TWill for Ewing Theory

by drhustle on Oct 28, 2009 3:14 PM EDT

Who thinks that TWill could be a percect candidate for the Ewing Theory?

For those of you who don't know, the Ewing Theory (named after the inexplicable improvement of the NY Knicks when Patrick Ewing was injured during the '99 Playoffs) was "created" by ESPN.com Page 2 columnist Bill "The Sports Guy" Simmons. The Ewing theory says that when certain players who recieve an inordinate amount of media and fan attention leave a team or are injured said team inexplicably becomes better overall and can acheive more without them.

Even though the player the player is obviously the best player and the heart and soul of the team, sometimes they are so dominating that their teammates don't perform as well with them around. When they are subtracted from the equation his former teammates get better with a whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts type of situation.

One hesitation I have with ordaining TWill as A Ewing Theory is that in years past U of L games without TWill were just a hot mess on the offensive end. The team was always noticably worse without Twill on the court. But if you look deeper into the Sports Guy's theory it says that the team needs to know that said teammate isn't coming back in order for them to truly unify as a team and make the imnprovements needed. With TWill living it up in NYC, as Coach P would say, "Terrence Williams is not walking through that door."

My thought on the subject is that maybe, finally, Players like Jerry and Edgar will no longer feel the pressure of living up to TWill's athleticism and all around game and just start doing what they could be best at. Eliminating the do-everything concept from our team and supporting the do-your-job concepts could free these guys to relax and not press so much in tight situations, go on cold shooting streaks, or repeatedly turn the ball over all night long. When one guys tries to do everything the rest of the team usually ends up standing around watching, which is what, to me, seemed to happen for the past few years.

Here's a link to The Sports Guys most recent article on the Ewing Theory and see if you think the 2009-10 Cards could be ripe for success by losing their "Best" player.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/book/091027

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I find this theory interesting

My love of T-Will wants it not to be true. However, for the success of our upcoming basketball season, I hope that it indeed works out this way.

by Centre24 on Oct 28, 2009 3:51 PM EDT reply actions

It seems to me that the Ewing theory would be more applicable to a center whose presence really dictates the style of play of the rest of the team. Thus, with Ewing in there, the Knicks obviously need to run a slower offense, set Ewing up, and run the ball through him once each possession. With him out, they aren’t as anchored. See also – Shaq, especially in his later years.

TWill, however, really did make his teammates better in many ways. And I think, at least at the beginning of the season, we are going to see his absence on the court. However, it could help the rest of the players take a little more responsibility for passing and defense, and it will give Delk and Swopshire and company more chances to improve on the court. So by the end of the year, we could be a more balanced and consistent team than last year. Obviously, the MSU game showed that we were in deep trouble when TWill was off (and UNC showed the same about Padgett the year before), and we might ultimately be more dangerous as a result. Here’s hoping.

by 83fan on Oct 28, 2009 4:32 PM EDT reply actions

What about adding Earl Clark into the mix?

E5 was getting media attention as a freshmen, where TWill needed his junior year(IMO) to really take off and get noticed. At the end of last year TWill may have been the bigger attraction, but E5 was still getting attention.

Maybe they both combine to form a version of the Ewing Theory. Although I think the theory comes down to how well Swopshire and Delk play. Neither of them looked too good in the Red.White Scrimmage. I hope they do improve, and that we are a better team.

by CardinalDude on Oct 28, 2009 4:57 PM EDT reply actions

I feel like this is closer to what I see

Terrence and E5 were our big timers last year and we’re going to feel their absence for sure. I think we’ll improve at PG, SG, Center, hold steady at PF (possibly, depending on how Buckles shapes up) and lose quality, obviously, at SF.

This team feels like the ‘05 vintage in a number of ways, attitude and ability to shoot foremost. Pitino alluded to this in his presser, and I think that we’ll be much happier this year with U of L’s ability to kill teams off consistently. (I hope)

by bartenpa on Oct 28, 2009 6:41 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't think it applies

Granted, TWill got a lot of local media attention, both in the CJ, and here on this site, but he never got a ton of National Media attention. Certainly not enough to warrant Ewing Theory status. Plus we lost Earl too, so it’s not exactly one player either. But I like where your head is at.

by Chris Redman is my hero on Oct 28, 2009 6:40 PM EDT reply actions