ShaqAttack3234
Joined: 24 Oct 2011
Posts: 11
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 Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 4:46 am Post subject: Patrick Ewing 1989-1990 |
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I thought I'd highlight Patrick Ewing's best season. Growing up in New York, I saw a lot of Ewing, but more when the Knicks were good under Riley and Van Gundy, as well as the short and forgettable Don Nelson era.
A few years ago, I decided to watch a bunch of 1989-1990 Knicks games and I noticed how much better Ewing looked than any other year. His skills don't seem all that different from when the Knicks were contenders, but he seemed a step quicker and that made all the difference. It was mostly, drop step and turnaround from the left block, or running moves in the lane, but teams had virtually no answer for it.
He also didn't settle for as many long jumpers as he did as he got older. He proved that he had the ability to hit 18-20 footers, but hardly relied on them. Instead, he did most of his work 15 feet and in, but as you'll see opponents say in the articles below, you certainly couldn't concede the outside shot any more.
Also, the added quickness, seemed to make him more effective passing out of double teams. I remember Ewing having trouble with this at times throughout his career, but he seemed to react much better and make consistently good passes this year as you'll also see mentioned in the articles below.
Despite his offensive output being greater than ever, this did not affect his defense at all. He's one of the game's premier players at that end, as he was throughout a lot of his career, but the added athleticism and mobility made him block and alter countless shots and he had the mobility to step out of the paint, trap and guard screen/rolls. To see Ewing at his best defensively, watch the January 15th, 1990 game vs Chicago. It was up on my old channel, and I believe Da Realist still has it up on his tjhunt1976 channel.
Unfortunately, I had a lot more Ewing games on my previous channel, but it was removed, I have reuploaded game 4 vs Boston and I believe others have uploaded game 5 vs Boston and his career high 51 point game from the regular season. I will reupload game 4 vs Detroit as soon as I get a chance.
Fairly recently, I decided to look up articles from that season to see what his peers and sports writers were saying at the time and how it matched my observations. I'll share some of the quotes and articles I fouund that season.
A lot of good stuff in this sports illustrated article, I suggest reading the whole article, but I'll point out this statement.
| Quote: |
| Ewing's play has been an even more important component of New York's success. "He might be the best in the game right now," Los Angeles's Mychal Thompson told the New York Daily News after Ewing scored 29 points in a 115-104 loss on Dec. 3. "He and Magic [Johnson] are shoulder to shoulder." |
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1123089/index.htm
And here's one from Magic Johnson in the NY Times later in the season.
| Quote: |
''If he doesn't win it, he'll be right there,'' said Magic Johnson, who has won the award twice. ''And if he continues putting up the numbers he's putting up, it's going to be hard for any of us to beat him out.
''He has taken his game to another level,'' Johnson continued, ''a level I've never seen him play at before. He's dominating offensively and defensively, but he's also making the right plays at the right time. He's leading his team, as opposed to before, when it seemed he'd just as soon let somebody else lead. That's the real mark of an m.v.p.'' |
| Quote: |
| To that end, Ewing has become as Jackson put it, ''almost fanatical about weight lifting.'' Ewing has lifted weights since his days at Georgetown, but he switched from Nautilus to free weights three years ago. The results have been startling. Ewing's upper body is noticeably bigger than last season, and as Mychal Thompson of the Lakers said: ''You can't push him out of the post as easily as you could a couple of years ago. And he's more experienced at how to get position and hold it. One guy just can't play him anymore.'' |
Michael Jordan said this about Ewing in December of that season.
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| "People are starting to see what a force he can be," Bulls superstar Michael Jordan said. "With the numbers he's putting up and the way he's carrying that team, there's no question he's a top MVP candidate. I don't see anyone better than him right now." |
Cotton Fitzsimmons who coached the Suns at the time said "Patrick Ewing is the best center in the NBA, in my opinion." and Bill Musselman who at the time said "He's as good as any center in the game of basketball, there's no question about that."
Finally, here's what Manute Bol said about Ewing that season.
| Quote: |
| "I've never seen him do better," Bol said. Asked who is the league's best center , he replied: "I would say before Akeem but now Ewing, sure the way he played tonight. His game is different than years His game is different than years ago. He's shooting the outside jump shot and the jump hook." |
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/11/sports/pro-basketball-ewing-demanding-attention.html
Now on to some of his feats.
Season numbers- 28.6 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 2.2 apg, 4.0 bpg, 1.0 spg, 55.1 FG%, 77.5 FT%
Playoff numbers- 29.4 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 3.1 apg, 2.0 bpg, 1.3 spg, 52.1 FG%, 82.3 FT%
He had eleven 40+ point games and he shot over 60% in all of them, here are some of his more notable individual performances, he flirted with quite a few 40/20 games.
51 points and 18 rebounds on 20/29 from the field and 11/13 from the line vs Boston
44 points, 24 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks on 17/27 from the field vs Golden State
44 points, 22 rebounds, 4 assists and 7 blocks on 18/28 from the field vs the Clippers
41 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks on 17/27 from the field vs Utah
41 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks on 18/28 from the field and 5/5 from the line vs Washington (only played 33 minutes)
40 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks on 18/26 from the field and 4/4 from the line vs Indiana
37 points, 21 rebounds, 3 assists and 6 blocks on 15/26 from the field vs Denver
37 points, 19 rebounds and 9 blocks on 17/24 from the field vs Philadelphia
But his most impressive games were the final 3 vs Boston, all elimination games vs a team with superior talent and experience.
He had 33/19 in game 3 in a 102-99 win.
He had 44/13/5/7 on 18/24 shooting in game 4 in a 135-108 blowout win
He had 31/8/10/4 in a 121-114 game 5 win
Detroit pretty much held him in check, though he did have 45/13/6/3 on 14/24 from the field and 17/18 from the line in the Knicks game 3 victory including 16 points in the 4th quarter, and a 30 point second half in game 4 after being held scoreless in the first due to foul trouble.
But Detroit was just too good of a team as Michael Jordan would also find out in the next round.
What made New York's upset victory vs Boston more impressive to me was that the Knicks rotation had barely played together that year entering the playoffs.
Their rotation was Ewing, Mo Cheeks, Charles Oakley, Gerald Wilkins, Kiki Vandeweghe, Johnny Newman, Trent Tucker and Kenny Walker.
But Oakley missed the final 17 games of the regular season, Kiki Vandweghe didn't return from his injury and make his season debut until March 11th, Mo Cheeks was acquired in a midseason trade and didn't become a starter until the final 13 games as Mark Jackson had a disastrous season and fell out of the rotation. Jackson was even getting regularly booed at home.
All of these events caused the Knicks record to decline a lot, otherwise Ewing may have won the MVP as many thought he would throughout most of the season. They were 39-22 on March 11th, but finished 6-15.
This is the season that I feel the most confident saying that Ewing was the best center in the NBA, and he did make the all-nba first team. I think that he had a good case in '91 and '92 as well, but I'm undecided on how to rank the big 3 of centers at the time. |
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