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Umbrella · 05-03-2021, 01:31 PM

1956-57 NEW YORK KNICKS

OFF SEASON

The post-Fulks era begins. For the first time in a while, I fell good about where we stand heading into the season. Our top 6 players are signed to at least two years, and we have more cap room than any other team. Johnston’s contact may be an issue in a few years, but he’s still an elite player for now. Depth is an issue right now, but that can be addressed during free agency. I hired an assistant coach who has a little head coaching experience. When Nelson retires, he seems like a good candidate to be groomed for the position.

This years rookie class has two guys who look to be can’t-miss franchise players, Bill Russell and Tom Heinsohn. We pick fifth, and end up selecting SG Richie Guerin. In real life, he was also drafted by the Knicks, and was one of the most beloved players in team history by the fans, so it feels right he is on this team. With our second round pick, we take SF Dave Piontek. I couldn’t find anything interesting on Piontek. Russell and Heinsohn go #1 and #2 to Philadelphia and Minneapolis, respectively.

For free agency, I need a backup PF, and then just some all around depth to fight all the broken feet sure to come. It’s not a super deep free agency class, and the elite players are all asking for long term max deals that I feel they are too old for. For the PF, I offer James Owens a 2 year deal. I also offer two former Knicks, Nat Clifton and Al Spoelstra, 1 and 2 year deals respectively. Finally, I offer a 1 year deal to PF Jack Burmeister. Clifton, Burmeister, and Spoelstra all sign fairly quickly. Owens signs several days later, and I have them all on very team friendly contracts.

The only other signing of league interest is Boston signing PF Gene Conley. More interesting to me is Fulks signed a one year deal with Philly, and Simmons signed a one year deal with Minneapolis.

PRE-SEASON

The media predicts us to finish second behind Boston. Our lineup this season will be C-Stokes, PF-Pettit, SF-Johnston, SG-Berce, PG-Cousy, with Guerin and Lloyd filling out the rotation. Conlin is starting the season unhappy, and doesn’t look to get much playing time, so I may try and see if anyone is willing to trade for him. Unfortunately, nobody is interested at this time. We go 3-3 in the pre-season.

REGULAR SEASON

I notice C Eddie Miller is still a free agent, and is only asking for a reasonable 2 year deal. I offer it to him, and he accepts. He will go straight into the starting linuep, and Stokes will go to the bench as part of the rotation, replacing Lloyd. We start off slowly for the second season in a row, ending November at 4-7, even though Johnston wins player of the month.

December isn’t much better, as we finish 10-16, lowlighted by a 6 game losing streak. We are battling Philly for last place.

January continues to suck, as we fight several minor injuries. We sit at 15-24, still just ahead of Philly for last place. This is one of the better teams we’ve had in talent lately, so I’m pretty disappointed. I’m even considering firing the coach right now.

Miller, Cousy, Johnston, and Pettit are all selected for the all-star game. We finally start playing better in February, putting together a six game winning streak before losing Berce for a couple of weeks to a broken finger. This doesn’t slow us down, and we finish February on a nine game winning streak, at 25-25. Boston and Syracuse have both struggled recently, so this brings us 4 games back of first place Boston, and just ½ game behind Syracuse. Johnston takes home another player of the month award.

The winning steaks ends in Fort Worth during the first game in March. But the team is still making up ground before Miller gets a concussion in Boston, which will sideline him until into the playoffs. But the team plays well even with this loss, finishing the month in second place at 34-28, just two games back. Johnston continues his terrific play, winning player of the month yet again.

Going into what could be an exciting home stretch, we stumble hard, ending a six game winning streak with back-to-back home losses to last place Philly. Some mediocre play leaves us 4 games back with only 4 games left, and only 1 ½ games ahead of Syracuse. All of the remaining games are at home though, and 3 are against Boston, so it is still possible to win the division. We win the first two games against Boston to secure second place. However, Boston wins a game against Philly to clinch the division. With the last two games meaningless, I let the starters get some rest and have the bench play out the string. We finished the season 39-33, three games back.

