Ewing Jr. loses a numbers game
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- October
- 27
I can’t say the news caught me by surprise when I stepped off the plane a little while ago and flipped on the Blackberry.
Patrick Ewing, Jr. was a long shot from the beginning.
He was fun to watch in five-minute doses at the end of meaningless preseason games, but the numbers didn’t work out. Somebody had to go. Here’s the ray of sunshine, Knicks president Donnie Walsh isn’t waffling. He said no buyouts, and to date the man is sticking with the plan. Consistency. It’s something that’s been lacking within the organization for years.
The price we pay is at least one more season with Jerome James.
Really, there was no way Ewing was going to jump in front of David Lee, Wilson Chandler or Danilo Gallinari. They are all NBA ready. He needs a little time in the D-League before he can help anybody, but I’m thinking Ewing is going to be helping somebody before too long.
Walsh isn’t going to be sentimental. He’s thinking like a businessman. Walsh is not attached to anyone, which clears up a lot of the confusion. He’s only thinking in terms of wins and losses.
Does that make this dose of news any easier to deal with? Go ahead, vent.
This entry was posted
on Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 2:47 pm by Mike Dougherty.
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HELL NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHO CARES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
THIS IS BULL CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You have to give at least HALF a sh** about the FANS.. SERIOUSLy!!! I Feel like as a loyal Knick fan I have been spit in the face… Why bring Ewing here, trade for him.. Get everyone excited and happy.. Watch him ELECTRIFY the Garden.. just to cut him??? ARE YOU SERIOUS??? I’d smack walsh in his old fat face if i saw him after this.. This is insane… JEROME JAMES OVER EWING??? Hell even ROBERSON over Ewing???????????
ARE U CRAZY!????????????????
And we dont even have his old man on the bench.. STILL.. disgusting. Puke. Vomit.. burn my knicks jersey.
AHHHHHHH I HATE THE KNICKS WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS?
ROBERSON?!
JEROME JAMES?!
MARDY COLLINS?!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! WE COULDVE HAD A MAN FLYING THROUGH THE AIR WITH THE NAME “EWING” ON HIS BACK!
AN ABSOLUTELY BAFFLING MOVE!
I HATE YOU WALSH!
then why bother even bringing Patrick Ewing, Jr. to camp? they are just bad people continuing to make bad moves.
I am so pissed i can’t even type right now
That is the dumbest thing I’ve read. If walsh cares about wins and losses than jr would be on the team. He was positive to team chemistry, one of the better defenders on the team, a great practice player, the best shot blocker we had, a very hard worker which is something that needs to rub off on others. Most of all, he has a lot of upside which can pay dividends by 2010 which is what Donnie Walsh claims he is working towards. We are not winning a championship this year, we prob wont even make the playoffs again.
We didnt need roberson, Nate has been shooting the ball very well. He could be used in any scenerio roberson would be used.
Terrible move. Not at all impressed with Walsh.
Since mgmt doesnt seem to care about the team, or the fans, I’m done with the Knicks. I hope they finish at the bottom!
It’s indefensible. Screw the Knicks. I’m done with them. Is there anyway to get Isiah’s meds to the current Knicks regime?
Wow this is idiotic. Walsh says it’s not about money and that “shooting could be a problem for this team”? Really Donnie? Roberson will NEVER see the light of day for the Knicks and if shooting was such a concern of yours, then you should have never signed a bricklayer like Duhon.
In such dark times for a terrible franchise, this was a bright spot, a subplot that the fans could get behind, and they totally botched it. But why shouldn’t we expect this? These halfwits won’t even bring Patrick Ewing Sr. back to the Garden despite the fact that he’s paid his dues and is more than qualified.
FU Donnie (puppet) and FU Dolan (puppet master).
What you/Walsh said makes no sense. They are paying Jerome James regardless and the only thing he will do is take up a roster spot. He will never play. And even if he does, he’s terrible. There is o way to justify cutting a kid with potential over a fat, lazy loser who will never see the court.
OK. Not that big of a deal. James would be stupid to retire (if he does) BEFORE the knicks decided who their 5th man was. Because if they really wanted Ewing, he would’ve gotten his whole deal.
But this cut is really nothing to whine about. He was gonna be the 15th man for gods sakes. Yes, he would have been a fan fav, and it would’ve looked great to have another Ewing in a NY jersey, but it just didnt happen.
