Ewing Theory- Seton Hall 2017-18

[deheremike]

Bill Simmons came up with this theory many years ago, back when he was an excellent writer as opposed to what he has become, that the Knicks were better off without Patrick Ewing. If you insert Angel Delgado in Patrick’s place, I truly think this will be the case.


The theory is that the team was too dependent upon Ewing and when gone, everyone steps up and the team overall plays better.


There were many other examples he put forth, and I don’t think Simmons’ old articles from Boston Sports Guy are available anywhere, otherwise I would link it so that you could take it all in.


I truly believe we will be better with Angel gone. I have felt this way for awhile, and now I get to see if it is true.


Nzei is going to be a good player and him and Ish can focus on the 5 spot and Brodie and Gill can be the Rashed Anthony of 2017-18 and provide their five fouls when needed. Hopefully not picking them up as quickly as Rashed did. This allows small ball to take over, and still hoping and praying we get Geno Thorpe, but even without him, the talent at the guard positions should shine through, and we will beat teams we should never beat, and hopefully people don’t get down, when we lose to teams that we should be beating.


This is going to be a great year, still wish Duval would have come, as he could have been handed the keys to what could potentially be a fun and exciting guard dominated team.


I still have us getting to the Sweet 16 this year, and all you gloom and doomers will be super surprised. If Khadeen follows the same crummy logic as Angel, then my predictions for even a NCAA team are off the table. Khadeen is going to be First Team Big East this year.


Here is the Theory....thanks google, never should have doubted you.....although I cant find the Willie Williams recruiting blog anywhere on the worldwideweb....

Dave introduced me to the Ewing Theory three years ago, and we've been tinkering with it like Voltaire and Thoreau ever since. Eventually, we decided that two crucial elements needed to be in place for any situation to qualify for "Ewing" status:

1. A star athlete receives an inordinate amount of media attention and fan interest, and yet his teams never win anything substantial with him (other than maybe some early-round playoff series).
   
   
   
2. That same athlete leaves his team (either by injury, trade, graduation, free agency or retirement) -- and both the media and fans immediately write off the team for the following season.

When those elements collide, you have the Ewing Theory.

 

[Piratz]

FWIW, I don't think the Knicks were ever better without Ewing, lol.

Losing an HM AA and the best rebounder in the land - for a team that relies on rebounding - is a big loss. Delgado had a breakout year, but was far from a finished product offensively or defensively. When he struggled, we had trouble (Nova, Arkansas), but what a rebounder. Holy cow.

However, people crapping their pants over this need to stop. Give it time. Very bad news, but my God, it's May 11th. Let it breathe. The point that we'll be different is well taken. We have talent, we'll play different. Maybe we're better in other areas next year and the net result is good. I love our mix of guards and wings.

We ran offense through Delgado a lot, but the adjustment post-Whitehead was still greater than this will be, I think, when you factor in roster, roles, usage rates. And that's not a slight to Angel, who I think is one of the best big guys we have ever had and someone who played hard for Seton Hall.

Let the coach do his thing. The team has talent. Our 6'11" freshman has a golden opportunity ahead of him.

 

[lloyde dobler]

Nice try, but no.

 

[JuniorJinx]

Part of the reason Angel was so good last year was we were heaving up bricks all the time for him to clean up. Don't see how losing him is going to magically improve our shooting efficiency.

 

[deheremike]

http://proxy.espn.com/espn/page2/story?id=1193711


This is required reading today for all the people that are sad today.

We are going to be ok.

 

[Piratz]

Part of the reason Angel was so good last year was we were heaving up bricks all the time for him to clean up. Don't see how losing him is going to magically improve our shooting efficiency.

Better shooting is a good start.

 

[SHUHoopsFan]

I'll say this there was no way I thought Gonzaga would be better this year without Sabonis and Wiltjer.

 

[deheremike]

I updated the first quote with the actual items needed, this seems to fit very well........

I BELIEVE. WE CAN DO IT!

My dream is that we do really well this year, and Kevin gets a great new job somewhere else.....we all can dream....

 

[cernjSHU]

I have the Jordan, Bird and Magic theories to trump the Ewing theory. It is just plain wrong.

 

[shu09]

This is an interesting post. I do think there is some merit to the theory on the surface, but dig deeper and there are a number of obstacles.

We are going to have to play an entirely different style of basketball. Quite often, our best offense was throwing up a shot and having Angel go get it. That's not an option anymore. This change is going to require the players and coaches to revamp their approach. More ball and player movement, better ball handling and better shooting is going to have to be incorporated into the offensive scheme. To be completely honest, I'm not too confident in this group making that transition. It's not a strength of Willard and he hasn't recruited players to that kind of style of play. It's going to take a monumental effort on his part and the part of the players.

 

[Piratz]

I'll say this there was no way I thought Gonzaga would be better this year without Sabonis and Wiltjer.

You never know. Have to see how it all comes together.

