Orchestrator:

• Ernie Grunfeld

Highlights:

• Grunfeld replaced Pat Riley with Don Nelson and THAT didn’t work — Knicks were 34-25 under Nelson but it didn’t feel that way. Nelson liked a guard oriented team. Patrick Ewing was unhappy. Nelson was fired, and assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy was named coach. The post-Riley, Van Gundy era was on.
• In the summer of 1996 the Knicks were at a crossroads — while the media focused that summer on Michael Jordan‘s future, and him only signing a 1-year, $30M deal with Chicago — the under-reported big story was that Shaquille O’Neal was a free agent — and this was before any salary caps. Ernie Grunfeld later admitted that the Knicks were considering going after Shaq — that would have meant trading Ewing — but Grunfeld decided to make one more run with Ewing. Shaq signed with LA, shifting the center of power in the NBA to the West (which soon became the best), and the Knicks retooled around Ewing:
  • Signed Allan Houston and Chris Childs to free-agent contracts (shooters to help Ewing),
  • Traded Anthony Mason for Larry Johnson.
• One more final retool was accomplished before the 1998-99 season:
  •  John Starks was traded for Latrell Sprewell — when he became available after choking his coach PJ Carlesimo
  • Charles Oakley was traded for young Marcus Camby

Result:

• 57 wins in 1996-97 for the Houston-Childs-Larry Johnson retool, with Van Gundy coaching — but then came the bitter, infamous 7-game loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semis, where Ewing was suspended a game for simply stepping onto the court while a fight broke out.
• Knicks slipped to 43 wins in 1997-98 and were wiped out by Indiana in the semis, 4-1. Another retool was needed..
• The Sprewell-for-Starks-&-Camby-for-Oakley retool got the Knicks to the finals in 1998-99.

• The 1999 Finals Run:
  • It was a strike season, and that Knick team started slowly but ended strong.
  • Too late for GM Grunfeld as he was fired during the season just before the run.
  • News also broke that head of basketball operations Dave Checketts was interviewing Phil Jackson to become Knicks coach. Van Gundy became the hero and Checketts the villain.
  • Ewing was injured in the 1999 Conference Finals vs Indiana — and limped noticeably on the court the first two games, still leading the Knicks to a game 1 victory and close game 2 loss. Indiana’s players were quoted as thinking he was faking it. After game 2 it was discovered he was playing with a torn achilles.
  • Still, Larry Johnson’s big 4-point play won game 3 to give the Knicks momentum over Indiana.
  • Marcus Camby played above the rim, and Sprewell and team led the Knicks to the Finals.
  • (Note: Indiana’s guards (Mark Jackson, Reggie Miller) said it seemed the league refs gave the Knicks every call to get them to the finals.)
  • Ewing missed the finals; San Antonio collapsed on Camby and won easily 4-1.
  • (Note: Tim Duncan was injured just before the next season’s playoffs and missed them completely. A year late for the Knicks.)
• A lot of Knicks fans think Ewing’s Knick title hopes ended with the 1999 finals — and they essentially had. Not to forget in 1999-2000 the Knicks won 50 games and went the Eastern Conference Finals again. This time Indiana won the series 4-2. By that time the Lakers had become dominant (67 wins) with Shaq O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in place, with Phil Jackson as the coach (see above).

The End:

• Ewing was 37. His window had closed. It was on to Rebuild #7…

Your Thoughts?

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The post The 13 Knicks Rebuilds Since their Last Title: Rebuild #6 appeared first on Knicks.City.

Orchestrator:

• Dave Checketts became President of the Knicks at 35 yrs old (he came from Utah where he became their GM at age 28). Checketts replaced Al Bianchi. He named Ernie Grunfeld as GM, and brought in 5-time champion coach Pat Riley. The Ewing Championship-contending Era was on.

Highlights:

• Riley immediately made his mark on the Knicks. Word out of training camp in his first summer was that Riley was making the Knicks the most conditioned team in the NBA. They came out of the gate as a terrific defensive team — and won 51 games (vs 39 the year before).
• Anthony Mason and John Starks, both undrafted, were pulled out of thin air by Riley.
• Xavier McDaniel was added to start the 1991-92 season in a trade sending Trent Tucker to Phoenix. McDaniel gave them a star small forward to battle Michael Jordan (in addition to Mason). McDaniel was only 27 but a bad back made him 75% of what he had been.
• After one season, Riley had Mark Jackson traded to the Clippers for Doc Rivers and Charles Smith. Just like that — the Knicks had replaced their two stud young point guards who they were trying to choose between — Rod Strickland and Mark Jackson — with Doc Rivers. Smith gave them a quality big man off the bench to battle Chicago.
• Derek Harper replaced injured Doc Rivers for the Knicks 1994 finals run.
• Herb Williams, a former star-caliber center, was added as a free agent at age 34 for the 1992-93 center as a backup to Ewing and big man off the bench.
• Rolando Blackman at age 33 was added for the playoff run in 1991-92.

Results:

• The Ewing Glory years.
• Knicks won 51, 60, 57, and 55 games in 4 years
• Knicks had best record in NBA in 1993. Jordan’s Bulls (and the refs*) beat them in playoffs. (*Charles Smith seemed to be fouled at least once on that final play in Game 5, 1993, let alone all the calls Michael Jordan got earlier in that decisive game; there are videos on youtube analyzing that game.)
• Knicks went to finals in 1994 and were a jump shot away from a title (Starks 3-pointer blocked at the buzzer of game 6, which would have been the title winner if he made it)

The End:

• Pat Riley and Dave Checketts had a behind-the-scenes war for control of the team. Checketts won and Riley resigned.
• Riley leaving was a dagger to Knicks fans and would prove to be a turning point and one of the worst moments in Knicks history. Don Nelson replaced Riley and things fell apart, and soon it was on to Rebuild #6…

Your Thoughts?

Your thoughts on any of the above? Additional comments? Please feel free to provide your feedback below.

The post The 13 Knicks Rebuilds Since their Last Title in 1973: Rebuild #5 appeared first on Knicks.City.