Knicks: Is It Time to Give Patrick Ewing a Shot?

Patrick Ewing knows how to help big men live up to their full potential. All-NBA Third Team honoree Al Jefferson is a recent example. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Offense

Part of Patrick Ewing’s assistant coaching experience includes over 120 playoff games and one trip to the Finals. He helped develop fellow big man Yao Ming into a dominant center, and led the young Charlotte Hornets summer league team to an impressive performance not too long ago.

This is a hell of a lot more than both Jason Kidd and Derek Fisher have amassed before they become coaches. Even Ewing’s old Knicks teammate Monty Williams became a coach before him with much less experience.

For the third point of contention, I’ll concede that the lumbering offense Patrick Ewing is remembered for both as a Knick and during the Yao Ming-era Rockets, isn’t something anyone should feel comfortable with in 2015. On the other hand, very little positive has been achieved with the Triangle-era Knicks.

Despite what Phil Jackson, Derek Fisher, and even Spike Lee say about the Triangle Offense, all I’ve seen from it is obtuse rotations, a glaring lack of creativity, lots of Melo-ball, and a historic amount of losses.