After checking out the Unicaja-Olympiacos match and witnessing yet another stellar performance from my compatriot Josh Childress, i was moved enough, as all sports-worshiping Americans eventually do at some point in our lives, to whip off an email to The Sports Guy, ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons. Since he’ll never publish it, we’ll run it here, too.
Dear Bill,
I live in Budapest, where I’m able to catch quite a few Euroleague basketball games. I’m sure you haven’t kept close track of Josh Childress’ progress with Greek team Olympiacos, so I thought you might appreciate a brief update on Childress in his first year of that three-year, $20 million contract.
This week, Olympiacos lost a close one in Unijaca in which Childress contributed 3-of-9 shooting for seven points (his fourth Euroleague game of seven in which he scored fewer than 10) and seven rebounds, and it looked even worse.
Childress first helped fuel a comeback for Unijaca at the end of the first half by consistently awkwardly driving to the basket while flailing about in hopes of drawing a shooting foul; unfortunately, his efforts to draw fouls were in vain, resulting in Childress’ Olympiacos shedding six points in short time and took just a five-point lead into the half.
In the fourth quarter, Childress assisted a momentum shift to Unijaca in the fourth quarter by alternating far-off jumpers with getting poor position underneath against guys like Jiri Welsch and Carlos Jimenez. Naturally, his teammates keep feeding him the ball despite the fact that he thinks he’s still playing with the Atlanta Hawks because, well, he’s Josh Childress.
To cap it all off, with his team down by two with 33 seconds and four on the shot clock, Childress took a guarded, off-balance jumper at the three-point line, not even trying to create space after getting the pass once again because, well, you know.
In summation, you know in Europe, we got the same shit over here as in America, it’s just a little different. In Europe, they’ve got the Ewing theory, they just call it Le Ewing Theory.
Yours,
Os Davis
Tags: Bill Simmons, Josh Childress, Olympiacos Piraeus, Unicaja Malaga
If a team doesn’t know how to use a certain player on both ends of the floor by not advising him what to do and running simulations for them on offense, am not saying particularly Josh Childress, is that the team/coach’s fault, or solely the player’s?
In my opinion, since basketbal is a team-sport, fault has always to be shared.
But, always in my opinion, a quality player is the one who’s able to fit to his team (and its opponents).
Cheers
@Kerem: You are absolutely correct, and i don’t mean to imply it’s ALL Childress’ fault (though he is slacking like he’s an NBA player in the 7th game of an 82-game season, as opposed to the 7th game of the Euroleague, which is incredibly important to Olympiacos’ chances in the tournament).
The letter i wrote was all in reference to Simmons’ “The Ewing Theory,” which postulates that sometimes a superstar player just isn’t right for a team because of clash of styles, and the team overcompensates, denying those playing the same game everyone else is in order to feed the No. 1 guy.
Patrick Ewing’s back-to-the-basket, no-passing, low-post game was often to the detriment of Knicks teams — and ultimately to his own title-less career — loaded with quick fast-break players and jump shooters, despite his impressive stats and winning records year after year.
I believe the Olympiacos will advance to the Euroleague final 16 this season, but it will be despite Childress rather than because of him.
Thanks for reading!
Dear Os,
You see the game the american way. Childress is in no way a Euroleague star, at least in this moment of the season, and he has the mentallity of a role player in the Atlanda Hawks. But he has started to understand what works in european floors, even if he seems greatly overpaid.
By the way…Olympiacos allready advanced to Top 16, despite your opinion.
I agree – remember Childress was a role player on what was one of the worst teams in the NBA while he played in Atlanta. Only once did they make the playoffs during his time (last year).
I don’t know if we ever will see him as a superstar player even in the euroleague.
Umm, the Ewing Theory is a bit different than what you’re describing. It doesn’t have to do with an over-hyped player sabotaging his team with selfish play. It’s about a team surpassing expectations after losing a star player to a trade or injury.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=1193711