For instance, how about us? I thought we'd be great that season we brought back Whitney, Allen, Morris, and Sweet along with Nutter and Laing incoming off a a team that actually won a game in the NCAA's and we promptly went 4-12 in the BE.

I thought we'd be terrible the following season when we looked to have no depth and only 2 "legit" BE types and we went 9-7 and got into the NCAA's.

It's not going to be a 1:1 replacement ratio. It's going to be different. A new mix of skills and personalities. It sucks to lose Angel, but let's see what happens.

 

[HallLine69]

http://proxy.espn.com/espn/page2/story?id=1193711


This is required reading today for all the people that are sad today.

We are going to be ok.

My favorite example he quoted re: Ewing theory was the Corleone Family. Brilliant.

 

[HallLine69]

You never know. Have to see how it all comes together.

For instance, how about us? I thought we'd be great that season we brought back Whitney, Allen, Morris, and Sweet along with Nutter and Laing incoming off a a team that actually won a game in the NCAA's and we promptly went 4-12 in the BE.

I thought we'd be terrible the following season when we looked to have no depth and only 2 "legit" BE types and we went 9-7 and got into the NCAA's.

It's not going to be a 1:1 replacement ratio. It's going to be different. A new mix of skills and personalities. It sucks to lose Angel, but let's see what happens.

We also had a brief Ewing-Theory shining moment (no pun intended) the year when Holloway went down after NCAA Round 1 and Ty Shine stepped up and we go to the Sweet Sixteen.

 

[The Crows Nest]

Bill Simmons came up with this theory many years ago, back when he was an excellent writer as opposed to what he has become, that the Knicks were better off without Patrick Ewing. If you insert Angel Delgado in Patrick’s place, I truly think this will be the case.


The theory is that the team was too dependent upon Ewing and when gone, everyone steps up and the team overall plays better.


There were many other examples he put forth, and I don’t think Simmons’ old articles from Boston Sports Guy are available anywhere, otherwise I would link it so that you could take it all in.


I truly believe we will be better with Angel gone. I have felt this way for awhile, and now I get to see if it is true.


Nzei is going to be a good player and him and Ish can focus on the 5 spot and Brodie and Gill can be the Rashed Anthony of 2017-18 and provide their five fouls when needed. Hopefully not picking them up as quickly as Rashed did. This allows small ball to take over, and still hoping and praying we get Geno Thorpe, but even without him, the talent at the guard positions should shine through, and we will beat teams we should never beat, and hopefully people don’t get down, when we lose to teams that we should be beating.


This is going to be a great year, still wish Duval would have come, as he could have been handed the keys to what could potentially be a fun and exciting guard dominated team.


I still have us getting to the Sweet 16 this year, and all you gloom and doomers will be super surprised. If Khadeen follows the same crummy logic as Angel, then my predictions for even a NCAA team are off the table. Khadeen is going to be First Team Big East this year.


Here is the Theory....thanks google, never should have doubted you.....although I cant find the Willie Williams recruiting blog anywhere on the worldwideweb....

Dave introduced me to the Ewing Theory three years ago, and we've been tinkering with it like Voltaire and Thoreau ever since. Eventually, we decided that two crucial elements needed to be in place for any situation to qualify for "Ewing" status:

1. A star athlete receives an inordinate amount of media attention and fan interest, and yet his teams never win anything substantial with him (other than maybe some early-round playoff series).
   
   
   
2. That same athlete leaves his team (either by injury, trade, graduation, free agency or retirement) -- and both the media and fans immediately write off the team for the following season.

When those elements collide, you have the Ewing Theory.

Yeah, the Knicks have been world beaters since Ewing retired! Lol

I can't name 3 players on the Knicks. Talk about irrelevant

 

[SHUMAN]

How about we call it the Mark Bryant theory? Wouldn't that be a truer example? Best player leaves for NBA, we're expected to finish 7th, you know the rest. Same thing happened with UConn when clff Robinson left.

 

[Fishjam]

The top 8 teams in the BE all have good talented players 1-4. The thing that set us apart and had us in preseason top 25s is it appeared we had a monster at the 5. A potential All-American, BE POY who grabbed more rebounds than the 2 next best rebounders in the conference combined.

We have a lot of talent still and maybe it comes together, but there is no way to paint this as anything but a major blow to our expectations.

 

[dehere23]

This is a very good point. Most of the conference has good players at the guard and wing positions. With Patton gone, none have what I would call a really good big who can score, rebound and provide solid d (even without blocking shots). Maybe Spellman is that guy this year for Nova, maybe Govan becomes that guy, but there aren't many. Angel was a huge advantage there.

The top 8 teams in the BE all have good talented players 1-4. The thing that set us apart and had us in preseason top 25s is it appeared we had a monster at the 5. A potential All-American, BE POY who grabbed more rebounds than the 2 next best rebounders in the conference combined.

We have a lot of talent still and maybe it comes together, but there is no way to paint this as anything but a major blow to our expectations.