TheSource.com And Earl Monroe Talk Melo, Peoples Games And The NBA
Posted: Mar 2, 2011 by @Urightimwrong
TheSource.com chops it up with New York Knick legend Earl “The Pearl” Monroe and gave him a quick Q & A on topics ranging from his nicknames, Carmelo Anthony, The Peoples Games and the NBA.
Q: Good Morning Mr. Monroe, can you explain the origin of both of your nicknames “Earl The Pearl” and “Black Jesus”?
A: Well, um, Earl The Pearl came from when I was in college, my senior year. My first 10 games of the season I was averaging close to 50 points a game. A guy wrote a column and listed the amount of points I scored each game and the caption stating, “These are Earl’s Pearls”. After that column was published, it pretty much stuck with me my whole career. “Black Jesus” came about when I was in Baltimore playing, guys on the team used to call me Jesus because I was supposed to be leading them to the Promised Land.
Q: How did you first get involved with The People's Games? What is it all about?
A: Actually Lucius Allen helped introduce me to people who started the games and I thought it was something that was very exciting plus we are doing charity work. This is the introduction of The People's Games, this year we will be giving back to the Parks Department. The great thing about the People's Games it gives people from all walks of life a chance to play competitive basketball. We are talking about teachers, doctors, former high school stars, lawyers will all have the opportunity to play. Maybe some didnt have the chance to fufill thier dreams and they can now... representing New York.
Q: How are the guys playing on the Knicks and Lakers in the 70s compared to the players playing for those same respective teams of today?
A: I think it’s just as competitive; first off you have 2 coaches that are going to be competitive and were competitive when they played. It’s about bragging rights as well, we have to be able to beat L.A. and our biggest advantage was being used to playing under certain circumstances. The players of today will think about the Knick history and reflect upon it but they will also make a name for themselves in 2011 and so forth.
Q: They took away hand-checking, certain calls, and also changed player’s behavior, pouring your emotions on the court will get you a technical nowadays. How do you feel about the dynamics of the NBA game today? Are The People Games' rules going to be different or simialar to NBA regulations?
A: Well the game changed to make it more exciting and accessible to people. When I played the game hand checking was allowed but it restricted your movement, which is one of the reasons why they took that away. The dynamics of the game is important; it really determines what type of game you are going to have. In the Peoples Games, they will have more room to play, it's more like street ball. This will definitely highlight thier skills as well.
Q: From your perspective, what do the Knicks need in order to ultimately win a championship?
A: The most important thing that need is to establish a low post presence on defense and a lot more rebounding. If they were to get that along with the role players continuing to establish themselves they will be in good shape. You can’t go somewhere and get outrebounded every night, so once they work on both of those situations they will be in place to start seriously contending for a championship.
Q: With Carmelo Anthony being added to the Knicks, do you see a problem every occurring with Amare Stoudemire/the rest of the Knick roster and the amount of shots for everyone per game?
A: Um, no, I don’t see any real problem ever happening. A player like Fields, for what he was doing the early part of the year will not be the same with this roster so his production will go down. The ball will get in the hands of the guys who can get it done. When it comes down to the end of games, you know the ball is going to be in Billups, Anthony, or Stoudemire’s hands. Shawne Williams and Bill Walker are coming in to their own and a lot of times with forget how good Toney Douglas is.
Q: After James, Wade, and Bosh all joined Miami Heat, and now Stoudemire and Anthony join the Knicks; the super team remedy is starting to form. How do you feel about super teams in the NBA?
A: Well I think the city that those guys are playing in is a great thing for the NBA. I think overall, everything comes in phases and you can’t get everybody on one team. Pretty soon players will start to spread back out and guys will be going to certain places. There was a time when everyone wanted to play for New York and then ESPN and all these different types of networks started to cover NBA games nationwide. Players started to understand that you didn’t need to be in a mainstream city in order to get noticed.
Q: Which free agent in the summer of 2012 would you like to see the New York Knicks to go after?
A: Dwight Howard (laughs)
To read more about Earl Monroe and The People Games, click on the link below
-Danny McLean (@uRightimWrong)
Posted In: Features, new york knicks, earl monroe, carlmelo anthony, amare stodimire
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