It seemed that Haven Industries wanted to keep the team afloat at any cost, so that the Condors could cash in on a possible ABA/NBA merger. Johnson. //--> The next game he could erupt in a scoring binge of historic proportions. In early December. ", Frustration set in soon enough. The Condors even attracted an impressive 4,502 fans to the Civic Center for a game against Rick Barry and the New York Nets. The actual prices will be … In early December John The Pipers swept through the 1968 ABA Playoffs and defeated the New Orleans Buccaneers 4 games to 3 to take the title, with Hawkins earning Finals MVP honors. Right now I don't know what is going to happen. He does everything smoothly. Missed Playoffs, Years of existence: 1970-71 through 1971-72. Of course, gambling big money on a distant and unlikely payoff is never a good idea if most everyone in your geographic market dislikes your current product. Observers close to the team noted that this He traded offensive gunner Stew Johnson to the Carolina Cougars for...well...another offensive gunner, Bob Verga. home with a 36-48 record, and ended up with the worst New coach Jack McMahon promptly shipped Maloy to the Virginia Squires and got virtually nothing in return. John Brisker and Mike Lewis played in the 1971 ABA All-Star Game, but the Condors could only manage a 36-48 record, fifth place in the Eastern Division and out of the playoffs (one game behind The Floridians). Needless to say, Pittsburgh residents were more than a little annoyed with the situation - many of the team's former fans viewed the ABA as a "mickey mouse" operation, and wanted nothing more to do with the league. After only 18 games, McMahon was already gone (fired by GM Mark Binstein), and O'Brien was traded to the Kentucky Colonels for Goose Ligon. One game he could be ice cold, scoring only a few points. Serving as both GM and coach (photo at left), Binstein shook things up right away. Despite a number of minor injuries, he played in 82 of the team's 84 games (best among all Condors). The latter half of the The GTG ensures the highest quality in maintenance and servicing, according to the quality standards of Condor and in compliance with the strict official regulations. (Actually, the merger would not come until 1976, and it would not include Pittsburgh.) The ABA had a strange history in Pittsburgh. These fans might have come back for more Condors games, but the team's performance was embarrassing. He often heaved up 25-30 shots per game. The Condors' roster was put into a dispersal draft; George Thompson went to the Memphis Tams, Mike Lewis to the Carolina Cougars, Skeeter Swift and James Silas to the Dallas Chaparrals, and Walt Szczerbiak to the Kentucky Colonels. The scoreboard in the background indicates that only halfway through through the 1st quarter, the Condors were already losing by a score of 25-12. The team played their home games in Pittsburgh's Civic Arena. A local ad proclaimed "Bring on Alcindor" and that "the ABA-NBA merger is here". La franchise a disparu en 1972, la ABA organisant en juin de cette année-là une draft de dispersion avec les joueurs de l'équipe. George Thompson went to the Memphis Tams (another "difficult" location), Mike Lewis went to the Carolina Cougars, Skeeter Swift went to the Dallas Chaparrals, and Walt Szczerbiak went to the Kentucky Colonels. ), GM Binstein suddenly canned coach Jack McMahon. At the time he said "I'm having a better year than last all around - scoring, assists, rebounds - but I'd sure like to play more. However, Porter observed the franchise during the spring of 1971, and decided he didn't like the Condors as much as he thought earlier. Jimmy O'Brien (above, # 44) was a Pittsburgh Condor for just the first few weeks of the 1971-72 season. After the trade, O'Brien noted that: "The deal was a complete surprise to me. The "Return of Hawkins" never happened - Binstein habitually answered "no comment" to also devoted a lot Very few season tickets were sold. Brisker was ejected from a home game against the Denver Rockets only 2 minutes into the game. We wouldn't want the Condors to do anything that would interfere with that. Originally called the Pittsburgh Pipers, they were a charter franchise of the ABA and captured the first league title. Ihre Heimspiele trug die Mannschaft in der Civic Arena aus. Buy It Now. Mailed out an attractive and flashy season ticket brochure, known among ABA collectors to be one of the best ticket brochures ever produced by any ABA team. While the Condors had a potent offense (fifth in the 11-team ABA with 119.1 points per game), they were often undone by their defense (fourth-worst, allowing 121.8 ppg). 