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Umbrella · 04-30-2021, 09:57 AM

1952-53 NEW YORK KNICKS

OFFSEASON

For the first time in a little while, the league remained stable. I was informed that Hewson exercised his player option. He’s unhappy about his playing time, and I was forced to take him and his unreasonable salary when I didn’t want to, so I’m not pleased by this.

With the 4th pick in the draft, we took SF Don Henricksen. He’s pretty raw, but he projects to be a good defender and rebounder. In the second round, we took PG Jim Holstein. I found nothing particularly interesting about either of these players in real life. Syracuse took SF Eddie Miller with the #1 pick.

Entering free agency, I am over the cap, but I need to sign some depth at SG. I offered career backup Fred Lewis a one year minimum deal, which was soon outbid by Philly. I then offered Gene Berce, who has started for both Boston and Syracuse in the past. Berce signed with us, at which point I pulled the offer for Lewis.

The other big free agent signings were Harry Gallatin going from Minneapolis to Rochester, and George Mikan going from Indy to Baltimore.

PRE-SEASON

The media is not liking us, as they pick us to finish in last in the East.

Our lineup this season will be C-Simmons, PF-Braun, SF-Fulks, SG-Berce, PG-Tannenbaum, with McGuire and Boykoff filling out the rotation. We went 3-3 in the pre-season, so I’m not convinced we are going to be a playoff caliber team this season.

REGULAR SEASON

We start the season losing our first four games, which doesn’t inspire confidence. Berce, Tannenbaum, and Boykoff all want extensions. I sign Berce to a 5 year extension and Tannenbaum for 2 more years, but Boykoff wants more than I think he is worth. While I don’t want to lose him, we are tight on cap space, so it looks like I will have to let him walk. After our slow start, we finish November at 4-6.

December brings a lot of road games, but we don’t do too horribly. We finish December at 9-11, which is good enough for a playoff spot. For now. Baltimore is pulling away, and Boston, Philly, and us are within a game of each other.

January starts off good, as we win five of our first seven games. But then we follow it up with a six game losing streak, to end the month at 14-19, which leaves us in third. Boston is beginning to solidify second place, and Syracuse has gotten back into the mix for a playoff spot. Even with our inconsistent play, Fulks wins player of the month.

Even though our record isn’t great, Simmons, Tannenbaum, Braun, and Fulks are all selected for the all star game. We finish February winning our last three games, which puts us at 20-24. We’ve got a 3 game lead over Philly, but Boston is still 4 ½ games away. Baltimore looks like they won’t be caught for the division.

In March, we show the ability to consistently beat the teams worse than us, and consistently lose to the teams better than us. Boston catches fire and moves to within 2 games of Baltimore. We remain in third at 27-30, but can’t quite shake Philly.

We play very well in April, considering that many of our games are against first place Baltimore. On the fourth to last game of the season, we beat Philly on the road to clinch a playoff spot. Baltimore and Boston are fighting for the division title, and we still have one game against Baltimore, but I want to protect my starters from injury, so they will rest the last three games. Possibly a good thing, because Zalofsky, who hasn’t played much this season until the last three games, broke his finger in the last game of the season. We finish at 35-35, third place, and in the playoffs. Fulks wins player of the month for April.

Fulks was the scoring leader for the fifth time in seven years.

PLAYOFFS

Tannenbaum makes all defensive second team. Henricksen makes all rookie second team. And finally, Fulks rebounds from a disappointing (by his standards) season last year to make first team all NBA. As I mentioned, this year’s rookie class was really weak, and that’s why Henricksen was selected. The rookie of the year was Eddie Miller from Syracuse with a 8.0/8.7/1.3 split. The MVP was Ed Macauley from Milwaukee.

Our reward is a first round matchup with the two-time defending champion Boston Celtics. We only went 4-11 against them this season, so I’m not optimistic. Boston won the first game fairly easily, 102-90. Game 2 was more of the same, losing 103-93. Back at home for game 3 didn’t change our luck, as we got whomped 96-76. Our playoff run was short lived.

Boston went on to win to win their 3rd straight championship.

I think we are in need of another star player to compete for a championship. There are some good players that will be free agents next season, but we still have some cap issues. Once again, next year’s draft is top heavy, and I don’t expect any game changers to be available when we pick. We were relatively injury free this season, so this year’s record shows what we are. We’ve reached a point where we’re too good to get help in the draft, but not good enough to contend for a championship. I think we will be mired in mediocrity for the next few seasons.

