WEBVTT - The 1998-99 Knicks: How did this happen? 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:04.240 Welcome to Special Teams, a production of my Heart Radio 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:23.960 Greetings and Welcome inside the latest Special Teams with Jason 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:29.240 Smith and Mike Harmon podcast. Every week we spotlight a memorable, 0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:32.519 if not relevant team from the world of sports and 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:35.040 take a look at what made them so memorable that 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:38.120 year in sports history. And today we take a look 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:42.559 at the last time the Knicks were relevant when they 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:45.200 made it all the way to the NBA Finals only 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:47.800 to lose to the San Antonio Spurs in five games. 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:51.440 But this was the last Knicks team to really break 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:55.440 through and capture New York and capture the country with Hey, 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:59.840 the Knicks NBA Royalty. They're pretty good and it was this. 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:02.760 It was a season that surprised many people. There were 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:05.119 many twists and turns, a big injury that Nicks had 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:08.240 to overcome. But for all the talk of how the 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:10.600 NBA needs teams like the Knicks and the Lakers to 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:13.720 always be good, this is the last time you counted 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:16.160 on the Knicks for being good. Every year since then 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:18.440 has been well, maybe they'll be good until they out 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:20.640 now it stunk, but this was the last time you 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:23.200 could say, boy, the Knicks were mail carriers in the 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:25.520 NBA a lot of wishing, running, hoping, and it really 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:28.880 worked out for the NBA twice when Michael Jordan went away. 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:34.240 The first time is when you got the against Houston 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:38.119 and when Jordan was on his baseball sabbatical, and then 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:42.280 now Jordan walks into the sunset at least for a moment, 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:45.080 for the second time. And here you have the Knicks 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:48.000 breakthrough and what was really a mutant season. It was 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:52.600 some kind of year and no one saw this run 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:54.760 coming for the New York Knicks. And this is because 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:57.880 not because well the Knicks good, We're not sure. But 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:01.559 remember this is the lockout year. So the NBA started late, 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:05.960 and the Knicks were a team that, well, how good 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:08.680 is anybody gonna be? We're gonna play about fifty games 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:11.000 and then we're gonna see where we're at. And no 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:13.920 one really knew how how faster team's gonna get out 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:16.280 of the gate. Are they gonna decide, hey, we gotta 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:19.320 be great right away? Are we going to still try 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:21.160 to ease into the season and figure things out and 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:24.600 figure out our rotation. No one really knew what to expect. 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:28.240 And even though the Knicks wound up in the NBA Finals, 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.320 the journey they took to get there. They finished eighth 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:36.079 in the Eastern Conference. They barely made the playoffs. They 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:39.040 played fifty games, and the Nicks go into this season 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:42.680 and two trades were made that not just made them better, 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:45.680 but really made them wave goodbye to the Knicks of 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:47.919 the mid nineties, the Knicks teams that we're gonna beat 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:51.560 Jordan's that were powered by Xavier McDaniel and Patrick Ewing 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:54.480 and John Starks. They made two big trades. They traded 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:58.280 away Charles Oakley in a deal Toronto for Marcus Canby, 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:01.000 and they traded John Starks in a three player deal 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:04.639 to Golden State for Latrelle spree Well and for spree Well, 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:07.639 who was known as the guy that choked p J. Carloslo. 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:11.680 This was the the anti climax. I would say, you 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:13.760 had the climax to his career, which was really what 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:16.840 went on with Golden State. But then people forget he 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:19.120 led the Knicks to the NBA. No, it's a bonus 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.120 scene at the end of a Marvel movie. That's okay, 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.280 you think that's the Story's like, no, wait, there's one 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:28.079 more thing and you're waiting, all right, is do we 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.200 get a sequel out of this. Well, no you don't, 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:32.600 but you had to him rise up one last time. 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:35.760 This Knicks roster. Gonna read some of the players who 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:37.440 were on this team, and and the big thing the 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.560 Knicks had going for them is they were really, really deep. 