Scott Lloyd, born 12/19/52 (age 27 when he first signed with the team, turned 28 in December).
Played in ABA: none. The Mavericks are just the fourth team we’ve encountered who had no ABA vets on their roster at any time during the season. The others were the Pistons, Warriors and Sonics.
Longest continuous service with team: To my knowledge, the first players the Mavericks franchise ever acquired were those it selected in the expansion draft on 5/20/80. When the team began its inaugural regular season, eleven of the thirteen players on the opening night roster had been acquired in the expansion draft. By the end of the season, only four remained: Tom LaGarde, Jim Spanarkel, Marty Byrnes, and Abdul Jeelani.
Highest original draft position: #1 overall – Austin Carr.
Lowest original draft position: 8th round, #169 overall – Clarence Kea. A few more low picks were Ralph Drollinger and Stan Pietkiewicz, both of whom were originally 7th round picks.
Youngest Player: Clarence Kea, born 2/2/59 (turned 22 about a week before the Mavericks signed him to his first 10-day contract).
PLAYERS BY POSITION
STARTERS
None of the Mavericks’ five starting slots were really held by the same player all year, but all settled down at some point in the season, making a snapshot lineup pretty easy to work out (Lloyd at center; LaGarde and Spanarkel at forward; Davis and Mack at guard). Let’s look at things position by position.
C: Tom LaGarde began the season as the regular starter at center, but was shifted to starting at power forward after eleven games. One game later, the recently signed Scott Lloyd took over as the starting center, and would hold down the role for the rest of the season.
PF: Jerome Whitehead started the first four games of the season, followed by Richard Washington for the next seven. At that point, Washington and Whitehead were both traded to Cleveland, and Tom LaGarde was shifted from starting at center to starting at power forward. LaGarde would hold down the role for the remainder of the season.
SF: in the early part of the season, this slot was very unstable, with several players rotating in and out of the starting role. The most common starters were Marty Byrnes and Abdul Jeelani. In early December, Jim Spanarkel was installed as the regular starter, and would continue in that role for the remainder of the season.
PG: Geoff Huston was the regular starter until he was traded to Cleveland in early February. At that point, Brad Davis took over.
SG: the initial starter was Winford Boynes. Terry Duerod replaced him at the beginning of November, but lost the role back to Boynes later that same month. In early December, the recently signed Oliver Mack took over as the starter, and would remain the regular starter for the rest of the season.
RESERVES
Of the players classified as reserves in our snapshot lineup, the one who played the most minutes per game was by far PF Bill Robinzine (27.6). I believe that Robinzine played so many minutes because the player he was playing behind, Tom LaGarde, was also serving as the team’s backup center. LaGarde would start at power forward, but would swing to center during games, opening up a lot of minutes for Robinzine to play.
Next come Marty Byrnes (18.9 mpg) and Abdul Jeelani (16.8 mpg). Both were SFs who started for some short periods, especially in the early part of the season, but were reserves for the bulk of the year. I believe the reason the Mavericks had two SFs so high on their reserve depth chart is that Jim Spanarkel, who started at SF for much of the season, was also seeing significant time at SG. This opened up minutes at SF for both Byrnes and Jeelani.
The next player is the snapshot lineup was Stan Pietkiewicz (12.0 mpg). Pietkiewicz joined the team in January, initially on a 10-day contract, and was an everyday player for the rest of the season. His primary position is shown as SG, but he looks to have been a combo guard and may have played some PG as well.
The last two players on the bench were Clarence Kea (12.4 mpg), and Chad Kinch (8.8 mpg). Kea joined the team in February, initially on a 10-day contract. He was an everyday player into early March, but played very little over the final three weeks of the season. He was a PF who apparently picked up whatever minutes were left behind Robinzine. Kinch was acquired from Cleveland in early February in the Geoff Huston trade. Like Kea, he was initially a regular rotation player, but saw very little playing time over the final three weeks of the season. His primary position is shown as SG.
