Amar’e Stoudemire just dealt with one of the more frustrating seasons of his career. A variety of injuries limited him to only 29 appearances and 23.5 minutes per game when he was healthy enough to suit up. And while he made a return to the Knicks’ lineup in the 2nd round against the Pacers, he saw limited action and was benched in the 2nd half of games 5 and 6.
The question for Stoudemire now, then, is where he fits in a crowded Knicks’ front court that has big money and long term commitments to not only himself, but to both Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler as well. This past season showed that Carmelo is best suited to palying power forward and that Chandler, while struggling in the playoffs, is still one of the game’s best defensive centers. That doesn’t necessarily bode well for the player who was once the face of the Knicks’ franchise.
However, if you listen to him tell it, all he and his front court partners need is more time and that they can make it work:
“We never gave it a chance,” Stoudemire said after Indiana’s 106-99 victory eliminated the Knicks from the postseason. “So I think just the opportunity of allowing them to understand exactly what my style of play is and what I bring to the table is something that I think I’m going to have to sit down with Coach Woody and express to him.”
If Amar’e is talking about this season, he has a point. The Knicks trio of him, Anthony, and Chandler only shared the court for 222 minutes and were a +36 in their time together. They boasted an elite offense (115.5 points per 100 possessions) in those minutes and were able to show enough diversity to keep defenses off balance.
Of course, that’s not the entire story. What those minutes also showed is that the Knicks were horrid defensively when all three shared the floor, posting a defensive efficiency of 107.6 in that span. With Anthony back on the wing guarding small forwards and Amar’e — who’s never been known for his defense — asked to defend the pick and roll or serve as a secondary rim protector, the Knicks’ defense floundered. Not even Chandler’s presence in the middle could make up for it.
If you go back to the 2011-12 season, the numbers weren’t as bad defensively, but the team struggled to produce on offense consistently, scoring a meager 98.5 points per 100 possessions when all three were on the floor together. Some of that was related to the dysfunction that was the Knicks’ season and the change in head coaches, but mostly what we saw was an overlap in role between Stoudemire and Chandler along with Anthony struggling to find space to attack in isolation from his pet spots on the floor.
Moving forward it’s unclear what the Knicks will try to do with this trio, but it’s doubtful that this group will ever fully sort out their issues. Carmelo has shown that his best position on the floor is power forward while Chandler has proven that he can be the anchor of an elite defense from the pivot. That leaves Amar’e as the odd man out and the player who will have to sacrifice his game the most in order to be part of this particular Knicks’ outfit.
That likely won’t sit well with him as he laments not being on the floor even though he acknowledges it is “the coaches decision.” But in reality, there’s really nothing to he can do but accept a role where he’s no longer a feature player — or at least not a starting one. He can still have value as a back up who can terrorize 2nd units with his ability to score. As he continues to improve his post game, he offers the team versatility in their attack and can be an anchor for the offense.
He just shouldn’t expect to provide these skills or serve in that role when paired with Anthony and Chandler. Because even though he says they never gave it a chance, the results tell us there’s really not a reason to.
