The Untouchables: Knicks Roundtable, Part 4 of 4

This week marks the final installment of TBCB’s Knicks Roundtable. In part 1, roundtable participants identified the Knicks’ most significant issues based on The 7 Factors of Championship Teams; in part 2, we suggested steps for addressing the factors identified as most important; in part 3, we stepped away from the factors and each suggested 3 achievable steps the Knicks can take to improve. Today our participants wrap up the roundtable by each taking the role of Owner/General Manager. Their specific instructions were: You're the richest men in the world and you love the Knicks more than Spike Lee. Now fix them. We also offer our season predictions.

 

You want me to do what? 

Photo by Hans Reitzema [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], 

via Wikimedia Commons

 

The Untouchables

Since this is the last installment of TBCB's Knicks Roundtable series, I want to begin by thanking those who participated: Kyle Inman, Michael Johnson, Fausto Rodriguez, Jason Lippman, and Chris Morett. Twitters @leysthepipe and @nygreenmachine also deserve a round of credit for helping to inspire this effort. If you haven’t already done so, please take a moment to meet our roundtable participants by reviewing their bios here. James Dolan, Glen Grunwald, Mike Woodson, Carmelo Anthony, and company might not like everything these guys have said, but they've made great suggestions that would have a positive impact if Knicks management were listening. However, since part 4 of our roundtable isn't intended to be taken too seriously, don't blame us if Dolan fails to recruit Phil Jackson after building a Zen Center in Madison Square Garden or Carmelo Anthony disappears along with his new mafia-linked valet. 

Eliot Ness 

[public domain]

via Wikimedia Commons

The Usual Suspects

This series has identified coaching as an issue from day 1. Consistent with this theme, most of our participants would take steps to improve overall team coaching if given the opportunity. Whether it’s hiring support for Mike Woodson or replacing him, Woodson needs help and these guys are going to give it to him. For example, Jason Lippman suggested hiring coaches to help Woodson make midseason adjustments or address any of his other needs. Michael Johnson offered that the coaches should be given raises consistent with the team’s playoff success, which might provide an extra incentive for Woody to learn from and listen to the gaggle of assistants he'll have once we're finished making suggestions.

Kyle Inman and I would hire known coaching greats if given the power and the checkbook. Specifically, Inman suggested hiring coaches like Phil Jackson or Jerry Sloan to support Woodson. While it might be difficult to convince these guys to take on the role of an assistant, a large enough salary might change their mind. (We all know the Knicks aren't afraid to spend money.) In any case, since this is New York, another option would be to simply make them an offer they can't refuse.

Lucky Luciano

Photo by Remo Nassi [Public domain], 

via Wikimedia Commons

On a more peaceful note, I would hire Phil Jackson as general manager and give him the freedom to do almost anything he wants. If the Zen Master wants to spend most of his time Skyping in from California, let him do it. And if it makes him happier to have a live-in Zen Center hidden in Madison Square Garden, Knicks management should start building immediately.

Carmelo's Way

When we first began this roundtable effort, I was almost certain that one of the suggested cures for the Knicks' issues would be for the team to trade one of their stars. However, I was surprised at the striking absence of trade suggestions. Even in this final round, where each participant was given free reign to make suggestions, only Chris Morett suggested a trade. And his suggestion was tempered by waiting until the trade deadline and only making moves if the team isn't performing well. However, my guess is that the Knicks will look like a respectable team throughout this coming regular season, so Anthony would likely be safe even under the watchful eyes of our most anti-Carmelo roundtable participant.

One thing that might have tempered player-related suggestions is the free agency additions made by the Knicks. Aside from the loss of unproven Jeremy Lin, their core of stars remains unchanged and the Knicks have made a number of moves to bolster their starting rotation and bench. For example, the additions of Jason Kidd and Corey Brewer only add to the bench's Mob Deep theme. And it's even possible that Raymond Felton will be a suitable replacement for Jeremy Lin, particularly considering that Felton might be a better fit for Woody's system. 

Carlos Gambino

Photo by New York Police Department [Public domain],

via Wikimedia Commons

Analyze This

The Knicks' issues go far beyond coaching and skill. Over the last couple years, the team has made a focused effort to assemble talented players. However, Knicks management has also managed to assemble a team of uniquely flawed individuals. With this in mind, key to achieving success is developing each individual player as well as the team as a whole. This is exactly what our participants would do if given the keys to the Garden. Kyle Inman suggested hiring Dirk Nowitzki's personal coach Holger Geschwinder and having him work with Carmelo. Think Holger would say no? Well, we've already established that the Knicks aren't afraid to spend money, and my guess is that a few extra zeroes on his check might change his mind. Inman also suggested hiring a team of life coaches for Amare Stoudemire.

My own suggestions included assigning a dedicated valet to shadow each player 24-7. Some players might be motivated by a Knicks great from the past, while other more challenging cases might need some extra encouragement. For example, maybe a guy like this would help keep Carmelo focused:

Jack Dragna, c 1915

Photo by San Quentin State Prison [Public domain],

via Wikimedia Commons

In a more realistic scenario, Jason Lippman suggested motivating the team by involving Jason Kidd and Marcus Camby in regular leadership talks and reminding Knicks players of past New York team sport successes. For example, if Lippman were in charge, he would bring in Knicks of old to speak to the team and show films about teams like the '86 Mets. Maybe some of this team building might even encourage the team to bond off the court. Or perhaps they can hang out together in Phil Jackson's Zen Center, where I believe they should all live during the playoffs.

Goodfellas

Just as Henry Hill was attracted to the glamor of the mobster life, roundtable participants offered ideas for further glamorizing the Knicks to expand their fan base. These ideas involve improving how the team is marketed and upgrading the fan experience at Madison Square Garden.

For starters, Michael Johnson would change the Knicks' uniforms by paying homage to the teams of the 70s and mid-90s. Fausto Rodriguez also suggested making changes to the team's look, such adding alternate home and road jerseys. As an added bonus, the sale of these new jerseys might increase revenue, helping to support all the pay-offs needed for the suggestions offered above. Rodriguez also suggested promoting heavily outside of Manhattan, emphasizing that the Knicks represent the entire state of New York. Similarly, Jason Lippman would initiate a significant media campaign, complete with music, video, social media, giveaways and player outreach. 

As for improving the fan experience, Johnson also suggested introducing a Knicks Fanatic Night where fans get deep discounts on merchandise. He also suggested renovating Madison Square Garden to make it a better sports/entertainment venue (like Yankee Stadium). Johnson and Fausto Rodriguez both thought lowering ticket prices for certain games against lower-tier teams would help more fans be able to afford to attend games, and Rodriguez also suggested ticket giveaways and lower prices for weekday games.  

New York Skyline  c. 1941

Photo by Jack Delano [Public domain],  

via Wikimedia Commons

Casino

To complete the final installment of the TBCB Knicks Roundtable, we asked roundtable participants for their season predictions. While everyone thinks the Knicks will have a good year, even the rosiest prognosticator has the Knicks failing to make the Finals. Maybe next year, Mr. Dolan. Of course, these predictions are for enjoyment only.

Johnson: 4th Seed: With more moves during this off-season, the Knicks have gone from a 7th or 6th seed team to a 4th, maybe even 3rd seed team. With ATM feat. Mobb Deep II, the Knicks have become a threat that can raise some eyebrows this season. They have a defensive core now with Chandler, Camby, Shumpert, Brewer, Felton, and Kidd. Their offense is stacked with Amar'e, Melo, Felton, Novak, and Smith. I think they should, with the right chemistry and Woodson, get past the first round and maybe face the Heat in the Conf Finals.

Rodriguez: 2nd Seed: The New York Knicks have gone from a first round exit, to a potential championship team. The Knicks have had the most success this off-season. They’re depth has truly put them over the top. They acquired a pass-first type of point guard, they acquired an experienced, veteran point guard in Jason Kidd, a solid big in Marcus Camby, a solid perimeter defender in Ronnie Brewer, and re-signed both Novak and Smith. Come playoff time, they’ll have something most teams can’t have, a 10-man rotation. The depth and talent that the Knicks have, coming into this season, puts them over the top. Finish 50-32.

Lippman: First round playoff knockout.

Inman: Knicks will go 59-23 and be in the Eastern Conference Finals with the Heat

Hogan: 52-30, Lose in the second round of the playoffs.