This obviously reflects things as they stood after the roster moves the Mavericks made in February. Before that, some of this would have looked different. Before the trade of Geoff Huston, Brad Davis would likely have been near the top of the reserve depth chart, while Chad Kinch wasn’t here yet. The Mavs also effectively dropped Winford Boynes – probably the last player on the bench in the later stages of his stay with the team – and replaced him with Clarence Kea. These moves seem to have left the Mavericks with a lot less backcourt depth than they had earlier in the season. Until Huston was traded, Davis was clearly the backup PG, and has to have been playing a decent number of minutes. After the trade, there was no backup on the roster shown with a primary position of PG. I assume that Stan Pietkiewicz, and maybe Chad Kinch, could play PG if needed.
POSITION NOTES
Tom LaGarde:
Even though LaGarde was the regular starter at power forward for most of the season, b-r.com shows his primary position as center. I think b-r.com’s assessment of LaGarde’s primary position is correct. After the end of October, LaGarde and starting center Scott Lloyd were the only two players on the Mavericks’ roster who are shown with a primary position of center. It appears to me that LaGarde was effectively both the starter at power forward and the backup center. He would start at forward, but would shift to center during games, and almost certainly logged more minutes at center than he did at forward.
Let’s take every player on the Mavericks except LaGarde, and organize them into two groups: those with a primary position of center (Lloyd, Whitehead and Drollinger) and those with a primary position elsewhere. If you add up the minutes for each group and compare them with the minutes available at each position, you are left with 1585 minutes at center and 1085 minutes elsewhere. This should be a rough approximation of how many minutes were available for LaGarde at each position (1585 at C, 1085 at F).
These numbers may not be exact, because the Mavericks had other players who may have swung back and forth between forward and center to some degree. But they suggest that LaGarde almost certainly saw significant time at both positions, and they support b-r.com’s conclusion that center was the position he played the most.
Jim Spanarkel:
1980-81 is the only season of Spanarkel’s career for which b-r.com shows his primary position as SF. Every other season is SG. I can’t speak for other seasons, but I think that b-r.com’s assessment of Spanarkel’s primary position for 1980-81 is correct. Spanarkel started for much of the season at SF, and it appears to me that he got the majority of his minutes at forward, but that he would also swing to SG during games, and played significant minutes there as well.
Let’s take every player on the Mavericks except Spanarkel, and organize them into two groups: those with a primary position in the frontcourt and those with a primary position in the backcourt. If you add up the minutes for each group and compare them with the minutes available at each position, you are left with 1300 minutes at forward and 1017 minutes at guard. This should be a rough approximation of how many minutes were available for Spanarkel at each position.
These numbers may not be exact, because the Mavericks had other players who may have swung back and forth between forward and guard to some degree. Most notably, they take at face value b-r.com’s claim that Terry Duerod’s primary position during the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Mavericks was SF rather than his typical SG. I am skeptical of that (see below), and moving some or all of Duerod’s minutes to guard would tip the balance of minutes available for Spanarkel more heavily towards forward. In any event, these numbers suggest to me that Spanarkel saw significant time at both positions, but that forward was the position he played the most.
Terry Duerod:
In his old b-r.com header, Duerod’s position is listed as “Guard”, and his primary position is shown as SG for every season of his career except for the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Mavericks (even the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Celtics is shown as SG). But Duerod’s primary position for the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Mavericks is shown as SF.
Duerod was with the Mavericks only briefly and didn’t play a large number of minutes from the perspective of the season as a whole. The Mavericks also had multiple other players who conceivably could have swung back and forth between forward and guard. For these reasons, it is difficult to reach any definitive conclusions about how many minutes Duerod played at each position. I am skeptical of b-r.com’s assessment that Duerod’s primary position with the Mavericks was SF rather than SG, however. Duerod started a number of games at guard, and given the other personnel the team had, I don’t see why they would have had a pressing need to use Duerod at forward. As in other cases like this that we’ve encountered, I am curious as to exactly why b-r.com concluded that Duerod’s primary position was SF.
