Life after Patrick

Sporting News, The, March 16, 1998 by Jeff Ryan

That chippy attitude you'll find behind the counter of a Brooklyn deli or behind the wheel of a Manhattan taxi cab has been elevated to an art form behind the locker room door at Madison Square Garden. So much about the New York Knicks suggests a team that has an inflated opinion of itself. Just mention to one of these brooding bruisers that he might not be brushing confetti out of his hair in June, and you might elicit a response that's flagrantly foul.

The Knicks have in place a championship infrastructure--five years of consecutive sellouts, a future Hall of Famer keying the offense, ticket prices that have jumped higher than Kobe Bryant on a trampoline and the constant illumination of the media spotlight. But the franchise last won an NBA title during the Nixon Administration. And since losing to the Rockets in the 1994 finals, they've made three consecutive playoff exits In the second round.

So when superstar center Patrick Ewing was hammered to the floor by the Bucks' Andrew Lang in December, a crash that dislocated a bone and tore ligaments in Ewing's right wrist and necessitated season-ending surgery, it was widely assumed the Knicks would get ripped up faster than the Garden hardwood does when an evening concert follows an afternoon game. Ewing is, after all, New York's first option in the halfcourt offense, a shot-blocking presence and the guy who sets the surly and burly tone.

"People thought we were going to fold up our tent and die, but we have pride and heart," says forward Chris Mills. "We keep fighting."

The unbridled arrogance that makes the Knicks look like underachievers when Ewing promises a championship every year, and which led to players leaving the bench to join that infamous skirmish in Miami during last season's playoffs, is finally serving them well. With coach Jeff Van Gundy preaching an us-against-the-world sermon, the Knicks have used Ewing's absence not as a safety net against criticism, but as a chance to disprove the conventional wisdom that they're a one-man show. New York was 15-11 with Ewing in the lineup but 19-12 in the first 31 games Without him.

"This is why it's called a team," says point guard Charlie Ward. "We still have high expectations. We're not overachieving. People are stepping up."

Particularly, shooting guard Allan Houston, who last year was labeled a soft player. With Ewing out, Houston has transformed his attack, complementing his pull-up jumpers with aggressive drives to the hoop.

Says Houston, "I'm playing with more urgency."

Making the battles even tougher has been the loss of Buck Williams, who is out until late March following arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, and backup center Chris Dudley, whose season ended when he fractured his right foot in February.

On March 1, facing a Lakers team that was leading the NBA in points per game, the Knicks found themselves having to defend Shaquille O'Neal With forward Charles Oakley, 40-year-old Herb Williams, and battle-scarred 37-year-old Terry Cummings. Relying on their punishing defense, the Knicks mugged and mauled. They set picks that nearly knocked some Lakers into Woody Allen's lap in the courtside seats and posted their biggest win of the season, 101-89. Houston scored 32 points. O'Neal was held to 19--one in the fourth quarter.

Ironically, the Ewing-less Knicks may be encouraging the same delusions of grandeur the big guy always has. Despite its spirited play, New York again probably won't go any further than the second round of the post-season. This is, after all, a team with a split personality, The schizophrenic Knicks. They can humble the Rockets by 18 points, then fall two nights later to the Warriors, who entered the Garden with a 3-24 record on the road.

Says Hall of Fame coach Dr. Jack Ramsay, "The Knicks are maximizing what they have, but I never thought they were a championship team. The interior defense hasn't been weakened without Ewing because Oakley arid Cummings do a great job. But they don't have enough offense."

The Knicks need a point guard who can control a game, or at least neutralize Miami's Tim Hardaway in a best-of-seven series. And New York lacks that second established star all title teams feature. Larry Johnson, thought to be a candidate for that role, has been an $8 million bust.

The team's effort has been impressive and Van Gundy has newfound job security. But this is an aging unit that won only one Eastern Conference crown with Ewing.

As they swagger through the hallway leading to the Garden floor, the Knicks pass huge photos of the franchise's only two NBA title teams. Staring back at them are Clyde Frazier before he was a broadcaster, Bill Bradley before he was a senator and Phil Jackson before he was the most successful coach of the '90s. It's an ever-present reminder of how far this current squad has to go before it can grab the basketball world--and not just some rival combatant--by the throat.

Knowing these Knicks, though, we won't go so far as to call it a humbling reminder.

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