View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
Basketball Fan Franchise Player
Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Posts: 24759
|
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 5:10 pm Post subject: Phil Jackson once admitted championship Knicks deflated balls |
|
|
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/28/phil-jackson-once-admitted-championship-knicks-deflated-balls/
Quote: | Phil Jackson once admitted championship Knicks deflated balls
As Deflategate engulfs the NFL during Super Bowl week, the common refrain has been nothing like that could happen in the NBA. After all, both teams use the same ball.
But something like this did happen in the NBA, and the deed was done by the revered 1970s Knicks, who won titles in 1970 and 1973.
Phil Jackson spilled the beans years ago.
Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune in 1986 (hat tip: Todd Radom):
And then there were the New York Knicks of the early 1970s, a team that had Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, Jerry Lucas, Bill Bradley, Walt Frazier, and Dick Barnett and that represented for many the apotheosis of the game.
They simply took the air out of the ball.
The team that basketball purists often called the best ever because they embodied many of the most respected elements of the game, such as sacrifice and intelligence, which they merged with efficient passing, aggressive defense and timely shooting, had this little gimmick that often gained them just enough of an edge to win.
But it wasn’t cheating, exactly. It was more like creative invention that might come from the likes of some McHale, McAdoo or Machiavelli.
“What we used to do was deflate the ball,” recalls Phil Jackson, the cerebral reserve forward who was every bit as metaphysical as he was physical.
“We were a short term with our big guys like Willis, our center, only about 6-8 and Jerry Lucas also 6-8. DeBusschere, 6-6. So what we had to rely on was boxing out and hoping the rebound didn’t go long.
“To help ensure that, we’d try to take some air out of the ball. You see, on the ball it says something like ‘inflate to 7 to 9 pounds.’ We’d all carry pins and take the air out to deaden the ball.
“It also helped our offense because we were a team that liked to pass the ball without dribbling it, so it didn’t matter how much air was in the ball. It also kept other teams from running on us because when they’d dribble the ball, it wouldn’t come up so fast.
So the team that expressed the soul of the game, produced a U.S. senator, a former top executive of an NBA team, several coaches and successful businessmen and set standards that many still try to emulate also had the heart of burglar.
It was one thing when Willis Reed fought the Lakers. But attacking ethics of the game?
How will all the sanctimonious Patriots-hating New Yorkers cope with this revelation? |
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
carlosLisboa Star Player
Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 3079 Location: Portugal
|
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 12:49 am Post subject: |
|
|
Magic did that (inflate).
Shaq had some stories, I think because of FTs.
The Blazers softened the rim.
etc.
Olympiakos (Greece) changed the rim's height of the opponent about in an inch, reversing it at halftime. _________________ -----------------------------------------------------
http://www.youtube.com/user/NBAMadeira
Last edited by carlosLisboa on Thu Jan 29, 2015 2:56 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Runway8 Franchise Player
Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Posts: 22837 Location: La Jolla, San Diego
|
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 1:14 am Post subject: |
|
|
Deflating a football gives more advantage to football players. A basketball still needs to bounce, so whatever the Knicks deflated, I suspect it wasn't that much. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
SuperboyReformed Star Player
Joined: 07 Oct 2012 Posts: 4083
|
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 7:09 am Post subject: |
|
|
Runway8 wrote: | Deflating a football gives more advantage to football players. A basketball still needs to bounce, so whatever the Knicks deflated, I suspect it wasn't that much. |
Yes. Also, in football, only one team touches the ball for the most part. When the other team is on offense, they use different balls.
This is not an unknown thing in football, regarding the pros/cons of the inflation level. it might be a new idea to the fans, but not the players. So the question is how big of a deal is it? |
|
Back to top |
|
|
non-player zealot Franchise Player
Joined: 05 Nov 2007 Posts: 21365
|
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 10:02 am Post subject: |
|
|
carlosLisboa wrote: | Magic did that (inflate).
Shaq had some stories, I think because of FTs.
The Blazers softened the rim.
etc.
Olympiakos (Greece) changed the rim's height of the opponent about in an inch, reversing it at halftime. |
Boston Garden had rims so live that commentators would bring it up for years. I watch that 80 footer by Magic at the halftime buzzer of the Baby Hook gm. That shot was dead center and it pinballed out. Chick went AOOOW! and the crowd as well. The one he hit at the Forum in the 1st round was a longer shot and rattled IN. Impossible to say, but had that not been the Gahden's rim, he may have done that 2x in the same offseason. I've seen that gm a number of times. That was the very same rim that Bird's final shot bounced OUT of (he hit the interior of that rim). Worthy shot a 3 footer in the paint in the 1st Q that rattled out, like a basic chippy shot that had a 3-bounce rattle. Gremlin on that rim. _________________ GOAT MAGIC REEL
SEDALE TRIBUTE
EDDIE DONX! |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Lakers#1Team Retired Number
Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 36363 Location: Nomad
|
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 12:45 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Phil has said that the deflation was still within the legal limits. Now just about all the shenanigans the Celtics pulled, especially Auerbach, was nothing but low-down cheating. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|