The "The Last Dance" Thread

He was an amazing player. His game 7 against the Pacers in 1994 was for the ages.

 

He lost to Jordan. Shit happens. Like saying Barkley's career is defined by losing to Jordan. He made three Final Fours, was Rookie of the Year and NBA First or Second Team seven times, which is good enough for a career highlight so fuck off.

 

Sorry. Didn't mean to be honest about your idol.

 

He was a tremendous rebounder and shot blocker at Georgetown. Once he got to the Knicks he decided he wanted to be a small forward shooting his jump shot from the elbow. His selfishness in that regard cost the Knicks their shot at titles. He develops as a next gen Bill Russell (just as Hubie Brown wanted him to) and the Knicks get multiple titles. The Hoya Destroya never showed up in NY. Patrick wanted his stats more than he wanted to win. Plain fact.

 

Like I said, he’s a fucking chump.

 

Ewing also never really had a superstar to support him either. Jordan had Pippen. Bird had Parish and McHale. Magic and Kareem had each other and Worthy. Isiah didn’t have a superstar teammate, but he had a stronger supporting cast than Ewing.

Ewing had Mark Jackson for a year or two, until Jackson became enamored with helicoptering through the lane and kept fumbling the ball away. John Starks was plucky as hell, but you never knew which Starks would show up that night. There were other guys who were stars with other teams, but they could never fully mesh as Ewing’s support.

 

Clyde Drexler averaged 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the 1992 NBA Finals. His Blazers didn't beat Chicago (who did in the finals? Nobody), but it was not because of a poor performance from Drexler. He wasn't Jordan. Big deal. Nobody was.

 

That’s idiotic. He blocked between 3-4 shots a game during his athletic prime and was a double digit rebounder for most of his career. He turned out to be a better offensive player than anyone thought but his knees robbed him of the lateral quickness he had at Georgetown. He also played his entire career with only one above average point guard (Mark Jackson) and no other consistent scorer.

 

Ewing had the greatest of expectations and never lived up to them, but he still wasn’t dogshit.

Shaq, Kareem, Hakeem, Russell all have their special place.

Ewing sits more with Parrish, Gilmore, Sikma, Unceld, and others. He’s still a really good player and a hell of a lot fucking better than Steve Stipanovich. Oh, he was choice two after Ralph, but you get my point.

 

Way to go, Craig.

 

I travel 74 through that part of NC almost monthly. I'm always armed.

 

Surprised Ann Curry didn’t stumble on that anchor read.