Tracy McGrady

Al Harrington

Eddie Kuester

Bill Walker

Rip Hamilton

“Then, I was at the University of South Carolina, as an assistant to Frank McGuire,” said the Riverside [Bronx] native, who is now in his second year as president of basketball operations.  “But, I don’t think Legends Night is limited to New Yorkers.  I know it was really felt here, but throughout the history of basketball, that team exemplified what you’d want if you were a coach.  They were smart and talented –more talented than, perhaps, they were given credit for- and played that way.”

On Monday evening, during halftime of their game against the Milwaukee Bucks, the organization and its loyal fans celebrated the 40th anniversary of that championship squad. The event, formally billed as the Second Annual Knicks Legends Night, also honored Cal Ramsey with the newly-named Dick McGuire Knickerbocker Legacy Award, which is emblematic of the team’s pride and tradition.  McGuire, who had turned 84 just eight days before his death on February 3, was affiliated with the organization for more than a half century.

The on-court festivities occurred six months to the day that another local team was honored for a similar milestone.  But, unlike the Amazin’ Mets ascension to the top of the baseball world in 1969, the older Knicks didn’t surprise anymore.  After all, New York had posted the fourth best record in the 14-team NBA during the previous season, although they somehow finished in third place, three games behind the 57-25 Baltimore Bullets, in the very competitive Eastern Division.  By contrast, the 1968 Mets had finished ninth in a ten-team division, a robust 24 games off the pace.

William ‘Red’ Holzman, the wily coach who posted a franchise-best 613 victories, led the Knicks to a 23-1 start, including a team-high 18 consecutive wins.  A nine-game winning streak, from January 23-February 3, 1970 bumped the record to a whopping 47-11.  New York would win the division by a slim four games over the Bucks, who featured future Hall-of-Fame center Lew Alcindor [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar] and Flynn Robinson, a journeyman guard.

The Knicks placed Dave DeBusschere, Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier and Willis Reed on the All-Defensive Team, and Reed was the first player to capture the MVP trifecta [All-Star, Finals, and Regular Season] in the same season.

Reed’s upper thigh injury in Game 5, and subsequent dramatic entrance during warm-ups before Game 7, remain a signature moment in NBA history.  Though his surprise return to the court inspired his teammates and further juiced the capacity crowd, it was Frazier who sealed the victory with 36 points, 19 assists, and seven rebounds in the 113-99 clincher.  Clyde’s performance is perhaps both the greatest, and most unheralded, in any championship series finale.

All but two of the surviving members appeared.  The first was forward Dave Stallworth, who returned from a heart attack to become a vital contributor.  The other was Phil Jackson, who won a record 10th title when the Los Angeles Lakers bested the Orlando Magic in 2009, was in Memphis as his team prepared for its game against the Grizzlies on Tuesday.  Jackson, who deliberated coaching this season due to “health issues,” ultimately declined an invitation.

Ironically, the 6’8” forward, a noted defensive specialist, did not play any games for New York that season, as he was confined to the injured reserve list with a back injury; Jackson, however, remained close to the squad while assisting George Kalinsky, the famed Garden photographer, throughout his rehabilitation.

Holzman, GM Eddie Donovan and trainer Danny Whelan are deceased, as is DeBusschere and reserve center Nate Bowman.  Debusschere, who had earlier pitched a shutout for the Chicago White Sox in 1963, is best remembered by younger fans for his exuberance after winning the Patrick Ewing-lottery in 1985 while serving as general manager.

Each of the five decedents was represented by family members.

[ John J. Buro is the author of the “Open Court: A Year with the New York Knicks”. The book is only available at www.opencourtbook.com. ]

Tracy McGrady

Eddie House

Al Harrington

Scott Skiles

Andrew Bogut

For now, however, it’s all about Tracy McGrady –or, more specifically, his surgically-repaired left knee- and how much he can actually contribute over the Knicks final 29 games of the season.

Whatever the 6’8” swingman can give the New York for the duration will certainly be much more than he added to the Houston Rockets.  In a grand total of six games, none of which McGrady started, he averaged 3.2 points and 1 assist in less than eight minutes.  Clearly, the Rockets’ loss instantly turned into the Knicks’ gain.  Nineteen first-half points [and 26 overall] against the Oklahoma City Thunder during Saturday night’s 121-118 overtime loss, were enough to convince observers that, while not quite 100%, T-Mac still has considerable game left.

“With Tracy coming in, we knew there was going to be a lot of energy in the building,” Kevin Durant said after scoring 36 points to extend his consecutive game streak of 25-plus points to 27.  “He was phenomenal.  He’s back.  But, I’ll take the win.”

