Patrick Ewing carved a long, successful career, but he always fell short of the ultimate goal. One reason, at least according to Hall of Fame coach Tex Winter , is that New York was not utilizing him properly. The long-time Phil Jackson’s assistant felt it would be better for the Georgetown University product to sit back on offense and hang his hat on defense and rebounding.
“He is without a doubt one of the all-time great big men, but I don’t think he’s ever been as effective as he could have been,” Winter said in a 1998 interview with Slam Magazine. “They utilized him on the post as a scorer more than anything else, and he could have been more effective if they had concentrated on him being more of a feeder and a rebounder. The team has not been as effective as it should be with a dominant center like that, but I don’t know if that’s Patrick’s fault. He’s not the coach.”
Ewing averaged 21 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks in 1,183 career games. He averaged at least 20 points in each of his first 13 seasons, peaking at 28.6 in 1989-90. The seven-foot Knicks legend was definitely the main scoring guy for New York during his career, but was Tex correct in his assessment?
What history tells us
Ewing played for Georgetown for four years and collected almost every individual and team accolade there was. He became a national champion in 1984, the National College Player of the Year in 1985, a three-time All-American, and a four-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year…