I’ve been perplexed by the number of people either worried that Amar’e Stoudemire will struggle to fit into this New York Knicks roster, or stranger still, that he might ruin the team’s 15-5 start somehow.
It’s tortured logic, requiring a direct comparison between last season’s team and this one that ignores all other changes other than the presence/absence of Stoudemire. It’s the same reason why the idea that the Knicks are magically better with Raymond Felton than Jeremy Lin means ignoring, for instance, the presence of Jason Kidd next to only Felton, or a more efficient Anthony playing at both ends, etc.
This is a different Knicks team. And not only would almost any team improve by having an offensive player with Stoudemire’s skills, this particularly Knicks team has needs that require a presence like Stoudemire to maximize what it can do.
Consider what we saw this past weekend. Without Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks had exactly no one who creates offense alone. No, Felton taking 30 shots does not count as creating offense, not when so many of them were essentially bailing out of a possession with a contested jumper. That’s not his fault, really: there weren’t any viable options without Anthony.
This problem isn’t as glaring when Anthony is around. After all, he plays 35 minutes per game. But that still leaves a vast portion of the game with the Knicks in need of another offensive focal point, not to mention all the times when Anthony faces foul trouble, or injury, or just needs more rest to stay fresh for the playoffs.
That’s plenty of opportunity right there.
Then there’s the fact that Rasheed Wallace has been getting plenty of high-usage minutes at the power forward spot. He’s usually been getting them with Anthony out. And he’s not shooting particularly well, certainly well under what Stoudemire managed throughout his career.
When Wallace is around, Stoudemire still provides a vastly better offensive option. And let’s not forget, Wallace is two years removed from his last NBA season. Injuries (like the left foot injury that kept him out against the Nuggets) and fatigue will play a part here, too; it is distinctly possible that his performance will decline from this sub-40 percent shooting point.
Now there’s a different point to the Stoudemire questions, and good ones, in my opinion: whether the Knicks will give back much of their offensive improvement this season by pushing Stoudemire into the starting lineup, and Anthony back to small forward. That is justified, and a concern.
But even this feels overblown, at least in terms of certainty. Simply, Anthony and Stoudemire have never spent time co-existing with a stable point guard and system for any length of time. Figuring out a way to get the two of them complementing each other for about 10-15 minutes per game is far from impossible. It might not be ideal, especially at first; but having two elite offensive talents on the floor at the same time doesn’t automatically benefit the defense, you know.
Seeing Stoudemire move closer to a return while the Knicks struggle for offense, especially with Anthony off the floor, ought to be cause for celebration. That some fans are anticipating it with dread has more to do with the dysfunction of the past few seasons than the legitimate needs of this far more promising one.
5 Comments
You didn’t mention Stats defense once. That’s the problem.
You didn’t mention how Amar’e shot 38% with Tyson Chandler on the floor last year. How does that get fixed when the fact is Tyson occupies the areas of the floor where Amar’e is most effective? People forget that when Amar’e was in Phoenix putting up those awesome numbers Coach Pringles used him as a 5 on offense, a position he can’t occupy on this team. That was how Amar’e was also being used under Coach Pringles prior to Chandler’s signing and why he was playing so well that first half of the season in 2010. Hes too quick for 5’s and too strong for 4’s. When he tried continuing to play the way he had been playing his whole career last year we got underwhelming results. Tyson simply doesn’t have range like a Mozgov does to allow that even though Tyson is obviously a much better player overall. This is why Amar’e had so many shots blocked last year. Teams would help off Tyson and crowd Amar’e in the paint leading to a career high percentage of Amar’e shots being blocked.
People have this silly misconception that Amar’e and Melo cant play together when in fact Amar’e shot 50% during the 1/3rd of a season or so when Amar’e was here with Melo and no Tyson Chandler. It didn’t deviate much last year as Amar’e still shot 46% with Melo on the floor and no Tyson. That is a very small sample size with Amar’e and Melo out there given that rarely were both players healthy last season but the fact remains that Melo and Tyson are the two most important pieces on the Knicks and Amar’e doesn’t fit between them. All of those numbers are well below Amar’e’s career 53% FG% but at least the numbers with Melo out there are manageable which disproves the theory that Amar’e and Melo cannot co-exist. Its Amar’e and Tyson who cannot co-exist.
The concerns about how Amar’e fits in are certainly legitimate. How any Knick fan can sit here and say otherwise is beyond me.
The Knicks however have 3 major advantages over the Heat. One is that they have good PG play. Felton is unequivocally better then Lin, tougher then Mr. “Im only 85%”, and less selfish. They hit 3’s at a 40.5% clip which extends a poor perimeter defending team. If Lebron has to defend the 3, then Melo, STAT and Tyson can work down low. And the Knicks have a major size advantage when Amar’e gets back.
How that all plays in to beating Miami is that Amar’e needs to return as a better jump shooter then hes been. He needs to give us that Dream Shake that Hakeem was working with him on during the off-season. If he learned to play back to the basket and hit the jumper consistently then the offensive scheme still works. The extension of the defensive is still difficult to defend and the pick and roll game with Tyson doesn’t get cluttered in the paint by help defenders. Otherwise it becomes what you saw last year. Amar’e needs to return as the same player he was with some new wrinkles that maintain the spacing that keys our 3 point game and leaves mismatches on Melo all night.
If Amar’e simply cannot do the things I mentioned above then he needs to be shipped out for a player who can compliment Tyson and Carmelo while providing reliable secondary scoring as a stretch 4. There’s 5 such players who really fit such a description. One would be Dirk Nowitzki who I am sure Mark Cuban wouldnt trade unless he was asked by Dirk but who would make great sense. Two would be Zach Randolph (ironic that a player we dealt is now what we need because hes a better compliment to our SF and C) who I’m sure Memphis wont deal. Three would be Pau Gasol who I am sure the Lakers would trade but is kind of a risk. And four and 5 are LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love who I’m sure are not available. In order to beat Miami we would need to get one of those 5 players for Amar’e. How that works, I dont know and wont speculate. But the way this offense is run and the way this team is constructed thats what we need.
STAT will continue to D up like he did last year. He has more to learn, but wants to do it. The same could be said about Melo’s D and he changed it up.
Shame on all of you.You all owe STAT for changing the losing attitude here. Give him a chance. Don’t be clones of Berman.
This dude Howard is spot on with his writing. Great article. Enough with the nonsense. STAT will start and have a career year. The Knicks needs him. Only those sucking Berman’s jock disagree.
STAT did something no one else would do and that was come to NY when no other FA would take the money. I love that he had the guts to do that. Of course the 5th year probably didnt help but I digress; fact is he still wanted to be here. But unless he can change his game to fit the teams philosophy, I dont see how that is possible.
As for being a “Berman clone” I dont even read any newspapers except the Times and occasionally Newsday. Berman doesnt write for either.
My reply was based on factual information not dislike. I love the Knicks. I only want something I haven’t seen in my lifetime….a championship. The above is a commentary on how we will get it, not a commentary on why STAT can’t be a part of it. He can. But it wont happen if he doesnt adjust and get better.
Wait so are you trying to say that amar’e isn’t a better option that putting melo out of position and starting ronnie brewer. yeah look at that lockdown D pshh. Also STAT even on the suns was most effective playing the 5 but only due to mismatches. He naturally plays farther from the rim than Tyson does and used his relative speed and shiftyness to blow by center’s that tried to pursue. The only issue last season was that he didn’t have the shooting touch on tap to deal with the number of occaisionally inefficent shots he takes. tis all