March 29, 2015: Knick Off the Old Block

It was a blowout from the get go last night at the UC.  The Knicks are horrendous.  Don’t get me wrong… I don’t mind seeing them be horrible, but I do miss the days of the Bulls Knicks battles.  Those were some classics.

Where to begin… there are so many choices here for classic Bulls Knicks games.  Let’s start with one that had its 20 year anniversary yesterday.  March 28, 1995, Madison Square Garden.  A certain someone had just come back from retirement 9 days earlier in Indiana.  He hit his first game winner 3 days earlier in Atlanta.  Now, he was back at the arena where he played his best; there were plenty of those, including of course the Chicago Stadium and the United Center, but other than his home courts, MJ put on his finest shows in NYC.  This game would rank as one of his finest.  The Double Nickel is how this one is referred to.  That stands for 55 points.  In only his 5th game back from a year and a half baseball experiment, Jordan showed us how much he missed playing the Knicks.  I remember watching every minute of this one; he made Starks his bitch on this night.  He did that to a whole lot of people.  After a series of fade aways, pump fake jumpers, up and under moves, blow bys, and layups and dunks, Jordan saved his best for the final act.  With the game tied at 111, it was of course Jordan with the ball as the clock wound down.  Yet, to everyone in the stadium’s surprise, including Michael, he did NOT score the game winning bucket, but instead found a wide open….  You know this answer don’t you?  Don’t look it up.  Another detail from that game is the number he wore; those were the 45 days.  1995 did not end well for the Bulls.  Even MJ needed more than just a half of season to get into NBA Championship form.  He did so the following year, in record breaking fashion; he also switched back to 23.

The Knicks, however, got their shot at an NBA championship the year before, the first year after Jordan retired.  This leads to another memorable Bulls Knicks battle.  It was Scottie Pippen leading the Bulls into the Eastern Conference Semifinals without Jordan in 1994.  It was the Knicks who ended the Bulls quest to get back to the Finals for the 4th straight year.  Or should I say it was Hue Hollins who ended it?  A horrible call against Pippen, who was defending Hubert Davis’ three point shot, gave the Knicks the win in MSG in Game 5 of that series.  The Bulls came back with a win, the final playoff game in the Chicago Stadium in Game 6, but couldn’t prevail in Game 7 back as MSG.  It was the Knicks only series win over the Bulls in the 90s.  This led to their shot at an NBA title vs the Houston Rockets, which they blew.  The Knicks had another shot in the Finals against the Spurs in 1999, the year after the Bulls were broken up.  They blew that one too.  They returned to the ECF the following year in 2000.  Since then, they’ve only made the playoffs 4 times, getting past the 1st round once.
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So, they go ahead and hire in Phil Jackson.  Here’s a guy with ties to both teams.  His playing days with New York, and his first 6 rings as NBA head coach with the Bulls.  He’s tried to put the triangle in place with these Knicks with Derrick Fisher, but have you seen their roster?  It’s full of D leaguers at the current point.  With Carmelo out for the year, they really tanked.  I loved Stacey King talking about the Knicks trying to run the triangle with no success; he should know, being coached by Phil with the Bulls during the first 3 titles.  With Stacey on the TV broadcast, Perdue in the studio, and Bill Wennington (that guy who slammed home the winning bucket in the famous double nickel game) on the radio broadcast, we got ex-Bulls champions everywhere you turn.  Of course, the front office has one in Paxson…

Will Phil be able to turn this around?  Will he make Madison Square Garden the mecca of basketball again?  It hasn’t been like that for a while.  The only time it’s been like that in my lifetime was when Jordan played there; scoring at will over the Knicks, beating them over and over again in big games.  We’ve only scratched the surface of Bulls Knicks classics here; need another blog for more of those games.  Maybe a list to come?  Yesterday certainly wasn’t one that will make it, since most people would be hard pressed to name anybody on the Knicks roster.  It’s more dark days for the Knicks this year, and although I miss the battles, I can’t say I mind seeing them be horrible.  Second City?  We were never that when it came to Bulls Knicks.