WaltLongmire wrote:gunsnewing wrote:WaltLongmire wrote:mreinman wrote:WaltLongmire wrote:gunsnewing wrote:Best way to settle this is to ask average NBA fans who would they draft if starting a team Ewing or Barkley
Forget the fans...who would the average GM take?I would take Ewing, and a majority of GMs would. Played both ends of the court and played hard. Fit into a team concept better than Barkley, IMO.
Not as colorful or spectacular as Barkley, but how do you think a Ewing/KJ team would have done with some of the other talent Phoenix had at the time? Both would have been better for that pairing.
I make take ewing too if I was starting a team.
Ewing and KJ would not have been close to what Barkley did on that team. Barkley again was one of the GOATs of the playoffs. Ewing was not.
Barkley was ranked much higher in the top 50 while ewing was a center so probably the higher pick.
Disagree about the KJ/Ewing thing...
Impossible to prove either way, I suppose, but my feeling is that the KJ/Patrick combo would have really helped Ewing on the offensive end and taken away some pressure on him, and I also think that having Patrick as an anchor might have helped Johnson be even more aggressive on the defensive end. I also believe that Johnson, a premium PG, would have put Ewing in better situations to score with less effort for Patrick. Turnover numbers would have gone down for him, IMO.
I think there was more of an overlap of similar abilities with KJ and Barkley than with KJ and Ewing.
Not so sure about that. Ewing did not like playing with a PG who liked to score. That's why award became his caddy. Certainly was one of Ewing's character flaws. Derek Harper was perfect because he picked his spots offensively
Would KJ have had the gravitas to cause Patrick to have a change of heart...or would KJ have altered his game if he realized it could lead to a title.
We see a little of this with the James/Irving/Love triangle, and saw similar situation with James, Wade, and Bosh, although it was Bosh who really seemed to change his game to accommodate James and Wade.
Don't remember Ewing's dislike for shooting PGs.
It's why Ward started over Childs. Been so long wish I could find the evidence to back that up but I'm positive I heard it. I will Google it later. But you are right maybe KJ was a strong enough personality to garner Ewing's respect