Morett: The Knicks will go 48-34, get the fifth seed, and make it to the second round of the playoffs before getting bounced by the Bulls, 4-2.

Photo by Toni Lozano
via Wikimedia Commons

Back to the Belt
 
Finally, as a note to Knicks fans who have joined us for this roundtable, stay tuned for our continued coverage of The Basketball Champs Belt. The next scheduled post about the history of the belt covers the 1950-51 season, which featured the Knicks facing off in the finals against the Rochester Royals. In addition, we'll continue coverage of the modern-day status of the belt once the 2012-13 season resumes. The Knicks have an early opportunity to raise the belt on November 2 when they play the Miami Heat in both team's second game of the season. If the Heat retain the belt by winning their opening-day game against the Celtics, the winner of the matchup between the Heat and the Knicks will leave Madison Square Garden with the belt. Someone alert Steve Novak!

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Each participant's unedited round 4 contributions follow:

Michael Johnson

Staff/setting: If I was GM/Owner I would bring in star talent that would work with a specific coach. I would bring in a proven coach, no matter the cost, to work with the Knicks and turn them into a championship team. And for every playoff they make it to, and every championship the players bring in, I would raise their pay. Also, I would contact the city mayor to make NYC more attractive for my players to play in and live in. I would start renovating the Garden more and make it like Yankee Stadium, not only a sports/entertainment venue, but a place where people could hang out as well.

Giving back to the fans/Jerseys/Merchandise: I would change the Knicks uniforms by taking the black out of the logo and paying homage to the past Knicks. The Home jersey would stay the same, but the road would have to feature the silver part of the logo somewhere. As an alternate, I would base it off of the 70s/mid-90s jerseys (blue, orange, and white). Honestly, with the new logo, I think it's time for some new jerseys that would put the Knicks back to contending. As far as merchandise goes, introducing special nights like a Knicks Fanatic Night where fans can get 40-50% off of jerseys and other Knicks merchandise. This would display giving back to the fans for a few nights in the NBA season for their loyalty to the team.

Lower Tickets:Ticket prices need to be lowered for certain games. For games such as Pistons @ Knicks, I will lower the ticket prices because the talent of the Pistons is not in high demand to see, like the Knicks talent. For games against rivals or top tier teams such as the Heat, Celtics, Lakers, OKC, those ticket prices would be raised a little, bit but nothing outrageous.

Fausto Rodriguez

Tickets: I would raise the possibility of ANYONE attending a Knicks game. Ticket prices are far too high for the average New Yorker, in order to attend ONE game, one would have to save up for nearly a month. I would giveaway more tickets to fans (won't lose money because of their high revenue), and also make Monday-Wednesday tickets cheaper, as well as tickets against sub-par teams.
Jerseys: The Knicks need more versatility to their look. You can't change the colors, that's the tradition, but you can go beyond the simplicity. I think having alternate home and road jerseys would help the look of the Knicks. It gets boring seeing the same jerseys, night after night, plus it would increase revenue.

Promoting: I would try to promote OUTSIDE of Manhattan. Sure they play in NYC, but they represent the STATE of NY. I would start by involving the other 4 boroughs more, with charity work, straight up advertisement, etc. Then move on outwards. They represent Syracuse, a big basketball city, they represent BROOKLYN, they need to dominate Brooklyn, etc. I believe the Knicks organization centralizes a bit too much on Manhattan, although understandably, that's where most of our population is. Loyalty is key.

Jason Lippman

Being in total control of the team where money’s no object entitles one to go out and purchase a dream team, but that will not guarantee you a championship. Talent can only take you so far. A dream team would still need to know how to play well together. Team chemistry, both on and off the floor, is the difference maker.

Beneath the tabloid noise this off-season the Knicks have deepened their field of talent. So with this dream-light team in place, I would immediately start building off the floor chemistry. Involve Kidd and Camby in regular leadership talks; bring in the Knicks greats of the past. Show films of the ’86 Mets. Now there was a team with chemistry! Off the field, that team dined, partied and hung out together in every city they played in.

The key will be to transfer team chemistry onto the floor and become champions. I would give Coach Woodson whatever he needs to succeed. Hire the right coaching staff. Make sure that the right players are in place at all times. It is up to the coach to use the whole team effectively. Midseason adjustments might turn out to be critical on the path to the title.

The Knicks need to keep the fans “insane.” That really comes down winning. Nevertheless, I would finance a media and public relations campaign to help keep the craziness going all season long. I would take this marketing campaign to the next level with team music, video, social media, giveaways and player outreach. On the court, there is nothing more motivating than fan support.

Kyle Inman

I would hire Phil Jackson, Jerry Sloan, and any other great unemployed offensive basketball mind to draw up plays for Mike Woodson to help facilitate the use of actual basketball plays instead of isolation basketball.

I would hire Dirk Nowitzki's  shooting coach to work with Carmelo Anthony on making his jumpers at a more consistent rate than last season. With just a little fine tuning Anthony's jumper can improve.

I would assemble a team of life coaches to personally mentor and uplift Amare Stoudemire to make sure that his head is in the right place at all times pushing for him to be all that he can be.  They will keep his mind on basketball and winning games instead of fashion and the glam life.

Michael “Fulk” Hogan

Hire Phil Jackson as the general manager and do anything he wants: Allow him to Skype in from California as much as he wants, build him a Zen center inside Madison Square Garden, and if he wants a new coach, hire a new coach.

Assign a dedicated valet to shadow each Knicks player 24 hours a day. The specific person assigned should be someone who will get the attention of any individual player. For some, this valet should be a former Knicks great. For others, Carmelo Anthony in particular, this valet should be a member of the New York mafia.

With the assistance of assigned valets, enforce a media blackout that begins after the All-Star game and ends after the playoffs and have players participate in a Phil Jackson book club. During the playoffs, require everyone to live in Phil Jackson’s Madison Square Garden Zen Center.

Chris Morett

1. Trade Carmelo Anthony.  At least, if the Knicks aren't playing like clear, very serious championship contenders when the trade deadline approaches, dish him to a team that is desperate--either to make the playoffs or to bolster their playoff run--and get as many young prospects or draft picks as possible.  If you accept the premise that the Knicks won't make it to the top in the next three or four years (if only b/c of the Heat and OKC), then you have to view Melo not as a 28-year-old, recently injured, questionable team player but as a 32-year-old formerly injured (assuming four healthy years), questionable team player.  Cut the cord.

2. Fill out the roster with a young player or two who will help the team transition to its post-Melo glory.

3. Once Melo is gone (again, unless the Knicks are looking like true contenders this year), start making other deals and/or thinking about other contract negotiations so that they can maximize their chance to sign a big free agent next year and to pay some of the top draft picks they'll get from a Melo trade.

I hope all this speculative talk hasn't been too Melo-dramatic.

New York Stories: Knicks Roundtable, Part 3 of 4

Over the last three weeks TBCB has been working with several New York bloggers and fans to discuss how to make the Knicks into championship contenders (take a moment to read their bios here). We first discussed the Knicks' biggest issues based on The 7 Factors of Championship Teams, and then followed this discussion by suggesting how to address the factors raised as the most significant issues. This week our Knicks Roundtable participants reflect on our previous two posts and each suggest several achievable steps the Knicks can take to become legitimate contenders this coming season.

Watching last year's Knicks was like watching a new Woody Allen movie. Like the New York on the front of a Knicks' jersey, Allen raises expectations by simply adding his name to a film. The lead roles in his movies are often filled by stars, and the movies themselves are usually quirky and entertaining. However, while the movies are usually good and occasionally great, their quality is sometimes inconsistent.

Woody Allen

Photo by Colin Swan [CC-BY-SA-2.0],

via Wikimedia Commons 

Don't misunderstand me: I love Woody Allen. One of my favorite graduate school pastimes was walking to the local library and renting a Woody Allen movie. My library had an impressive collection, and I watched all of them. Over time, I learned that there is a unique sense of anticipation that comes with watching one of Allen's movies. You might be about to watch something that you'll remember forever, but it's also possible that you're about to watch a movie that will be very quickly forgotten.

Sound familiar, Knicks fans?

This feeling of uneasy anticipation might also describe a Knicks' fan waiting for this coming season to begin. Beginning this fall, Madison Square Garden will once again be full of stars on and off the court. Some nights the Knicks will awe those in attendance, and on other nights fans will surely leave disappointed. The team will likely make the playoffs, what will happen next remains to be seen.

