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Umbrella · 04-30-2021, 05:34 PM

1954-55 NEW YORK KNICKS

OFF SEASON

For the second year in a row, we lose our lead scout to a GM position, this time going to Baltimore. In addition, this is the last year of my current contract, and with what looks to be a rough year ahead, my future in New York is uncertain.

We ended up with the 3rd pick in the draft. In my opinion, there were two guys who could help immediately, and one fell to us. We selected C Johnny Kerr. Yes, this is the same Red Kerr who was the Bulls announcer forever. Kerr projects to be a great rebounder, a good scorer, but not much defense. In the 2nd round we took SF Art Spoelstra. There is no relation to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, which surprises me. Ft. Wayne took Bob Pettit with the overall #1 pick.

We are still over the cap, so I have to be prudent again during free agency. I think from last year, I may wait until everyone has spent their money, and try to swoop in and pick up the scraps with 1 year min contracts. I need a SF, so I start with offering Paul Arizin, but Minneapolis is using their Bird rights on him. Next I try for SF James Owens. I’m soon outbid by Philly. Third time, I go for SF Ken Murray, but Minneapolis outbids me. Then I see Bob Cousy’s bids are all gone, so what the heck? While waiting for Cousy, Murray decided to sign with us. Sure enough, all the teams are out of money, so we get Cousy on a one year deal.

From here on out, I need to be careful. There are plenty of quality big men available, but I don’t think any of them will be better than Kerr at center, and I want to develop Henriksen at power forward. In the end, I’m hoping our coach decides to play Cousy at PG, Fulks at SF, and I offer PF Nat Clifton a minimum 1 year deal. He signs with us, as he has no other options. With the signing, Clifton becomes the first African-American player to play for the Knicks. In real life, he was the second African-American to play in the NBA.

Other free agent signings of interest include Minneapolis signing Mikan and Ft. Wayne signing Larry Foust. Former Knicks Brian and Braun signed long term deals with Ft. Wayne and Baltimore respectively.

PRE-SEASON

The media predicts us to finish fourth, which is improvement, I guess.

Our lineup this season will be C-Kerr, PF-Fulks, SF-Murray, SG-Tannenbaum, PG-Cousy, with Simmons, Berce, and McGuire filling out the rotation. I was a bit surprised that our coach thinks Murray is a starter, and Clifton isn’t even in the rotation. Jim Neal looks like he is a bust, so I decline the team option on him. I’m not ready to give up on Henriksen just yet, so I keep the team option for him. We go 3-3 in the pre-season, winning all of our home games and losing all the road ones.

REGULAR SEASON

Both Murray and Cousy are willing to re-sign longer contracts, but I don’t have the cap space to sign them to the values they want. Since they were stopgap signings, Bird rights won’t apply next season. The team plays shockingly well in November, going 8-3, and in first place. Kerr wins rookie of the month, while Fulks collects another player of the month award.

Early in December, Murray picks up a minor jaw injury which sidelines him for a couple of games. On Christmas Eve, Fulks sprains his knee. When he is on the floor, he is still very effective, but injuries the last couple of seasons are starting to become a concern. Losing the last four games in December after the injury shows how much he still means to this team. We finish the month at 12-12, and Kerr gets another rookie of the month award.

We start well in January, then Cousy breaks his jaw. He’ll miss about 3 weeks. The team continues to fight and exceed expectations as we finish January at 20-17, which is tied for second with Syracuse, 5 games back of Boston. Kerr continues to look like a franchise pick, as he wins his third consecutive rookie of the month.

We enter February at full health for the first time in a while, but that doesn’t keep us from losing. McGuire picks up a minor knee sprain, but it shouldn’t keep him out long. And then I get the trade offer; Pettit for Kerr. Kerr has been phenomenal, but Pettit was my #1 guy in the draft. Looking at his stats, I feel like he was being underutilized in Ft. Worth, so I pull the trigger and accept the trade. We end up with four selections to the all-star game; Pettit, Tannenbaum, Fulks, and Cousy. Towards the end of the month, Murray picks up a minor hip injury. February was a weird month in that we lost 6 of the first 7 games, then won the last 6, finishing the month at 27-23, still in a distant second behind Boston. The winning streak happened right after the trade, so this is exciting. Syracuse and Baltimore are right on our heels though. Pettit won rookie of the month, and Fulks was player of the month.