682 results for pittsburgh condors. The Condors had a promising young guard for the 1971-72 season - Jimmy O'Brien out of Boston College. Johnson ran hot and cold during his time with the Condors. The Condors became only a fond and distant memory for hard-core ABA fans. The Pipers were led by their star player, ABA MVP and future Hall-of-Famer Connie Hawkins, who led the ABA in scoring at 26.8 ppg. The Condors had signed 6' 8" All-American Howard Porter to a contract in December of 1970. Scheduled an exhibition game at the Civic Center against the NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (for various reasons, the game itself did not live up to expectations - see Fred Cranwell's memory found below). Die Pittsburgh Condors waren eine US-amerikanische Basketballfranchise aus Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, die von 1970 bis 1972 in der American Basketball Association (ABA) spielte. Johnson, like Brisker, was also "offensive-minded." While they did manage to survive into the New Year, Haven finally had seen enough and announced the Condors would be playing elsewhere for the 1972-73 season. Appropriately, the Condors' press guide pictured Brisker as an ill-tempered hombre - ready to draw a pair of six-shooters. Pittsburgh played in a lot of entertaining, high scoring games, but usually came out on the losing end. Some ABA beat writers noted that Pittsburgh had the best merchandising program of any ABA team and offered items not on display anywhere else. And he didn't want some rookie who was trying to do his job competing and trying to win some playing time. Colonials de George Washington: Carrière professionnelle * Saison: Club: 1971-1972 1972-1973 1973-1980 1980-1982 1983-1984: Condors de Pittsburgh Barons de … The Condors: Retired their 1970-71 cartoon bird logo in favor of a more militaristic and "intimidating" bird logo. In contrast, these shots show a mostly-filled Arena. However, they were unable to do so, and in June 1972 the ABA canceled the Condors franchise. Les Condors de Pittsburgh (en anglais : Pittsburgh Condors) sont un club franchisé américain de basket-ball de la ville de Pittsburgh faisant partie de l'American Basketball Association. Guaranteed by Fri, Sep. 25. Brisker lead the league in scuffles, fights, haymakers and ejections. I've never had a season like this. A deal to sell the team to Washington D.C. interests fell through a month before the season started. The Condors were vulnerable to the fast break, and every other team in the ABA knew it. The ABA finally folded the franchise and held a special dispersal draft for those Condors players who were still under contract. Condor Court provides these massive birds with ample room to stretch their wings, rocky mountain ledges for perching almost 20 feet in the air, and nesting cavities. The March 24 home game against the Kentucky Colonels was moved to - of all places - Birmingham, Alabama. Attendance remained poor, with an announced average of 2,806, though some observers close to the team thought the actual average was less than half that. Los Pittsburgh Condors eran un equipo de baloncesto profesional de la Asociación Estadounidense de Baloncesto (ABA) original. But, as often was the case in Pittsburgh, things "went south" pretty quickly. Condors guard Walt Szczerbiak recalls: "The only problem I had in Pittsburgh was I had to guard John Brisker in practice every day. In the photo above right, John Brisker floats to the hoop against Trooper Washington of The Floridians. Brisker had a feathery jump shot and used finesse to get many of his points. It seemed that Haven Industries wanted to keep the team afloat at any cost, so that the Condors could cash in on a possible ABA/NBA merger. Haven and the league tried to move the Condors to a bigger market. Their prize rookie, Mike Maloy, arrived at training camp 50 pounds over his college playing weight. Even getting within ten feet of him.". But he also had a nasty court personality, and loved to fight. The Pipers' move to Minnesota was a disaster in all respects. The male Andean condor of South America is even larger than our California condor. The Pipers attracted fairly respectable gates by ABA standards, averaging 3,200 fans per game.[1]. Sounding like a broken record, team President Bezahler finally issued a statement: "There is no sense to keep pouring good money into the franchise while it is in Pittsburgh. To no one's surprise, the Condors got off to a poor start - through November 9, 1970, their record stood at 4-8. After a slow (4-8) start, general manager Marty Blake decided (in an infamous ABA stunt) to give away every available seat for an early-season game against Florida on November 17. Despite making the playoffs (but losing in the first round to, coincidentally, the Miami Floridians), the Pipers' attendance settings fared no better than the Muskies and they moved back to Pittsburgh after only one season. Aside from being kicked out of games for fighting, Brisker also missed 15 of the team's first 55 games due to a variety of ailments, including groin pulls, hamstring pulls, a strained Achilles tendon, bruised ribs, a chipped elbow bone, and severe back pain. Frankfurt, May 31, 2019 – Just in time for the peak summer travel season to Europe, Condor Airlines returns to Pittsburgh International Airport for its third summer on May 30 th with twice weekly (Monday and Friday) non-stop flights to Frankfurt, operating through September 16 with onward connections to more than 250 destinations throughout Europe and beyond. It is my hope that a young man with all his talent is aware that this is his sixth team. In the meantime, they began relocating home games, first to other cities in Pennsylvania, and then to farther-away places. Brand New. Brisker was not a timid shooter. He averaged 27.0 ppg, including a career-best 31% from the three-point line. Then, in a move that further surprised many ABA observers, Binstein named himself as McMahon's replacement. The very last Condors home game at the Civic Arena was supposed to be against Kentucky on December 21. Nobody in Pittsburgh seemed to care about ABA basketball, as the Pipers struggled to a dismal 29-win 5th place finish. "7N00\\\\\\\\6A01\\\\\\\\~>).