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Ewing hoping his son can make it big withKnicks[/h1]BY ALAN HAHN |
[email protected] September 7, 2008
So, will the son also rise in New York?
Patrick Ewing hopes so, though he stresses there are many differences between himself, a newly-minted Hall of Fame center, and his 24-year-old son, Patrick, Jr., who was a second-round pick in June and already since traded twice.
"Hopefully he'll have a great career there," the elder Ewing said. "Hopefully as long as mine and hopefully he'll be successful."
They're different - Ewing, Jr. is a 6-8 forward with terrific athletic talents - and yet the proud papa spoke with a gleam in his eye about one noteworthy commonality he shares with his son as an
NBA rookie.
"People didn't think I had offensive ability, which is the same thing they think about him," Ewing said. "They just perceive him as a defensive player."
The younger Ewing attended his father's induction into the Hall of Fame on Friday. He showed up with the family that morning wearing a
Knicks T-shirt a week after he was traded to New York from the
Houston Rockets. He is expected to begin working out with the Knick veterans at the practice facility in the coming week. Training camp opens Sept. 30.
Ewing, Jr. played more of a sixth-man, defensive-minded role at Georgetown. He has spent a lot of time working on his jump shot, which will be critical to his survival as an NBA player. But Donnie Walsh is impressed enough with his athletic attributes (he has a 42-inch vertical leap and a 7-foot wingspan) and the pedigree of his hardworking father. And the Knicks are interested in seeing if Ewing, Jr. is quick enough to defend on the perimeter, especially against some of the bigger shooting guards in the league.
If he makes the team he'll most likely wear his father's No. 33, which he did at Georgetown. And while the expectations are far more reduced than they were for his father, there is little doubt Ewing, Jr. will bring the high character element the Knicks are looking to bring back to the locker room.
"From being my son - I told him, he knows what it takes to be a great player," Ewing said. "He was with me day in and day out at the gym. He knows what it takes. Now he doesn't have to get up to go to class or study for a test, so he can focus on what he needs to do to become a great player."
And if he's cut from the team, will Ewing - who was miffed about not getting an interview for the head coaching vacancy last spring - carry a grudge against the Knicks? "No," Ewing said. "But hopefully he won't."
Notes & quotes:
Zach Randolph is bracing himself for a second trade in as many years and a person close to the Knicks forward said he believes Memphis will be his destination. The Grizzlies and Knicks have had ongoing dialogue about Randolph over the summer and Walsh, who is still looking to add some shot-blocking to the roster, has interest in 7-foot center Darko Milicic ... Rookie Danilo Gallinari, who is still in Italy, was excused from last week's rookie transition program in Rye Brook. Gallinari, who suffered back soreness after his first NBA Summer League game, is expected to be ready for camp.