How can James Dolan help ensure that his team is a championship contender? This week our roundtable participants emphasized a series of actions which, taken together, hep to address the issues they have discussed  over the last couple weeks. In no particular order, those actions are:

Emphasize Tradition

Over the last two weeks, roundtable participants have repeatedly emphasized the culture of the 1990's Knicks. As a founding member of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946, the Knicks were one of the NBA's original franchises. With this in mind, their history and tradition stretches back much longer than most NBA teams. With the 1990's as the most recent example, Knicks management needs to find ways to remind today's players of the storied franchise for which they play. The team that has featured, among others, Max Zaslofsky, Nat Clifton, Carl Braun, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Patrick Ewing, and Charles Oakley, has a rich history from which to draw. In a broader sense, New York basketball has an even richer past, going back to the days of the Harlem Rens and the New York Celtics. All of this history and tradition should be emphasized to today's players. A few sample responses from roundtable participants follow (the entire set of responses is near the end of this post):

Rodriguez: Knicks need to honor and relive their past traditions, set by the Ewing and his teammates: defense. It's ridiculous that they have the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year, yet aren't considered a Top 5 defensive team in the league. The Knicks MUST commit to an aggressive, yet smart, defensive style of play.

Johnson: Its about time for a culture change, so going back or honoring the 90s Knicks would be a great step to get back to the winning ways; these past years they have been paying homage to the 70s Knicks for the NBA Title run, but what happened to the defensive cultured Knicks of the 90s? If they want to become the "Talk of NY Sports" instead of the "laughing stock of New York" along with the New York Mets, its time the Knicks organization paid homage to the 1994 Knicks or the 1999 "Cinderella" Knicks. Those Knicks were defensive minded and that was the main reason they had minor success issues (even though if Hakeem doesn't block Starks, the Knicks win the 1994 Title, in my opinion); so remembering a defensive history should play a part in the Knicks success now.

Hogan: Open the doors to selected Knicks players and pay them to serve as team consultants. Ask them to focus on developing the team as a cohesive and hard-working unit via constant reminders during practice, hosting team dinners, etc., and on influencing specific players (e.g., Carmelo).

Madison Square Garden, c. 1879

[public domain]

Improve Coaching

Mike Woodson's strengths and weaknesses have been addressed on this blog and in others. Our roundtable participants believe Woodson needs help, and suggested several steps for addressing his coaching weaknesses. These include having Woodson expand his repertoire, allowing the Knicks' point guards to periodically freelance, and adding assistant coaches.

Inman: Mike Woodson and the coaching staff have to put players in a position to get easy looks instead of having to play one-on-one basketball.  He has to be willing to run some pick and rolls and draw up some plays that will free up guys to get the ball where they want it.  Last season there was too much isolation offense and that isn't a formula conducive to winning championships.

Johnson: Utilize some different offensive sets for the Knicks; for example, go to Amar'e in the post, or run a pick and roll through Chandler, then next possession, go to the Melo isolation play. Then for the bench, find out when it is good to keep players in and when guys shouldn't be used; this was evident in a few games under D'Antoni and lead to the Knicks struggling. Also, Woodson needs to quickly find out why the Knicks are struggling or why they are on fire as a team, then when the problem is found, create a solution and preach it to the players.

Rodriquez: Coaching: The Knicks' offense needs more variation, hopefully Woodson will allow Felton and Kidd to freelance on occasion, giving opposing defenses a new look every once in a while. The Knicks also need to go to Amar'e more often, he doesn't get enough touches in the paint. They usually go to Amar'e 15-feet out, forcing him to put it on the floor, which usually leads to either a made shot (20%), a bad shot (35%), or a turnover (45%).

Hogan: Hire an offensive-minded and playoff-tested assistant coach to help compensate for what Mike Woodson lacks; experiment with Kidd as an occasional player-coach; and hire an experienced and battle-tested team psychologist (someone like Don Kalkstein, @think2win, who has done a great job with the Dallas Mavericks).

Joe Lapchick 

Knicks Coach, 1947-1956

[public domain]

Establish Leadership

Leadership is another important step that roundtable participants addressed. With the addition of Jason Kidd, who now has a championship pedigree, and Marcus Camby, who was a member of the Knicks team that lost to the Spurs in the 1999 NBA Finals, the team has two important leaders in place. Now the key will be for its younger stars, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, to let the veterans lead. It might also be useful for them to periodically drive Jason Kidd back home after a night out in the Hamptons.

Inman: Mike Woodson can't be afraid to sit players if they aren't hustling and giving it their all on both ends of the floor.  The entire team needs to be focused on winning and playing team basketball every night with no excuses.  The stars have to set the tone with a strong work ethic and the rest will follow.

Lippman: The Knicks may have their players in place, but team chemistry remains an issue. Changing the culture will require leadership from the coaching staff and the veterans. Coach Mike Woodson can punctuate team cohesion. The veterans, Jason Kidd and Marcus Camby, can take charge, motivating Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire to play up to their full potential, and together!

Morett: Find the team leader, fast.  Kidd will provide inherent leadership, but they need something from the first team.  Not sure if the leader should be allowed to develop organically, or if coach should charge someone with it and have them rise to the challenge.  But the team needs to make sure there's a guy who provides the gel and the identity.

Taken together, the Knicks would certainly improve their chances to succeed if they followed the steps suggested by our roundtable participants. Each participant's complete submissions for Part 3 follow. Everyone has taken time to craft thoughtful responses, so I hope you take the time to review them. Next week we'll complete our Knicks Roundtable series by asking each participant to take the combined role of owner and general manager and suggest what they would do if they were in charge and money was no object. Stay tuned!



Individual Responses

Fausto Rodriguez (@F16Rodriquez)

Switching on picks is a big part of NY's defense; usually on any screen, Chandler switches out to the perimeter, which is great because he's an outstanding defender, but time after time, the little guy trapped in the paint with the big gets exposed. The Knicks need to learn when to switch on defense and when not to, I also they should experiment going to the zone on occasion, to relieve Chandler.

Knicks need to honor and relive their past traditions, set by the Ewing and his teammates: defense. It's ridiculous that they have the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year, yet aren't considered a Top 5 defensive team in the league. The Knicks MUST commit to an aggressive, yet smart, defensive style of play.

The Knicks' offense needs more variation, hopefully Woodson will allow Felton and Kidd to freelance on occasion, giving opposing defenses a new look every once in a while. The Knicks also need to go to Amar'e more often, he doesn't get enough touches in the paint. They usually go to Amar'e 15-feet out, forcing him to put it on the floor, which usually leads to either a made shot (20%), a bad shot (35%), or a turnover (45%).

Michael Johnson (@NBAStreets)

During the season, break the main goal into mini-objectives: First, get a winning record, then win the division, then get into the playoffs and advance past the 1st round, then advance to the conf. finals, then to the NBA Finals. If the Knicks take this approach or one similar, than maybe they can be NBA Champions.

Utilize some different offensive sets for the Knicks; for example, go to Amar'e in the post, or run a pick and roll through Chandler, then next possession, go to the Melo isolation play. Then for the bench, find out when it is good to keep players in and when guys shouldn't be used; this was evident in a few games under D'Antoni and lead to the Knicks struggling. Also, Woodson needs to quickly find out why the Knicks are struggling or why they are on fire as a team, then when the problem is found, create a solution and preach it to the players.

Its about time for a culture change, so going back or honoring the 90s Knicks would be a great step to get back to the winning ways; these past years they have been paying homage to the 70s Knicks for the NBA Title run, but what happened to the defensive cultured Knicks of the 90s? If they want to become the "Talk of NY Sports" instead of the "laughing stock of New York" along with the New York Mets, its time the Knicks organization paid homage to the 1994 Knicks or the 1999 "Cinderella" Knicks. Those Knicks were defensive minded and that was the main reason they had minor success issues (even though if Hakeem doesn't block Starks, the Knicks win the 1994 Title, in my opinion); so remembering a defensive history should play a part in the Knicks success now.

Jason Lippman (@Lippmania)

The Knicks may have their players in place, but team chemistry remains an issue. Changing the culture will require leadership from the coaching staff and the veterans. Coach Mike Woodson can punctuate team cohesion. The veterans, Jason Kidd and Marcus Camby, can take charge, motivating Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire to play up to their full potential, and together!

