Patrick Ewing knows a thing or two about great Knicks teams, and he believes the current squad has a chance to contend for an NBA title.
Ewing, who was honored with the inaugural Johnny Bach Award at the Fordham basketball tip-off dinner last night, said the Knicks’ veteran-heavy team could be the last one standing come June.
“Like everyone, even [coach Mike Woodson], has said, no young team has won a championship,” Ewing said. “I think that the guys that they brought in are quality guys. [Jason Kidd] has been an outstanding player for many, many years, and he’s also going to be a coach in the locker room. He, Kurt [Thomas] and Marcus [Camby], everything that Woody says to the team, they’re going to have his back. I think it’s great.”
Ewing wouldn’t go so far as to crown the Knicks as this season’s champions, but he did like the early-season progress.
“They’re very talented,” Ewing said. “Woody’s a great coach. They’ve started out fast and everyone wants them to do well.”
If the Knicks have any chance of making a prolonged playoff run, it will depend on Carmelo Anthony and his ability to lead this team while Amar’e Stoudemire returns from a knee injury.
“He’s one of the best players in the game,” said Ewing, a former assistant coach at Orlando. “I think that his experience playing in the Olympics definitely helped him to mature. People around here knocked him for not passing the ball, but when we played him or watched him, he always passed the ball.”
Ewing also does not buy the notion that Anthony and Stoudemire cannot co-exist.
“I think they can play together,” Ewing said. “To me, the bulk of the shots should go right there to them two.”
Ewing did not seem to harbor any bad blood against his former team, which offered him the head-coaching job with its D-League affiliate, the Erie Bayhawks.
“I still consider myself a Knick, I’m still a part of the organization,” Ewing said. “When the time comes, something will happen.
“I still want to coach. Unfortunately, we got let go in Orlando, I turned a job down in Atlanta and nothing else was offered.”