Welcome to the fantasy basketball edition of What If? This is where I look back at a player's season before fantasy basketball became prominent in our society.
Today, we look back at New York Knicks Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing's 1988-89 season at the suggestion of rad who runs the Daddy Sports site. When he's not making videos of my favorite college football team losing in an EA sports game after posting a YouTube video highlight of them, he talks about a variety of sports because he's a great all-around sports fan(Okay rad, you knew that was coming buddy lol). Anyway, give his site a look. I'm using the default scoring for Sporting News and Yahoo! fantasy basketball games. So here's the scoring system for each:
SN Fantasy Basketball Default Scoring System:
Point Scored: 1 point each
Field Goal Missed: -0.5 points
Free Throw Missed: -0.5 points
Rebound: 1.5 points
Assists: 2 points
Steal: 2.5 points
Block Shot: 2.5 points
Turnover: -1 point
Triple Double: 10 points
Note: For those that are not familar with basketball, triple-double means reaching double digits in at least three of the following categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots.
Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Default Scoring System:
Field Goal Attempt: -0.45 points
Field Goal Made: 1 point
Free Throw Attempt: -0.75 points
Free Throw Made: 1 point
3-Point Shot Made: 3 points
Point Scored: 0.5 points
Rebound: 1.5 points
Assist: 2 points
Steal: 3 points
Turnover: -2 points
Blocked Shot: 3 points
Here's the SN scoring total for Patrick Ewing's 1989-90 season:
Points Scored: 2,347 = 2,347 points
Field Goals Missed: 751 = -375.5 points
Free Throw Missed: 146 = -73 points
Rebounds: 893 = 1,339.5 points
Assists: 182 = 364 points
Steals: 78 = 195 points
Blocked Shots: 327 = 817.5 points
Turnovers: 278 = -278 points
Triple Doubles: 0 = 0 points
Total SN Points: 4336.5 points
SN Points Per Game: 52.88
Here's the Yahoo! scoring total for Patrick Ewing's 1989-90 season:
Field Goal Attempts: 1,673 = -752.85 points
Field Goals Made: 922 = 922 points
Free Throw Attempts: 648 = -486 points
Free Throws Made: 502 = 502 points
3-Point Shots Made: 1 = 3 points
Points Scored: 2,347 = 1,173.5 points
Rebounds: 893 = 1,339.5 points
Assists: 182 = 364 points
Steals: 78 = 234 points
Turnovers: 278 = -556 points
Blocked Shots: 327 = 981 points
Total Yahoo! Points: 3,724.15
Yahoo! Points Per Game: 45.42
Source: basketball-reference.com
This was probably Ewing's best season in his NBA career. He set a career-high in points, blocked shots, and field goals made in the 1989-90 season. Ewing's season included 11 games of 40 or more points with a high of 51 against the Boston Celtics on March 24.
Ewing grabbed at least 20 rebounds in a game three times during the season with a high of 24 on November 29 against Golden State. Despite not having a triple-double on the season, Ewing had a double-double of points and rebounds in 50 of the 82 games on the season.
His best all-around game in the regular season may have been on January 7 at home against the Los Angeles Clippers. In that game, Ewing had 44 points, 22 rebounds, four assists, seven blocked shots, and two steals as the Knicks won 110-109.
Ewing averaged 26.7 points per game, 10.2 rebounds per game, and 3.7 blocks per game during the regular season as he also helped the Knicks advance to the NBA Playoffs with a 45-37 record.
The Knicks won their first round matchup against the Boston Celtics 3-2 before being eliminated by the eventual NBA Champion Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Ewing averaged 29.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game in the NBA Playoffs.
Even though Ewing didn't win an NBA Title in his career, he was one of the best centers in the game when he played. He averaged 21 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in his 17 seasons in the league. He earned Basketball Hall of Fame honors in 2008 in his first year of eligibility in which he was one of the best players in college and pro basketball history.