Coach Woodson can implement a strong defensive culture, along with strategic ball and player movement on the court. He's got plenty of talent to work with now. Besides having Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler, the Knicks have added Jason Kidd, Marcus Camby and Raymond Felton. Iman Shumpert will eventually be back as well. Again, leadership will be important to get this cast of characters to play well together.

In the wake of Linsanity, the Knicks can still make one more move in the off season to acquire a change making player. Of course the cap is an issue with free agents, but a smart trade utilizing existing talent or a draft pick could be worked out.

Kyle Inman (@DrHoopenstein)

Mike Woodson can't be afraid to sit players if they aren't hustling and giving it their all on both ends of the floor.  The entire team needs to be focused on winning and playing team basketball every night with no excuses.  The stars have to set the tone with a strong work ethic and the rest will follow.

Knicks need to maximize Amare Stoudemire's talent so that he becomes a legitimate and dangerous second scoring option.  Mike Woodson and the coaching staff need to build his confidence back up after an off season.  No team can win a championship with only one player as the scoring threat and the Knicks won't unless Stoudemire goes to the rim with the ferocity that we've seen in past years.

Mike Woodson and the coaching staff have to put players in a position to get easy looks instead of having to play one-on-one basketball.  He has to be willing to run some pick and rolls and draw up some plays that will free up guys to get the ball where they want it.  Last season there was too much isolation offense and that isn't a formula conducive to winning championships.

Chris Morett (@CRM_HSsports)

I'm not saying the Knicks are as old as last year's Celtics, but they're not as young as last year's Sixers, either. With the remaining pickups they might make in this offseason, it wouldn't hurt to make picks that are going to infuse the team's collective "legs" with some more energy.

Find the team leader, fast.  Kidd will provide inherent leadership, but they need something from the first team.  Not sure if the leader should be allowed to develop organically, or if coach should charge someone with it and have them rise to the challenge.  But the team needs to make sure there's a guy who provides the gel and the identity.

Send the squad to a team building retreat.  Go ahead, make fun of me.  But in this day and age of free agency and constant comings and goings, a team either needs to be so talented it can just win regardless of the circumstances, or it needs to actively work to become a unit that is both cohesive, but that also has each player fulling a needed role. Maybe it's just because I grew up watching the Sixers in the 1980s, but they had this: Toney the sniper from downtown, Cheeks running point, Dr. J., Moses, etc. It was straightforward but it worked.

Michael "Fulk" Hogan (@champsbelt)

Hire an offensive-minded and playoff-tested assistant coach to help compensate for what Mike Woodson lacks; experiment with Kidd as an occasional player-coach; and hire an experienced and battle-tested team psychologist (someone like Don Kalkstein (@think2win), who has done a great job with the Mavericks).

Open the doors to selected Knicks players and pay them to serve as team consultants. Ask them to focus on developing the team as a cohesive and hard-working unit via constant reminders during practice, hosting team dinners, etc., and on influencing specific players (e.g., Carmelo).

As an organization, decide what matters most: Selling tickets, making money, having a high profile, or winning a title. If the goal is to win a championship, ownership and management need to wake up every day, remind themselves of their goal, keep quiet, work hard, and let their actions speak for themselves. The goal should be to slowly build a management culture that reflects the culture that management wants its team to have.

Spotlight: 1940's Decade in Review

The 1940s were a decade of change and upheaval. Millions around the world lost their lives leading up to and during World War II; the United Nations was founded to help prevent future conflicts; and critical research in computers, nuclear power, and quantum theory all made important progress. Each of these developments continue to significantly impact our world today. In addition, old regimes faded and new nations were born.

Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin

Photo by the U. S. Signal Corps [Public domain], 

via Wikimedia Commons

Like the People's Republic of China, Bhutan, and Israel, The Basketball Champs Belt also made itself known in the 1940s. It was first raised by the Philadelphia Warriors' Joe Fulks after the 1947 Basketball Association of America (BAA) finals, then passed through the hands of the Chicago Stags' Max Zaslofsky and the Baltimore Bullets' Bob Feerick. The belt then spent the summer of 1948 being paraded around Baltimore Harbor after the Bullets won the 1948 BAA championship. In 1947-48, the belt was raised by the Rochester Royals and Bob Davies, and then spent the summer of 1949 with the Minneapolis Lakers. Finally, in the last season of the decade and first official season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the belt was held high by Carl Braun's New York Knicks and George Mikan, whose Lakers would once again take the belt back to Minnesota for the summer of 1950.

Minneapolis police officer directs traffic 
before the Lakers parade the belt through the city 

[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Belt Begins

In mid-March, I began writing this blog to highlight the history of the NBA by tracing the path of a fictional championship belt, The Basketball Champs Belt, (TBCB) as it makes its way from 1947 to today. As our alternative history of the NBA marches through time, we're also discussing the players and teams who held the belt throughout the decades. In addition to following the progress of the belt throughout history, we're also following the history of a modern-day belt as it travels among teams throughout the NBA seasons. The belt is currently held by the NBA Champion Miami Heat, who will defend it next when they play their first game of the 2012-13 NBA season. Eventually our exploration of history will catch up to modern times, but we're in no rush to complete this journey.

TBCB's records begin with the founding of the BAA in 1946 and the 1946-47 BAA Champion Philadelphia Warriors. While the National Basketball League (NBL) was established earlier than the BAA and initially featured better players and teams, the war between the leagues was ultimately won by the BAA. For example, one year before the merger, the Minneapolis Lakers and three other teams left the NBL to join the BAA in part due to the appeal of the BAA's bigger cities and venues. In addition, Maurice Polodoff, the first and only commissioner of the BAA and the man who engineered the NBL-BAA merger, was named the NBA's first commissioner in 1949. Finally, debate continues about how how to address pre-merger records, for the purposes of this blog the debate is definitively settled by the lack of available data about individual NBL games. However, websites like databasebasketball.com and basketball-reference.com maintain significant data sets about the BAA and NBA. We take our data seriously, and our experiment would be impossible without websites like these.

Philadelphia's Joe Fulks

[public domain]

All-Decade Awards & Hall of Fame

Our trip through the late forties has provided us with an introduction to the belt and an approach that we plan to continue following in writing about the history of the game. In addition to following the progress of the belt among teams, we're also identifying a player of the game for each game involving the belt. The player of the game is always chosen from the winning team, and the award is typically given to the game's high scorer. However, as we follow the belt into modern times, when available data also includes rebounds, assists, etc., other information will also be considered.

As loyal followers of TBCB have observed, this blog recently counted down the top 10 players of the 1940s based who won the most player of the game awards. After the conclusion of our 1954-55 season summary, we'll offer a similar countdown based on the top 10 players of all time. Then we'll continue the same pattern after covering every five seasons: After seasons that end with a zero (e.g., 1949-50), we'll identify and discuss the players and teams of the decade, and after seasons that end with a five (e.g., 1954-55), we'll catch up on the all-time players and teams.

In addition to reviewing the 1940s, we also recently opened the TBCB Hall of Fame, which features the top 5 players of the decade plus a sixth member chosen by me. We'll continue to induct six new players after covering every five NBA seasons, and by the time we reach the 2010 season, we'll have a total of about 85 players in the Hall of Fame. In contrast, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame has inducted over 300 players, coaches, and teams. While we don't want to take ourselves too seriously, our approach makes the Champs Belt Hall of Fame an even more exclusive club than the official Basketball Hall of Fame.

So let's get on with the show...

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame

Photo by Rizha Ubal (DSC04206) 

[CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

All-Decade Team

The TBCB 1940s All-Decade Team honors the 10 men who won the most player of the game awards during the decade of the 1940s (1947-1950). These 10 can be thought of as the first and second team, although we're not concerned if the team is overly weighted towards any individual position. The bench is comprised of the 10th through 6th best players on our all-decade list and the starters represent the top five players of the decade. As noted above, all five starers are inducted into the Champs Belt Hall of Fame. Click on each player's name for a brief profile.

Bench

• Bones McKinney: A 6 foot 6 forward/center, McKinney won six player of the game awards as a member of the Washington Capitols.
• Bobby Wanzer: A 6 foot guard, Wanzer won six player of the game awards as a member of the Rochester Royals.
• Bob Feerick: A 6 foot 3 guard/forward, Feerick won seven player of the game awards as a member of the Washington Capitols.
• Kleggie Hermsen: A 6 foot 9 forward/center, Hermsen won seven player of the game awards as a member of the Baltimore Bullets and Washington Capitols.  
• Arnie Risen: A 6 foot 9 forward/center, Risen won seven player of the game awards as a member of the Rochester Royals.

