Pitino:" '69 Knicks My Favorite Team of All Time"

If it's his favorite team he certainly does not remember much, given this embarrassing mistake made during Serby Q & A in todays NY Post:


http://www.nypost.com/seven/03162008/sports/serbys_sunday_qa_with____102243.htm

Q: The '69 Knicks?

A: That was my favorite team of all time. We no longer run out for starting lineups. All we do is put our hands up and make an "L" to the fans.

Q: You impersonated the way each of the '69 Knicks ran out for introductions for the entertainment of your current Louisville team.

A: (Earl) Monroe was the last guy. He would just take two steps and like gesture with his hand to the crowd, and go right back to the huddle.

 

Re: Pitino:" '69 Kincks My Favorite Team of All Time"

Q: Is that the same Earl Monroe that did not join the Knicks until the 72 season?

A: Uhhhh...

Damnit, they always forget the follow-up.

 

Re: Pitino:" '69 Kincks My Favorite Team of All Time"

The '69 Kinks? Wasn't that the year they started platooning John Dalton on bass?

 

Shit, don't let the facts spoil a good story.

 

I thought he was full time after Peter Quaife got traded.

 

I thought they brought him in off the bench for a few dates until they saw how well he could muscle things down low.

 

You may be right. Once they saw that Dalton could handle the bass part of " A Well Respected Man" it was an easy decision to trade Quaife.

 

I don't know why, but this is a common mistake, even among Knick fans. How could people forget Dick Barnett and his fall-back-baby jumper?

 

I know, I've heard it too.

I think it's because 69-70 is the all-time favorite Knicks team, and Earl was one of the all time favorite Knicks and he played in the 70s, so people figure he MUST'VE been on that team. Nope.

 

The first title was more special for a number of reasons -- it was first, the long winning streak, obviously Willis. But the Pearl was such a great player and fit into the Knicks style so perfectly that people often associate him with that team.

 

He meant the Holzman-era Knicks, slip of the tongue. It would be hard for basketball fans to forget Monroe's games against the Knicks before they got him from Baltimore. Gus Johnson, Wes Unseld. Those were classics.

 

Real Knick fans do not make that mistake. I would like to think that Pitino would have known better. He must get his information from Mike Lupica who has made the same mistake.

The other common mistake people make about that team is thinking that Phil Jackson was a part of it.