The Muskies also found and signed Donnie Freeman , a 6'3" guard out of Illinois. Les "Big Game" Hunter gave the team a forward who could score when needed. Perry was the least heralded of the Muskie stars, but observers noted that he single-handedly won several games for the team. The Muskies came out of the gate quickly with their superior talent. For the first few months of the ABA's first season, Minnesota and Indiana staged a heated battle for first place in the Eastern Division.
Pittsburgh ended up winning the division crown, but Minnesota still won 50 games. Daniels led the league in rebounding with a He also finished sixth in the league in scoring. The Timberwolves are honoring a blast from Minnesota's basketball past starting this week, and as usual there is no better way than money to point out the differences between sports then and sports now. The Wolves' game on Wednesday against Indiana is the first of six "Hardwood Classics" games in which players will wear jerseys from the Minnesota Muskies of the old American Basketball Association.
That's roughly twice as much as longtime local sports figure Dick Jonckowski made per week working in public relations for the Muskies during , their one and only season here. The team didn't have a lot of money," Jonckowski said.
We had our office in the same building, same floor, as the ABA office. We tried everything. We just didn't draw any people. The Muskies played at the Met Center in Bloomington, but they didn't need all 15, seats.
One estimate said the Muskies sold season tickets -- something one might call an unsustainable business model these days. Jonckowski said the number might have been a little higher.
But he also says he once actually used one of the great lines in poor attendance lore on a customer. On the court, the Muskies were a success -- they went and won a playoff series before falling to the Pittsburgh Pipers. Strangely enough, when the Muskies folded up shop, the Pipers moved here from Pittsburgh and played a year before they, too, vanished in history. A fan vote determined whether the Muskies or Pipers would be honored during the Hardwood Classics games, and the Muskies won out.
Jonckowski will be on hand for the game Wednesday against the Pacers -- also a charter member of the old ABA -- and has donated some memorabilia to the Timberwolves for use during the Hardwood Classics games. The Minnesota Timberwolves are one of the newer franchises in the NBA as they began as an expansion team in , but the state has hosted a few professional basketball teams prior to the Wolves. The Minneapolis Lakers are the team most everyone's familiar with, but the Muskies had a fun run back in the day as well.
That season will live on this season, however, as the Timberwolves are set to wear throwback uniforms featuring the Muskies for four games this season. No pizzazz, no juice. And for whatever reason, everyone seems to love throwbacks. So this should be another fun element to the season. Home All Sections. Log In Welcome, User. Coronavirus Minneapolis St. Paul Duluth St. Study: Mpls. Paul minimum wage increases led to loss of restaurant jobs. Blizzard warning continues in western Minn.
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