He championed Lebron taking his talents to South Beach, and was the first to guess report that’s where Lebron would go, but now Chris Broussard of ESPN is changing his tune. He’d just like to clarify that Lebron would’ve been a better fit in New York with Amar’e. He’d also like to clarify that Amar’e is a better player than Bosh. And, he’d also like to mention “no one was saying any of this” when it happened (nevermind his own colleagues, or most of the partial New York media). [ ESPN New York ]
Posts Tagged Amare Stoudemire
The Knicks through 18 games
Nov 30
They’re 9-9, and pretty much as advertised. The Knicks have shown themselves to be an entertaining, competitive team that desperately needs to find some consistency and a steady third option. But, what do we know now that we didn’t know about the Knicks before the season started?
Amar’e really is good enough to carry a team. At the beginning of the season, Amar’e was extremely turnover prone and being asked to run isolation plays that seemed to expose his flaws. He was missing free throws. He simply seemed out of rhythm and perhaps not ready for the role he was being thrust in. But, as the season has gone on, he’s learned when not to force the issue, his post moves and abilities are coming along rapidly, he’s hitting big late game free throws (and threes), and he’s even making big defensive plays. He’s a willing leader and team spokesman, and he has an unwavering confidence that the rest of the team is riding on.
This team needs Turiaf in the lineup. Without him, the defense struggles immensely as both Amar’e and Chandler are forced to play and defend out of position. On offense, Turiaf plays within the system and moves the ball really well. He’s probably the smartest player on the team and brings much needed energy to the starting unit.
Gallo’s early struggles have helped him develop the rest of his game. Gallo hasn’t been inconsistent as much as just really bad for the first 8 or so games, and much, much better as the season has gone on. Gallo finally heard the demands that he start taking the ball to the basket more, and to use his mid-range game. As he’s done this he’s developed an incredible ability to draw fouls, rely less on the three, and become remarkably efficient on the offensive end.
Randolph looks like he’s never been coached. And maybe he never really has. It’s just bizarre. Hopefully he’ll get his chance and take advantage of whatever minutes come his way. I think most, including myself, penciled in a bigger contribution from AR.
Felton isn’t who we want him to be, but you know, he’s actually pretty darn good. Yeah, he has a really difficult time threading passes in the pick and roll, and considering Amar’e is an incredible PnR finisher in traffic, it’s really troubling. But Felton finally looks like a guy who is playing within himself and his strengths. He’s been aggressive and brings effort every night. He’s attacking and shooting well, and is proving to lead with his effort.
Prediction time
Oct 26
For the past two seasons, Knicks fans have been rooting in a state of limbo, anticipating a 2010 free agency crop that would redeem nine miserable, brutal, agonizing seasons of embarrassing basketball. We collectively thought we’d land Lebron, and at times it seemed inevitable and destined (if not secretly agreed to). But, even if we didn’t land James (which most of us recognized as a possibility), we certainly thought we’d land 2 max-worthy players who would propel the Knicks to the top of the playoff heap.
Clearly it hasn’t happened this way. Donnie made sure he landed at least one true star in Amar’e, but found landing a second free agent star elusive. Instead, he went about rebuilding the team with a series of smaller moves, giving the Knicks youth, potential and (probably) trading assets.
His biggest non-Amar’e move was a sign and trade of our one star asset (David Lee), for 2 solid rotation players (Azuibuke and Turiaf) and a potential star in Anthony Randolph. From there, Donnie wisely upgraded the point position with the best available guy on the free agent market – the serviceable, somewhat average Raymond Felton (who is surely an improvement over the dreadful and deliberate Duhon, but still not exactly an ideal D’Antoni point guard). Donnie’s shrewdest moves were signing the agile, hard-working, completely off-the-radar, Russian center, Timofey Mozgov (a rare center who can actually play in D’Antoni’s offense), and then drafting the astonishingly capable, though curiously unknown Landry Fields, who was universally slammed as the 39th pick (even though no one knew a thing about him, including most draft gurus who didn’t even have him anywhere on their draft boards).
All in all, it was an exciting post season and Donnie did well. I think the most troubling aspect to the beginning of the season is the renewed sense of uncertainty about the team roster. Again, Knicks fans are stuck rooting for a team that probably won’t be the same at the end of the season, as it seems the Knicks will inevitability trade for Carmelo Anthony, and/or position themselves for Chris Paul or some other newly disgruntled star.
Now for the predictions!
Will the Knicks actually acquire Carmelo Anthony?
No. I keep waffling on this one, but I think the Nuggets will be obstinate in dealing with the Knicks. Carmelo will soften his trade demands to include teams like the Clippers and Nets who will probably overachieve and become attractive alternatives. Or some big market team making a playoff surge with a now or never attitude (especially with a lockout on the horizon) will roll the dice on trading for Carmelo.
