History Thread: 72-73 Knicks 1972-1973 NBA Champion New York Knicks Key Members Walt "Clyde" Frazier Earl "The Pearl" Monroe Willis Reed Dave DeBusschere Bill Bradley Jerry Lucas Phil Jackson Record:57-25, 2nd to Boston's 68-14. Finals Notes: Beat the LA Lakers led by Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Gail Goodrich in 5 games. Willis Reed grabbed Finals MVP honers. <font size="1"><font color="Gray">Walt "Clyde" Frazier</font></font> What an NBA team this was, one of the best in history. This team stressed unselfish play and teamwork. I won't babble too much about them, I want to see what some of you know about this team, so have at it. Interesting Fact: Nate "Tiny" Archibald led the NBA in both scoring (34.0) and assists (11.4) for Kansas City-Omaha that season. Not bad eh?
If I remember correctly, DeBusschere and Frazier were awesome defensive players. Frazier was a beast.
Frazier was a defensive powerhouse in that team, pressuring the ball carriers and generally making a nuisance to himself. Interesting that they conceded around 98 ppg, yet that was the best defensive record in the NBA.
The "Bad Boy" Pistons were the epitome of hustle. This team was the epitome of teamwork. People didn't think that Monroe and Frazier would be able to co-exist because they were both were used to being the primary scorers, but they proved the doubters wrong in the form of a championship ring. Those two are arguably the greatest backcourt duo ever. Perfect blend of offense and defense. Just looking at the highlights they make some passes look so easy it's uncanny. They all knew where everyone else was on the floor at all times which allowed them to get off so many great passes. They were another one of those great teams that had great comraderie which allowed them to get through the season smoothly.
For you younger people here, this team was a lot like the Kings of the last few seasons, but better. Monroe had the best spin move I ever seen.
Clyde and the Pearl? Just those two is enough to make this a great team. Plus a lot of great role players
And yes that is LA Lakers head coach Phil Jackson who was a good role player off that bench InNETSweTrust. Anyone else have any question about these players or the team in general?
Ya know I was looking down the list of key players in the first post and I thought to myself how much the college game has changed as well: Frazier- Southern Illinois Monroe- Winston-Salem (N.C.) DeBusschere- Detroit Bradley- Princeton Lucas- Baylor Jackson- North Dakota Reed- Grambling State If those players were here today, what do you think the chances would've been that they chose the colleges they did? Recruiting and college choices have changed so much it really is astounding.
Walt Frazier,Earl Monroe and Willis Reed played togeather so well and everyone on that team knew their role and what they had to do to win games.It is really worth watching their games and seeing how they work as a team and the work on defense they did...Very underrated team IMO
Phil averaged 8.1ppg off the bench to go with 4.3 rebounds. They were led by Frazier's 21.1ppg and 7.3 rpg.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Sir Desmond:</div><div class="quote_post">Frazier was a defensive powerhouse in that team, pressuring the ball carriers and generally making a nuisance to himself. Interesting that they conceded around 98 ppg, yet that was the best defensive record in the NBA.</div> I agree. But they're scoring 105.0ppg so everything's good.
They did upset Boston in the Eastern finals... I always taught Boston was the better team, but I think that the Knicks just knew how to win .. And they proved that against the Lakers..
Just to give an idea of how well balanced this team was: They did not have any player in the top ten in PPG, the top five in assists, or the top five in rebounds (according to the official NBA Encyclopedia). Also, here is a little summary of the '72-'73 Knicks from the Official NBA Encyclopedia: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jerry Lucas shared the center spot with Reed, giving New York a tag team of Hall of Famers. Bill Bradley and Dave DeBusschere were the sweet-shooting forwards, with rangy Phil Jackson in reserve. The backcourt provided an interesting chemistry lesson. In his years with the Baltimore Bullets, Earl Monroe had engaged the Knicks' Walt Frazier in some emotional battles. With Monroe coming to the Knicks (New York had traded Mike Riordan and Dave Stallworth to get him), the longtime adversaries not only learned to co-exist, but brought out the best in each other by sharing the load.</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">New York breezed past Baltimore in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, then batttled tooth and nail with Boston before the Celtics succumbed 94-78 in a surprisingly easy Game 7 in the conference finals... It was the Knicks against the Lakers for the third time in four years, so there were few secrets between the two teams. After the Lakers edged New York in Game 1, the Knicks won four straight closely contested games to bring a second NBA title to New York. "The Knicks are so well-balanced," Chamberlain said afterward, "and have tremendous passing and so many good shooters, you can't concentrate on one man. They key to the series was that their defense stopped our running game."</div> Another interesting fact from the '72-'73 season. That was the season the first collective bargaining agreement was signed. The minimum salary was $20,000. Former players over the age of 50 received $720 pension for each year of service.
I am impressed, great finds people! Monroe was a playground legend at the time too. He would still play in playground tournaments I heard, even on the same day of an NBA game. I don't think many teams would like that now, lol.
Lol. I think this team was a great example of 'addition by subtraction' that we hear so much about but which rarely happens these days with hungry free-agency. They traded to get DeBusschere for Walt Bellamy, who was a great center in his own right. Bellamy, one of the few rookies in league history to average over 30 points per game as a rookie, was a monster rebounder, and his numbers were much better than Dave's for their careers. But I think Red and NY management saw that chemistry would be better with Dave instead of Walt. Good move.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James:</div><div class="quote_post">I loved how Frazier would dress as well, talk about style, he was style.</div> Walt Frazier was shy....His CounterEgo "Clyde" Was fashionable.....(lol its the same guy) FRAZIER RULED!!! HOW'S ABOUT HOLZMAN??? THE GREATEST COACH TO EVER LIVE? (either Holzman, Auerbach, or my man Mike Fratello)
yea that was an incredible team. back when they wore tiny shorts.... i saw a hairy phil j in them on espn classic..... not a pretty sight
I think the 1969-70 team was better. They anaged a miracle win over the Lakers with Wilt, Baylor and West.
Truly Great team <div class="quote_poster">King James Wrote</div><div class="quote_post"> 1972-1973 NBA Champion New York Knicks Key Members Walt "Clyde" Frazier Earl "The Pearl" Monroe Willis Reed Dave DeBusschere Bill Bradley Jerry Lucas Phil Jackson Record:57-25, 2nd to Boston's 68-14. Finals Notes: Beat the LA Lakers led by Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Gail Goodrich in 5 games. Willis Reed grabbed Finals MVP honers. <font size="1"><font color="Gray">Walt "Clyde" Frazier</font></font> What an NBA team this was, one of the best in history. This team stressed unselfish play and teamwork. I won't babble too much about them, I want to see what some of you know about this team, so have at it. Interesting Fact: Nate "Tiny" Archibald led the NBA in both scoring (34.0) and assists (11.4) for Kansas City-Omaha that season. Not bad eh?</div> The 1972-73 team was special for having eight Hall of Famers ( Reed, DeBusschere, Bradley, Frazier, Monroe, Lucas, Jackson, Holzman ) The talent as players was thru the roof. These guys played together and did not make mistakes. They all could shoot, pass and played defense together. They did not have the big shot blocker teams need today, but had two All-Defense guys in Dave D. and Frazier. They also would have burned up a three line if there had been one. A textbook team for the game.
