I was trying to have some fun, but since you all had to go all serious, let's look at the question in reality. Unlike most of you who showed up to take you shot at me, I actually watched Ewing from his freshman year at Georgetown all the way through to his career end at Orlando.
Let me explain something to you: Basketball is a sport that rewards height. That is why 7 foot stiffs like Travis Knight can hang on in the NBA, but if they were 2 inches shorter they would never get a shot. For every true 7 footer, you probably have 50 6'8" guys with way more skills who don't make the NBA. For the readers with comprehension trouble, the point I am making here is 4 inches can be the difference between a great NBA player and guy who never or barely makes the NBA.
For example Charles Barkley. He was 6'5"-6'6" max. He was an undersized power forward already. You take 4 inches from him and he probably cannot play in the NBA. 6'1" power forwards just don't make it in the NBA. You give Barkley 4 more inches and he may have been top 5 ever. Similarly Karl Malone, was a post up player who overwhelmed his man. You make him 6'5" and he can't play his game. You make him 7 feet and he probably has a hand full of rings. Height is very important in pro basketball. Look at what a few inches did for Dirk.
Take a look at it from the other direction: Guys like Scoonie Penn, Tyus Edny, and Mateen Cleaves. If they were 6'2" instead of 5'10" and shorter, they could be high caliber NBA players. But since they are not tall enough and are not super-athletic enough to overcome being normal sized people, they could not stick in the league.
Imagine Nate Robinson with 3-4 more inches. Then we're talking about an Iverson-esque type of player.
Back to Patrick Ewing Jr. and Patrick Ewing. For all of you who obviously did not watch Ewing in college like I did, he was raw. He was not a good shooter. He was tenacious and athletic along with being veeeeeery tall and long. So you know what I have seen from PE Jr. at the same age? He is more athletic and agile than his pops, he handles the ball better, and he shoots better. Unfortunately, for 6'8" he is nothing special at the NBA level. At 7 feet he would be a high lottery pick. Yes, a lottery pick. If you don't believe me, go check out guys like Stromile swift who get picked in the lottery because they are unusually tall and athletic. Or Desagana Diop. They are picked for potential and nothing else.
And Ewing Sr.? You take 4 inches from him and he wouldn't have been anything special. That's right, I said it. His entire offensive game was based on getting his shooting release over his defensive player. He wouldn't have been able to do that at 6'8", and he wasn't that agile, he could not put the ball on the floor at all. So at 6'8", a short power forward or tall small forward, Ewing Sr. may have been a borderline NBA player himself.
If you can argue that, please make a cohesive argument about how the same Patrick Ewing we know and love would have been a great NBA player at 6'8". Since I said "cohesive", that excuses cookedcokehop and 4949.
Try to take it light and avoid the herd mentality.
oohah
[Edited by - oohah on 03-09-2008 02:50 AM]
9/2/2008 9:58 AM
Please explain what you mean.
