I have always been a Stoudemire fan and was extremely happy for him when he signed with the Knicks. He had great chemistry with the team already, especially thanks to Felton. However, when the team shifted gears by trading for Anthony, I, like everyone else, became frustrated with Stoudemire because he wasn't playing up to the level that he did in his first year with the Knicks. However, he shouldn't be to blame since it was challenging to incorporate Anthony in the first place. Soon, Anthony and Stoudemire began to gel, as evident in the increase of Anthony's extra passes to Stoudemire.
When Chandler came into the team, the chemistry became flawed again as there was little room on the court to incorporate their entire frontcourt (a la Shaq and Amar'e in their Suns-failing-to-make-the-playoffs-days). Furthermore, this became more difficult as Stoudemire's range became subpar compared to years before, so he couldn't spread the floor as well.
When Lin gained stardom, many speculated that Stoudemire may finally be able to get back to speed because he now had a PG who could play the pick and roll again. This did not work out as expected, because it was still difficult to mesh Anthony-Stoudemire-Chandler on the same floor. Also, Lin became more familiar playing with Chandler before Stoudemire returned; thus, he was more comfortable at setting more pick and rolls for Chandler than Stoudemire.
Anyway, now that Felton is back and Kidd in the mix, I think it would be interesting to see the Knicks run a lineup of Felton/Kidd/Anthony/Stoudemire/Chandler since Felton and Stoudemire are able to renew their chemistry, as well as having the classic Kidd-Chandler combo.
So, would it be best for Stoudemire to play off the bench?
Should they play lineups of Felton/Stoudemire and Kidd/Chandler separately or together?
Thoughts?
Nonetheless, the final cog to the machine is to interweave Stoudemire into the mix. If the Knicks can do this, I firmly believe that they are the top contenders.
For all the crazy shit that went down off the court, when Amar'e got the ball in the playoffs last year, he was effective. If you were looking closely at touches, he was scoring points and drawing fouls when he got the ball. The problem was he saw fewer than half as many touches as someone like JR Smith, who wasn't helping much. With Kidd and Felton, the Knicks have some very competent PG play, so hopefully a mistake like that is correctable. Defense is always an issue, but Amar'e has manned the pivot on Western Conference Finals teams, so it's obviously possible to be in contention with him on the floor.
The final cog: Amar'e Stoudemire
