NAMED as one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players a few years ago, Bill Walton knows all about winning basketball. Although he feels the Knicks are capable of winning a championship, he has his doubts about the direction the franchise is headed with the acquisition of Latrell Sprewell.
“I’m concerned about the Knicks’ team chemistry,” the straight-shooting broadcaster told The Post the other day from his home in San Diego, pointing to the loss of key veteran leadership in Charles Oakley, Buck Williams and Terry Cummings.
Patrick Ewing’s sprained right knee in the Friday night loss to the Nets in the final pre-season game was another setback for the team.
“Oak, Buck and Terry Cummings were three great team guys, physical, tough, rebounding guys and now they are building so much around Sprewell, who has been the antithesis of team chemistry,” Walton said.
“I hope it works,” he said, “because it’s good for the NBA when the Knicks play well. The problem is that Sprewell has an incredible negative history to overcome and not just the one choking incident. His actions have helped to destroy a team from within. Hopefully it will be different with the Knicks.
“I think the scrutiny and the pressure of the New York market will be a significant factor,” Walton added. “The Knicks have got to work in Sprewell, work in Marcus Camby and where are they going to get the necessary rebounds from to compete with Miami and Indiana? And they still have the point-guard problem.”
Walton, also a major contributor to the MSNBC website, thinks it will take time before the Knicks get into a flow. “How is it all going to be divided between Sprewell and Allan Houston?” he asked.
If Sprewell does work out, though, Walton sees one tremendous up side. “Then you’ve got a guy who can score on his own in the biggest moments,” he said. “There are not a lot of guys like that, only a handful. Michael Jordan was the king. Reggie Miller will make the shot but he won’t create the shot. Someone has to give him the ball. Sprewell can create the shot.”
Considering Walton lived the life of a champion center in both college and the pros, his take on Ewing’s role is particularly interesting. His words should not be taken lightly.
“I always hoped that Patrick would become the type of player like Bill Russell, where he would focus in on defense, rebounding and starting the fast break,” Walton said. “But he has always focused on the scoring. The offensive end is very difficult. But it is easier to find guys to fill it up.
“I always felt it was the best player’s responsibility to do what the other players can’t,” Walton said. “Patrick is going to look at this team and see a lack of rebounding and interior defense and that’s where his focus really has to be.
“They’re going to be able to put points on the board without Patrick. His focus should be to dominate the defensive boards, intimidate on defense and then a team starts to take shape.”
Now that he is writing about the NBA, Walton’s own analytical work is taking on a different shape. When he clicks on http://www.msnbcsports.com, Walton said his world lights up.
“I really have a great time doing it,” he said. “It’s a chance to expound on a lot of different topics without the time constraints of television. I enjoy writing about the whole league, everything that’s going on, the sport of basketball, the business of basketball, college basketball and I will occasionally throw in a concert schedule for The Other Ones, the remnants of the Grateful Dead.
“I was a history major and I’m in the Academic All-American Hall of Fame,” he said, “With the broadcasting and the writing I look at it like being a history student and having an oral exam or a written exam every day. I like the pressure, the joy of the competition. The challenge of the creativity.”
Walton listed Indiana, Miami, New York in the East and Utah, the Lakers, Houston and San Antonio in the West as teams that can take Michael’s crown.
“No team is the perfect team,” he said, adding that the addition of Sam Perkins to Indiana has been “hugely overlooked. “It’s going to be a great season, for the first time nobody knows who is going to win the championship.”
He noted that one piece of the championship puzzle still is floating about. “Everybody loves to dog Dennis Rodman,” Walton said of the wacko free agent. “But if Dennis Rodman joins any of the [contending] teams, he would be the key. I still think the perfect place for him is Houston because you can move Scottie [Pippen] to guard.”
This is Walton’s ninth season in broadcasting and even he is amazed the direction his life has taken.
“Who would ever think that a guy who is 6-11, has red hair, a big nose, a Deadhead and has a speech impediment would become a broadcaster? I remember the first game I did was a CBA game on the radio from Bakersfield, Calif., on Christmas Day.
“Now,” he added with a little laugh, “I’m on the varsity.”