Starters/TBCB Hall of Famers

• George Mikan: A 6 foot 10 center, Mikan won 11 player of the game awards as a member of the Minneapolis Lakers.  
• Joe Fulks: A 6 foot 5 forward, Fulks won 10 player of the game awards as a member of the Philadelphia Warriors.  
• Bob Davies: A 6 foot 1 guard/forward, Davies won 13 player of the game awards as a member of the Rochester Royals.
• Max Zaslofsky: A 6 foot 2 guard, Zaslofsky won 15 player of the game awards as a member of the Chicago Stags.
• Carl Braun: A 6 foot 5 guard/forward, Braun won 9 player of the game awards as a member of the New York Knicks.  

Player of the Decade

In addition to earning a place on our 1940s All Decade Team and entering the TBCB Hall of Fame, Max Zaslofsky also earns the distinction of being the TBCB 1940's Player of the Decade. As noted above, Zaslofsky won more TBCB player of the game awards than any other player during the 1940s. In addition, he held the distinction of being the youngest player named to the All-BAA or NBA Team until his record was broken by Lebron James in 2006, and he was the youngest player to lead the league in scoring until his record was broken by Kevin Durant in 2010. However, Zaslofsky is not a member of the official Basketball Hall of Fame.

Max Zaslofsky

[public domain]

Commissioner's Hall of Fame Selection

Although I try not to take this blog too seriously, I wanted to take an appropriate level of due diligence in making the TBCB Commissioner's Hall of Fame selection. To do this, I consulted with Curtis Harris, who writes about basketball history for Hardwood Paroxysm, before finalizing my choice. Based on his feedback, my research, and TBCB game results, I have selected Bob Feerick as the first Comissioner's selection to the Champs Belt Hall of Fame. [As a side note, Harris is currently naming NBA MVPs for the 1946-47 through 1954-55 seasons, seasons in which there were no official MVPs named. Anyone interested in the history of the sport should check this effort out.]

Bob Feerick

[public domain]

Feerick did not make our list of the top 5 players of the decade, but his opportunities were cut short by the fact that the belt was not awarded until the end of the 1946-47 season. Had the belt been exchanging hands throughout 1946-47, Feerick would have almost certainly improved his standing in our rankings. With respect to his non-belt awards, Feerick earned All-BAA honors during his first three seasons, led the BAA in field goal percentage in 1946-47; was the runner up in total points in 1946-47; and led the BAA in win shares during the 1946-47 and 1947-48 seasons. In addition, Feerick was one of only 25 players nominated to be a member of the NBA's 25th Anniversary Team in 1971. Like Zaslofsky, Feerick is also not a member of the official Basketball Hall of Fame. This blog will also feature more on both Zaslofsky and Feerick in the coming months.  

Team of the Decade

From the time we first awarded the belt in 1947 through the end of the 1949-50 season, four teams stood out above all others as measured by the number of nights they held the belt. Surprising, the Minneapolis Lakers did not appear on this list. However, I've already collected the data needed to write about the 1950-1955 seasons, and we'll definitely hear much more from the Lakers as this project progresses. Before we reveal the team of the decade, let's first meet the contenders.

Contenders

Our top three contenders each won or defended the belt for a total of 26 games between 1947 and 1950.

• Washington Capitols: The Capitols won the belt on six different occasions and defended it 20 times.  The Capitols were also runners up for our 1948-49 team of the year.
• New York Knicks: The Knicks won the belt 11 different times and defended it 15 times. They were also our 1949-50 team of the year. 
• Chicago Stags: The Stags won the belt on 10 different occasions and defended it 16 times. They were runners up for our 1947-48 team of the year.

Team of the Decade

The TBCB Team of the Decade is the Rochester Royals. The Royals didn't join the BAA until 1948, but they made up for lost time by winning the belt on six different occasions between 1948 and 1950 and defending it 24 times, for a total of 30 nights as champion. In addition, the Royals, who were led by Arnie Risen and TBCB Hall of Famer Bob Davies, were also our 1948-49 team of the year and finished third in the TBCB team rankings during the 1949-50 season. 

Bob Davies

[public domain]

Stay tuned for more as we soon turn the corner and begin exploring the 1950s.

Sources: Wikipedia, wikimedia commons, previous TBCB posts and analysis; 1948 Bowman cards are in the public domain and are scanned from the author's collection.

Culture Club: Knicks Roundtable (Part 2 of 4)

TBCB offers our contribution to the madness surrounding the New York Knicks by continuing to explore the big issues the Knicks need to address to become legitimate championship contenders. In part 2 of our Knicks Roundtable, participants were asked to discuss what can be done to address the most critical issues raised in last week’s roundtable. If you missed last week’s edition, the discussion is grounded in TBCB’s 7 Factors of Championship Teams and is based on contributions from six bloggers and fans who follow the Knicks closely.

Torre de Babel

By Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires 
from Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina 

[CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Participants

Michael "Fulk" Hogan: Lead blogger at TBCB and Dallas Mavericks season ticker holder (which also makes me an expert on the Knicks, who currently feature multiple ex-Mavericks). (@champsbelt)

Kyle Inman: Sole contributor at drivebaseline.com. NBA and NCAA basketball journalist and enthusiast. (@DrHoopenstein)

Michael Johnson: Aspiring NBA analyst and writer for ESPN & NBA TV/NBA.com. I have a YouTube channel where I analyze and give my opinions on the NBA (mostly Knicks). Streets of the NBA. (@NBAStreets)

Jason Lippman: Attended his first Knicks game on December 25, 1981, at 5 years old. He watched most of the game sitting on a basketball given away that day as a promotional item and used as a booster. (@Lippmania)

Chris Morett: Sociologist, university administrator, and one-time sportswriter covering high school and college sports. He is Philadelphia fan in all major sports, although the hatred he felt for other teams has subsided with age (although Duke hoops, Kobe's Lakers, and Notre Dame anything still annoys him). (@CRM_HSsports)

Fausto Rodriguez: Analyst for the Street Team, mostly covering the Knicks on our Twitter account. I'm an experienced player as well, with a National AAU title under my belt. (@NBAStreets)

The Big Issues

This has been a crazy week for the Knicks, which much of the drama focused on whether Jeremy Lin wants to remain a Knick, the game of tag that the Knicks have been playing with the Houston Rockets, and whether the Knicks will match the Rockets' offer to Lin. At the time of this post's issuance, it appears that the Knicks will not match Lin's offer, but nothing will be certain until after the deadline to match his offer passes.



Regardless of what happens with Lin, based on this week’s discussion, roundtable participants believe that the Knicks’ issues go much deeper than whether the team has the right players. Almost everyone chose to write about the need to improve the Knicks culture and coaching, and I happen to agree that improving these two issues would help to address much of what ails New York’s elder NBA team. The need to improve the focus of the Knicks' players was also addressed by over half of our participants.

Culture

Good culture is difficult to define, hard to create, and even more challenging to sustain. According to the Collins English Dictionary, culture is “the total of the inherited ideas, beliefs, values, and knowledge, which constitute the shared bases of social action.” While I’m less knowledgeable about the Knicks than other roundtable participants (local bloggers always know more), as an outside observer it seems very clear that the Knicks' organization has not established a positive championship-level set of shared ideas, beliefs, and values. While a culture does exist, it seems to be focused on media hype, superstars, and selling tickets. In contrast, a different culture seems to exist with organizations like the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, and even the Miami Heat. The beginnings of a championship culture can come from players, coaches, or management, but ultimately everyone needs to understand and execute a shared vision that involves all players working hard off and on the court and doing all the little things that matter.

Our roundtable pariticpants had several suggestions for improving the Knicks' culture, including going back to the 1990's for inspiration. Here are two highlights (the complete set of responses is listed below):

Inman: Knicks need a culture change. There needs to be more of a defensive tough-minded culture reminiscent of the 90's. Obviously these guys are talented offensive players, but other teams can't feel like they can outwork the Knicks. New York City is bigger and brighter than any other city on planet. There's too much of a big city of lights superstar culture and the Knicks need to develop a hungry mentality and not get caught up in everything that the city has to offer. Everybody just has to take a hard work and humble approach when they step on the court. I think that the Thunder have a perfect culture and it starts with their superstar Kevin Durant and that's what the Knicks need out of Anthony.

