Old Knicks Knew How to Flatten an Opponent

Coach Phil Jackson of the Chicago Bulls told the Chicago Tribune that when he played for the New York Knicks in the early 1970s, the Knicks customarily let some air out of the ball.

“We were a short team and didn’t want long rebounds,” Jackson said of the Knicks, who won NBA championships in 1970 and 1973 with a cast that included Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley. “It also helped our offense because we liked to pass the ball, and other teams couldn’t run on us as well because the ball wouldn’t come up as fast when they dribbled.”

The Miami Heat tried the same tactic this season to slow down the Bulls, Jackson said.

“The balls were so soft, you could stick your thumb in them,” he said.

But Jackson foiled the plan.

“I always carry an air-pressure gauge with me,” he said.

Trivia time: Who finished second in the 200 meters at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, when Tommie Smith and John Carlos of the United States finished first and third?

Welcome aboard, Chris: Said Kevin McHale of the Boston Celtics, before it was announced this week that Chris Ford had been hired to replace Jimmy Rodgers as the Celtics’ coach: “Anyone who thinks a new coach will take care of our problems, well, that’s a lot of bull. A new coach won’t make us younger, quicker or better ballhandlers.”

40-40 vision: Trying to track down injured Jose Canseco at a San Francisco hospital this week, columnist Dave Newhouse of the Oakland Tribune ran into Canseco’s wife, Esther, who told Newhouse:

“He’s doing better than I thought he would. I didn’t think he could handle it. I thought it would be like last year (when he missed most of the season with a wrist injury). But he’s fine now. The only thing he said is, ‘I’m going to miss a week--I’m going to miss hitting three home runs.’ That’s what he has been averaging, three homers a week.”

Canseco, on the 15-day disabled list with a back problem, actually will miss two weeks.

Or, by his count, six homers.

Just add oil: Speaking of Nolan Ryan’s longevity, former major league pitcher Sam McDowell, a psychologist and substance-abuse counselor for the Texas Rangers, told Newsday: “If you were to take motion pictures of his windup and his delivery compared to anybody else in baseball, you’d find he has the most non-frictional windup and delivery of any pitcher I’ve ever seen. It’s just a smooth machine where the entire body flows together to get the ball to where he wants it to be. Good mechanics is what stops injuries.”

Mr. Nice Guy: Michael Lloyd, a photographer for the Portland Oregonian, said that he was run over by Bill Laimbeer of the Detroit Pistons while trying to get a photo of the Pistons running onto the floor for Game 2 of the NBA finals.

“I was about six feet out onto the court at Detroit’s end, and all of a sudden, I was flying through the air,” Lloyd said. “I didn’t know what hit me. I landed on my back and got some pretty bad bumps and bruises.”

Said Steve Nehl, another Oregonian photographer who witnessed the incident: “Laimbeer came at Mike with his forearms up and just ran right through him.”

Trivia answer: Peter Norman of Australia.

Quotebook: Catcher John Russell of the Texas Rangers, who was recalled from the minors last month and had never played in a game with Nolan Ryan before last Monday, when Ryan pitched a no-hitter against the Oakland Athletics: “That look of determination in his eyes the last few innings--that was the most determined I’ve ever seen a man.”