Before the internet, in the 1970’s, 1980’s, and 1990’s — as a basketball fan I couldn’t wait each October for the Zander Hollander Complete Handbook of NBA Basketball to be published and be available in bookstores.
I’d check the bookstores weekly until it arrived. Seeing it on the shelf was a special, magical treat — I’d purchase it with zest and start reading it on the subway home. Hollander provided funny and accurate bios and a scouting report of each player. He was a comedian and excellent basketball analyst — like any good comedian he hit the nail on the head.
He also provided statistics for each player, a scouting report on players just drafted, and predictions — a complete handbook.
Analysis of Zander’s Knick Analysis
I’m posting a sampling of the 1990 Handbook — the pages for the Knicks team — under Fair Use doctrine of Copyright law, and with perfect hindsight, will analyze Zander’s analysis. The 1990 handbook covered the 1988-89 season that had just ended, the 1989 draft, and the upcoming 1989-90 season.
Rick Pitino had just revitalized the Knicks with his full-court-pressure-D and 3-pt shooting team — pulling the Knicks from a 24-win team in 1986-87 to 38-44 and the playoffs in 1987-88, and 52-30 in 1988-89, with a 1st round 3-o sweep of Philly, but a 2nd-round 4-2 loss to Michael Jordan and the Bulls.
Pitino and GM Al Bianchi were reportedly at odds of Pitino’s approach — Bianchi wanting Pitino to establish a half-court style that would do better in the playoffs. Pitino was ahead of his time.
Pitino quit the Knicks after the season to go back to college basketball after the head coaching job at Kentucky became available. Pitino would go on to win NCAA titles at Kentucky and Louisville before revitalizing the St. John’s program.
The Knicks searched for a new coach after Pitino left — interviewing John McLeod amongst others. One prime candidate was Phil Jackson, who was coaching the Knicks D-League team. But NY passed him over and hired Stu Jackson.
Zander had this to say: “Point guard Mark Jackson still needs to learn when to give up the ball.” Heresy !!! Jackson was coming off his second season, when he came in after winning Rookie of the Year a tad out of shape and his game notched down a bit.
Rod Strickland was coming off a great rookie season, averaging 16.8 minutes per game, and rivaling Jackson at the point guard position. Zander: “It’ll be interesting to see what happens if second-year guard Rod Strickland continues to improve. Stu Jackson says he isn’t convinced Strickland and Mark Jackson can play together, so something will have to give.”
Strickland would be traded 51 games into the coming season for 35-year-old Maurice Cheeks. The reason at the time was that Strickland kept missing the team bus by 10 minutes. Thirty years later it became known that that was NBA code for “he was high on marijuana half the time.”
On Patrick Ewing: “Had his finest pro season and finished fourth in the the league’s MVP voting”.
Zander on Mark Jackson: “At times showed a tendency to overhandle the ball and make dubious decisions on the break. On the other hand, he established himself as one of the best clutch scorers in the game.” It’s easy to forget any complaints about Mark Jackson’s passing — as he eventually became 4th All Time in the NBA in assists (and should be in the Hall of Fame).
On Charles Oakley: “Good positional player, but weak one-on-one defender who rarely blocks a shot.” Interesting — always say Oak as a good one-on-one defender.
On Kiki Vandeweghe: “Year-long courtship ended when Knicks finally acquired him from Portland for their first-round draft pick just hours before the trade deadline. Was supposed to bail out halfcourt offense in playoffs, but Rick Pitino didn’t give him necessary playing time.” You can imagine this caused part of the rift between GM Al Bianchi and Pitino. PS: that draft pick — #22 overall in the 1989 draft — ended up being Byron Irvin.
Zander on Gerald Wilkins: “Great leaper and explosive scorer, but takes too many low-percentage shots.” That was Gerald!
Zander on Kenny Walker, who had just won the Slam Dunk title: “Sadly, he does not possess the polish required to excel as a starting small forward in this league.” Zander nailed it.
On Trent Tucker: “Without exception, Rick Pitino had him on the floor at the end of close games.”
On Johnny Newman: “One of the most improved players in the league… Still, as small forwards go, he is among the more limited players at the position.”
Zander on Rod Strickland: “Continued to have problems with punctuality. Said being late had become “like an addition. These problems hurt his image at DePaul, and caused one celebrated confrontation with Rick Pitino during the year. Still, he’s coveted by many GM’s around the league.” As mentioned above, that was all NBA code for “he’s constantly high on marijuana or other stuff” and the Knicks traded him midway thru the upcoming season. Had a great career — but also had a lot of drug problems.
On Eddie Lee Wilkins: “Worked diligently to come back from serious knee injury suffered in summer 1985.” So that is what happened to Eddie Lee — who was such a terrific big-man find by the Knicks.
Zander on Brian Quinett: “Strong performances in post-season tryout camps allowed him to slip into the draft.” Quinett did not last long in the NBA.
Brian on new coach Stu Jackson: “Knicks stunned the NBA world by naming him to replace the departed Rick Pitino. Was Pitino’s assistant for 2 years in NY and for 2 years in Providence before that. Has never been a head coach at any level. Worked for 3 years at IBM.” Stu Jackson ended up being a poor choice as the great Knick team that Pitino had taken into the 2nd round of the playoffs — losing only to Michael Jordan — was on its way to mediocrity for the next few years.
Zander names Dick McGuire as greatest Knick playmaker — a choice that did not stand the test of time as most Knick fans look back and regard Walt Frazier and Mark Jackson higher on the list in retrospect.
Sidney Green in a Knicks uniform graced the front page of the new, expansion Orlando Magic section which is the next page after the Knicks. NY had just lost Green in the expansion draft. Green was a solid contributor off the bench in NY, averaging 15.6 minutes per game with 6.3 ppg and 4.8 rpg.
Reprint provided under Fair Use doctrine of Copyright law.
On Zander Hollander
Zander Hollander passed away in 2014. He created something special, and his handbooks will live on for many years; each one a treasure.
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