Morett: Was in Spike's seafood restaurant in Pt. Pleasant, NJ on Friday and they happened to have on the 1994 Eastern Conference finals between the Knicks and the Bulls.  Now, THAT'S the kind of culture we're looking for.  That squad -- Ewing, Mason, Oakley -- they were men and they were championship-minded.

Patrick Ewing's Georgetown Jersey

Photo by Randomduck

via Flikr

Coaching

Coaching is another issue that needs to be addressed. Although coaches can be hired and fired at will, the Knicks seem set on moving ahead with Mike Woodson regardless of his isolation approach, which seems to be less effective in the playoffs, and his relative lack of playoff experience. With this in mind, our participants suggested that the Knicks either need to bring in assistants that can help Woodson open up his offense and make better adjustments or that Woodson himself needs to learn to do so on his own. Coaches are much cheaper than players, so adding to the Knicks coaching staff is a more achievable step than adding new players. A couple samples from our roundtable:

Rodriguez: Knicks need to bring in an assistant coach with an established offensive system. Mike Woodson has very little playoff experience, and a very limited offensive scheme, having only preached an ISO offense in Atlanta.

Johnson: Mike Woodson should utilize different strategies instead of the same pass to Joe (aka Melo) offense he used in ATL. STAT and Tyson are working with Hakeem "The Dream", so going to the post more would definitely be a start to improve coaching.

Mike Woodson

Photo by Chrisjnelson at en.wikipedia [CC-BY-3.0], 

from Wikimedia Commons

Focus

Finally, focus emerged as the last factor that most of our contributors addressed. In particular, our participants agreed that the Knicks players need to seek out ways to block out distractions and consistently play hard and hustle. Improving the Knicks' culture can help address improved focus, but the two issues have two distinctly different sources, as culture addresses the entire organization, while focus addresses how each individual on the team keeps his mind in the game while on the floor.

Lippman: Learning the discipline to stay focused over the course of a season is a critical factor to becoming a champion. Again, this begins with the coaching staff, but the players will have to learn to avoid distraction, keep their eyes on the prize and play as a team.

Hogan (me): While I enjoy watching Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, it isn’t clear if either of them has the focus and drive needed to succeed at the game’s highest level. Adding Kidd will help, but the changes needed from the Knicks stars can only come from within themselves. We saw Lebron James win a title with the Heat this year after deciding to block out all distractions: No parties, limited contact with family and friends, his now-famous reading list, etc. This off-court regimen helped improve his on-court focus, leading him to appear at times as a man possessed.  Carmelo and STAT need to find a way to block out all of the New York distractions and focus on doing whatever it takes to win.



Next week our roundtable participants will each suggest several achievable steps that the Knicks should take to improve their chances of becoming a championship contender. Finally, we'll conclude our Knicks Roundtable by throwing reality out the window and asking each participant to suggest what they would do if they were running the show. Stay tuned for their suggestions. All of the contributions submitted for Part 2 of our roundtable follow (note that submissions were provided when the Jeremy Lin and Raymond Felton situations were still unresolved).

-------

Knicks Roundtable Responses

Culture (6)

Inman: Knicks need a culture change.  There needs to be more of a defensive tough-minded culture reminiscent of the 90's.  Obviously these guys are talented offensive players, but other teams can't feel like they can outwork the Knicks.  New York City is bigger and brighter than any other city on planet. There's too much of a big city of lights superstar culture and the Knicks need to develop a hungry mentality and not get caught up in everything that the city has to offer.  Everybody just has to take a hard work and humble approach when they step on the court.  I think that the Thunder have a perfect culture and it starts with their superstar Kevin Durant and that's what the Knicks need out of Anthony.

Rodriguez: Bring back throw back jerseys. Maybe then, and only then, these current players will realize what Knicks basketball is. The Knicks went from being a defensive powerhouse in the '90s, to being an afterthought in the new millennium.

Johnson: In order to change the Knicks from a 6th-7th seed team to a "Beast of the East," they need to bring in better talent (players and front office). To change the culture, I think some people in the front office need to be changed first, then the players.

Lippman: With the acquisition of Jason Kidd and Marcus Camby, the Knicks now have Experience to match their star power. Culture begins at the top, and Coach Woodson needs to utilize his veterans to help create a championship culture among the team.

Hogan: The Knicks have brought in several players who will contribute to improving the on-court culture, including Chandler (last summer), Kidd, and Camby. However, culture doesn’t begin and end on the court; instead, it’s reflected and created at every level of the organization and takes years to build. As an organization, the Knicks need to commit to their preferred vision and then stay the course. They also need to think of creative ways to reinforce whatever culture they’re trying to develop. Pat Riley understands this in Miami, Sam Presti gets this in Oklahoma City, but it’s not clear if Grunwald gets this in New York.

Morett: Was in Spike's seafood restaurant in Pt. Pleasant, NJ on Friday and they happened to have on the 1994 Eastern Conference finals between the Knicks and the Bulls.  Now, THAT'S the kind of culture we're looking for.  That squad--Ewing, Mason, Oakley--they were men and they were championship-minded.

Coaching (5)

Rodriguez: Knicks need to bring in an assistant coach with an established offensive system. Mike Woodson has very little playoff experience, and a very limited offensive scheme, having only preached an ISO offense in Atlanta.

Johnson: Mike Woodson should utilize different strategies instead of the same pass to Joe (aka Melo) offense he used in ATL. STAT and Tyson are working with Hakeem "The Dream", so going to the post more would definitely be a start to improve coaching.

Lippman: Coach Woodson needs to gain the intuition to use each of his players to their maximum potential. This will include knowing when to insert Kidd and Camby, when to rest Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak, and how to reign in Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. When the going gets tough, Woodson will now have a deeper arsenal to choose from. He just needs to know when to pull the trigger on the right weapon.
Inman: Mike Woodson needs somebody on the coaching staff to help him draw up plays and make adjustments on offense.  Too many times he relies on one-on-one basketball and with all of the weapons on the roster, that strategy isn't good unless it's Anthony on the block. Woodson needs to run more pick-and-rolls and screens to free up players for open looks and he has to be willing to make in-game personnel adjustments if somebody is hurting the team.

Hogan: One of the challenges of running an isolation offense is that defenses tighten during the playoffs, making it more difficult for a team whose primary focus is on getting its star free to score. This was evident during the Knicks – Heat playoff matchup, where the Knicks offense would get bottled up. Woodson needs help if the Knicks are going to overcome this limitation and have success deep into the playoffs, either by hiring an experienced offensive-minded assistant coach or by periodically ceding control of the offense during games to Jason Kidd and letting Kidd run a flow offense like he often did in Dallas.

Focus (4)

Hogan: While I enjoy watching Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, it isn’t clear if either of them has the focus and drive needed to succeed at the game’s highest level.  Adding Kidd will help, but the changes needed from the Knicks stars can only come from within themselves. We saw Lebron James win a title with the Heat this year after deciding to block out all distractions: No parties, limited contact with family and friends, his now-famous reading list, etc. This off-court regimen helped improve his on-court focus, leading him to appear at times as a man possessed.  Carmelo and STAT need to find a way to block out all of the New York distractions and focus on doing whatever it takes to win.

Inman: The focus needs to shift to playing efficient team basketball. Everybody knows Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire are potent offensive weapons, but they need to focus on setting a tone for their team by making hustle plays and playing hard on the defensive end.  If the shooters are having an off night then they need to draw the defense and make other players better instead of firing contested jumpers early in the shot clock.  Focus needs to be on getting the most out of every single possession and volume jump shooting isn't the answer.

Lippman: Learning the discipline to stay focused over the course of a season is a critical factor to becoming a champion. Again, this begins with the coaching staff, but the players will have to learn to avoid distraction, keep their eyes on the prize and play as a team.

Morett: Even though the ’94 Knicks were playing in New York, and they didn't exactly sit out of the media circus, at the same time those players spoke, first and foremost, on the court, not off it.  Not saying today's Knicks are especially catty or silly, but there was a gravitas of sorts in '94 that any team would do well to emulate.

Players (2)

Morett: Even putting aside Ewing, the superstar, the ‘94 Knicks had players like Mason and Oak who could go in there and change the game and bang up the other team.

