Author Archives: Paul Knepper

Mort Zachter Sports Publishing https://megaphone.link/LIT6327274874 Many books have been written about Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusscherre and the other great players on the New York Knicks championship teams of the 1970s, though much less attention has been focus on the orchestrator of those teams: Red Holzman. Holzman was a fantastic player andContinue reading “Podcast… Red Holzman: The Life and Legacy of a Hall of Fame Basketball Coach”

Matthew Goodman Ballantine Books https://megaphone.link/LIT4207237893 The 1949-50 CCNY Beavers basketball team were one of the unlikeliest of champions in sports history. CCNY was a tuition-free in Harlem, New York, intended to give working class students the best education possible. The school was comprised of minorities, many of whom were the immigrants or children of immigrants.Continue reading “Podcast…The City Game: Triumph Scandal and a Legendary Basketball Team”

Earl Campbell was a force in American football, winning a state championship in high school, rushing his way to a Heisman trophy for the University of Texas, and earning MVP as he took the Houston Oilers to the brink of the Super Bowl. Asher Price‘s exhilarating blend of biography and history, Earl Campbell: Yards After Contact (University ofContinue reading “Earl Campbell: Yards After Contact”

One. Two. Three. That’s as long as it took to sear the souls of a dozen young American men, thanks to the craziest, most controversial finish in the history of the Olympics—the 1972 gold-medal basketball contest between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world’s two superpowers at theContinue reading “Three Seconds in Munich: The Controversial 1972 Olympic Basketball Final”

Kerry Eggers, “Jail Blazers: How the Portland Trail Blazers Became the Bad Boys of Basketball” (Sport Publishing, 2018)

Chris Donnelly, “Doc, Donnie, The Kid and Billy Brawl: How the 1985 Mets and Yankees Fought For New York’s Baseball Soul” (U Nebraska Press, 2019)

The Knicks are a quarter of the way through the season and optimism abounds around their rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina. It is early enough in Ntilikina’s career that teammates and fans can gush over his strengths, without dwelling on his weaknesses. After all, the kid is just 19 years old, the second-youngest player inContinue reading “What Do the Knicks Have In Frank Ntilikina?”

Tim Hardaway Jr.’s four-year, $71 million contract with the New York Knicks was panned as the worst signing of the 2017 NBA offseason. Hardaway developed into a solid rotation player during his two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, but executives around the league were shocked by the size of the deal. ESPN’s Zach Lowe calledContinue reading “Is Hardaway Justifying His Contract?”

The New York Knicks are rebuilding. Their plan is to trade Carmelo Anthony and assemble a young roster around centerpiece Kristaps Porzingis. New York should take a cue from the crosstown Brooklyn Nets, who have quietly made some nice moves over the past year in a slow climb towards respectability. Bring up the Nets toContinue reading “When it Comes to Rebuilding, the Knicks Should Look to the Nets”