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.040 They had a lot of players who were good enough 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:46.520 for average to above average players to play a lot 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:49.320 of minutes. We talked about Marcus Canby coming over. Chris 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:51.960 Child was a really good guard who played a lot 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:54.680 of minutes. Then Patrick Ewing was still playing well. He 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:57.880 was thirty three years old. Alan Houston was scoring twenty 0:03:57.920 --> 0:03:59.600 a game, even though he never lived up to the 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:03.680 contract he got. Larry Johnson was enjoying his final swan 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:07.080 song in the NBA. Kurt Thomas was a player who 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:10.480 contributed a power forward. Charlie Ward, coming off of the 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:13.000 Heisman Trophy, you know, tried to make it an NBA 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:15.200 career and wound up starting coming off the bench for 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:17.880 the Knicks for a lot of years. You know, Herb Williams, 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:20.520 David Wingate. The Knicks were pretty deep. They didn't have 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:23.279 a lot of players who were superstars, but this was 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:25.200 a ross that was put together. Okay, we're gonna go 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:27.720 eight nine deep and not lose a lot from our 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:30.159 starting lineup to our bench well, and and that's sick 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:32.599 because it wasn't packed with superstars at the top. He 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:36.080 paid him like it. Certainly Alan Houston get paid like it. 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:39.760 But man, you you're just you grimace as I say that, 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:44.320 and then he got hurt and every everything it's inspiraled quickly. 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:46.400 I had a friend who was a really big Allan 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:49.880 Houston fan, and I remember the tortured look on her face. 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:53.239 Did he give did you give him money? How about 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:56.400 some of that cash you stole? I mean, god, hey, hey, 0:04:56.560 --> 0:05:00.240 he earned the right to have that guaranteed contract. You say, 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:02.960 you're looking at so many guys that contributed twenty or 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:06.120 more minutes. You're looking at going eight deep where you 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:08.560 can go to your bench and work. And again, when 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:11.240 you're talking, is you you use the term on their 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:14.240 last runs? For all these guys, I mean you're talking 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:17.120 about a team that is average age, pretty old. You 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:20.360 mean you're looking at guys in their low thirties and 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:23.839 then ewing sitting there and knowing his knees were gonna 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.520 give any day now, I mean that was where you 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:29.719 were at with this team for one shortened run, looking 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:32.680 and making trades for spretty Well and can Be got 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:38.320 him younger. I mean that was wow. Okay, but this 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:41.160 was Jeff Van Gundy, now in his fourth year as 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:44.599 Nick's head coach, and he was starting to gain his 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:47.920 reputation as being a defensive wizard. And look bringing Latrelle Spreewell, 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.240 who came off the bench for a while. Spree Well 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:53.520 bought in played great defense, and Marcus Campy came in 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:56.440 as a rim protector and he played great defense. He 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:59.200 really didn't hit his stride until the playoffs. But both 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:01.600 these guys turned from hey, all right, now we're turning 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:03.080 the page, let's see what we get, and they turned 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:05.760 into be incredibly important players as the Knicks got into 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.600 the playoffs. Yeah, you look at what Marcus can me. 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:12.000 I mean, it's kind of one of those afterthoughts in 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:14.600 our NBA history. And I don't know if he ever 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.600 got the credit because the numbers weren't there, or maybe 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:20.360 the teams he played on because there weren't a giant accolades. 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:24.280 But as a rebounder and defensive player, I mean, now 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:26.800 he'd be one of the most celebrated guys going with 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:30.760 all the advanced metrics we have for changing shots and everything. 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:34.640 They're a good player, but you know, certainly on this 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:37.640 team overshadowed by some of the other names. So as 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:41.880 the Knicks get ready for the nine season, let's concentrate 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:44.760 on the year. So this is when they actually went 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:47.839 to the NBA finals. What happened back as the Knicks 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:50.520 were set for that big run in my last time, 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:58.560 I really really enjoyed the Knicks in a minute in 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:01.760 the U S women World Cup team won the Brandy 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.960 Chastain whippering her shirt off, scoring a goal, beating China 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:08.640 to win the World Cup. Change women's soccer forever. Everybody 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:11.040 wanted to know. Is the Y two K bug gonna 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:14.440 cause the downfall of humanity? Are you ready? Are all 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:16.880 these companies they have all this time to get ready 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:19.560 when the computers all hit two thousand, they're all gonna 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:22.200 shut down. Do you know who had to sit around 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:26.160 the Yahoo offices for days on end ready for that? 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:28.400 Am I sitting across when we were sitting across the room, 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:33.240 and right now they fed us well at least Napster debut. 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:37.360 I can't, Oh my goodness, I just do you want 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:40.040 to rip this song? Do you want to rip this music? Yes? 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:42.560 I'm making rip it all I've got. I got out 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:44.640 of this guy's l drive and I can get a 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:47.800 hundred gigs. I would spend so much time to go, 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.400 what are you looking for? I don't know anything. I 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:53.080 want to I'll that's the thing. You didn't have no 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:56.600 cost your time and at that time, and you can 0:07:56.640 --> 0:08:00.160 still sell space and now you can buy expansion, know 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:05.640 terabyte drives for Nichols. Back then it was I don't know. 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:08.240 I only got so much space on this thing. That's 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:10.960 what I started listening to the Avalanches. I'm like, oh, 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:13.160 I found them on Someone's going, Wow, the Avalanches are 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.680 pretty fun. They've been around for like twenty years because 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:17.400 I was I looking for them. No, but if it's 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:21.000 free music, I'll look forever. Boy, before I had kids 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:23.840 can do that. What kind of wormhole was that? SpongeBob 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:29.360 square Pants Premier the Legend. Lance Armstrong wins his first 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:32.160 Tour de France back when land Storms Wrong was an 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:34.480 end and everybody respected and kind of peaked with his 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:37.880 appearance in Dodgeball. But how was his first turn of France? Victory? 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:42.360 Lance Armstrong and of course, everybody waited in line to 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:45.120 see the phantom menace. I have to see what George 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:47.280 Lucas comes up with before I widely pan it and 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:52.000 trounce it on any avenue and platform I have. They 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:54.559 rented out a theater for us, but it was a big, 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:58.280 you know, together a moment at Yahoo. But the it 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:00.720 was the early morning. I was working in shift because 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:03.240 I was helping run the sports site. So they're like, 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:06.920 you want to come? Like absolutely, I walked in. One 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:09.040 guy had all the mini bottles. I had a couple 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.880 of jugs of orange juice. They led us into the theater. 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:17.160 It was good times. What are you gotten there? Orange juice? Alright? 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:20.760 Come on? Literally I was carrying. There was no hiding 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:23.840 what we were about to do that just orange joice 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:25.959 all right, come on. And the other guy had gone 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:30.280 and bought mini bottles of the insert your favorite beverage here. 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:34.600 So that was what things looked like in nine. Now 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:36.880 what did things look like for the Knicks? Way do 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:39.480 we tell you how they got in the playoffs? And way, 0:09:39.480 --> 0:09:41.720 doll we tell you and remind you about some of 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:45.520 the biggest plays in recent NBA history and how they 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:47.920 went down and how they involved the Knicks and their 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:52.760 run to the NBA Finals. The Unforgettable continues. Here are 0:09:52.760 --> 0:10:12.000 Special Teams with Jason Smith and Mike car As. We 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:14.760 continue on the Special Teams podcast with Jason Smith and 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:19.400 Mike Harmon looking back in New York Knicks, who defied 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:22.600 all odds to make it to the NBA Finals, where 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:26.600 they fell to the San Antonio Spurs. The regular seasons 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:28.920 we talked about with the lockout was only gonna be 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:32.640 fifty games, and early on Patrick Ewing got hurt and 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:35.839 Latrelle Spreewell got hurt, so the Knicks really couldn't get 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:38.760 into an offensive rhythm. They were really good defensive team, 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:41.080 but they had trouble scoring points. That kind of meandered 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:46.240 their way through the regular season, no real instances or 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:49.040 glimmers to show you they could be an NBA Finals team. 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:52.000 They were twenty one and twenty one going into the 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:54.920 final eight games of the season. I mean, this is 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:58.040 a case where you're twenty one twenty one, you can 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:01.200 or maybe not make the It's a toss up at 0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:04.120 that point. The Knicks had to go on a run 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:07.680 to win six of their last eight games just to 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:10.960 make it. They get in is the eight seed over Charlotte, 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:13.600 where no one expected anything of them even though they 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:15.679 were they were hot. It was okay, well the Knicks 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:18.800 or the eight seed the Miami Heat, who everybody thought 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:20.560 was that they were ascending. They were gonna be the 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:22.920 next great team coming out of the Eastern Conference. They 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:24.839 were gonna wind up being thing. We're gonna dispatch the 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:27.600 Knicks very easily in the first round. But it turned 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:29.600 out the Knicks were peaking. We didn't know that at 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:32.680 this time though, because we're at the fifty point or 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:36.079 the fifty game market what would be a normal regular season. Now, 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.520 with time to look back at this, you can say, 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:40.600 all right, the Knicks would have been a great team, 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.679 because if they started playing this well, once everybody got 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:46.080 back and healthy at game fifty, this would have been 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:48.680 a team that was twenty one, would have gone on 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:50.440 a run, would have gotten into the maybe the top 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:52.920 half of the Eastern Conference, and been a really good 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:55.600 team in the playoffs. But it turns out they peaked 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:57.520 at a time when they were just starting to come 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:00.959 together as a team. But instead of the right sular season, Hey, 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:03.480 the last thirty games are gonna be really tough. It's hey, 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:06.200 now that it counts, we're gonna surprise everybody in the playoffs. 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:09.800 In the business of basketball being different in general back then, 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:12.959 but certainly in this particular year. Right, you have your 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:16.760 off season, which extended forever because of the lockout, but 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:19.920 really because of the compressed schedule. Once you're in, it 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:22.640 wasn't a lot of shuffling, right, you're still finding yourself. 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:25.440 Maybe you had the they had the early injuries, which 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:28.400 probably was all the better for when they finally got 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:30.679 into this run. When you talk about the number of 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:35.280 veterans that they've pulled together, but certainly Alonso Morning, Tim 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:39.160 Hardaway and that crew with Jamal Bashburn. I mean, you thought, 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:41.800 all right, scores and they were gonna get bullied, right, 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:45.400 the identity that they've had in the mid nineties seemingly gone, 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:48.480 and just out of the gate, they get punched in 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:52.160 the mouth. This turns out to be a classic first 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:54.160 round series. This is back when the first round was 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:57.440 only five games, which was a huge advantage to the 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.559 lower seeded teams because you could get hot and win 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:03.120 a five game series against a really good team. But 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:06.280 you play seven games and normally talent and the higher 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:09.079 seed Wills out, but because it was a five game series, 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:11.600 the Knicks take this series with the Heat to five 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:15.400 games and it ends with a play that is probably 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:19.280 my favorite Knicks memory of all time because bat you know, listen, 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:22.079 I hated the Miami Heat when I was a Knicks fan. 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:23.880 You know, Look, I'm not crazy about a lot of 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:26.160 teams in the Eastern Conferences the Knicks fan, but the 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:29.360 Heat was a big rival. And it comes down to 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:31.520 the final seconds of Game five and one of the 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:35.360 most famous shots in NBA history. Alan Houston hits a 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:38.440 floater in the lane that he just kind of throws 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:42.199 up and it bounces up off the back of the rim, 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:45.640 off the backboard, and down through the net for the game. 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:49.280 When he shot, the Knicks go absolutely crazy and they 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:52.640 go onto the second round of the playoffs. Still nobody 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:54.880 took the Knicks seriously because Wow, they pulled the big 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.080 first round upset. They beat the Miami Heat. Now the 0:13:57.080 --> 0:14:01.080 Eastern Conferences wide open. The Indie A Pacers are happy 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.720 because now they're the favorites going on. It was just 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:06.040 a fun moment for the Knicks and maybe the moment 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:08.280 of Alan Houston's career where he looks back at his 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:11.480 entire career besides counting money. It's this shot, but you've 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:14.240 seen that shot so many times. The floater, it's the rim, 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:17.000 it's the backboard, it's through the Knicks all tackle him, 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:19.760 and the heat are just stunned. We just went home 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:21.960 to the Knicks. We just went home in five games. 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.320 Well you just look at the way that this series 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:27.440 set up, right back and forth, win loss, win loss, 0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:31.080 and come back with the buzzer beater. You know, Ewing 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:33.440 was two and eleven in that game Houston, it was 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:37.800 five and five for twelve before that shot only from 0:14:37.840 --> 0:14:42.440 the field for the heat. You know, they shot right, 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:45.040 one of those classic you don't get defense like this, 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:48.960 and you know, wait, one of those teams didn't break 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:52.000 a hundred and five. But that way, well, that was 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:56.040 the way the NBA was. You know, people have this 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:59.400 misconception of the nineties of because they think about Michael 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:02.280 Jordan's us think boy, the free, the free flowing up 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:04.560 and down NBA. Now that was the eighties. That was 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:07.000 the eighties when teams like the Denver Nuggets, wh would 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:09.320 shoot the ball every five seconds. Hey final in Denver 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:14.880 one awesome. But the nineties was more you could play defense. 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:18.480 It was harder to score, and the referees allowed teams 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:20.760 to pay. Could still hand check. You could still get 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:23.080 an elbow and a guy's kidney. I mean, there are 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:26.240 a lot of ways. Call it what it is. Hello, kidney, 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:29.000 I'm the elbow. Go watch Go watch guys jostle in 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:31.760 the low post. There's a lot of physicality. Now you 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:33.520 go on and you breathe on a guy back of 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:35.920 the guy's neck getting into the lane, and you're getting 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:39.280 called for a file. But overall, great defense here in morning, 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:42.520 just six of fourteen from the fields, twenty one points. 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:47.480 But talk about just shutting down the outside shot. Well, 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:49.680 look at this NIXT team would never make it now 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:51.840 because they don't let you play defense like this. Although 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:53.960 they'd be better than the Knicks now, But this team 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:55.800 would never make it now because I'd like to see 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:59.760 these players actually against the current Knicks, to be honest 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:02.000 with Well, that you mean, with their current ages, because 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:04.320 all these guys are in their fifties. That's fine, Okay, 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:06.960 all right, I think I can still get good fifteen 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:09.200 minutes out of Patrick Ewing in the low post. Charles 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:11.320 Oakley still has a lot of fight. You saw you 0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:13.280 saw him getting kicked out of Madison Square Garden a 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:15.520 couple of years ago. He will still be a dominant 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:18.040 force in the low post because nobody's going in and 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:20.760 challenging him. But that was the hallmark of the Knicks, 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.560 was their defense, and Jeff Van Gundy really you know, 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:25.520 pushed that out and he got them to buy in. 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.280 So they win the first round series against the Heat. 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:31.240 Now that okay, that was nice, but now let's see 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:33.680 and then they sweep the Hawks in the second round 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:36.600 of the playoffs. I'm thinking, oh, my goodness, something really 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:40.240 good could happen here. That was when Marcus Canby was huge. 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:43.920 He wound up having just such a big series. It was, Hey, 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:47.000 maybe the Knicks really as much as they're peaking. Hey, 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:50.400 maybe this is when these guys are starting to really explode. 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:53.840 Marcus Campbell always had the biggest potential in Toronto, you know, 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.640 coming out of you Mass. Maybe now he's gonna be 0:16:56.680 --> 0:17:00.000 the air apparent because the Knicks got him to segue 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:03.040 from Patrick Ewing to him as the dominant big n 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:05.000 because the Knicks always had a dominant big man. They 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:07.840 had Patrick Ewing for years and now, okay, now we're 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:10.280 moving on. We're moving on to the next part of 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:13.919 our existence, and Patrick Ewing is gonna just pass the 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:16.200 torch to Marcus Canby. And this is when can Be 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:19.520 first started to become a real force this series. And 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:22.840 it was awesome. Now and as excited as I was 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.080 because I'm a Knicks fan, I'm kind of fatalistic because 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:29.119 after they sweep the Hawks, it's well, we have Reggie 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:32.399 Miller and here come the Pacers, and all I can 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:35.640 think of is the eight points and nine seconds, ridiculous 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:38.240 crap with Spike Lee, And all I can think is 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:40.280 that they're just gonna blow the doors off of us 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:42.320 here in the Eastern Conference Finals. It's a nice run, 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:45.320 and I'm believing in them. But now it's the Pacers 0:17:45.320 --> 0:17:47.479 and it's Reggie Miller and he's laughing at us, and 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:48.960 this is what's gonna happen. All right, We'll get to 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:51.439 Reggie Miller in a second. I can't closs over some 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:54.960 of the legends on that Atlanta Hawks to oh that 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:57.560 that was? That, that was, that was the Who's taller? 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:00.680 Mike for Teller were spud Web legend of the Atlanta Hawks. 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:02.440 But you got guy that was way before that you 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:07.960 got to kem By Mutambo, You've got Mookie Blaylock, You've 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:11.840 got Steve Smith. There's your score. The first Steve Smith, Yes, 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:16.320 and then Tyrone Corvin was still a member of this squad. 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:20.560 I mean that's now we're going ben a way machine 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:23.960 as a kid from Chicago. As you look at that roster, 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.960 but they didn't get much of a bench contribution at all, 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:30.520 Like you basically were playing their starters, and well they 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:33.960 beat them down and look at these out defense on 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:36.639 the outside shots and no chance. You know, people forget 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:38.560 the Hawks were entertaining for a long time, you know, 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:42.639 from the eighties of the Fratello spud Web, Dominique Wilkins, Uh, 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:46.280 Kevin Willis human highlight real era into the night. Okay, 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:49.720 now they they they've kind of replaced and recharge. They 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:52.160 were still a fun team. You know, they've they've turned 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:55.000 to a waste land now, but they were a fun team. 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:57.800 Mookie Blaylock was a really good point guard. And this 0:18:57.880 --> 0:18:59.680 is a team that you know, Okay, now here come 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:02.320 the Anna Hawks and the Nicks just sweep them aside 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:05.200 in four games, and it's I've just seen this going. 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:08.520 I I can't believe this, but still here come the 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:10.760 Indiana Pacers, and now it's gonna end for us. Yeah 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:13.600 they were fun and exciting, they inspired Pearl Jam's name, 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:17.480 but whit we move on. They you vanquished them with 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:21.639 a sweep four games to nil, and now we we 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:26.080 go to Indiana. So in Indiana I get the big 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:30.240 dose of reality because here is the big injury that 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:33.439 really might have changed things that season. And how the 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:38.640 NBA ended Game two against the Pacers. They lose Patrick 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:41.720 Ewing to a torn achilles tendon. And again this is 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:44.800 where my Knicks fatalism takes over and I go, uh, 0:19:44.840 --> 0:19:47.560 it's over. They're not. They just lost Patrick Ewing. Even 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:50.240 though he was older and he was you know, he 0:19:50.280 --> 0:19:53.479 was still the lynchpin of this team. And what are 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:55.680 the Knicks gonna do without him? How could they possibly 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:59.960 now beat the Indiana Pacers without Patrick Ewing their emotional lead? 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:02.480 Are still their leaders? Still a guy that was scoring, 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:05.000 you know well forem and rebounding and still the said 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:07.280 the guy you had to stop on the team. Even 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:09.560 though they had other players, you know, guys were still 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:12.320 starting to get into their bigger roles, but Patrick Ewing 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:14.280 was still the guy. And then you lose him, and 0:20:14.320 --> 0:20:15.840 it would be easy for the Knicks to say, boy, 0:20:15.880 --> 0:20:18.200 that's been a great run. What what a bad piece 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:20.160 of luck we have here, and now we're just gonna 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:23.600 go home pretty quietly. Well, but this is why you 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:26.640 ended up paying Alan Houston. This is what you have, 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:29.360 you know, from some of those veterans bringing in Marcus 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:33.600 Camby and Larry Johnson. You know, folks remember him for commercials. 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:39.080 For a spell he was a dominant force, but overshadowed, 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:43.040 I think because he never hit that mountain right. It 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:46.879 was a fun personality. I think today's age player like 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:49.639 him doing a little bit of that and commercials. You 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:52.480 might look past how bad the Knicks have been if 0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:54.760