Knicks needs and Rucker memories

I see people have been hitting me up on my blog. Russell wanted to know about my bed and breakfast in St. Croix. Do I have a website? Not yet, Russell, but I should have it up in a couple of months. I'm in the process of finishing up now. I'll have nice pictures to show you, and I will have that on the website.

It doesn't matter whether I am in Vegas or St. Croix, all Knicks fans want to know what is wrong with the Knicks, how long will it take them to turn this around. I think this is the year.

I know they are going to be better than 23 wins. Isiah has brought a lot of optimism to the players. They wanted to play an uptempo style and he's going to do that, so I think they'll be happy in that scenario.

Of course, the problems that bedeviled the team last season will need to be corrected, starting with turnovers, which they led the league in. They also committed too many personal fouls and the defense gave up 102 points a game. So along with what they want to do offensively, I think they must improve the defense as well if they are going to turn it around and hopefully get into the playoffs.

Back in the day when I played, we did not have an organized league like the Vegas Summer League, which is actually sponsored by the NBA. We played, of course, in the Rucker Tournament.

They had the Sunny Hill Tournament down in Philadelphia, the Dirt Bowl in Indiana, and they also had these types of tournaments in Chicago. But these were not sanctioned by the NBA, these were just games that the NBA players played in.

The league has come a long way now. It is no longer just a game, it is a big business. So, as we alluded to here, the players being scrutinized, the officials being young guys who are not in the league now, they are all gaining valuable experience. So I think this is a good thing that the league is doing.

The league today is light years ahead of what it was when I was playing, and I am just proud to see the progress it has made, the popularity it has gained today, and of course the extraordinary play of the players.

The Rucker League is reknowned. They had Herman Helicopter, Earl "The Goat" Manigault, Pee Wee Kirkland, and Dr. J's legend started there, as well as Nate Archibald's.

When I was a rookie with the Knicks, I played on the team with Willis Reed up there and it was intimidating. I didn't know who these guys were, but they were blocking Willis' shot. They were all over me, leaping up over the rim like they were on trampolines. People were all around the court, hanging off fences, yelling and screaming. So, it was quite an experience my first time playing there and a lot of the guys you hear about now with the Rucker Tournament were the guys I was playing against.

Clyde's Previous Entry