1946-47 SEASON - NEW YORK KNICKS
I've decided to start with a creation draft, letting all the teams start with the same chance of getting decent players. And decent players is a stretch. These guys are awful. It is a snake draft, so I ended up with the 4th pick in odd rounds, and 8th pick in even rounds. Here is who I have to start the season:
1. PF Joe Fulks. Fulks is considered one of the first "modern" players. He was a very high scorer, and was one of the first players to use a jump shot. He was the leagues best scorer in the early days of the NBA.
2. PG Belus Smawley. Not a lot of talent at the point guard position, so I wanted to get one before the pickings got too slim. Not a lot of info I could find out about him, but apparently he was another early adopter of the jump shot. My Knicks team will be innovators.
3. C Lee Knoreck. A good post defender. In the early days, everything went to the big guys under the rim, so a rim protector seems like a good idea. He was a Knick in real life as well. Fun fact: in official NBA records, his birthplace is listed as Warsaw, Poland, even though he was born in Ohio. He was fluent in Polish, and so as a practical joke, his friends had him convince everyone he was Polish.
4. C Elmo Morganthaler. Best player available. There is conflicting info on him. Some sources claim he was the first 7 footer in the NBA, but others list him at 6'9".
5. SF Johnny Norlander. Another guy I couldn't find a lot of info about. One of the better players left, and I need a small forward. We're getting to the point where there's not a lot of talent available.
6. SG Bob Mullens. Best shooting guard available. He was a Knick in real life, and at one point held the New York City Catholic league scoring mark.
7. PG Tony Kappen. Most of the top players left are big men, so I think I can get some of them later. Guards are hard to find right now. He was allegedly the first NBA player with no college experience.
8. PF Bob Duffy. I'm letting my scout do most of the picking from here on out, since all of the remaining players are garbage. Duffy led the SEC in scoring his senior year.
9. SF John Barr. Googling him just comes up with whisky. I couldn't find any interesting facts about him.
10. SF Ned Endress. The only interesting fact I could find about him said he was a lifetime member of the National Basketball Retired Players Association. Um, doesn't that happen by default?
11. PF Bob Fitzgerald. He was a little difficult to find info about since the play-by-play guy for the Warriors is also named Bob Fitzgerald, so I kept landing on him instead. As with many players in the league, he served in WW2.
12. SG Arnold Nelson. The first guy I couldn't find anything about.
13. SF Aubrey Davis. Only played one season in real life.
14. SG Jere Glenn. Another guy I couldn't find anything about.
15. SG Howie McCarty. A shooting guard with a career shooting percentage of .122. Yikes!
Note that I looked up the info on these players after the draft, as not to influence my decisions. Other than Fulks, I haven't heard of any of these guys. Fulks is the obvious superstar of the team, so I hope the coach decides to run the offense through him. One interesting fact, the coaching staff was already hired when I took the job, so I didn't have any say in them. Michael Adams is the head coach, and looks like he will be solid. I think we have a chance to be competitive, especially on the offensive side of the ball.