Watch, he’ll go to the d-league, or europe, and when he’s ready the knicks will come callin
I mean, I hate Jerome so I can’t say I’m with this, but I will give Walsh and D’Antoni the benefit of the doubt until Little Patty or Renaldo Balkman do some damage with another team.
You guys that are abandoning the team now are total sellouts. I bet you had a Troy Aikman poster in the 90’s. Why don’t you root for Dwight Howard and go to McDonalds and scratch his game pieces.
The Knicks have done some bad things and you can’t say this one ranks even close to the bottom. Meanwhile, I cannot wait until Wednesday.
Donnie got two more strikes to go before i’m done with him. He used one for this moronic decision. Bottom line is TO GET FANS TO THE GARDEN and sell tickets. Having Roberson instead of the son of a Knick legend that has a better upside than Roberson is moronic.
They are not looking at fan appeal. Donnie this ain’t Indiana. We want talented players with appeal that have potential.
No reason to keep one more guard when we need another forward. Especially if Chandler is going to be our primary power forward and he is looking like he is returning to his knee problems. Lee and Randoplh defense make you want to throw up. We have no shot blocker.
I want to go the record and say Gallinari will be a waisted pick at 6 overall or for the lack of a better word bust. He was not worth the 6h pick and will ride the bench most of the year. I would have went with Anthony Randolph from LSU. We need a new center and JJ snacks is not the answer.
Lets talk about Isiah’s suicide attempt. This move is depressing…
What bothers me is this: It is obvious that Couch D has no use for James whatsoever. 0 minutes in the preseason when both JJ and Curray were out. Which is a bigger waste of money buying out James (paying him not to play) or leaving him on the roster with no intention of playing him (paying him not to play and taking up a roster spot)? What does this say to the rest of the team? A guy who hustles and is team centered (Ewing) gets cut and a guy who has shown he DOES NOT CARE stays because he has a big contract. By this logic Marbury should start over Duhon and JJ over Lee. And how is this different than Isaiah’s philosophy? Coach D’s meritocracy approach just took a huge hit. Make money and you stay, play hard and your expendable. This is a bad dream.
When I hear Ewing Jr. was cut over Anthony Roberson or Jerome James, I was frankly in disbelief and was way too pissed off to put forth any coherent thought on the matter.
To calm down I checked out the internet for what the consensus would be on the choice to can Patrick Ewing Jr. over Anthony “shoot blanks first and ask questions later” Roberson or Jeromes “BIG HEIST” James.
The consensus is pretty overwhelmingly against this latest decision by the entity a fellow blogger dubbed Waltoni. Actually come to think of it this entity is a three headed hydra which once and for all disproves the theory that two-in this instance three- heads are better than one. This monstrosity, the terrifying Manegerial creature I dubbed Waldoltoni, (frightening combination of Senile Donny Walsh, Penny Pinching James Dolan, and Offense First and Last Mike []’antoni) initiated a Garden coup to exit a young player who represent’s a link to the Franchises defensively inspired fighting spirit of yore. The move also ousted a talent who might be able to help the franchise addresses several possible pressing needs that are more glaring than adding another gun to what many here believed was a pretty fully loaded offensive entity.
Although Ewing Jr. stands at only about 6’8, he demonstrated during the preseason an ability to be able to play bigger than his stated size as exemplified in his ability to block shots, rebound, and play above the rim where many a shot of our other fowards- Z-Bo, Lee and even Curry often get sent back. Moreover Ewing Jr. comes in at about 240 pounds and possesses a 40 inch verticle leap coupled with a relentless energy that could have only been passed down from a legendary father. Ewing surely played bigger than the two pouting and lazy oaths that will now continue to occupy the Knicks roster and bench while creating pot holes and cracks in the flooring of MSG. Also D’antoni has relied on a small but combative front court lineup of David Lee, and Zach Randolph. In addition D’antoni has suggested that he would utilize the rail thin and brittle Jared Jefferies as a center in his system. Therefore the argument that Ewing is to small to play in the post for the Knicks plainly fails to recognize the coaching staff reliance on smaller but more active players on the front lines and in general.
Ewing Jr. also would have provided young and cheap fronline depth that the knicks could have used and surely lack- Jefferies injury, Chandlers Knee issues, Curry’s and James ineffectiveness in []’toni’s system, Z-bo & Lee’s possible exit via trade, and Rose age.
Yet, Walsh’s stated reason for keeping Roberson over Ewing Jr. was that he needed to address a need namely shooting.
