Patrick Ewing is ‘big’, but he is still a good coach – NBA Update
Time and time again, Orlando Magic’s assistant coach Patrick Ewing has displayed an interest in becoming a head coach in NBA. Ewing has enjoyed remarkable success as an assistant; however, he still hasn’t got the opportunity to
prove his mettle as head coach.
The Detroit Pistons had the slot empty earlier this summer and despite him interviewing for it, Ewing did not get the job and it went to Lawrence Frank instead. In 2008, he applied for the vacant position at the New York Knicks,
but was not even shortlisted for an interview.
Ewing, who has spent 4 years in Orlando as an assistant, stated that teams in the NBA tend to show prejudice against big men when it comes to the coaching position. He stated that he could point out numerous guards in the head
coach position, but big men are hardly elected as head coach.
“People have always said that, ‘Oh, he only knows the centre position. He can just teach the big guys,’ Ewing said. “Well, when I played, Jeff Van Gundy was the guy who I worked with. Does that make him a ‘big-man coach?’
Patrick tried to explain that the centre position is as important as any other position.
“People think that just because you’re a centre, you’re not as smart as the guards or the smaller guys. I think that’s a load of c**p. When I played with the Knicks, I was just as important or just as smart as any other of the
guards I played with. I still had to call out plays, notice schemes, know the systems, do everything they had to do.”
It is expected that in case the New York Knicks don’t get off to a decent start, D’Antoni might be sacked. His offensive approach is not expected to yield many results against strong teams such as Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Chicago
Bulls and Orlando Magic.
Ewing has his eyes set on the opportunity as and when it strikes.
“I hope that one day I get to come back home because I do live in this area, I still consider this my area, I still consider myself a Knick,” Ewing said. “Hopefully one day I’ll be brought back here.”
Although it is hard to judge the role of an assistant coach in the development of a team or a certain individual, Patrick has been accredited with Dwight Howard’s progress over the last 4 years. The former centre has worked with
Howard to polish his game, which has definitely worked so far.
Howard worked with Hakeem Olajuwon last year as well and has also done so this summer, to improve the offensive aspect of his game. Hakeem has been praised for his work on the dominant centre’s game and as it is now LeBron James
is also interested to have a workout session with Olajuwon. Although this might not go well with Ewing who has been training Howard for four year, it goes to prove his point about centres being good mentors.
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