={1783'0pm\\\\rr\\\\23\\\\0s\\\\ (#?h=2e03\\\\\\"+ O'Brien also offered this stark comparison of the Colonels and the Condors: "Kentucky is a great franchise and one that is not going to fold. A "name-the-team" contest yielded the nickname "Pittsburgh Pioneers." The Condors also had burly forward Harley "Skeeter" Swift (left, #23). On March 6, 1971, Johnson surprised the entire ABA by scoring 62 points again the Floridians. On obtaining Verga, Binstein made this strange comment: "I have three players who might kill him if he doesn't give up the ball. The night before, he had poured in a scintillating 3 points against the Virginia Squires, going 0 for 7 from the floor. He Appropriately, the Condors' press guide pictured Brisker as an ill-tempered hombre - ready to draw a pair of six-shooters. The 1971-72 Condors featured classy new uniforms. Why "Pittsburgh Condors"? The Pittsburgh Condors and The Floridians had folded, leaving the league with nine teams. With every seat in the 13,000 seat Civic Arena given away for free (! Finally, the police rushed onto the court and pulled Brisker off the Civic Arena court. That is exactly what happened on the nights of March 5 and 6, 1971, when Johnson followed up a 3 point performance against the Virginia Squires with an incredible 62 point performance against The Floridians. To its credit, the team's front office (and in particular publicity director Fred Cranwell) tried very hard to fix the image of the team. 1,100 per game. "\\\",o iar{vy)x,f(n ioctun\\\"f)\")" ; He averaged 14.6 rebounds, third best in the entire ABA. The team had great success on the court, posting the league's best record during the regular season (54-24, .692) and winning the league's first ABA Championship. ", Binstein made further strange moves. describing your favorite Condors memories. Understandably, it wanted to promote a new image and a new attitude for the team. [3] In Terry Pluto's book on the ABA, Loose Balls, Pipers co-owner Gabe Rubin says he returned to the Steel City because he couldn't think of anywhere else to go. There is too much talent on our club for it not to be appreciated by the fans. He increased his scoring average to an impressive 29.3 points per game, an increase of 8 points over his rookie average. For the first season back in Pittsburgh the team retained the "Pipers" nickname. Swift was another gunner on a team of gunners. During the 1970-71 season, Brisker was involved in bloody confrontations with Joe Caldwell of Carolina, Wendell Ladner of Memphis, and Ron Boone of Texas. After receiving his ejection notice from referee Earl Strom, Brisker came back onto the floor and hit Becker again. But he also had a nasty court personality, and loved to fight. New Haven is within the territorial rights of both the Nets and the New York Knicks. "{#iy9r+y=4gqc{!gczfi77\\\\1j\\\\cg\\\"\\\\f(;} ornture;}))++(y)^(iAtdeCoarc" + The Pittsburgh Condors were a professional basketball team in the original American Basketball Association (ABA). Above middle, Stew Johnson (#13) shoots over Manny Leaks of the New York Nets. to the Condors from the NBA Phoenix Suns. Out of deference to his popularity, team management even allowed him to place his nickname on the back of his jersey. On March 24, 1972 the Condors hosted the Kentucky Colonels in Birmingham, Alabama; four days later, the Condors hosted the Colonels again, this time in their last 'home' game, in Tucson, Arizona. Mark Binstein took over as GM after Blake's departure from the team. Where he couldn't make any headway against a defender, he would start a fistfight. In October, they lured the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks (and star Lew Alcindor) to Pittsburgh for an exhibition game, guaranteeing the Bucks $25,000. I was more or less running the entire offense, and I had some very good games. A local NAIA school, Point Park College, was already using the "Pioneers" nickname. But that is exactly what happened. While the Condors needed Ligon's rebounding and hustle, they missed O'Brien's playmaking and unselfish game. Originalmente llamados Pittsburgh Pipers , eran una franquicia de la ABA y capturaron el primer título de liga.El equipo jugó sus partidos en casa en el Civic Arena de Pittsburgh. Die Pittsburgh Condors waren eine US-amerikanische Basketballfranchise aus Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, die von 1970 bis 1972 in der American Basketball Association (ABA) spielte.