So, while Sergio Rodriguez, formerly of Sacramento, and Eddie House, who arrived from Boston in the Nate Robinson deal, could be nice fits to the puzzle, the trade for McGrady is looked upon as New York’s most significant in quite some time.

“Tracy has been one of the premier players in our league over the past decade,” Donnie Walsh, the Knicks president, said.  “We have every indication that he is healthy and committed to re-establishing himself as one of the best in our game.”

Walsh and head coach Mike D’Antoni haven’t been here that much longer.  As Walsh continues to rebuild, D’Antoni attempts to mix and match whatever assorted pieces are given to him.  By virtue of Walsh’s success to move the bloated contracts of Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph last year, and Jerome James and Jared Jefferies this season, New York is very much in play for a lively off-season.

“Mike’s losses [which now number 84 in 135 games] don’t just count against him,” Walsh clarified.  “They count against my record, too.”

McGrady, 30, who has career averages of 21.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists with three teams, is on the books for $23 million.  There’s also the question of his expiring contract, which he wouldn’t mind converting into one that is more team-friendly.

“I’ve made a lot of money in my career,” he confirmed.  “I could retire right now, and be fine financially. So, money is not an issue. [If] they want to bring in LeBron and D-Wade, along with Chris Bosh or Amar’e Stoudemire, I’d be a damn fool not to want to stay here.

“I would definitely embrace the opportunity where money is not an issue.”

Thus, it would not be a stretch for him to accept a midlevel [$5.9 million] or, perhaps, a biannual [$1.9 million] exception for the privilege to play alongside any combination of the two.

After the 29 games are over and, assuming the Knicks’ season ends at that point, July 1 will represent the next important date on the team calendar.  But, that is then; this is now.

In other words, any thoughts of James or Wade and, to a lesser extent, Bosh will have to wait.  The present team, which also comprises All-Star David Lee, among others, may need some time to become acquainted.  In fact, because of trade deadline activity, there were just eight of 15 player photos on the wall outside the New York lockerroom.

But, while the wall suggested an empty feeling, the Knicks’ cup, at the moment, is very, very fill.

Tracy McGrady

Eddie House

Kevin Durant

Scott Brooks

This year, New York Knicks’ guard Nate Robinson needed only to be Fortu-Nate.

Unlike past editions, this year’s NBA all-star slam dunk contest left much to be desired at American Airlines Center in Dallas, on Saturday night.

That was enough though, to help Robinson, the diminutive 5-foot-9 guard with the major hops, defend his slam dunk title from last year and become the first three-time winner in the 27-year history of the event.

In winning the title for as many times as he had game dunks this season, Robinson luckily didn’t need to do much to beat a very uninspired and uncreative field that included Toronto Raptors’ rookie Demar DeRozan, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Shannon Brown, and Gerald Wallace, of the Charlotte Bobcats.

Following one of the most imaginative and entertaining NBA slam dunk contests ever, in Phoenix last year, Robinson became the Dunk King for the second straight year if mostly, by default.

In fact, Robinson didn’t even have the best dunk of the night.

That belonged to the 6-foot-7 DeRozan, whose catch off of the left side of the backboard and finish with a powerful windmill dunk on his second attempt of the opening round, earned a score that matched his uniform number of 10 from all five judges, for the contest’s only perfect score of 50.

Unfortu-Nate-ly this year, there was no need for Robinson to duplicate being Nate The Great, as he did a year ago, when he donned a special green Knick uniform, green arm sleeve, and green sneakers, to leap over Orlando’s 6-foot-11 Dwight Howard, a self-proclaimed stuffing Superman, in an enjoyable spectacle of showmanship.

Instead, lacking star-power names like Lebron James, the rest of this year’s slate failed to demonstrate or operate in a creative state, thus helping to facilitate a victory for last year’s Krypto-Nate that was second-rate.

At any rate, it’s another slam dunk title that this year’s Fortu-Nate appreciates.

And, although his competition didn’t push him this year, we shouldn’t hate on Nate.

Early on, TNT commentator Kenny Smith, feeling that Robinson’s challengers were holding back, said that after last year, only “Robinson understands what the contest is all about” and that the rest of the field had “not taken their bungee chords off.”

That seemed to be the case after Brown and Wallace each made two rather routine dunks, earning each competitor a combined score of 78 and early, first-round exits, setting the stage for the final-round showdown between DeRozan and Robinson.

