Robisch Happily Returns to Midwest

The American Basketball Association had Dave Robisch bouncing around more than one of its red-white-and-blue basketballs for awhile.

But now the former Springfield, Ill., high school star has found a home with the Indiana Pacers and both he and the team couldn't be more pleased with one another.

Robisch was the victim of circumstance as the ABA's season moved into gear. As a consequence, he found himself with no fewer than five teams in a hectic, frustrating five-week span.

The first was the Denver Nuggets who, after winning 65 regular-season contest last year, failed to make the championship playoffs. Thus, they decided to shuffle their roster to make room for collegians David Thompson and Marvin Webster. Robisch was one of the players to go as Denver traded him and cash to the Baltimore Claws for Dan Issel.

You don't remember the Baltimore Claws? Not many people do, and Robo also would like to forget them. After hesitating to report, he finally made the trip east. He arrived in time to discover the team was on the verge of folding, which it did a short time later.

Then came the dispersal draft. St. Louis picked Dave, but just long enough to trade him to the San Diego Sails for a draft choice and cash. You don't remember the San Diego Sails? Well, that's still another team Robisch would like to erase from his memory. But not at first. "I thought we had the makings of a good team at San Diego," he says. "We had players like Mark Olberding, Caldwell Jones, Kevin Joyce, and Bo Lamar. "And then, after we'd played 11 games or so, one day we're handed a press release saying the team had been folded. Nobody told the players anything - they just gave us the press release. That was a really frustrating experience.

Thus, the Sails sank, but Robisch's talents didn't go down with them. The Pacers stepped in and purchased Robisch and Lamar. "Luckily, I was picked up by Indiana and it worked out well for me. I had told myself that if there was anywhere I wanted to play besides Denver, it was Indiana," says the former Kansas star.

The arrival of the 6-10 forward-center couldn't have come at a much better time. Shortly after Robo joined the Pacers, starting center Lenny Elmore injured a knee and was on his way to an eight-game absence.

Although he still was learning the ropes of Coach Bobby Leonard's offense, Robisch responded superbly. In four of the eight games he started, he had 20 points or more and always hovered around 10 rebounds. His best showing came when he played 48 minutes against Kentucky, collected 27 points and 11 rebounds, and outplayed the Colonels' 7-2 all-star Artis Gilmore.

Through his first 53 games with the Pacers, Robo has averaged nearly 15.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per outing. He thinks "this year could be my best." If he plays with the Pacers like he did against them in his four years at Denver, that'll be a cinch. Robisch, it seemed always had strong performances against Indiana and as assistant coach Jerry Oliver says, "It's sure good to have him throwing them in FOR us, for a change."

Robisch, who was 26-years-old on Dec. 22, has a couple other claims to fame. One is that he has not missed a game since he turned pro 4 1/2 years ago - the count is more than 400 straight.

In addition, he is probably the most accurate free throw shooter in the league for a big man. He has a career average of 77 per cent, but hit 88 per cent last season with the Nuggets and is at 83 per cent thus far with Indiana.

Dave's signing with the Pacers represents a return to the Midwest. A native of Cincinnati, he played one year of high school ball in that city, then finished out his prep career in Springfield, Ill. He is married, and he and pretty wife, Lou, have two children, daughter Stacey, age 3 1/2 and son Brett, age nine months.At last report, they're all happy that Robisch's journey through basketball's adventure land has ended.

So are the Pacers.

(This article appeared originally in a Spirits of St. Louis Official Program, Feburary 27, 1976.)