04-30-2021, 09:57 AM	#20
Umbrella High School Varsity Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Back in the desert	1952-53 NEW YORK KNICKS OFFSEASON For the first time in a little while, the league remained stable. I was informed that Hewson exercised his player option. He’s unhappy about his playing time, and I was forced to take him and his unreasonable salary when I didn’t want to, so I’m not pleased by this. With the 4th pick in the draft, we took SF Don Henricksen. He’s pretty raw, but he projects to be a good defender and rebounder. In the second round, we took PG Jim Holstein. I found nothing particularly interesting about either of these players in real life. Syracuse took SF Eddie Miller with the #1 pick. Entering free agency, I am over the cap, but I need to sign some depth at SG. I offered career backup Fred Lewis a one year minimum deal, which was soon outbid by Philly. I then offered Gene Berce, who has started for both Boston and Syracuse in the past. Berce signed with us, at which point I pulled the offer for Lewis. The other big free agent signings were Harry Gallatin going from Minneapolis to Rochester, and George Mikan going from Indy to Baltimore. PRE-SEASON The media is not liking us, as they pick us to finish in last in the East. Our lineup this season will be C-Simmons, PF-Braun, SF-Fulks, SG-Berce, PG-Tannenbaum, with McGuire and Boykoff filling out the rotation. We went 3-3 in the pre-season, so I’m not convinced we are going to be a playoff caliber team this season. REGULAR SEASON We start the season losing our first four games, which doesn’t inspire confidence. Berce, Tannenbaum, and Boykoff all want extensions. I sign Berce to a 5 year extension and Tannenbaum for 2 more years, but Boykoff wants more than I think he is worth. While I don’t want to lose him, we are tight on cap space, so it looks like I will have to let him walk. After our slow start, we finish November at 4-6. December brings a lot of road games, but we don’t do too horribly. We finish December at 9-11, which is good enough for a playoff spot. For now. Baltimore is pulling away, and Boston, Philly, and us are within a game of each other. January starts off good, as we win five of our first seven games. But then we follow it up with a six game losing streak, to end the month at 14-19, which leaves us in third. Boston is beginning to solidify second place, and Syracuse has gotten back into the mix for a playoff spot. Even with our inconsistent play, Fulks wins player of the month. Even though our record isn’t great, Simmons, Tannenbaum, Braun, and Fulks are all selected for the all star game. We finish February winning our last three games, which puts us at 20-24. We’ve got a 3 game lead over Philly, but Boston is still 4 ½ games away. Baltimore looks like they won’t be caught for the division. In March, we show the ability to consistently beat the teams worse than us, and consistently lose to the teams better than us. Boston catches fire and moves to within 2 games of Baltimore. We remain in third at 27-30, but can’t quite shake Philly. We play very well in April, considering that many of our games are against first place Baltimore. On the fourth to last game of the season, we beat Philly on the road to clinch a playoff spot. Baltimore and Boston are fighting for the division title, and we still have one game against Baltimore, but I want to protect my starters from injury, so they will rest the last three games. Possibly a good thing, because Zalofsky, who hasn’t played much this season until the last three games, broke his finger in the last game of the season. We finish at 35-35, third place, and in the playoffs. Fulks wins player of the month for April. Fulks was the scoring leader for the fifth time in seven years. PLAYOFFS Tannenbaum makes all defensive second team. Henricksen makes all rookie second team. And finally, Fulks rebounds from a disappointing (by his standards) season last year to make first team all NBA. As I mentioned, this year’s rookie class was really weak, and that’s why Henricksen was selected. The rookie of the year was Eddie Miller from Syracuse with a 8.0/8.7/1.3 split. The MVP was Ed Macauley from Milwaukee. Our reward is a first round matchup with the two-time defending champion Boston Celtics. We only went 4-11 against them this season, so I’m not optimistic. Boston won the first game fairly easily, 102-90. Game 2 was more of the same, losing 103-93. Back at home for game 3 didn’t change our luck, as we got whomped 96-76. Our playoff run was short lived. Boston went on to win to win their 3rd straight championship. I think we are in need of another star player to compete for a championship. There are some good players that will be free agents next season, but we still have some cap issues. Once again, next year’s draft is top heavy, and I don’t expect any game changers to be available when we pick. We were relatively injury free this season, so this year’s record shows what we are. We’ve reached a point where we’re too good to get help in the draft, but not good enough to contend for a championship. I think we will be mired in mediocrity for the next few seasons.