Was Patrick Ewing an elite center?

[Capn'O]

I hate the narrative of how badly Hakeem crushed Ewing in '94. Pat was shut down offensively by Hakeem+ but his defense and rebounding that series was great. He set what was at the time the all time record for blocks in the Finals and anchored a defense that held the Rockets to 86 ppg and an ORTG of 100. The rest of the playoffs they were over 100ppg and 110 ORTG. By design, Hakeem ate but the rest of the team was shut down, whereas the Rox were more focused on shutting down Ewing and letting the other guys beat them. Through much of the series, the Knicks put either Mason or Charles Smith on Hakeem and Ewing on Thorpe so Ewing could patrol the paint and keep the guards on the perimeter. They let Hakeem beat them from the midrange and he ultimately did. As such, the series came down to potentially a Hakeem finger on John Starks' Game 6 shot at the buzzer and a once in a lifetime stinker by Starks in Game 7. What they also don't tell you is that a rookie Sam Cassell found his wings in that series and was the only Houston guard who was able to get anything going. Vernon Maxwell, Mario Elie, and Kenny Smith, who were the established guards they were expecting to be a problem, all shot terribly. Cassell had two strong games in Rocket wins that they probably lose if he puts up even his regular season numbers and had the best TS% on the team. He was an afterthought at the time who ended up having an all star career.

Hakeem had a better series - his defense on Ewing was absolutely relentless - but the series itself was a war and that was behind Ewing's lead.

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[Tim Kempton]

Parish in Tier 4 WTH......you do realize that Parish uis a HOF player. Those players shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath with the Chief

I always just assume posts like this are the result of only seeing Parish from age 35 onwards (ya know, the last 15 years of his career - J/K)

The tier is honest fine for 90s only. He was far better than that in the 80s.

Thank you. Apparently, reading comprehension isn't their strong suit.

[LewisnotMiller]

Parish in Tier 4 WTH......you do realize that Parish uis a HOF player. Those players shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath with the Chief

I always just assume posts like this are the result of only seeing Parish from age 35 onwards (ya know, the last 15 years of his career - J/K)

The tier is honest fine for 90s only. He was far better than that in the 80s.

I'll admit, I didn't focus on the early 90s part.
Having said that, Kevin Duckworth's face could have adorned milk cartons after 1990.