As always, I would be interested in any information anyone has about how any of the players on the 1980-81 Mavericks were used, this season or elsewhere in their careers.
TRIVIA
Oldest Player: Austin Carr, born 3/10/48 (age 32). Carr was nearly six years older than any other player on the Mavericks’ opening night roster. After Carr was traded in November, the oldest member of the Mavericks was Scott Lloyd, born 12/19/52 (age 27 when he first signed with the team, turned 28 in December).
Played in ABA: none. The Mavericks are just the fourth team we’ve encountered who had no ABA vets on their roster at any time during the season. The others were the Pistons, Warriors and Sonics.
Longest continuous service with team: To my knowledge, the first players the Mavericks franchise ever acquired were those it selected in the expansion draft on 5/20/80. When the team began its inaugural regular season, eleven of the thirteen players on the opening night roster had been acquired in the expansion draft. By the end of the season, only four remained: Tom LaGarde, Jim Spanarkel, Marty Byrnes, and Abdul Jeelani.
Highest original draft position: #1 overall – Austin Carr.
Lowest original draft position: 8th round, #169 overall – Clarence Kea. A few more low picks were Ralph Drollinger and Stan Pietkiewicz, both of whom were originally 7th round picks.
Youngest Player: Clarence Kea, born 2/2/59 (turned 22 about a week before the Mavericks signed him to his first 10-day contract).
Last edited by MCT on Wed Aug 24, 2016 10:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 1980-81 Dallas Mavericks Games Played/Started & Transact
by Mike Goodman » Sun Aug 14, 2016 11:52 am
This was really quite the starless lineup. Austin Carr had been an all-star one time, in 1974. After 77 minutes in Dallas, he was gone.
Did any player here go on to semi-stardom for any franchise?
Brad Davis could lay claim to "best of the bunch". He'd go on to play 12 years for the Mavs, 15 yrs total.
Dallas was his big break, after 3 years failing to gain traction in LA, Indy, and Utah.
He was starting PG for about 5 years, then backed up D Harper and Blackman. In that backcourt, even Dale Ellis could not get minutes.
Davis is currently #6 in Mavs franchise minutes and steals; 7th in points; still a strong 2nd in assists, after Harper and ahead of Kidd.
That 2nd line isn't right.
Did any player here go on to semi-stardom for any franchise?
Brad Davis could lay claim to "best of the bunch". He'd go on to play 12 years for the Mavs, 15 yrs total.
Dallas was his big break, after 3 years failing to gain traction in LA, Indy, and Utah.
He was starting PG for about 5 years, then backed up D Harper and Blackman. In that backcourt, even Dale Ellis could not get minutes.
Davis is currently #6 in Mavs franchise minutes and steals; 7th in points; still a strong 2nd in assists, after Harper and ahead of Kidd.
JEROME WHITEHEAD
Whitehead started the season with the Mavericks, but was traded to the Cavaliers on 10/30/80, ..
The Mavericks were the second of three NBA teams Whitehead played for in 1980-81. The Cavaliers waived him in November, but the Clippers picked him up ...
That 2nd line isn't right.
`
36% of all statistics are wrong
36% of all statistics are wrong
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Re: 1980-81 Dallas Mavericks Games Played/Started & Transact
by MCT » Wed Aug 24, 2016 10:29 pm
Mike Goodman wrote:This was really quite the starless lineup.
Part of this was because the team placed an emphasis on banking future draft picks, greatly aided by Ted Stepien's tendency to trade 1st round picks for pretty much anyone. If they could flip for a player for a future pick, they usually did. Geoff Huston, traded just before the deadline, was arguably their best player, but a 1st rounder tomorrow meant more to Dallas management than having Huston on the floor today. With regard to that trade, they also had Davis available to replace Huston, which in hindsight was a sound decision.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the Mavericks couldn't sign their 1st round pick from this year, Kiki Vandeweghe. With him, they would have had one young potential star. Instead, they flipped his draft rights to Denver for future picks.
