Riley vs. Auerbach: A new excerpt from Fred From Fresh Meadows: A Knicks Memoir
Check out a second excerpt from The Strickland Press’ first book, “Fred From Fresh Meadows: A Knicks Memoir” by Fred Cantor, about the legacy of Pat Riley vs. the famed Celtics coach Red Auerbach, and how each fared in their careers minus the biggest stars they coached.
The Strickland is proud to publish a second excerpt from its first book, “Fred From Fresh Meadows: A Knicks Memoir” by Fred Cantor. Again, we’re pleased to say that all of the royalties are going to the John Starks Foundation, whose mission is to provide “monetary grants to NY tri-state and Tulsa area college bound high school seniors who demonstrate academic excellence, financial need and a commitment to community service.”
The book has been drawing rave reviews from all over, as an interesting tale about the Knicks, but also about being a devout fan in general. Don’t take my word for it, though:
Lance Smith, The Guy Who Reviews Sports Books, in a 5-star review called the book “a great read... highly recommended,” and said that Cantor “should be an inductee into the Knicks fans Hall of Fame — if they ever create one.”
Alder Almo of Empire Sports Media described the book as “fascinating” and “a must-have... for Knicks fans,” and that Cantor “masterfully weaved his personal life’s twists and turns with the Knicks’ highs and lows.”
Andrea Valluzzo in the Connecticut Post wrote: “While highly personal, the book has universal themes. Even if one is not a Knicks fan, one can relate to the passion and emotions of being a passionate fan.”
Del LaPietro of WPKN stated on his morning drive radio show: “I really enjoyed this book.... an interesting writing style — one that captures and brings you in.”
“Fred From Fresh Meadows” can be purchased through Amazon for $15.10, again with all royalties going to the John Starks Foundation, which helps high school seniors in need in the tri-state area chase their dreams.
And now, without further ado, the second excerpt of “Fred From Fresh Meadows,” a look at the legacies of former Knicks and Lakers coach Pat Riley vs. famed Celtics coach Red Auerbach.
I fully admit to being a big Pat Riley fan long before he became the Knicks’ head coach in May of 1991. That’s largely due to the Showtime Lakers’ style of play, which I very much enjoyed tuning into when I wasn’t watching the Knicks play.
Yes, I realize, Riley had a star-studded roster but, still, he got them to maximize their potential as a team—and that’s a real skill, especially when you have to handle superstar egos.
But I was a fan of his also because his teams beat the Celtics in two out of three NBA Finals matchups. OK, it really should have been three out of three but I can’t put the blame primarily on Pat for the Lakers, in essence, giving away the title to the Celtics in 1984. And, the bottom line: after that potentially psychologically devastating 1984 Finals and a humiliating Game 1 loss to the Celtics in 1985—the infamous “Memorial Day Massacre”—the Lakers rebounded not only to win the series that year, but they did it in style by closing it out on the parquet floor of Boston Garden.
And then, in 1987, the Lakers provided one of the great moments in both Boston Garden and NBA Finals history with Magic Johnson’s junior, junior sky hook en route to another NBA title. That too was incredibly satisfying.
So naturally I was thrilled when Riley was named the Knicks’ head coach in May of 1991. And, even though Pat’s teams didn’t win a championship during his time in New York, I think his combined record in LA and New York compares favorably with the coaching record of the man who was long considered the greatest coach in league history, Red Auerbach. And that’s primarily because Pat did something I don’t think Auerbach ever demonstrated: as Bum Phillips once said about Bear Bryant, “He can take his’n and beat your’n and then take your’n and beat his’n.”
Could two teams be more different in style of play than the 1980s Lakers and the Knicks from the years 1991-95? With different personnel, Riley adapted his coaching strategy in certain respects and yet still had great success—coming this-close to the mountaintop.
And if you take a close look at Auerbach’s record including his time with the Celtics pre-Bill Russell and do the same with Pat Riley’s record to include his post-Showtime experience in New York, I think you will get a better sense of what I’m talking about. (And this is probably the best way to make the comparison because Auerbach retired after the 1965-66 season and Riley had no head coaching stint prior to taking over the Lakers.)
For starters, I will of course concede that Auerbach’s teams winning eight consecutive NBA titles and nine out of ten was a run second to none in NBA history. It will in all likelihood never be matched. And part of the reason it will never be equaled is because there is—and has been for decades—more balance in the league than in the early years.
When Pat Riley’s Lakers teams won four NBA championships in seven years (including the first repeat title in almost 20 years), there were clearly more competitive challenges than Auerbach’s Celtics had to face. Did any of Auerbach’s teams have to face the types of formidable opponents with the depth of talent that the Lakers had to battle? During the Celtics’ streak of nine titles in ten years, they had seven or eight future Hall of Famers virtually every season, which was a real edge in talent over opposing teams of that era.
Plus, there were far more rounds of playoffs in the 1980s than during the great run by Auerbach’s teams and thus, more opportunities for an upset by a lesser opponent. One could make a strong argument that it was a tougher playoff gauntlet in the 1980s than the late 1950s into the first half of the 1960s, when Auerbach’s Celtics reigned.
But where the comparison gets really interesting is when you look closely at Auerbach’s time with the Celtics pre-Russell (six years) and Riley’s time in New York post-Magic Johnson (four years).
In those six years, even though Auerbach’s teams featured the premier guard of that era (and one of the all-time legends of the game), Bob Cousy, their best regular-season finish in the Eastern Division— which typically consisted of five teams during that time—was only second place. The Celtics had three 2nd-place finishes and three 3rd- place finishes.
Perhaps more significantly, the Celtics lost three times in the first round of the playoffs during that time and their best success was merely advancing to the next round before being eliminated in the other three years of the pre-Russell era.
By way of contrast, Riley’s Knicks won the Atlantic Division title twice in four years and finished in second place the other two seasons. In four postseasons: his teams won three playoff series in 1994, two playoff series in 1993, and one playoff series in both 1992 and 1995.
It would seem Riley demonstrated greater coaching success than Auerbach in the absence of his greatest star or stars.
Riley’s first season in New York provided unequivocal evidence of his ability to transform his customary ways and to immediately make the most of very different personnel; this was perhaps best exemplified in Game 5 of the opening-round best-of-five series against the Detroit Pistons.
I have been to physical games before but, in the opening minutes of Game 5, the Knicks made clear that they were not going to be intimidated by the Pistons and they showed that they could out-Bad-Boy the Bad Boys if need be. The Knicks even succeeded in making an impression on Bill Laimbeer, who was quoted in the next day’s edition of The New York Times: “Hopefully, the league will let them be physical with Chicago.”
Once more, that link to purchase is here! Help support a great cause while also getting a fun story on Knicks fandom.
