Patrick and Zo

[DanMcQ]

Premieres 4/21

www.si.com/nba/video/2016/04/19/si-films-presents-patrick-zo-trailer-ewing-mourning

[beenaround]

Cannot wait, thanks for the info!

[eagle54]

Where does this premiere?

[DanMcQ]

Apr 19, 2016 23:03:48 GMT -5 eagle54 said:

Where do this premiere?

On si.now/films

[hoyadestroya]

That looks awesome. I'm sure I'm bias but it was fun watching the NBA when big men were an important part of the game.

[zxhoya]

Apr 20, 2016 11:56:06 GMT -5 hoyadestroya said:

That looks awesome. I'm sure I'm bias but it was fun watching the NBA when big men were an important part of the game.

Couldn't agree more!

[Hilltopper]

It is available now. Have not watched it yet, but noticed immediately that it ran 33 minutes. Perfect.

[Deleted]

What about the relationship between Ewing and Mourning drew you to this project?

"We [Mandalay Sports Media] have been in discussions with Sports Illustrated about their plans to expand video content, and we've done a lot of sports documentaries -- 30 for 30's, short and feature-length documentaries for HBO and for others -- and we kind of cam up with a master list of topics. And it just so happened that one of the projects that I had been working on was a project with Kyrie Irving, who shares representation with Alonzo Mourning. And the rep said, 'Well we're representing Alonzo, and no one's really looked at the relationship between Alonzo and Patrick. Even though it's we-known territory, you know, there's a great story there.' So I'll give credit to Colin [Smeeton] and Perry Rogers for creating the interest, and then we did our own digging and realized that this is a very unique relationship that kind of gotten, if not forgotten, then overlooked over the years because the Knicks and the Heat, for all their wars on the court, they never really played for anything beyond the second round.

"And the timing was very good. In one version of the story we thought about taking it to Alonzo and Patrick's kids. You know, Alonzo's son Trey is a top player at Georgetown and Patrick Ewing Jr. is now a coach at Georgetown, so the levels kind of kept growing."

In the film Patrick and Alonzo joked about John Thompson's "no jumpers" rule for them when they played at Georgetown. Did they get into how Thompson treated them at Georgetown -- were their any similarities or any differences?

"Oh yeah. I don't think it's overstating it to say that he is a father figure to both of them. Thompson liked to say that Patrick came to Georgetown because they were good, but he lifted them to another level. Patrick was really the builder of that program to stratospheric heights -- they went to three Final Fours in four years -- and it really did put Georgetown on the map. So when Alonzo came, Georgetown was already this basketball and pop culture force.

"You know, Alonzo came from more of a broken home than Patrick. Patrick had an intact family, and it was less actual father figure and more about mentor in terms of basketball and life, whereas with Alonzo there was a lot that John Thompson did for him that was, I think, different than what he did for Patrick. He shielded him -- he shielded all of his players from the press, but there was a lot of attention when Alonzo got there that there was something untoward going on in the recruitment of Alonzo Mourning, and John Thompson stepped in. There was a famous criminal in D.C. [Rayful Edmonds] who befriended Alonzo and people in his circle and Thompson went to prison to visit the guy.

"You see it when Alonzo goes back to Georgetown. He treats coach Thompson with -- and it's really cool to see it -- with love, and real respect, and seeks his counsel and wants to know what he thinks about things."

www.postingandtoasting.com/2016/4/26/11508992/director-jon-weinbach-discusses-his-new-documentary-on-patrick-ewing

[McBricks]

Here's the link to the film for anyone looking for it: www.si.com/nba/video/2016/04/21/si-films-presents-patrick-zo-ewing-mourning

[tashoya]

Apr 28, 2016 17:51:11 GMT -5 McBricks said:

Here's the link to the film for anyone looking for it: www.si.com/nba/video/2016/04/21/si-films-presents-patrick-zo-ewing-mourning

If any of you haven't yet watched this, do yourselves a favor and set aside 33 minutes. You won't be sorry. It's a nice look at two great Hoyas and two great men. Improbably, my level of respect for Patrick Ewing as an individual actually went up. I didn't think that was really possible. I think I feel about Patrick the way my dad probably thought of Mickey Mantle as a kid including the "What could have been if he were able to stay healthy?" question.

[drquigley]

Great video. What is really amazing about Patrick was, before the 3 point shot, defenses just swarmed him in the paint. Yet he still managed to score. And of course the rascist comments from fans were horrible. My young, 18 year old daughter, attended a GU-BC game in the Boston Garden in 1983 and was shocked at the amount of hate directed his way. She had never experienced racism up close and it has stayed with her for the past 30 years.

[SaxaCD]

May 2, 2016 18:02:54 GMT -5 drquigley said:

Great video. What is really amazing about Patrick was, before the 3 point shot, defenses just swarmed him in the paint. Yet he still managed to score. And of course the rascist comments from fans were horrible. My young, 18 year old daughter, attended a GU-BC game in the Boston Garden in 1983 and was shocked at the amount of hate directed his way. She had never experienced racism up close and it has stayed with her for the past 30 years.

I'm not sure I've ever seen a center block as many jumpshots as Pat, either, and from long range. He was so quick to move from post to shooter in those situations, and often tipped the ball to himself and then passed to teammates streaking down for a fast break. Awesome to watch. I also don't know if I've ever seen any other center rise up and dunk backwards like Ewing would when catching the ball high with his back to the basekt. It was such an efficient move.