Preach the Word, Stan

Yup.

Ewing should have been a Knick for life and I really don’t know why Donnie Walsh never calls Patrick Jr. Great mistake IMO. Stan Van Gundy is right but he picked the wrong occasion to talk sh*t about it. Have you seen “About Schmidt” ?

This all flows back to Dolan’s treatment of Jeff Van Gundy.

Once Dolan drove JVG out the door it soured Ewing on the Organization and led to his ultimate trade. Then JVG got Ewing under his wing in Houston and got in his ear. Granted Ewing was still pissed at the organization for how things ended but those early years in Houston let the wound fester.

Notice that last nite was the first time Larry Johnson was back at the garden since retiring. Knicks Management seems to pick and choose which parts oif their history they want to acknowledge and what to sweep under the carpet.

Dolan is notorious for holding a grudge.

Stan is right but he is getting fed this line from his brother JVG. Right message wrong time to say it. Or maybe not. Maybe Dolan needs to be called out on this.

You know, drawing attention to crap like this is part of the problem. First off, I couldn’t care what JVG or SVG says in the slightest. One never even coached here, and the other one flat-left us after NOT bringing us a title.

I think you guys forget that sometimes.

And secondly, who said Ewing is head coach material? He’s only been an assistant on teams, and has focused primarily on big men (which, by the way, we don’t even have!)

Patrick’s story is just like Kareem’s – no matter how incredible they were as players, there’s something about them that makes people who making coaching decisions go in another direction. You guys have to let it go, man.

Patrick Ewing should have a job in the organzaition if he wants it, but he doesn’t want just any job. He wants the head coaching job. IMO, he’s behaving like a spoiled brat by constantly making that an issue. If he has the qualities needed to be a head coach, someone will eventually make him an offer. But to be quite honest, when I think of players I believe will make good head coaches I usually think about the most cerebral players I can think of . Ewing was a great player, but he wasn’t a genius. Furthermore, does anyone really believe that Patrick Jr would have been given a shot here if it wasn’t for Patrick Sr? IMO obviously not. D’Antoni likes players that can shoot from the outside. They gave him a shot out of respect for Sr. Yet he has the gall to complain about how his son was treated. Look, this is easy. If Jr. was a good enough player to make the Knicks he would be here. It’s not as if we have a great team. Fans may want him here because of who his father was. That’s understandable. But the organzation doesn’t owe jobs to the sons of former players. It’s job is to retain the services of the best players available.

Right on Stallion.

John Starks, JYD, and Allan Houston have all recently had (or do have) roles in the organization, but I don’t think any of them demanded their particular posts, and none of those posts (that weren’t demanded) are HEAD COACH.

So, no, I don’t think Van Gundy is right, with all due respect to you Tommy.

[...] by Ewing and his boys, trying to shame the Knicks into hiring him? With all due respect to Tommy Dee over at the Knicks Blog, who agreed with Stan Van Gundy’s “poor Ewing/shame on the Knicks” missive, I [...]

I agree that Ewing should be part of the Knicks organization but its pretty common that the legendary player does not come back to the team they played for. Bird has been with the Pacers for years, McHale with the T-wolves, Ainge wit the Suns. Michale Jordan with the Wiz and then the Bobcats. Magic has been with the Lakers but Kareem hasn’t been with them at all. For whatever reason it doesn’t happen that often

Kareem has been an assistant on the Lakers since 2005.

yeah, i mean who cares about what Jeff Van Gundy says?

all the guy did was bring an 8-seed to the NBA Finals and to the playoffs every full year as head coach. oh, and he was a part of a coaching staff that led the Knicks to the playoffs each of his six seasons as assistant. big deal, right?

and JVG didn’t “flat-out leave” – he was black-listed by Dolan. none of that changes the fact that Van Gundy did more for the Knicks’ organization than any coach this side of Red Holzman.

i think YOU forget that sometimes.

Dude, you need to back off that Kool-Aid, because it’s ten years old already.

JVG’s “accomplishments” are all short of the ultimate prize: a championship. And lots of coaches get their teams to the playoffs every year only to not even make it out of the first round. Which is why I couldn’t care less about what any supposed “great” coach – JVG, SVG, George Karl, or any other coach that never won anything – has to say about the coaching staff in NY.

You guys treat the VG’s, etc. like sacred cows – when really they should shut their traps and worry about their own teams (or broadcasting, lol…)

And I’m sorry, when you quit in the middle of the year, you’re a flat-leaver. Which is why JVG is right where he belongs – sandwiched between two other wanna-be’s on the sidelines.

3rd most wins in Knicks’ franchise history, 2nd most playoff wins. you can go ahead and take the quotations off of the word “accomplishments”.

i’m not trying to make JVG out to be some kind of a god – and i agree with you about being disappointed that he never won a title. but at the same time, it’s not like the guy is a chump.