EAST NOTES
INDIANAPOLIS – It’s one thing to Jeff Van Gundy for media and fans to suggest the Knicks are a better team against the Pacers without Patrick Ewing.
It’s another thing when a Pacer, particularly one who plays Ewing’s position, goes out on a limb and says the same thing.
Van Gundy and several Knicks were stunned yesterday that Rik Smits, the low-key former Marist College center, had lobbied for Ewing’s return last night in Game 5.
“If I was Rik Smits, I personally wouldn’t have said that,” Van Gundy said. “But everyone’s got their personal opinion.”
Van Gundy added, “I never heard anyone ask to play against him. This is a first for me. Not many guys ask to play against a Hall-of-Fame player at his position. I know one thing: Patrick is not usually motivated by external forces, but I’ve never seen anyone basically call him out.”
Following last night’s 88-79 Pacer win with Ewing back, the Knicks are now 1-4 with “The Big Fella” vs. the Pacers in the playoffs the last two springs, and 5-1 without him.
“Everybody’s entitled to their opinions,” Ewing said after the game. “I don’t care what he says. It doesn’t mean nothing to me. I don’t care.”
Smits’ remark rankled Latrell Sprewell.
“I was surprised he would say that,” Sprewell said. “Patrick is going to make it more difficult on him if he plays. He’s not going to be able to shoot over guys and do some of the things he’s done if Patrick’s playing. I think that would motivate Patrick. If someone said that about me, I think it would motivate me.”
Said Smits: “The numbers don’t lie. They’re 5-1 without him. Those are good percentages.”
Van Gundy believes the topic has been “talked about ad nauseum,” and feels bad for Ewing.
“It’s been a little bit harder for Pat the past few years because of injury and the constant speculation of whether he helps us or hurts us,” Van Gundy said.
Then, borrowing from Bobby Knight’s interview Tuesday, Van Gundy said. “To quote a great college coach: The horse is dead. Get off it.”
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Knicks hit their first eight shots but finished the half hitting 6 of their next 27. … Knicks lost the board battle 43-42 – 13-9 on the offensive glass.
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A team loses, it grumbles. It points fingers. And some Pacers were grumbling and pointing at Larry Bird and his strategy in the Eastern Conference Finals before last night.
Nothing major, mind you, just some questions about double-teaming more or sagging less or playing quicker or substituting differently. But it was enough to elicit a response from team president Donnie Walsh.
“I don’t think he’s substituting in and out. He’s giving a lot of minutes, particularly to starters, and he’s coming in pretty much the way he has all year,” Walsh said. “If he did it any differently, then he’d be deviating from the way he dealt with it all year. [On style], he’s not changing everything around and coming in and having six-hour practices. …
“Larry doesn’t overreact,” continued Walsh. “The frustrated talk, they’re the inevitable comments after you lose. I didn’t hear those comments after we won.”
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The Pacers have a slew of free agents: Mark Jackson, Jalen Rose, Reggie Miller Austin Croshere and Sam Perkins.
Said Walsh, “I’m going to sit with them about coming back. They’re free agents. They can go wherever they want. I have no real assurances that even if I wanted them back real hard, that they would come here.”