PLAYOFFS

The awards poured in. Berce got 1st team all-defense, while Johnston got 2nd team. Guerin made 1st team all-rookie. Cousy and Johnston both made 1st team all-NBA, while Pettit got 2nd team and Guerin got 3rd team. Finally, Guerin won sixth man of the year. Mikkelsen won MVP, while Bill Russell won rookie of the year.

We start the playoffs against Syracuse, who we went 12-9 against during the season. The team is 100% healthy, so I’m hoping this is the season we finally advance past the first round. We immediately lose home court advantage in game 1, losing 117-109. We rebound with an angry 125-101 victory in game 2. Going to Syracuse, we get destroyed 115-82. With the season on the line, we trail for most of the game, but a furious fourth quarter comeback leads to a controversial finish, as Pettit is fouled just before the final buzzer. He hits the first and intentionally misses the second to secure a thrilling 107-106 comeback. We return home, and behind Pettit and Johnston, win our first playoff series since the 1949-50 season with a 108-99 victory.

The conference championship is against Boston, led by Mikkelsen, the MVP. We did OK against them this year, going 10-11. We were completely outmatched in game 1, losing 123-78. Game 2 was more competitive, but still resulted in a 103-93 loss. Returning home for game 3, we played terrible in the first half, but showed a lot of guts holding them to 37 points in the second half to force overtime. Unfortunately, Mikkelsen showed why he is MVP, hitting a late bucket to secure a 115-113 victory. The team showed some pride in game 4, leading almost wire to wire before withstanding a furious Boston rally, in a 91-88 win. Boston showed they were the better team, winning in Boston 86-75 to clinch another appearance in the finals.

For the third straight year, it was Boston vs. Ft. Worth in the finals. For the rubber match, Ft. Worth wins their second championship.

This season was really a tale of two halves. I don’t know if adding Miller late caused some chemistry issues that took a while to work through. We still have all the major players signed through next season, so I think I want to try and make one more run with this crew before deciding if it is time to go another direction. There aren’t any potential free agents next season which will be difference makers, and it looks to be a terrible draft, so I think another run is possible.

