Ewing and McNabb Have Similarities…

by Tommy Dee on April 7th, 2010 at 2:27 pm

Great post by aramnath, from frontofficefans.com on the similarities between the careers of Patrick Ewing and Donavan McNabb who, despite 5 NFC Championship appearances and 1 Super Bowl, never won a championship in Philly. He’s now a member of the Washington Redskins.

“…You’re probably wondering how Patrick Ewing is similar to Donovan McNabb.  Let’s take a look.

The Knicks drafted Patrick Ewing with the No. 1 pick in the 1985 NBA Draft.  By the early 90′s, the Knicks were one of the league’s elite teams that had the misfortune of peaking at the same time that Michael Jordan and the Bulls also peaked.  Upon Jordan’s retirement at the end of the 1993 NBA season, the Knicks became the favorite to emerge out of the Eastern Conference and emerge they did earning a birth in the 1994 NBA Finals against Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets.

Thanks to a combination of Hakeem Olajuwon being a better center than Ewing and Pat Riley allowing John Starks to shoot 2-18 from the field, 0-11 from three and 0-10 in the fourth quarter, Ewing came up short in his championship quest.  Did Olajuwon outplay Ewing? Yes.  This is because he was a superior player not because Ewing wasn’t clutch.

The next season the Knicks were thwarted in their attempt to win a ring by Reggie Miller and the Pacers as Ewing’s game-tying layup attempt rimmed out as time expired in Game 7.  This is remembered as proof as why Ewing sucked as a clutch player and why the Knicks never won a ring…”

Ewing’s issue was that he couldn’t seal the deal and talked a big game. He wanted that pressure, but couldn’t ultimately deliver. It’s a fair knock. McNabb, to me, is a great quarterback who ran into better teams. That’s the biggest similarity for me. Ewing was a first overall pick big man who had impossible expectations to live up to. Ask Greg Oden what that feels like.

David Robinson needed Tim Duncan. Shaq finally realized he needed Kobe because of free throw woes limiting his touches in the 4th quarter. Dream was the best center of all of them in my opinion- and Ewing was just one game away. In the end, despite a tremendous career, he just didn’t get it done. I think his year was 1997, myself.
  • http://dagawdknowledge.blogspot.com/ DaGawD_KnowLedge

    i agree on the dream is the better center out of all…….

    i think mcnabb had better pieces then ewing had on the court to win
    but it’s 2 different sports….

  • BigDaddybluesman

    Ewing was great, period, had Bernard King not gotten injured they would have owned the NBA for a few years.

    But that’s the way life goes and Patrick never had that other star to go to. Yet it was amazing how Riley and Van Gundy got the best out of him and those teams…….are you listening D’ass.

  • dino2008

    apparently ginobili is about to sign an extension with the spurs…….

  • bmathews77

    Just saw that too….didn’t think Ginobilli would leave the Spurs anyway.

  • jgilch82

    i loved that team as much as anyone and i hate riley now as much as all of you after his exit … but when u look at that roster .. how they won 50 games every year is testament to how GREAt riley is … better than Phil the Zen..
    and i agree with most of the Ewing talk … Michael was always in his way ..
    in 94 when he was gone … patrick went up against the one center who was better than him, the league MVP Hakeem ….
    1995 … he missed a buzzer beater … not clutch? come on big deal .. all big time players fail to deliever sometimes … how about 1994 game 7 against the pacers … 28pts, 25 rbs, 5 blks, 6 assists
    1997 i agree on also .. oh man that team clicked with LJ, allan, childs, starks, ewing, ward, buck, …. F.U. PJ BROWN

  • dino2008

    i thought he might leave, but not too disappointed. too injury prone imo and can’t log too many minutes, which is essential when the coach likes a short rotation.

  • HaS

    I loved Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon, I hated that we had to go through him to try and win it that year.

  • HaS

    I don’t understand why people thought he would leave.

  • Mal

    When Bernard came back from injury Pat got hurt and then the next season they traded Bernard….CRIME :(

    http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=15871
    READ #3 about Reggie Miller

  • Mal

    F.U. PJ BROWN

    Thank you I argue with people all the time, that would have been the year we beat the Bulls with Michael.
    We owned them in the reugular season and was poised to take them out in the playoffs BUT the D@MN suspensions vs Miami killed us and they(Miami) were a no-show vs the Bulls

  • alrobinson6022

    wut’s up tommy. i agree with you on 1997. for some reason alot of people don’t talka bout the knicks team as much but i thought that was the best team in the ewing era. even jeff van gundy agrees with 1997 being the best year. unfortunately they had all of those suspensions which lost the series against the heat. 1992-1993 knicks were great also but the bulls were in a smelled blood after the charles smith game 5. okay, i’m getting p’d off thinking about that stuff. lol

  • TG

    Hakeem was mad good for a few years, but I wouldn’t say his career overall was as consistent as Ewing’s. He made Shaq look like nothing in the finals the next year. Total rope a dope stuff–Shaq had no idea what kind of head fake or spin was coming next–and that was a real domination, not like Hakeem Ewing which wasn’t.

    Ewing always played better then normal against the good centers–Robinson, Shaq, Hakeem-if you look at say Ewing vs Shaq it was always close in numbers, with Shaq ahead by a tiny bit– but he never had quite as much talent as they did, it was all heart and pride. He played above his level, not below it.

  • TG

    That’s when I first realized that the NBA is fixed–and nothing since has changed my mind.

  • J_Starks3

    What is up with this article?????????????

    So the only similarities are that they couldn’t deliver a championship?????

    Terrible article. I just wasted my time reading it.

  • JaymanJD

    SHaq needed Kobe hahaha history does not say that. Kobe needed Shaq. Just like Wade. Shaq is the best Center since Wilt and Russel. Shaq left for the fame in LA. and when he left for Miami they stopped winning. Kobe could not win again until he had Gasol. So Shaq did not need these players they needed him lets not minimize Shaqs greatness inorder to make a point about Ewing. Second, Ewing did not loss because he was not clutch and talked a big game. Ewing lost because the Knicks failed to give him anyone of worth to team up with. It was not till the end of his career that houston and sprewell came along and by then Ewing was finished. Ewings failure had far more to do with the Knicks on going failure at putting together a winning team. Walsh has another thing coming if he thinks he is simply trying to change 8 years of failure lets talk about 30 years. This team has either been really bad or really good but never Great. After 30 years NY deserves not simply winners but Greatness. It is so sad that we can only look back at the positive days of mediocrity. Remember, when we made the playoffs every year and got bounced out everytime. 15 years of almosts. I dont no which is more painfull Almost winning every year or simply being terrible every year. When this teams mission statement becomes championship not simply filling seats to pay cablevision this 30 year hell will end.