Lacking last year’s theatrics, Robinson reached the finals matter-of-factly with a fairly nice two-handed windmill dunk off a bounce for a score of 44, and slightly a nicer, mid-air, twisting throw-down off a bounce pass from teammate Danilo Gallinari, who fell just two points shy of advancing past the first round while competing in the first three-point shooting contest of his career, earlier in the night. That second dunk netted a score of 45 for Robinson, giving him a total of 89, three points less than DeRozan’s 92, after the first round.

Robinson tried to show a little more once the finals began, but he gave up after failing to convert on a between-the-legs attempt coming from behind the backboard and under the basket. He instead settled for an ordinary, two-hand dunk off a bounce (though, at Robinson’s height, any dunk of such average degree of difficulty seems to resonate with the crowd more than someone of DeRozan’s height).

DeRozan countered with a copy of the former Krypto-Nate’s winning dunk from last year, leaping over 6-foot-6 teammate Sonny Weems. Not bad, but Weems is nearly a half-foot shorter than Howard and unlike last year, there were no costumes nor any “show” to go with it.

Robinson then sealed the victory in his final attempt, throwing the ball off of the backboard, catching it, and finishing with a power reverse slam. Not to be completely devoid of flair, Robinson took pom-poms from a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader and waved them over his head. Amusing, but certainly not taking down a dunking Superman.

The biggest reason that dunk clinched Robinson’s victory was that DeRozan fittingly closed the weak contest with an anti-climactic ending. Rather than copying Julius Erving’s famous foul-line dunk (in the first-ever NBA slam dunk contest in 1984), DeRozan ran the length of the court only to take off from the semi-circle below the foul line, for a simple two-handed windmill dunk which left the crowd yawning rather yearning for more.

Smith’s colleague, Charles Barkley, a former NBA power dunker himself, at times, said before the deciding cell phone text vote from the television audience was announced, “Maybe nobody will win.”

That statement pretty much summed up the event.

Someone had to win though, and it was Robinson, by a narrow margin, garnering 51 percent of the fans’ vote.

Like DeRozan, Brown was competing in the event for the first time, while it was the second time Wallace (who lost in 2002) participated in the contest. For Robinson, it was his fourth trip, losing only in 2007, in Las Vegas.

Robinson’s victory gave the Knicks twice as many slam dunk titles (four) as NBA championships, tying the Atlanta Hawks for most by an NBA franchise. Atlanta and New York are the only teams to win more than two slam dunk titles.

That’s about as heartening to Knick fans as Robinson’s lackluster defense of his contrastingly compelling 2009 slam dunk title.

For now, that’ll have to do as Robinson’s Knicks prepare for their post-all-star break portion of the season at 19-32, six games out of the final playoff spot in the eastern conference.

Things could change by next year, but as of now, Robinson has no plans to go for a three-peat or even for a fourth overall title at any time in the future. “No more titles,” he said. “I’m finished. It’s the last one.”

Then again, Gallinari told Robinson after a Martin Luther King Day win over Detroit that he wasn’t interested in participating in this year’s three-point shootout before Robinson convinced the sharpshooter to make the trip to Dallas. Maybe next year, it’ll be Gallinari’s turn to change Robinson’s mind.

During tonight’s 118-114 Sacramento King win over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Evans decided,with the Kings losing at the half and making up no ground in the third quarter, he would take over the game as the bright lights of Broadway were shining clearly on him. The kid didn’t flinch as he led his team.

Evans finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, scoring 12 points in the final seven minutes of regulation after the Knicks had built a 15-point lead, repeatedly finding his way into the lane.

“I think the people in New York got a little idea of why we like Tyreke so much,” Kings coach Paul Westphal said. “The Garden got kind of quiet when he did that little two-step slippery thing he does. It’s something you don’t see very often.”

With 7:15 to go in the fourth quarter and the Knicks leading by 15 points, Evans scored 12 of the Kings final 15 points to bring them to a tie as the final buzzer sounded. He was an unstoppable force as his skill with the basketball, quickness, 220 pound strength, long arms, and court sense led to a variety of drives to the hoop for layups and penetration and dishes to a waiting Kevin Martin as the Knicks, even with their defensive stopper, Jared Jeffries guarding him, could do nothing to stop the kid.

The 6’6” first year player, fresh off of John Calipari’s previous point guard development program in Memphis, Tennessee (before moving on to Kentucky and John Wall) has taken the league by storm and is the leading candidate for NBA Rookie of the Year. The reality is this – if this kid, just 19, stays on the straight and narrow and continues a normal maturation process for any young player, he will become among the greatest of players in the games’ history. He’s that talented.