05-03-2021, 01:31 PM	#28
Umbrella High School Varsity Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Back in the desert	1956-57 NEW YORK KNICKS OFF SEASON The post-Fulks era begins. For the first time in a while, I fell good about where we stand heading into the season. Our top 6 players are signed to at least two years, and we have more cap room than any other team. Johnston’s contact may be an issue in a few years, but he’s still an elite player for now. Depth is an issue right now, but that can be addressed during free agency. I hired an assistant coach who has a little head coaching experience. When Nelson retires, he seems like a good candidate to be groomed for the position. This years rookie class has two guys who look to be can’t-miss franchise players, Bill Russell and Tom Heinsohn. We pick fifth, and end up selecting SG Richie Guerin. In real life, he was also drafted by the Knicks, and was one of the most beloved players in team history by the fans, so it feels right he is on this team. With our second round pick, we take SF Dave Piontek. I couldn’t find anything interesting on Piontek. Russell and Heinsohn go #1 and #2 to Philadelphia and Minneapolis, respectively. For free agency, I need a backup PF, and then just some all around depth to fight all the broken feet sure to come. It’s not a super deep free agency class, and the elite players are all asking for long term max deals that I feel they are too old for. For the PF, I offer James Owens a 2 year deal. I also offer two former Knicks, Nat Clifton and Al Spoelstra, 1 and 2 year deals respectively. Finally, I offer a 1 year deal to PF Jack Burmeister. Clifton, Burmeister, and Spoelstra all sign fairly quickly. Owens signs several days later, and I have them all on very team friendly contracts. The only other signing of league interest is Boston signing PF Gene Conley. More interesting to me is Fulks signed a one year deal with Philly, and Simmons signed a one year deal with Minneapolis. PRE-SEASON The media predicts us to finish second behind Boston. Our lineup this season will be C-Stokes, PF-Pettit, SF-Johnston, SG-Berce, PG-Cousy, with Guerin and Lloyd filling out the rotation. Conlin is starting the season unhappy, and doesn’t look to get much playing time, so I may try and see if anyone is willing to trade for him. Unfortunately, nobody is interested at this time. We go 3-3 in the pre-season. REGULAR SEASON I notice C Eddie Miller is still a free agent, and is only asking for a reasonable 2 year deal. I offer it to him, and he accepts. He will go straight into the starting linuep, and Stokes will go to the bench as part of the rotation, replacing Lloyd. We start off slowly for the second season in a row, ending November at 4-7, even though Johnston wins player of the month. December isn’t much better, as we finish 10-16, lowlighted by a 6 game losing streak. We are battling Philly for last place. January continues to suck, as we fight several minor injuries. We sit at 15-24, still just ahead of Philly for last place. This is one of the better teams we’ve had in talent lately, so I’m pretty disappointed. I’m even considering firing the coach right now. Miller, Cousy, Johnston, and Pettit are all selected for the all-star game. We finally start playing better in February, putting together a six game winning streak before losing Berce for a couple of weeks to a broken finger. This doesn’t slow us down, and we finish February on a nine game winning streak, at 25-25. Boston and Syracuse have both struggled recently, so this brings us 4 games back of first place Boston, and just ½ game behind Syracuse. Johnston takes home another player of the month award. The winning steaks ends in Fort Worth during the first game in March. But the team is still making up ground before Miller gets a concussion in Boston, which will sideline him until into the playoffs. But the team plays well even with this loss, finishing the month in second place at 34-28, just two games back. Johnston continues his terrific play, winning player of the month yet again. Going into what could be an exciting home stretch, we stumble hard, ending a six game winning streak with back-to-back home losses to last place Philly. Some mediocre play leaves us 4 games back with only 4 games left, and only 1 ½ games ahead of Syracuse. All of the remaining games are at home though, and 3 are against Boston, so it is still possible to win the division. We win the first two games against Boston to secure second place. However, Boston wins a game against Philly to clinch the division. With the last two games meaningless, I let the starters get some rest and have the bench play out the string. We finished the season 39-33, three games back. PLAYOFFS The awards poured in. Berce got 1st team all-defense, while Johnston got 2nd team. Guerin made 1st team all-rookie. Cousy and Johnston both made 1st team all-NBA, while Pettit got 2nd team and Guerin got 3rd team. Finally, Guerin won sixth man of the year. Mikkelsen won MVP, while Bill Russell won rookie of the year. We start the playoffs against Syracuse, who we went 12-9 against during the season. The team is 100% healthy, so I’m hoping this is the season we finally advance past the first round. We immediately lose home court advantage in game 1, losing 117-109. We rebound with an angry 125-101 victory in game 2. Going to Syracuse, we get destroyed 115-82. With the season on the line, we trail for most of the game, but a furious fourth quarter comeback leads to a controversial finish, as Pettit is fouled just before the final buzzer. He hits the first and intentionally misses the second to secure a thrilling 107-106 comeback. We return home, and behind Pettit and Johnston, win our first playoff series since the 1949-50 season with a 108-99 victory. The conference championship is against Boston, led by Mikkelsen, the MVP. We did OK against them this year, going 10-11. We were completely outmatched in game 1, losing 123-78. Game 2 was more competitive, but still resulted in a 103-93 loss. Returning home for game 3, we played terrible in the first half, but showed a lot of guts holding them to 37 points in the second half to force overtime. Unfortunately, Mikkelsen showed why he is MVP, hitting a late bucket to secure a 115-113 victory. The team showed some pride in game 4, leading almost wire to wire before withstanding a furious Boston rally, in a 91-88 win. Boston showed they were the better team, winning in Boston 86-75 to clinch another appearance in the finals. For the third straight year, it was Boston vs. Ft. Worth in the finals. For the rubber match, Ft. Worth wins their second championship. This season was really a tale of two halves. I don’t know if adding Miller late caused some chemistry issues that took a while to work through. We still have all the major players signed through next season, so I think I want to try and make one more run with this crew before deciding if it is time to go another direction. There aren’t any potential free agents next season which will be difference makers, and it looks to be a terrible draft, so I think another run is possible.