What will the Knicks record be? Will they make the playoffs?
The Knicks will finish 41-41 and make the playoffs as a 7th seed. The Knicks will take some time to figure it out, but the young guys like Randolph, Gallo and Mozgov will begin to find some consistency about a quarter into the season. Felton will finally get comfortable with Amar’e, and feed him the ball when and where he likes it. Toney Douglas will win us an extra 3 or 4 games through pure determination.
What can we expect from Amar’e?
Amar’e is going to average 30 and 9 and be in the MVP conversation. Without a identifiable and consistent second fiddle, Amare is going to step up and the Knicks are going to ride Amare as far as he can take them. He’ll exceed expectations, and people will realize he is damn good with or without Steve Nash. Additionally, D’Antoni is going to do all he can to make sure Amare stays out of foul trouble, letting Turiaf, Randolph, Mozgov, and Chandler defend whoever is a more difficult match up.
What will the rotation be 25 games into the season?
PG: Felton / SG: Chander / SF: Gallo / PF: Amare / C: Mozgov
- Toney Douglas will play both guard positions and get about 30 minutes a night.
- Turiaf will back up Mozgov, but not play too much.
- Randolph will back up Amare, and get spot minutes at other positions but will only be getting about 22 minutes a night. He may even play alongside Amar’e at PF when Stat slides over to center.
- Fields will get time at the SG and SF because of his ability to be productive without the ball, his defense and rebounding.
- Azuibuke will just be getting his legs under him and will have a hard time fitting into the established rotation.
- Walker will get some run because of his 3 percentage, but not too much because he’s a rebounding liability and not a very active defender.
That’s 11 guys playing right there. Mason, Rautins, Curry and Williams will have to bide their time and be ready for an opportunity.
I’ll start with some belated thoughts on beating the Suns:
Thanks to Andrew, I was in attendance for the Knicks win vs. the Suns — truly a bizarro world experience, as Steve Nash was turning the ball over left and right, and the Knicks were making their threes. The only thing that kept the game close in the first quarter were a number of missed free throws, but fortunately these didn’t come back to haunt the Knicks. Here’s what I took away from the game.
- Larry Hughes’ 10 first quarter assist made him look like the best PG on the team. He pushed the ball, made the easy pass, and kept his options open. He also made sure to look for Gallinari who got off to a quick start. All this in contrast to Duhon who shuts down the first option (to run), and only seems to look for David Lee in the post.
- D’Antoni (and Hughes) exploited Amare’s terrible defense, perfectly. Throughout the first quarter, the Knicks were running plays to get the ball inside, with Hughes often finding players in the paint for WIDE open layups. Amare looks incredibly lost on the defensive end. As bad as Eddy Curry. Worse than Zach Randolph. No amount of athleticism can make up for his lack of awareness. Basically, I don’t think you can have Amare be a franchise player (or 2010 free agent target) because his D is just THAT bad.
- Jared Jeffries had a great game. Blocks. Deflections. Defense. Ball movement. He made a real difference. And fans still booed him when he missed a contested layup in the third quarter. Come on, fans, are you even watching? Boo Jared when he’s playing terribly if you’re going to boo at all.
- Wilson Chandler D’ed up Nash at the top of the key in a zone like defense worked really well.
- Darko is done. Clearly his heart isn’t in it. I’m sure this story didn’t help his cause. But, no PT in this season’s first extensive garbage time seems to spell the end. Fans were even chanting for Darko at the end. Really depressing.
- Finally, Gallo’s great game has to be mentioned. He did everything. His two best plays were probably the ferocious block in the third quarter, and the straight on 3 point bomb from about 5 feet behind the line. Good to see Gallo blow the game open for the Knicks.
In other news:
Good read from Ian Thomson (SI) about how D’Antoni is still Walsh’s most valuable asset moving forward. Most interesting in the article, though, is Walsh addressing the perception that some holdovers in the scouting department may not have been willing to stick their necks out for fear that they aren’t part of Walsh’s plans moving forward. Seems that it’s not just the players suffering from the 2010 cloud.
And finally:
Nate was benched last night in the loss against Orlando. Alan Hahn has the best take on it, asserting that Nate’s clowning around and showmanship are a disruptive and destabilizing force on a team that clearly doesn’t have much sense of ‘team’ or understanding of how to win. Hahn goes on to say that Nate could help a team with a strong veteran, winning culture, and though Nate would have to approve any trade due to his one year contract, it’s hard to imagine him blocking any trade to a winner.
Frank Isola has another worthwhile take on the Nate situation.
And, finally an article from Hoopsworld where Nate and Al talk about the frustration of losing this season.