That excuse is as naked as the Emperors new clothes were to the young child in the crowd telling the emperor he was naked. The Knicks currently have a roster of players capable of shootng the ball- Robinson, Crawford, Gallinari, Richardson, Randolph, Marbury and to a lesser extent Duhon. Yet again the managerial monstrosity of Waldoltoni chooses to pinch pennies and slight the defensive side of the ball. Waldoltoni chose to keep a shooter who shot 20 percent generally and only 25 percent beyond the arch to sure up it’s shooting, when more glaring needs- unstated by either an incompetent, disengenouse or outright senile- Donnie Walsh went unmentioned.
At the end of this day the Blogger Lives mantra that the mask on the Knicks recievership has come off cannot ring more true.
I strangely get a feeling of a soldier going out to war with an abundant arsenal of weapons but that has failed to even strap on a either a bulletproofvest (defense in general) or a blast shield (shot blocking) in a machine gun laden warzone.
This to me spells TROUBLE when the big guns in body armor come out to play
Ewing is a marginal player people! If they picked Roberson it’s because they think he’ s a better fit. They know something about the game of basketball. Stop going nuts. Maybe they think Jerome’s contract will be a valuable trade piece down the line and they don’t want to cut a guy and lock themselves into that salary structure.
I know things have not gone well but everyone’s jumping on Walsh and D’Antoni unfairly. The season hasn’t even started!
in my eyes trading Balkman for nothing was Strike 1… Letting Ewing go is Strike 2…....... You could argue keeping James on this roster is Strike 3… But all i have to say is Donnie Walsh better hope the next move he makes whatever it is, is really really really blockbuster!!!
No it doesn’t, I would have liked to see him on the team. He is young, and developing. I know we have possible size issues but I would rather cut James and eat his contract. Cut Rose. Cut Roberson even if you think he “might” be a needed shooter.
What we need right now is good will, and good vibes. Bringing in the son of the “The Franchise” is good will, and he is only going to get better. Will he be an all star? I tend to doubt it but who am I to say?
What I can say is that while I appreciate that Donnie is a man of his word, he said “no buy outs” and he means it. We have dead weight on the roster, and I am a big fan of rewarding effort and those who are deserving.
This kid deserved a spot that is currently occupied by a center who is so unprofessional he does not bother to show up in shape. That is like me going into the office without my laptop. His body is his “tool” Eddy gets paid a lot of money, stop eating Twinkies and hit the Gym BEFORE the season. Prove us wrong, we think you were a bad pick up, that you have no heart (no pun intended), and that you will NEVER amount to anything. So far you have made that case for us.
Jerome James? yeah. I do not even need to go there.
This cut really ruined my week, and I was optimistic about the new regime. Neither the coach or gm were my first choices for the job but I bought in and supported both. Now it is YOUR turn too to show us fans something. Give us something here, show us a move that says “We are getting there” I do not want you to rush to make bad deals, but make smart decisions, make moves that make sense.
So far you have not really done anything except pay starting money to a life time back up, draft a kid with the back of a 40 year old, give away a wasted first round pick on a second round player (Balkman) for nothing.
Come on. Give me something, don’t make a dumb move liek I said but make a move.
You could have started by keeping Patrick Ewing Jr. Roberson might be able to shoot, he was able in summer league play. After that? Not so much. You know what? There are LOTS of shooters to be had that can provide that level of consistency. The waiver wires, Foreign markets, and D League is full of them. There is only one Patrick Ewing Junior.
You dropped the ball here, I am sorry to say.
I can’t believe people are so worked up about the 15th guy on this roster, who’ll never see the floor anyway. Ask yourselves: would you care as much if his name was anything other than Ewing?
Give me a break people. This is an NBA franchise. This isn’t some legacy pledging a fraternity. Dollars outweighed desire in this case.
Lets all be real here, Ewing Jr. never had a chance of making the roster. The only reason why knick fans are upset is because they hoped it would bring back memories of THE Ewing, but we all know they are not on the same talent level. But fans should get excited about Wilson Chandler. Under Dantoni, he has potential to be a All Star caliber player.
For all you knick fans, I had to share what I got in the (snail) mail today. A birthday card came with a great hi-res photo of (x), and a personal message inside from my Dad. Came from http://www.nba.com/greetingcards – looks like you can do any team, player, etc. – they have a huge selection if great licensed photos. Get them before the holiday rush for a 25% discount!
This advice is really going to help, thanks.