Meanwhile, the Knicks continue their precipitous drop into basketball oblivion as any previous hopes for playoff participation this season disappear into the netherworld of NBA also-rans.

Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni was left scratching his head again after his team lost it’s 10^th game out of their last 13, a streak that couldn’t come at a worse time as their record dropped to a season-worst 13 games under .500 (13-32).

“We’re up 15 with about seven to go and we didn’t get up on Donte Greene’s shot,” he said. “Then they had a lay-up, we didn’t get back in transition and Donte hits another one. So, it went from 15 to about 7 in about 30 seconds.”

His team was missing Danilo Gallinari, who went out with an injured forearm with one minute left in the third quarter. But, that’s not what beat the Knicks tonight. It was a lack of floor leadership when the game got tight, and according to D’Antoni, a lack of spirit.

“We’re struggling to find a way to get the ball in the right place,” he said. “Gallinari being out is no excuse, we just, for whatever reason, I don’t know, there’s a lot of spirit that has gone out of this dog and we’re just not fighting.”

Evans, on the contrary, noticed the huge amount of fight his side exhibited, particularly in the second half.

“We just never gave up, we kept fighting, trying to get the win and coach Westphal believed in us,” he said. “I think the main that got us the win was me pushing the ball, getting an easy bucket and an easy transition point.”

He’s correct. Until Westphal told him in the fourth quarter to go win the game, Evans was not playing aggressively. It looked like he got the green light to take things over when it mattered most, though.

“We got a great performance from Tyreke,” said Westphal. “We did like we’ve been doing all year. If we get behind, we don’t quit, keep playing. Tonight, we happened to close it out.”

Sounds very different from D’Antoni’s laments, doesn’t it. And, this Sacramento team has a worse record (17-34) than the Knicks yet they seem hungrier and more aggressive than a Knicks team that’s falling faster out of the playoff discussion than one of Chris Duhon’s recent flings at the basket disguised as shots.

Al Harrington scored 17 for New York, Jeffries had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season and Nate Robinson had 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting, also leaving the game at one point after having the wind knocked out of him.

Coach Paul Westphal

Tyreke Evans

Chris Duhon

Danilo Gallinari

For more information contact Bob Trainor at trainorcomm@gmail.com.

McGuire was born in the Bronx on January 25, 1926. The family moved to Rockaway to be near the bar and grill owned by McGuire’s father. It was on the playgrounds in Queens and at St. John’s University where McGuire honed his considerable basketball skills.  Serving in the armed forces and graduating from St. John’s in 1949, McGuire was drafted by the New York Knicks. After his first two seasons with the Knicks, Dick’s younger brother, Al, became his backcourt teammate. They played beside one another for three seasons until Al was traded to Baltimore.

The slick ball handler led his team in assists in his first seven seasons with the club. He was elected an All-Star in five of his eight years with the Knicks. Only Walt Frazier and Mark Jackson surpassed McGuire’s total of assists as a Knick. Interestingly, both offered gracious words of praise yo a man they considered as a mentor. McGuire was Frazier’s coach when the latter joined the Knicks in 1965. Jackson, a fellow St. John’s grad, was scouted by McGuire. Both attested to the integral influence McGuire had upon their success in professional basketball and to McGuire’s innate decency.

McGuire was traded to the Detroit Pistons after the end of the 1956-57 season. He returned to the Knicks organization as coach for the 1965-66 season. He remained until his death. After his coaching duties ended, McGuire held a variety of positions, assistant coach, chief scout, director of scouting services. He was named senior basketball adviser in 2004. His son, Scott, joined the Knicks as a scout in 1988.

McGuire was the recipient of a number of well-deserved honors during his lifetime. He was one of the rare athletes whose uniform number hangs in the rafter of Madison Square Garden. The number 15 that he and Earl Monroe wore as Knicks was retired in 1992. In the following year, McGuire was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, where he joined his younger brother, Al, the former NCAA champion coach of Marquette and esteemed basketball broadcaster. They are the only pair of brothers in the Naismith Hall. In the spring of 2009, McGuire received the first Knickerbocker Legacy award.

This award is given in recognition of Knickerbocker Pride, Tradition and Class. It was announced at the ceremony that the award would be renamed the Dick McGuire Award to further honor its first recipient. The newly named honor will be awarded at MSG on February 22, Legends Night.

