Orchestrator:

• GM Al Bianchi

Highlights:

• The night Dave DeBusschere won the lottery and the right to pick Patrick Ewing, it looked like the Knicks were destined to win 5 championships.
• Knicks put up two horrible 20+ win seasons in Ewing’s first two years. There was talk of making Ewing a power forward or even trading Ewing and keeping Cartwright.
• Out went DeBusschere and coach Hubie Brown and in came Al Bianchi as GM, who hired college wiz kid coach Rick Pitino.
• Got Charles Oakley & 1st-round pick (ended up being Rod Strickland) in trade for Bill Cartwright
• Drafted Mark Jackson.
• Drafted Gerald Wilkins in 2nd round.
• Picked up Johnny Newman off waivers from Cleveland.
• Pitino stressed full-court, pressure defense and shooting 3’s.
• The Knicks had the bomb squad of Trent Tucker, Mark Jackson, Gerald Wilkins, Johnny Newman and Rod Strickland — youth, athleticism, 3-point shooting, defense, and Ewing (and Oakley).

Results:

• Pitino’s 1988-89 club won 52 games, famously swept the 76’ers in the first round, with Charles Barkley crying on the floor and the Knicks young players literally taking out brooms.
• Knicks lost to Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the 2nd round, 4-2.

The End:

• Live by the 3, die by the 3. The 3-pt offense was deemed a gimmick — you couldn’t win in the NBA that way. Ahead of his time. Pitino quit to accept a job back in the college ranks with Kentucky.
• Stu Jackson replaced Pitino and the Knicks went into purgatory (45 wins).
• John MacLeod replaced Stu Jackson and the Knicks plummeted more (39 wins), and it was on to Rebuild #5…

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 #4 appeared first on Knicks.City.

• Rebuilds based on free agents,
• Rebuilds based on youth and the draft,
• Rebuilds built on sign-and-trades and the draft,
• Rebuilds based on new GM’s and regime changes, new coaches, etc.

The current one under Scott Perry is based on youth and the draft — so far — and perhaps a sprinkling of an elite free agent coming. Over the next 13 days, we’ll take a look at the Knick rebuilds since 1973.

1. The Bob  McAdoo Rebuild

One of the best rebuilds on paper was the Bob McAdoo rebuild of 1975-77. The 1st rebuild.

Orchestrated by:

• Knicks GM Eddie Donovan.

Highlights:

• On paper one of the greatest Knicks teams ever — in 1976-77 they had, all in their prime:
  • C: Bob McAdoo (age 25)
  • PF: Spencer Haywood (age 26)
  • SF: Jim McMillian (age 24)
  • G: Walt Frazier (age 31)
  • G: Earl Monroe (age 32)
  • Reserves: Lonnie Shelton (21), Ray Williams, Toby Knight, Glen Gondrezick
• After the entire Knicks all-star front line retired at the end of the 1974 season (Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, and Jerry Lucas) — the Knicks needed to rebuild their front line. They started by signing George McGinnis to a contract even though he was property of the 76ers after the ABA dispersal draft. The Knicks were hammered in penalites and denied McGinnis.
• Knicks then signed Spencer Haywood, still in his prime at age 26, in 1976 — a 20 pt/12 rebound power forward, hero of the 1968 Olympics and first superstar of the ABA where he scored 30 ppg in 1970.
• Midway through the 1976-77 season, the Knicks made the big McAdoo trade — getting him and Tom McMillen for almost nothing (John Gianelli)! McAdoo was 25 yrs old coming off 3 consecutive scoring titles and was a league-leading rebounder.
• They then got Jim McMillian (the next Bill Bradley) from Buffalo for cash.
• That new, elite front line was added to the Hall of Fame backcourt still in their prime of Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe.
• Just-drafted Ray Williams came off the bench with Lonnie Shelton, Toby Knight and Glen Gondrezick.

Result:

• After a half season of the McAdoo trade not propelling the Knicks (they finished 40-42 in 1976-77) the Knicks signed Jim Cleamons and gave Cleveland Walt Frazier as compensation. (Word at time was Frazier had lost a step defensively and GM (and friend) Willis Reed wanted to trade him before he lost value.)
• On paper one of the best Knick teams ever, the 1977-78 Knicks won 43 games — Haywood was injured and missed most of the season. The Knicks blew past Cleveland in the 1st round. Then Philly double-teamed McAdoo and swept the Knicks in 4 in the 2nd round.

The end:

• The Knicks finally had McAdoo and Haywood playing together in 1978-79, but started badly, and gave up on the McAdoo/Spencer Haywood team — trading Haywood in January and McAdoo in February.
• Knicks were deemed to have offensive individual players that didn’t jive, and not enough defense. It was on to rebuild #2..

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 appeared first on Knicks.City.