Milwaukee Bucks Regular Season Rosters

1978-1979 Milwaukee Bucks Regular Season Roster

Player Pos HT WT YOS Pre-Draft Team Draft Status Nationality
Kent Benson C 6-10 235 1 Indiana 1977 Rnd 1 Pick 1 United States
Junior Bridgeman GF 6-5 210 3 Louisville 1975 Rnd 1 Pick 8 United States
Quinn Buckner G 6-3 190 2 Indiana 1976 Rnd 1 Pick 7 United States
Harvey Catchings FC 6-9 218 4 Hardin-Simmons 1973 Rnd 9 Pick 1 United States
Pat Cummings FC 6-9 230 0 Cincinnati 1978 Rnd 3 Pick 15 United States
John Gianelli FC 6-10 220 6 Pacific 1972 Rnd 2 Pick 7 United States
Ernie Grunfeld GF 6-6 210 1 Tennessee 1977 Rnd 1 Pick 11 Romania / United States
George Johnson FC 6-7 210 0 St. John's 1978 Rnd 1 Pick 12 United States
Marques Johnson GF 6-7 218 1 UCLA 1977 Rnd 1 Pick 3 United States
Dave Meyers PF 6-8 215 3 UCLA 1975 Rnd 1 Pick 2 United States
Kevin Restani FC 6-9 225 4 San Francisco 1974 Rnd 3 Pick 3 United States
Sam Smith SG 6-4 201 1 UNLV 1977 Rnd 3 Pick 4 United States
Norm Van Lier PG 6-1 173 9 St. Francis (PA) 1969 Rnd 3 Pick 5 United States
Lloyd Walton PG 6-0 160 2 Marquette 1976 Rnd 3 Pick 6 United States
Brian Winters GF 6-4 185 4 South Carolina 1974 Rnd 1 Pick 12 United States

1978-1979 Milwaukee Depth Chart

  PG SG SF PF C
Starters B. Winters J. Bridgeman M. Johnson J. Gianelli K. Benson
Rotation L. Walton Q. Buckner E. Grunfeld K. Restani  
Rotation   S. Smith   G. Johnson  
Lim PT       D. Meyers  
Lim PT       P. Cummings  

1978-1979 Midwest Division Standings

RankTeamRecordGB
1Kansas City Kings48-34-
2Denver Nuggets47-351
3Milwaukee Bucks38-4410
4Indiana Pacers38-4410
5Chicago Bulls31-5117

1978-1979 Milwaukee Awards & Honors

Player Award / Honor
Marques Johnson All-NBA First Team (1979)
Marques Johnson Western All-Star Fan Vote Selection (1979)

1978-1979 Milwaukee Season Stat Leaders

Player GP MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK TOV
Marques Johnson 77 36.1 25.6 7.6 3.0 1.5 1.2 2.2
Brian Winters 79 32.6 19.8 2.2 4.8 1.1 0.5 3.3
Junior Bridgeman 82 23.9 15.5 3.6 2.0 1.1 0.5 1.7
Kent Benson 82 26.0 12.3 7.1 2.5 1.1 1.0 1.9
Ernie Grunfeld 82 21.7 10.3 4.4 2.6 0.7 0.2 1.7
John Gianelli 82 25.1 7.1 5.0 2.0 0.5 0.7 1.3
Quinn Buckner 81 21.7 7.2 2.6 5.8 1.9 0.2 2.6
Kevin Restani 81 19.7 7.1 4.8 1.5 0.4 0.3 1.2
George Johnson 67 17.3 6.2 5.4 1.2 1.1 0.7 1.5
Lloyd Walton 75 18.4 5.0 1.4 4.7 1.0 0.1 1.6
Norm Van Lier 38 14.6 2.8 1.1 4.2 1.1 0.1 1.3
Sam Smith 16 7.8 3.5 0.6 1.0 0.5 0.4 0.5
Otis Howard 3 7.3 3.3 2.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.7
Delmer Beshore 1 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

1978-1979 Milwaukee Bucks Roster Composition

Selected via Draft

Kent Benson was selected as the #1 pick in the First Round of the 1977 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. Kent Benson signed a multi-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks on June 10, 1977.

Quinn Buckner was selected as the #7 pick in the First Round of the 1976 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. Quinn Buckner signed a multi-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks on September 1, 1976.

Pat Cummings was selected as the #15 pick in the 3 Round of the 1978 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. Pat Cummings signed a multi-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks on August 1, 1978.

Ernie Grunfeld was selected as the #11 pick in the First Round of the 1977 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. Ernie Grunfeld signed a multi-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks on August 19, 1977.

George Johnson was selected as the #12 pick in the First Round of the 1978 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. George Johnson signed a multi-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks on June 30, 1978.

Marques Johnson was selected as the #3 pick in the First Round of the 1977 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. Marques Johnson signed a multi-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks on August 1, 1977.

Lloyd Walton was selected as the #6 pick in the 3 Round of the 1976 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. Lloyd Walton signed a multi-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks on September 11, 1976.

Acquired via Draft Rights Trade

Draft Rights to Junior Bridgeman, the #8 pick in the First Round of the 1975 NBA Draft, were acquired by the Milwaukee Bucks from the Los Angeles Lakers on June 16, 1975. Junior Bridgeman signed a multi-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks on September 1, 1975.

Acquired via Trade

John Gianelli was acquired in a trade by the Milwaukee Bucks from the Buffalo Braves on September 2, 1977.

Dave Meyers was acquired in a trade by the Milwaukee Bucks from the Los Angeles Lakers on June 16, 1975.

Brian Winters was acquired in a trade by the Milwaukee Bucks from the Los Angeles Lakers on June 16, 1975. Brian Winters re-signed to a multi-year contract as a free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks on July 14, 1978.

Acquired via Free Agency

Kevin Restani signed a multi-year contract as a free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks on September 18, 1978.

Sam Smith signed a contract with the Milwaukee Bucks on January 25, 1979. Sam Smith re-signed to a contract as a free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks on February 4, 1979. Sam Smith re-signed to a multi-year contract as a free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks on February 14, 1979.

1978-1979 Milwaukee Bucks Front Office

Staff Member Position Start Season Previous Job
Jim Fitzgerald Owner, Chairman 1975-1976 N/A
Don Nelson Head Coach, General Manager 1976-1977 N/A
John Killilea Assistant Coach 1977-1978 N/A
John Steinmiller VP of Basketball Operations 1970-1971 N/A
Wayne Embry General Manager 1972-1973 N/A
David Haskell, M.D. Team Physician 1973-1974 N/A