How weak was this roster? Over the course of the season, the Mavericks traded two of their starters to Cleveland (Richard Washington and Geoff Huston). Neither player could crack the Cavs' starting lineup. On the other hand, early in the season the Mavs signed two players who had been waived by other teams, then put them into their own starting lineup within days of signing them (Scott Lloyd and Oliver Mack). Both continued to start for the rest of the season.
Austin Carr had been an all-star one time, in 1974. After 77 minutes in Dallas, he was gone.
Carr kind of sticks out like a sore thumb, as by far the oldest player here. I didn't research this, but it would be interesting to see which players were available to the Mavericks in the expansion draft, and what their strategy was. They did select several players who had been 1st round picks over the past three or four years, making for a somewhat intriguing list of names. But there obviously must have been a reason why these guys were left exposed, and most didn't stick around long or make much of an impact. By the end of the season, only four of their expansion selections were left. Jim Spanarkel would last the longest.
JEROME WHITEHEAD
Whitehead started the season with the Mavericks, but was traded to the Cavaliers on 10/30/80, ..
The Mavericks were the second of three NBA teams Whitehead played for in 1980-81. The Cavaliers waived him in November, but the Clippers picked him up ...
That 2nd line isn't right.
Thanks - this has been fixed.
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Re: 1980-81 Dallas Mavericks Games Played/Started & Transact
by MCT » Thu Sep 28, 2017 12:47 pm
A while back, Mike G. posted some material in the Spurs thread, with position information for 1980-81 sourced from Neft & Cohen’s NBA Encyclopedia. I recently posted about this in the introductory thread to this series, noting that I planned to post and comment on this data on a team-by-team basis. See the eighth post in the introductory thread for more information.
Here’s what Neft & Cohen have for the Mavericks:
Neft & Cohen seem to agree with my take on LaGarde. They have LaGarde as “Cf”.
Neft & Cohen seem to agree my take on Spanarkel as well. They have Spanarkel as “Fg”.
As for the possibility that other players may have swung back and forth between forward and guard, Neft & Cohen think that a couple did. They have both Winford Boynes and Stan Pietkiewicz as “gf”. That’s certainly plausible. Both are listed as playing forward as a secondary position in their old b-r.com headers.
Neft & Cohen again seem to agree with my take, as they have Duerod as exclusively a guard. Note that this contradicts b-r.com’s identification of Duerod’s primary position as SF (which I had disputed in my previous analysis).
One other note on the Mavericks: The other sources we’ve been working with show Austin Carr exclusively as a guard, and my earlier analysis assumed that he was a guard. But the information above shows him as a forward. I’d think this might be a transcription error, but Carr also played for another team in 1980-81, and he is shown as a forward under that team as well (Bullets). Did Carr really play small forward this year?
Here’s what Neft & Cohen have for the Mavericks:
Mike Goodman wrote:
- Code: Select all
tm player pos Min
Dal Tom LaGarde Cf 2670
Dal Jim Spanarkel Fg 2317
Dal Scott Lloyd c 2186
Dal Bill Robinzine f 1932
Dal Geoff Huston G 1892
Dal Brad Davis G 1686
Dal Ollie Mack g 1666
Dal Marty Byrnes f 1360
Dal Abdul Jeelani f 1108
Dal Winford Boynes gf 757
Dal Stan Pietkiewicz gf 431
Dal Terry Duerod g 337
Dal Richard Washington f 307
Dal Joey Hassett g 280
Dal Darrell Allums f 276
Dal Clarence Kea f 199
Dal Jerome Whitehead c 118
Dal Austin Carr f 77
MCT wrote:Even though LaGarde was the regular starter at power forward for most of the season, b-r.com shows his primary position as center. I think b-r.com’s assessment of LaGarde’s primary position is correct. After the end of October, LaGarde and starting center Scott Lloyd were the only two players on the Mavericks’ roster who are shown with a primary position of center. It appears to me that LaGarde was effectively both the starter at power forward and the backup center. He would start at forward, but would shift to center during games, and almost certainly logged more minutes at center than he did at forward.
