Amar’e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony set to run New York Knicks offense under Mike Woodson – NBA Update
The New York Knicks had braced for the departure of Mike D’Antoni one way or the other after the team’s underwhelming displays this NBA season, and the coach took the dignified way out, by tendering his resignation before the game against the Portland Trail
Blazers.
Mike Woodson, who joined the franchise just this offseason as an assistant, has now stepped up to the hot seat in New York. The coach was brought in to help the Knicks shore up their defence, however now it seems he will have to sort out an underperforming
offence as well.
And Woodson has already indicated his plan; relying on the tried and tested. Under Mike, the Knicks focused more on a fast paced system in attack that relied heavily on the point guard. This system was instrumental in the meteoric rise of one Jeremy Lin.
Woodson however will be moving towards a more stable, half court game and he intends to use his two best weapons; Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony.
Stoudemire and Anthony, despite Lin’s spectacular rise, are still the two biggest names on the Knicks roster and two of the most potent offensive weapons in the NBA. The principle reason behind D’Antoni’s struggles this season was his inability to extract
the best out of these two.
Mike Woodson intends to change that. After a first practice session under the new head coach, it is already clear to players how things are going to be run in New York.
"I just think he's going to utilize his leading scorers, myself and Carmelo," Stoudemire said, according to ESPN. "He's going to utilize us and take advantage of every opportunity out there on the court. We've been profound scorers all our careers, so he's
going to make sure he takes advantage of that."
Stoudemire came to the Knicks amidst much fanfare as the super star around whom a new team would be built. He did pretty well in the first season too, midway through which the other superstar, Carmelo Anthony also arrived.
The Knicks did well initially with the two superstars, but this season things have clearly not worked. Amar’e and Carmelo both seem to be out of sorts and the D’Antoni system wasn’t helping.
The rise of Jeremy Lin was in some ways a product of the struggles of these two, but it also heralded more confusion among the team. The lead men now though, are once again set to be Carmelo and Stoudemire.
“When it comes to nut-cutting time and I've got a big shot, I'm going to Melo and Amare and guys that have done it.” Woodson declared.
The reason is simple, they know what it takes.
“Those guys have been around the block a number of times and they've done it, so they'll be the go-to guys down stretch."
Tags: