Unsung Knick History – The Night Willis Fought the Entire Laker Bench…and Won!

Willis Reed was in his third season as a Knick when the 1966-67 season kicked off in October 1966 with a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on the road. The Knicks’ home opener was on Tuesday, October 18, 1966 against the Los Angeles Lakers, who were the defending Western Conference Champions (falling to the Boston Celtics in a hard-fought seven-game NBA Finals earlier in 1966) and Reed was the starting power forward. Drafted in the second round of the 1964 NBA Draft as a center, Reed ended up splitting time at center and power forward along with the Knicks’ first round draft pick, Jim “Bad News” Barnes (I discussed Barnes’ Knick career in a previous Unsung Knicks History piece here), as the pair were used similarly to how Patrick Ewing and Bill Cartwright were deployed decades later. Early in the 1965-66 season, Barnes was packaged in a deal for star center Walt Bellamy, who became the Knicks primary center with Reed as the primary power forward. At the start of the 1966-67 season, Reed and Bellamy were now beginning their first full season playing together.

During the game against the Lakers at Madison Square Garden, Reed was matched up against veteran forward/center Rudy LaRusso, in his eighth season out of Dartmouth. Throughout the game, Reed took exception to what he felt were an inordinate amount of elbows thrown his way by LaRusso as the pair jockeyed for position in the low blocks. LaRusso, I am sure, felt that Reed was giving just as good as he was getting. Reed complained to the referees, who he later noted looked at him as though he was nuts, so Reed determined that if they were not going to take care of things, he would.

During the third quarter, a Knick was shooting two foul shots. After the second shot went up, naturally, LaRusso and Reed began jockeying for position and Reed felt that LaRusso hit him with one elbow too many, so after LaRusso turned to head up court, Reed tangled up with him a bit. LaRusso responded by throwing a haymaker at Reed. The problem for Reed was that this was taking place directly in front of the Lakers’ bench, so quickly a bunch of Lakers race on to the court.

When Reed turned to respond to LaRusso’s missed haymaker, Laker center Darren Imhoff (a former Knick #1 draft pick that I also featured in the same Unsung Knick History piece I did on Barnes that you can read here) grabbed Reed from behind, ostensibly to break up the fight. Well, LaRusso took this opportunity to tag Reed with a punch. This enraged Reed. He slugged Imhoff, dropping the big man to the ground. He then chased LaRusso to the Lakers bench and got in two mighty shots in LaRusso’s face. At this point, Laker rookie forward John Block ran up, also ostensibly to play peacemaker. Well, Reed responded with a left hook that broke Block’s nose. Imhoff came up again and Reed punched him in the eye, sending a bleeding Imhoff into a bunch of Lakers. By this time, Reed’s Knick teammates had arrived, as well, and it was a full-fledged brawl (Knick guard Em Bryant, in particular, was jumping all over Lakers). Reed caught LaRusso one more time, knocking him to the ground. Reed was also throwing any other Laker who came at him to the ground, including Laker center Hank Finkel.

According to Frank Isola: Smith's agent, Leon Rose, met with Garden Chairman James Dolan following Wednesday's Knicks' win over Sacramento to finalize a contract. It is believed that Smith, who has also attracted the interest of the Clippers, will receive the Knicks' $2.5 million exception. Rose also represents Anthony, who has lobbied the club to add Smith, an explosive scorer who can also be erratic at times. He has averaged 12.5 points per game over seven NBA seasons.

In order to create a roster spot for Smith, the Knicks would have to release a player. It would not be a hard guess to whom that player will be. All sane 
judgement points to Mike Bibby as the one to get released. however, it's no secret that Coach Mike does not like Balkman. Be that it may, rest assure it will be
Mike Bibby's farewell as soon as JR is signed.

What does JR Smith bring to the Knicks? 1. A true shooting guard that plays defense and would only get better as the result of LIN being the floor General.
Smith and Melo have basically grown up together in Denver. 2. Less double teams on Stat and Melo. There is not a team in the NBA that would leave Smith
unguarded to cover Melo or Stat... Smith is a dangerous shooter and the league knows it. He has phenomenal range, can drive and keep the floor spaced for the pick and roll.  3. It would allow 6'7 Landry Fields a chance to play his true position... Melo's backup. Landry would thrive with less pressure and regain his Rookie
confidence that we are somewhat seeing return. Moreover, JR Smith is the only experienced SG on our team. He has been in the playoffs 5 out of 7 years of his career! JR Smith is only 26 years old, born on September 9, 1985 and was one of the last of players that went from high School straight to the Pros. In his second playoff series of his young career, Smith had a stellar showing during a first-round match-up with the Los Angeles Lakers. He played 27.0 minutes, averaging 18.3 points per game on 53.5% shooting. He also had a 31.8% three-point shooting percentage. Although the Nuggets were swept in the first round, Laker's Kobe Bryant  said in a post-game interview that, "J. R. is a good young player. He was a lot to handle."

Our starting Line Up would be as Follows:

PG- Jeremy LIN 
SG- JR Smith
SF- Carmelo Anthony
PF- Amare Stoudimyer
C- Tyson Chandler

Bench:
PG- Barron Davis
SG- Iman Shumpert
SF- Landry Fields/Bill Walker
PF- Novak/Bill Walker/ Balkman
C- Jarred Jeffries

Either way.. this is a dream team with a real floor General in Jeremy Lin!
CYA @ The Parade!
BTW...SMITH IS FROM FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY!

JR SMITH Playoffs STATS

Jeremy-highlights

Mike D'Antoni's Press Conference

JEREMY LIN'S NEW UNIFORM

I'm proud to say I've been knocked off the fence I've proclaimed to be on in the matter of whether Jeremy Lin is real or a FAD. 
I could not be happier to have been wrong. WRONG AS HELL! Last nights game made me a believer. Why? Because looking at Lin's stats, 
they were much better than any game he's played so far. LIN had 10 points on only 4-6 shooting, 13 ASISSTS, 5 rebounds and only 6 TO'S. 
These numbers emphatically represent an elite PG. The fact that he makes everyone around him better is going to get even better as Amare and Melo
return to full health and starter status.

LIN is doing it all! And on the 7TH game he rested! LOL....

Linsanity may bring peace in the MSG-Time Warner Cable war.

The two sides met earlier this week for the first time since December, when Time Warner’s contract expired and MSG shut down the signal.

Hours before Jeremy Lin led the Knicks last night to their seventh straight victory, a 100-85 blowout of the Sacramento Kings, Mike Bair, head of MSG media, told WFAN’s Mike Francesa that negotiations had reopened. Neither company would give details, but the talks came in the midst of Lin’s incredible run, which has millions of local viewers demanding to see games. 

Lin-starved fans are denouncing Time Warner on social media, flooding its switchboard with complaints — and watching the games through other cable providers or packing local bars airing the games.

MSG ratings have surged as Lin has turned the Knicks into must-see TV. Average ratings are up 87 percent in the Lin era — all 11 days of it.

The rating for Tuesday’s Toronto Raptors game was 4.66 and drew 344,272 households, the highest-rated MSG game since Carmelo Anthony’s debut last year. Time Warner’s Facebook page has been all but hijacked by complaining customers. * NY POST~

Mike D'Antoni Postgame

Jeremy Lin Postgame Press Conference

Lin-Lights

A "Winning and Grinning" Jeremy Lin. Serendipity, Synchronicity, Irony and Karma have for once aligned with the Knicks, their BIg Three and the young man who would resurrect them.

Is it just me or doesn't the emergence of Jeremy Lin, signal a splendid conjunction of irony, serendipity, synchronicity and Karma?  All curious elements that seemingly always play out adversely against the Knicks.

Think about it for a moment, hasn't serendipity often eluded the Knicks.  You can count a plethora of unfortunate of events that have derailed fateful unions and undermined Gotham's championship dreams.  Bernard King injuries killed what could have been a splendid union with Patrick Ewing.  The playoff incident with the Miami Heat that cost the Knicks what was likely those 90s team's best shot at a championship.  We can go on and on, heck the beginning of this century has seemingly been about missteps and miscues in the draft and trade routes.  How many times has a Knicks’ alumnus found himself part of a meaningful playoff run after being cast out from Gotham's wayward ship as just more undesirable flotsam. Ariza, Nate, Z-Bo, Crawford anyone?

Sure the tide has begun to turn on the Knicks. But even the turning of that tide has been frustrated, often falling short of the desired home run hit management and fans dream of.  Heavy cost have been exacted by rival front offices in Houston and Denver, and the Knicks have often struck out on Building block players as front offices in Minnesota and Oakland have stolen the Knicks thunder in the draft.  Another “Superstar” did not accompany Amar’e Stoudemire during the summer of 2010 and the Knicks while taking a step forward that season surely were far from the juggernaut needed to contend with the "Superteams" and Powerhouses in Miami and Chicago.  While the luring of Carmelo Anthonyr to Gotham resulted in the exodus of a ransom of complimentary talent breaking out and contributing to winning situations in Denver and Portland.

But somehow it all comes back around. Doesn't it?

(Crosspost with Modi's PopSspot -- check it out)

As a passionate die-hard Knicks fan starving for a few crumbs ever since Patrick left the Garden, I am way too close to Linsanity to go deep into the multitude of powerful socio-cultural narratives sweeping sports nation. For that, please see Jay Caspian Kang’s The Lives of Others (from 2010), Jamilah King’s “The Subtle Bigotry…”, Andrew Leonard’s Social Media Fast Break, Dave Zirin’s Feel the Linsanity, Timothy Dalrymple’s The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations, and David Leonard’s Tebow, Lin, and The Religiosity of Sportsand The Persistence of Racial Stereotypes (hat tip on links).

The impact of Lin’s inspiration and stereotype-breaking also cannot be overstated: For Bryan Chu “Jeremy is One of Us”; for Michael Luo, Lin embodies “a surreal Jackie Robinson-like moment”; and Danny Chau was “overwhelmed with pride and unfiltered elation”.

Somewhere amidst this international discussion lies a 23 year-old basketball player, and when an ESPN poll seriously asks :“Is Jeremy Lin the Best Point Guard in the NBA?”, then it’s time to call time-out.

For hardcore Knick fans, it’s time to extract the sane from Linsanity. What’s hoops, what’s hype, and why some of us are going crazy. Let’s start with six questions:

1)  Q: IS JEREMY LIN FOR REAL?

A: REAL!

Forget “Asian-American’, “Harvard”, and “undrafted”. Forget that it has only been five games… or that they were against mostly bad teams… or that they were mostly home games (note: Wizards game counts as a home game – trust me, I was there)…

Skill is skill.

Here is a nice summary of Lin’s skills:

“Jeremy Lin… is sweet, sweet, sweet.  … Lin was [John] Wall’s equal if not better…  Lin has a very nice handle… and he is able to split defenders and get into the paint with great quickness.  Not only can Lin finish, but his vision and ability to pass in traffic is pure… . Nice, nice, nice… This undrafted kid better get a contract. HEY D’Antoni.  Oh never-mind.”

This plea for Mike D’Antoni to pick up Lin was written back in 2010 by “LIVESINEWJERSEY” at the excellent Knicks Fanatics Blog. To go back even further, “Poor Man’s Commish” from the great blog Golden State of Mind was repeatedly touting Lin’s skills back in 2009:

“I’m unequivocally confident that [Lin] will not only make it, but be an impact player.” [And in new post]…

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Jeremy Lin is a bonafide First Round NBA draft pick…  The detractors will either be discounting him because he is Asian and they have never seen an Asian as good as him, because they haven’t seen him play, and because of the most basic human element: fear of the unknown.”

What did these unpaid “bloggers” see that well-paid scouts and GM’s could not?

They only saw his skill.

And skill is skill.