Johnson: Knicks needed to sign Camby, they need to re-sign Lin, Novak, and Smith (even though I don't want him on the team). If they can't re-sign Lin, then they should get Felton and maybe one of the available two guards in free agency.

Defense (1)

Rodriguez: Knicks needed to get Camby and they did, he makes them a defensive threat all game. Woodson must also reward defense, and punish anyone who slacks off, such as benching Amar'e if he shows no effort defensively.

Commissioner's HOF Selection: Bob Feerick

As described in our Hall of Fame guidelines, each TBCB Hall of Fame class includes five players who are added based on their performance in games involving the belt and one player inducted as a Commissioner's Selection. Over the last several weeks, TBCB has been introducing the current Hall of Fame class, which includes players inducted based on their performances during the 1940s. The first five players inducted were Carl Braun, Joe Fulks, George Mikan, Bob Davies, and Max Zaslofsky.

Today TBCB introduces the Commissioner's Selection for the 1950 Hall of Fame class. While their are no guidelines for who can be selected, I restricted the eligible players to those who played in the BAA or NBA during the 1940s and finished near the top of our 1940s player rankings. I also consulted with Hardwood Paroxysm's resident NBA history expert, Curtis Harris, to get his perspective on my proposed choice.

After considering several possible options, I've chosen Bob Feerick as the Commissioner's Selection for the 1950 class. Feerick had a relatively short professional basketball career, but his achievements are difficult to ignore. In addition to earning All-BAA honors during his first three seasons, Feerick led the BAA in field goal percentage in 1946-47; was the runner up in total points in 1946-47 Joe Fulks finished first overall); and led the BAA in win shares during the 1946-47 and 1947-48 seasons. In addition, Feerick was one of only 25 players nominated to be a member of the NBA's 25th Anniversary Team in 1971.

Bob Feerick
[Public Domain]

Basketball-Reference.com cites Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, and LaMarcus Aldridge as active players who are similar to Feerick, who died on June 8, 1976. TBCB will shine our spotlight on Feerick soon, so stay tuned for more.

Sources: Wikipedia, Basketball-Reference.com, author's analysis, previous Champs Belt posts.

1940's Player of the Decade: Max Zaslofsky

TBCB is pleased to announce the 1940's player of the decade, Max Zaslofsky. A six foot two guard, St. Johns' Max "Slats" Zaslofsky played for various teams during his career in the Bastketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). His longest tenure came with his first team, the Chicago Stags (1946-1950), which he followed by playing for the New York Knicks (1950-1953), Baltimore Bullets (1953), Milwaukee Hawks (1953), and Fort Wayne Pistons (1953-1956).

Zaslofsky finished his career in 1956 as the third leading scorer in league history, behind only George Mikan and Joe Fulks. He also held the distinctions of being the youngest player named to the All-BAA or NBA Team until his record was broken by Lebron James in 2006 and the youngest player to lead the league in scoring until his record was broken by Kevin Durant in 2010. In addition to his on-court accolades, he coached the American Basketball Association's New Jersey Americans during the 1967-68 and 1968-69 seasons. Incredibly, Max Zaslofsky is not a member of the official Basketball Hall of Fame.

Max Zaslofsky
[Public Domain]

During the 1940's, Max Zaslofsky won TBCB player of the game honors 15 times, was the TBCB player of the year for the 1947-48 season, and tied for the third best player during both the 1948-49 and 1949-50 seasons. He also led the league in scoring during the 1947-48 season, won All-BAA or NBA First Team honors during each of his first four seasons, and was named an All-Star in 1952.

1. 12/27/47, Chicago Stags 79, New York Knicks 70; Zaslofsky, 24 points. 
2. 12/30/47, Chicago Stags 85, Providence Steam Rollers 73; Zaslofsky, 34 points. 
3. 1/3/48, Chicago Stags 79, Providence Steam Rollers 76; Zaslofsky, 20 points. 
4. 2/19/48, Chicago Stags 82, New York Knicks 74; Zaslofsky, 26 points. 
5. 2/25/48, Chicago Stags 73, Washington Capitols 66; Zaslofsky, 20 points. 
6. 3/10/48, Chicago Stags 71, Washington Capitols 54; Zaslofsky, 28 points. 
7. 1/2/49, Chicago Stags 81, Philadelphia Warriors 79; Zaslofsky, 21 points. 
8. 1/4/49, Chicago Stags 105, Providence Steam Rollers 104; Zaslofsky, 21points. 
9. 2/5/49, Chicago Stags 91, Providence Steam Rollers 75; Zaslofsky, 24 points. 
10. 2/6/49, Chicago Stags 87, New York Knicks 75; Zaslofsky, 26 points. 
11. 3/16/49, Chicago Stags 107, Boston Celtics 82; Zaslofsky, 29 points. 
12. 3/17/49, Chicago Stags 85, St. Louis Bombers 79; Zaslofsky, 33 points. 
13. 11/12/49, Chicago Stags 86, Minneapolis Lakers 79; Zaslofsky, 24 points. 
14. 11/13/49, Chicago Stags 91, St. Louis Bombers 65; Zaslofsky, 20 points. 
15. 11/15/49, Chicago Stags 77, Washington Capitols 63; Zaslofsky, 18 points. 
16. 2/3/50, Chicago Stags 98, Baltimore Bullets 81; Zaslofsky, 25 points. 

Basketball-Reference.com cites Rajon Rondo and Deron Williams as active players similar to Zaslofsky. Max Zaslofsky passed away on October 15, 1985.

As a reminder, our top 10 list represents the players who won the greatest number of TBCB player of the game awards between when the belt was first awarded to the 1947 BAA Champion Philadelphia Warriors and the conclusion of the 1949-50 NBA season. The top five players of the 1940's are inducted into the Champs Belt Hall of Fame, where they will be joined by a sixth player selected by TBCB's Commissioner. The sixth player will be announced on Thursday. For more on Hall of Fame eligibility and rules, click here. Suggestions for the sixth Hall of Fame suggestion can be sent to the Commissioner at champsbelt@gmail.com or via Twitter (@champsbelt).

Sources: Wikipedia, Basketball-Reference.com, author's analysis, previous Champs Belt posts.

HP: Navigating the Heart's Treacherous Waters

Although I don't post Good Reads on a weekly basis during the offseason, I still like to occasionally highlight pieces of basketball writing that I find particularly enjoyable As a Dallas Mavericks fan, I've developed emotional attachments to many players who have made their way through Mark Cuban's revolving door and less positive relationships with certain teams the Mavs have battled over the years. One of the ex-Mavs that I will always feelings for is Steve Nash, and I still can't get over how the Los Angeles Lakers tried to mug the Mavericks at the end of their 2011 playoff sweep. So, like many others, I had mixed feelings when Nash decided to join the Lakers.

By Olybrius (Own work) [Public domain], 

via Wikimedia Commons 

With this in mind, I particularly enjoyed Steve McPherson's recent piece describing his feelings on Nash's decision. Read it here. McPherson's basketball musings provide an interesting and unique perspective on the sport. If you enjoy his piece on Nash, I suggest you also check out other articles he's written for Hardwood Paroxysm, such as his recent piece on Black Coffee, Steely Dan, and the Bland, Refined Flavor of the San Antonio Spurs, and his personal website, Feelings Aren't Numbers. You can also follow him on Twitter.

Knicks Roundtable: Part 1 of 4

TBCB recently released The 7 Factors of Championship Teams, which attempts to document the most significant traits of teams that win an NBA championship. In particular, the 7 factors highlight the importance of coaching, opportunity, culture, focus, players, defense, and experience on winning the most challenging team championship in modern American sports. Over time, I plan to work with bloggers from across the NBA spectrum to assess the state of their respective squads against the 7 factors and determine what each team needs to do to become a championship-level contender. We begin this effort today with part one of an in-depth roundtable assessment of the New York Knicks. We'll continue our discussion of the Knicks throughout the month of July.

Einstein Explains the Isolation Offense 

Photo by the Los Angeles Times/Tillman at en.wikipedia

[Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

The Knicks

As an outside observer, the 2011-12 New York Knicks were, as a good friend likes to quote, a riddle wrapped inside a mystery inside an enigma. My first extended opportunity to observe the Knicks this season came near the beginning of their Jeremy Lin phase. As luck would have it, the path of The Basketball Champs Belt converged with the beginning of Linsanity when, on February 6, the Utah Jazz, who at the time held the belt, visited Mike D'Antoni's Knicks. At this point in the season, the Knicks had only won only 9 of their first 24 games, but change was in the air.