Let’s take every player on the Mavericks except LaGarde, and organize them into two groups: those with a primary position of center (Lloyd, Whitehead and Drollinger) and those with a primary position elsewhere. If you add up the minutes for each group and compare them with the minutes available at each position, you are left with 1585 minutes at center and 1085 minutes elsewhere. This should be a rough approximation of how many minutes were available for LaGarde at each position (1585 at C, 1085 at F).
These numbers may not be exact, because the Mavericks had other players who may have swung back and forth between forward and center to some degree. But they suggest that LaGarde almost certainly saw significant time at both positions, and they support b-r.com’s conclusion that center was the position he played the most.
Neft & Cohen seem to agree with my take on LaGarde. They have LaGarde as “Cf”.
MCT wrote: 1980-81 is the only season of Spanarkel’s career for which b-r.com shows his primary position as SF. Every other season is SG. I can’t speak for other seasons, but I think that b-r.com’s assessment of Spanarkel’s primary position for 1980-81 is correct. Spanarkel started for much of the season at SF, and it appears to me that he got the majority of his minutes at forward, but that he would also swing to SG during games, and played significant minutes there as well.
Let’s take every player on the Mavericks except Spanarkel, and organize them into two groups: those with a primary position in the frontcourt and those with a primary position in the backcourt. If you add up the minutes for each group and compare them with the minutes available at each position, you are left with 1300 minutes at forward and 1017 minutes at guard. This should be a rough approximation of how many minutes were available for Spanarkel at each position.
These numbers may not be exact, because the Mavericks had other players who may have swung back and forth between forward and guard to some degree. Most notably, they take at face value b-r.com’s claim that Terry Duerod’s primary position during the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Mavericks was SF rather than his typical SG. I am skeptical of that (see below), and moving some or all of Duerod’s minutes to guard would tip the balance of minutes available for Spanarkel more heavily towards forward. In any event, these numbers suggest to me that Spanarkel saw significant time at both positions, but that forward was the position he played the most.
Neft & Cohen seem to agree my take on Spanarkel as well. They have Spanarkel as “Fg”.
As for the possibility that other players may have swung back and forth between forward and guard, Neft & Cohen think that a couple did. They have both Winford Boynes and Stan Pietkiewicz as “gf”. That’s certainly plausible. Both are listed as playing forward as a secondary position in their old b-r.com headers.
MCT wrote: In his old b-r.com header, Duerod’s position is listed as “Guard”, and his primary position is shown as SG for every season of his career except for the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Mavericks (even the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Celtics is shown as SG). But Duerod’s primary position for the portion of the 1980-81 season that he spent with the Mavericks is shown as SF.
Duerod was with the Mavericks only briefly and didn’t play a large number of minutes from the perspective of the season as a whole. The Mavericks also had multiple other players who conceivably could have swung back and forth between forward and guard. For these reasons, it is difficult to reach any definitive conclusions about how many minutes Duerod played at each position. I am skeptical of b-r.com’s assessment that Duerod’s primary position with the Mavericks was SF rather than SG, however. Duerod started a number of games at guard, and given the other personnel the team had, I don’t see why they would have had a pressing need to use Duerod at forward. As in other cases like this that we’ve encountered, I am curious as to exactly why b-r.com concluded that Duerod’s primary position was SF.
Neft & Cohen again seem to agree with my take, as they have Duerod as exclusively a guard. Note that this contradicts b-r.com’s identification of Duerod’s primary position as SF (which I had disputed in my previous analysis).
One other note on the Mavericks: The other sources we’ve been working with show Austin Carr exclusively as a guard, and my earlier analysis assumed that he was a guard. But the information above shows him as a forward. I’d think this might be a transcription error, but Carr also played for another team in 1980-81, and he is shown as a forward under that team as well (Bullets). Did Carr really play small forward this year?
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