March was a tricky month. 9 of the 12 games were on the road, yet we held our own. We finished at 33-29, still in 2nd. Boston has all but clinched. April’s schedule looks to be a little home friendly, so even though Syracuse and Baltimore are close, I think we have a real chance to finish 2nd. Pettit gets rookie of the month.

We start April winning our first three games, then the basketball gods frown on my optimism. Pettit breaks his foot, and is probably out for the season including playoffs. On April 14th, we lock up the #2 seed, so I plan on minimizing the minutes for my regulars the rest of the season. McGuire immediately gets a stress fracture with his starting time. We finish the season at 40-32, good enough for second, and home court advantage in the first round.

Fulks' scoring slipped a bit, but Cousy led the league in assists.

PLAYOFFS

Tannenbaum was 2nd team defense, Pettit was all-rookie 1st team, Cousy was 1st team all-NBA, and Fulks was 3rd team all-NBA. Pettit was named rookie of the year, which surprised me a little as I thought Kerr would take it. But then I looked, and after the trade, Kerr wasn’t starting for Ft. Wayne. I guess their coach doesn’t like rookie players. In a weird twist, Pettit was also named sixth man of the year. He did have more games off the bench than starting, so I guess that was the reasoning.

We get to start the playoffs against the defending champs, Syracuse. We’re still missing Pettit and McGuire, so this could be a tough one. Fulks scores 42 in a game 1 overtime thriller, as we win 106-102. We have no answer for PG Slater Martin in game 2, as he scores 30 in a 99-94 Syracuse victory. We weren’t competitive at all in game 3, losing 96-75. Game 4 was more of the same, losing in a 102-74 blowout.

Ft. Wayne broke the Eastern Conference’s dominance in the finals, winning the championship over Boston. Not bad considering they were the worst team in the league last year.

All in all, I was very pleased with this season. If Pettit had stayed healthy, I think we had a real chance of winning that first round series. Pettit is a franchise type player, and after next season we will have more flexibility to sign players. Cousy was a godsend, and I really want to sign him next season, but I don’t know if we have the money to do so. Taking a quick look at the other teams, it looks like everyone is in the same boat financially, so maybe I can pull the same trick again with Cousy.