In hindsight, this game ushered out phase one of the Knicks' season (the pre-Lin phase) and began phase two (Linsanity). In his first game as a starter, Jeremy Lin lit up the scoreboard with 28 points and 8 assists to lead the Knicks to a 99-88 victory. He went on to cement himself as an important (but turnover-prone) part of the Knicks lineup throughout the remainder of the season, although his role declined as the season progressed and with the firing of coach Mike D'Antoni and promotion of Mike Woodson. D'Antoni's exit ushered in phase 3 or the season, which featured Lin less prominently and focused more on the isolation approach favored by Woodson. In the end, the Knicks finished the season 36-30, earning themselves the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and a first round playoff matchup against the future NBA Champion Miami Heat. 

The Knicks team that faced the Heat was a very different team than the one that featured Jeremy Lin earlier in the season. Lin was injured, and this version of the team was led by its more established stars, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. The Knicks lost their first game to the Heat by a score of 100-67 and went on to lose the series four games to one, with Stoudemire famously injuring his left hand by punching a fire extinguisher in frustration after the Kincks' game two loss. The Knicks' eventual five game loss to the Heat demonstrated that the team still has much to do before it improves enough to be a championship-level contender. 

So where do the Knicks go from here? Our TBCB Bloggers Roundtable begins to weigh in below.

Wrestlemania XX at Madison Square Garden

Photo by TheHellraiser (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-3.0], 

via Wikimedia Commons

Approach

Today we introduce our participants and discuss which of the recently-published 7 Factors of Championship Teams the Knicks need to most improve. In the coming weeks we'll also address each participant's suggested steps for improving the team relative to these factors and then we'll look back over our previous posts and each suggest three achievable steps the Knicks need to take to improve. Finally, we'll close the month by having each participant serve as General Manager and report on what they would do if they had total control and unlimited funds. 

Participants

The participants in our Knicks Roundtable include three bloggers who follow the Knicks closely: Kyle Inman from drivebaseline.com and Michael Johnson and Fausto Rodriguez from the Streets of the NBA; two analytical friends and pickup basketball partners from my college days in New York: Jason Lippman and Chris Morett; and me.

Michael "Fulk" Hogan: Lead blogger at TBCB and Dallas Mavericks season ticker holder (which also makes me an expert on the Knicks, who currently feature four ex-Mavericks). (@champsbelt)

Kyle Inman: Sole contributor at drivebaseline.com. NBA and NCAA basketball journalist and enthusiast. (@DrHoopenstein)

Michael Johnson: Aspiring NBA analyst and writer for ESPN & NBA TV/NBA.com. I have a YouTube channel where I analyze and give my opinions on the NBA (mostly Knicks). Streets of the NBA. (@NBAStreets)

Jason Lippman: Attended his first Knicks game on December 25, 1981, at 5 years old. He watched most of the game sitting on a basketball given away that day as a promotional item and used as a booster. (@Lippmania)

Chris Morett: Sociologist, university administrator, and one-time sportswriter covering high school and college sports. He is Philadelphia fan in all major sports, although the hatred he felt for other teams has subsided with age (although Duke hoops, Kobe's Lakers, and Notre Dame anything still annoys him). (@CRM_HSsports)

Fausto Rodriguez:  Analyst for the Street Team, mostly covering the Knicks on our Twitter account. I'm an experienced player as well, with a National AAU title under my belt. (@NBAStreets)

Key Factors

Part one of our roundtable focuses on which of the 7 Factors the Knicks need to improve the most. To do this, I asked each participant to describe the three factors requiring the most improvement. Overall, four of our participants thought that the most significant improvements needed to be made to the Knicks' culture, while half of us agreed that the Knicks also needed to improve their coaching, focus, and players. Experience was last on our list, with only one vote, potentially due in part to the Knicks' recent acquisition of Jason Kidd.

With respect to culture, the main issues focused on the Knicks' superstar culture, driven by egos and personalities, that might not be willing to do the dirty work necessary to win a championship. The issues associated with coaching were primarily associated with Mike Woodson's isolation offense and his perceived inability to make adjustments during the playoffs. With respect to focus, participants expressed concerns about whether the Knicks have the needed mental fortitude. Finally, the overriding concern with the players seemed to be their ability to develop the chemistry needed to play together as a team. Each person's responses follow.

Culture (4 votes)

Inman: Knicks need to get to a point where they trust everybody on the floor.  There's too much of a superstar culture with Carmelo and Amare where other players want to sit back and watch in big moments. Knicks made strides last season by adding Tyson Chandler and the new addition of Jason Kidd should go a long ways in creating a championship culture.

Lippman: The Knicks need to learn to play together as a team if they are going to make it deep into the playoffs. Too many egos and individual personalities are not meshing together starting with Carmelo Anthony.

Rodriguez: They need to renovate the culture of this team: back in the '90s, you would be crazy if you said the Knicks didn't play defense, nowadays it's commonly said. They must also realize they're now fighting for their own city.

Hogan: New York is a city of stars, and the Knicks have plenty. However, the stars need to establish a winning culture where everyone works together and plays as a team.

Coaching (3 votes)

Inman: Mike Woodson gets the most out of his team defensively, but tends to rely too much on one-on-one basketball on the offensive end and fails to make the right in-game adjustments. He needs somebody to draw up plays and free up guys with screens and pick and roll's.

Rodriguez: The current personnel the Knicks have isn't a great fit, Woodson might not be crafty enough to handle it. In order to get an all-around effort, he'll have to straight away from the 'ISO-Offense.'

Hogan: Mike Woodson has yet to demonstrate championship-level credentials in the playoffs and had limited playoff experience as a player. It remains to be seen how well he can adjust in a high pressure setting like the Eastern Conference Finals or NBA Finals.

Focus (3 votes)

Lippman: The Knicks need that extra mental oomph if they are going to contend with the Heat.

Johnson: The Knicks seem like they don't have one united focus: an NBA Championship. The Knicks claim they want the Trophy but seem like they don't focus enough on achieving the goal.

Hogan: Amare and Carmelo are stars with the potential to have incredible games and moments, but they each need to develop and sustain a singular and intense focus on winning a championship.

Players (3 votes)

Morett: They have some good ones, who would be great role players. But they need a true stud.  Jason Kidd will make everyone around him better, and I can’t argue with his acquisition, but he won't make anyone a stud.

Lippman: The Knicks need to sign Jeremy Lin now, even if it means meeting the hefty price set by the Houston agreement. Jason Kidd can help develop Lin and help bring the team together.

Johnson: They have two stars that can put them over the top, but they haven't figured it out. The Knicks, in order to become an Elite team again, need to develop chemistry among their stars and role players.

Opportunity (2 votes)

Morett:  Couple of good squads in the East, will require the Knicks tohave quite a run if they are to advance into the playoffs.  Granted, Opportunity is linked to Players and Experience, but it's also linked to the competition.  So it gets mentioned.

Inman: LeBron James and the Heat are the undisputed champions with no decline coming in near future. It's going to take Jeremy Lin living up to the hype and staying healthy with a bounce-back type of season for Amare Stoudemire to be the main competition for Miami in the East.  If James plays like he did during this post-season, it's hard to imagine anybody beating them.

Defense (2 votes)

Rodriguez: Woodson must sit Melo and/or Amar'e if they show no effort defensively, he also must institute better defensive help and rotations. They cannot punish Chandler's body by making him play defense for the entire team.

Johnson: The Knicks can be a respected defensive team if they just showed and put more effort. If they are starting to call themselves a defensive system, they need to improve in this area and showed the league that the team can lock up just about any team.

Experience (1 vote)

Morett:  Well, maybe with Kidd this one is less true.  But we'll keep it in here--it might take more than one player to make it happen.

Next Steps

As noted above, next week each of our participants will suggest steps that the Knicks can take to improve the top factors identified above. The following week we'll distill all of the information discussed and each suggest three concrete and achievable steps the Knicks should consider going forward. Finally, we'll conclude July by each taking on the role of General Manager, throwing reality out the window, and making our own reasonable or not-so-reasonable suggestions for what can be done to improve the team. Stay tuned for more!