If anyone wants to suggest a past player, you may do so by commenting. I only ask that we try to keep it before 1995. Also, statistics are tougher to find in the early era of the game because they weren't tracked as well. Just something to keep in mind.
Thanks for viewing, and be sure to check the Blog List of friends to the right of this page for more great reads out there!
Previous What If? basketball posts:
Michael Jordan's 1988-89 Season
11/13/2008 08:41:00 PM
David Funk
13 comments:
Great year. He never quite lived up to the expectations. One ring would have done it. Oh well.
woohooo, finally the man gets some recognition, and from a Bulls fan nonetheless lol Really nice piece
Dave, I really like your writing style and the way you make stats easy to read by incorporating them into the piece instead of allowing it to become simply a list of stats and accomplishments. Very nice and much more fun than the Jordan piece lol
Lester- I just think in an era dominated by the Lakers, Celtics, Pistons and later the Bulls, he played in a bad time where dynasties were peaking in the league. The same can be said of Karl Malone, John Stockton, and Charles Barkley, too. Still, he was on the Dream Team and is one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history. Him getting a ring would have helped especially in the very demanding New York market though.
rad- You knew it was coming! No, the Jordan piece was more fun to read! LOL! Thanks for coming by.
He was supposed to be the next big thing. He was great, but he didn't do what he was expected to do. He was supposed to be the savior for the Knicks. Not only did he fall short of that, he wasn't even a Karl Malone or John Stockton. He wasn't Jordan or Olajuwon and maybe not even David Robinson. He was great, but not at that next level.
He never even won an MVP, which is something all of the other guys mentioned (save for Stockton but don't think Stockton wasn't deserving of sharing Karl Malone's two). Even Charles Barkley had a bigger impact despite never winning it all.
Dave, you started another discussion with me and Ryan on the greatness of Ewing. The post started on football and somehow got into basketball.
Ryan says, "He was great, don’t get me wrong, but he was not only overshadowed by Jordan, but by Olajuwon and possibly David Robinson. Ewing was supposed to be the next Kareem. He was great, but he wasn’t at that next level."
Thoughts Dave?
I just saw Ryan's response here, I see this is carrying over 2 blogs, I'll chase you down buddy lol
He was very much the savior for the Knicks, he put the team back on the map and dominated his era. They were a forgotten team before Ewing came along, the only problem was that he had no supporting cast. Even when they went to the Finals, a washed up Derek Harper was starting PG, streaky John Starks was starting SG (would start for no other team in the league),Charles Oakley and Charles Smith compelted the frontcourt. Hubert Davis was their top 6th man. Ewing willed them into the Finals on pure heart and will. The comparison to Barkley is a nice one, but Barkley's game does not compare to Ewing's.
Lester- Fair enough. I see where you're coming from. The point I made wasn't so much comparing those guys with Ewing as it was to point out that other successful players were measured by what they did on the court without a ring.
He did what he could do for the Knicks, and he also made them a better team.
He's still one of the greatest 50 players of all-time and one of the best centers ever. And while he was expected to do those things, he still dominated his position. He's still one of the top five centers ever, IMO.
Here's what I said about Ewing.
Kareem, Wilt, Russell, Olajuwon are top four in my mind and in a class of their own.
Ewing is in the class with David Robinson, Shaq, and Mikan with Shaq as the head of the class. So he was top 8 Center of all-time. Not bad. Not bad at all.
I'm just saying he was expected to be in the top class.
Lester- I hear you on that. That's about where I would put him.
I'm going to have to concede this argument as I can't adequately provide more stats to put Ewing any higher than you guys have. I just really wish he would have won at least one ring, so the least I could do was put him in the top 5 all time centers. But your arguments are better than mine on this one, sorry Pat. Keep sweatin big guy.
rad- I still think he saved the Knicks, but that's still pretty good company where he's at.
He's in great company, and he had the reverse effect of playing in NY. Too much expectations it was nearly impossible for him to live up to it. Considering how well he did is a testament to his greatness.
Post a Comment