04-30-2021, 05:34 PM	#23
Umbrella High School Varsity Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Back in the desert	1954-55 NEW YORK KNICKS OFF SEASON For the second year in a row, we lose our lead scout to a GM position, this time going to Baltimore. In addition, this is the last year of my current contract, and with what looks to be a rough year ahead, my future in New York is uncertain. We ended up with the 3rd pick in the draft. In my opinion, there were two guys who could help immediately, and one fell to us. We selected C Johnny Kerr. Yes, this is the same Red Kerr who was the Bulls announcer forever. Kerr projects to be a great rebounder, a good scorer, but not much defense. In the 2nd round we took SF Art Spoelstra. There is no relation to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, which surprises me. Ft. Wayne took Bob Pettit with the overall #1 pick. We are still over the cap, so I have to be prudent again during free agency. I think from last year, I may wait until everyone has spent their money, and try to swoop in and pick up the scraps with 1 year min contracts. I need a SF, so I start with offering Paul Arizin, but Minneapolis is using their Bird rights on him. Next I try for SF James Owens. I’m soon outbid by Philly. Third time, I go for SF Ken Murray, but Minneapolis outbids me. Then I see Bob Cousy’s bids are all gone, so what the heck? While waiting for Cousy, Murray decided to sign with us. Sure enough, all the teams are out of money, so we get Cousy on a one year deal. From here on out, I need to be careful. There are plenty of quality big men available, but I don’t think any of them will be better than Kerr at center, and I want to develop Henriksen at power forward. In the end, I’m hoping our coach decides to play Cousy at PG, Fulks at SF, and I offer PF Nat Clifton a minimum 1 year deal. He signs with us, as he has no other options. With the signing, Clifton becomes the first African-American player to play for the Knicks. In real life, he was the second African-American to play in the NBA. Other free agent signings of interest include Minneapolis signing Mikan and Ft. Wayne signing Larry Foust. Former Knicks Brian and Braun signed long term deals with Ft. Wayne and Baltimore respectively. PRE-SEASON The media predicts us to finish fourth, which is improvement, I guess. Our lineup this season will be C-Kerr, PF-Fulks, SF-Murray, SG-Tannenbaum, PG-Cousy, with Simmons, Berce, and McGuire filling out the rotation. I was a bit surprised that our coach thinks Murray is a starter, and Clifton isn’t even in the rotation. Jim Neal looks like he is a bust, so I decline the team option on him. I’m not ready to give up on Henriksen just yet, so I keep the team option for him. We go 3-3 in the pre-season, winning all of our home games and losing all the road ones. REGULAR SEASON Both Murray and Cousy are willing to re-sign longer contracts, but I don’t have the cap space to sign them to the values they want. Since they were stopgap signings, Bird rights won’t apply next season. The team plays shockingly well in November, going 8-3, and in first place. Kerr wins rookie of the month, while Fulks collects another player of the month award. Early in December, Murray picks up a minor jaw injury which sidelines him for a couple of games. On Christmas Eve, Fulks sprains his knee. When he is on the floor, he is still very effective, but injuries the last couple of seasons are starting to become a concern. Losing the last four games in December after the injury shows how much he still means to this team. We finish the month at 12-12, and Kerr gets another rookie of the month award. We start well in January, then Cousy breaks his jaw. He’ll miss about 3 weeks. The team continues to fight and exceed expectations as we finish January at 20-17, which is tied for second with Syracuse, 5 games back of Boston. Kerr continues to look like a franchise pick, as he wins his third consecutive rookie of the month. We enter February at full health for the first time in a while, but that doesn’t keep us from losing. McGuire picks up a minor knee sprain, but it shouldn’t keep him out long. And then I get the trade offer; Pettit for Kerr. Kerr has been phenomenal, but Pettit was my #1 guy in the draft. Looking at his stats, I feel like he was being underutilized in Ft. Worth, so I pull the trigger and accept the trade. We end up with four selections to the all-star game; Pettit, Tannenbaum, Fulks, and Cousy. Towards the end of the month, Murray picks up a minor hip injury. February was a weird month in that we lost 6 of the first 7 games, then won the last 6, finishing the month at 27-23, still in a distant second behind Boston. The winning streak happened right after the trade, so this is exciting. Syracuse and Baltimore are right on our heels though. Pettit won rookie of the month, and Fulks was player of the month. March was a tricky month. 9 of the 12 games were on the road, yet we held our own. We finished at 33-29, still in 2nd. Boston has all but clinched. April’s schedule looks to be a little home friendly, so even though Syracuse and Baltimore are close, I think we have a real chance to finish 2nd. Pettit gets rookie of the month. We start April winning our first three games, then the basketball gods frown on my optimism. Pettit breaks his foot, and is probably out for the season including playoffs. On April 14th, we lock up the #2 seed, so I plan on minimizing the minutes for my regulars the rest of the season. McGuire immediately gets a stress fracture with his starting time. We finish the season at 40-32, good enough for second, and home court advantage in the first round. Fulks' scoring slipped a bit, but Cousy led the league in assists. PLAYOFFS Tannenbaum was 2nd team defense, Pettit was all-rookie 1st team, Cousy was 1st team all-NBA, and Fulks was 3rd team all-NBA. Pettit was named rookie of the year, which surprised me a little as I thought Kerr would take it. But then I looked, and after the trade, Kerr wasn’t starting for Ft. Wayne. I guess their coach doesn’t like rookie players. In a weird twist, Pettit was also named sixth man of the year. He did have more games off the bench than starting, so I guess that was the reasoning. We get to start the playoffs against the defending champs, Syracuse. We’re still missing Pettit and McGuire, so this could be a tough one. Fulks scores 42 in a game 1 overtime thriller, as we win 106-102. We have no answer for PG Slater Martin in game 2, as he scores 30 in a 99-94 Syracuse victory. We weren’t competitive at all in game 3, losing 96-75. Game 4 was more of the same, losing in a 102-74 blowout. Ft. Wayne broke the Eastern Conference’s dominance in the finals, winning the championship over Boston. Not bad considering they were the worst team in the league last year. All in all, I was very pleased with this season. If Pettit had stayed healthy, I think we had a real chance of winning that first round series. Pettit is a franchise type player, and after next season we will have more flexibility to sign players. Cousy was a godsend, and I really want to sign him next season, but I don’t know if we have the money to do so. Taking a quick look at the other teams, it looks like everyone is in the same boat financially, so maybe I can pull the same trick again with Cousy.