My final personal memory of McGuire was a long chat we had in the perss room at MSG on Janury 13. McGuire was scouting at a college doubleheader involving his Alma Mater against the Cincinnati Bearcats and Fordham against the Dayton Flyers. McGuire, self-effacing and soft-spoken as always, reminisced of his past experiences and shared his opinions of current players including the Bearcats highly touted freshman Lance Stephenson. McGuire was very positive in his personal outlook and thankful to still be a regular at MSG. He was, of course, extremely pleasant, courteous and friendly.

McGuire has left behind his wife of 54 years, four children, seven grandchildren and a multitude of admirers. One of those admirers was Knicks president Donnie Walsh, who commented, “He’s been a part of this, almost like the bricks, and so I don’t know of anybody in the league that I can say that about in the same way. So, it’s a terrible loss for us.” Each member of the team will be wearing the number 15 on his jersey for the remainder of the season.

Ersan IIyasova came off the bench to score a season high 25 points and grab nine rebounds while Brandon Jennings scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half to lead the Bucks to a 114-107 victory. It was New York’s fourth loss in the last five games and now drop to 19-30.

After taking a 59-54 first half lead that saw them commit only one turnover, the Knicks were unable to take care of the ball in the second half as Milwaukee outscored them 36-22 in the third quarter and would hold on to the lead for good. New York would end up commiting 10 turnovers in the second half.

” They just got a lot of offensive rebounds, ” D’Antoni said. ” We turned it over five times. Those were the biggest combinations. They just beat us to the ball. They beat us to the basket, beat us to the screen, beat us to everything. That’s not a good combo.”

David Lee led the way for the Knickerbockers with another fine game scoring a season high 32 points and recording 15 rebounds for his 30th double double of the season. It’s his 18th 20/10 game of the season. Al Harrington added 22 points and eight rebounds off the bench while Nate Robinson who made us first contributed 13 points and seven assists with zero turnovers. It was Nate’s first start of the season and first in over a year and never got going shooting 3 for 12 from the field.

” It just felt awkward out there,” Robinson said. ” Trying to do everything we can, we just fell short. We have to watch film, go back and figure out what those lapses were, where those grey areas were and bounce back and capitalize.

The Knicks got a glimpse of what could have been with Brandon Jennings, the former Oak Hill Academy star who skipped college to play in Italy, as the point guard of the future. After a dismal first half in which he shot 1 for 7 for 3 points, he got it going in the third quarter with eight straight Milwaukee points. He nailed a 3-pointer that tied it at 64 and then a three-point play that gave the Bucks a 69-67 lead. Instead of that, the Knicks had turn to Robinson who is starting for the struggling Duhon.

” It’s not his fault, ” D’Antoni said. ” He was fine. We’re just not a real cohesive unit with a lot of spirit right now for whatever reason. There are a lot of times during the game when we start to sag a little bit and we just don’t have any collective spirit. It pops up a few times a year and it’s popped up now.”

After Jennings gave the Bucks the two point lead, the Knicks scored the next six points to take a 73-69 lead with 5:35 remaining after David Lee hit a running layup. But the Bucks would get real hot as they ended the quarter on a 21-8 run that included IIyasova slam of a pick and roll feed from Jennings to give them a 86-78 lead.

” I don’t know where we really went wrong,” Lee said. They put in a small lineup, something we have not seen in a while. The did a good job, they hit shots. Ersan is the one who really made the difference.”

The Knick fans booed after the third quarter came to an end and would get worse in the fourth after a Jerry Stackhouse 3 pointer gave the Bucks a 97-84 lead. The Knicks would get as close as six with 1:32 left but Jennings hit a bank shot with 32 seconds left to put the game away for good.

Another key factor for tonight was how much of a no factor Danillo Ganillari was. He only shot 2 for 6 from the field for only seven points. He was even off from the free throw line shooting 2 for 6 as well.

” Their defense is really good, ” D’Antoni said. ” That’s what they live on. They got into him. You have to learn. A few times in the first half he could have jumped into them and got a lot of foul shots because they were really running at him. Those are things to learn.”

Gallinari seemed to be more concerned on the loss that his performance and still feels there is time to make a run for the playoffs.

” We lost an important game for us,” Gallinari said. ” Today was important to us as Bucks is a team we have to beat to make playoffs. Sometimes the bad game happens for me. But it’s a long way to go and we still have a chance to get in playoffs but we have to fight hard.”

There is time but they can’t afford any more losses. New York has dropped further and further out of the playoff picture as the Bulls and Bobcats have stepped it up since the start of 2010 while the Knicks have faded. They have two games before the All-Star break, including a matchup against the team with the NBA’s best record, the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.