Amar'e Stoudemire's return: Good or bad for the New York Knicks
Amar'e Stoudemire has recovered from his knee injury and will soon return to the court for the New York Knicks. The Knicks have been red hot this season without Amar’e and they currently have the second best record in the Eastern
Conference.
The return of Amar’e presents Coach Mike Woodson with a dilemma. Injecting the former All-Star into this squad will be a bit difficult and it could have adverse effects on the team chemistry. It could potentially be the break or
make time for the Knicks as Woodson tries to fit in the recovering players gradually in his rotation.
The Knicks have been doing phenomenal under their new coach; they are sharing the ball offensively and chasing it ruthlessly on the defensive end of the court.
Amar’e boasts an average of 21.6 points per game, but he has never learned to share the ball with his team mates or create opportunities for them. And hauling down rebounds or blocking shots has never been his strong points; he
has never grabbed double-digit rebounds in his career.
But it does not mean that Amar’e is coming back to slow down the fast start to the season for the Knicks. He will turn them into a more formidable attacking unit and any team will be lucky to have him on their roaster.
The Knicks have been averaging 102.8 point per game, the league’s fifth highest. But most of points have come down from behind the arc, New York are connecting 40.4 percent of their shots from downtown, this includes 7 players
shooting more than 35 percent from the three point land. Even Carmelo Anthony has a fair chunk of his scoring in the form of 3-pointers.
Over top of that, both Carmelo and Jason Kidd are shooting like they have never shot in their life. They are both shooting about 10 percent more than their career averages, and it is safe to assume that these percentages will drop
as the season matures.
Apart from Anthony most of the other players had been inconsistent in the scoring department. Pablo Prigioni and Chris Copeland are NBA rookies with no proven shooting record.
That’s where Amar’e perimeter penetration will help the New York cause. He has been one of the most efficient players on the offensive end of the court. Stoudemire has shooting percentage of 53.3 percent from the field and has
topped the 50 percent chart in 6 of his 10 seasons and he had great success with guard Raymond Felton at the helm.
Anthony and Tyson Chandler have been playing a combined 68.5 minutes per game. With Amar’e back in rotation it will give plenty of options the coach Woodson and also take some load off these two.
The Knicks future surely looks beautiful and Amar’e has not stepped onto court yet.
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