yeah well be stronger Offensively... but what about the defense? what about the floor spacing? what about the ball movement? what about the chemistry? I don't want to say Amare will mess everything up but...
Bringing Amare off the bench makes a ton of more sense and makes this team a POWER HOUSE.
Starters
Felton
Kidd
Brewer
Melo
Chandler
Bench
Prigioni
Jr smith
Novak
Amare
Wallace
When shump returns
I'm going: Felt, Shump, Melo, STAT, TC
with Kidd, JR, Brewer/Novak (depending on what's needed; D or O), Sheed, Camby... off the bench.
I see Kidd and Brewer as temporary in the Starting line-up, replaced by STAT and Shump. This gives more balance to both line-ups while allowing coach to mix and match when necessary.
Ray was putting all-star numbers up WITH stat running a pick and roll, I don't see how you can say that chandler runs it better when we have all see them run the P&R together and really click well. Amare is also a much better finisher than Tyson but thats obvious. What really is important right now is his defensive effort. I remember with Felton, Amare was getting a few blocks each game and he was really easing into. I'm not sure tho.
No doubt all of our guards will find him, especially if he's moving toward the basket. Again Brewer is a nice substitute, but STAT gives us more size and drawing fouls.
Amar'e Stoudemire doesn't have the physical stamina to play Mike Woodson defense for a long period of time. Last season he missed a good amount of games after playing defense for the first time in his career. He is far from the offensive player that he was 2 years ago and will continue to decline. Guys like him, Tracy Mcgrady, and Chris Webber are only great for about 7 to 9 years and become a shell of their former self after their bodies are worn down. I see Amar'e as being a player that will average about 15 PPG and 8 RPG when he plays.
With all the injuries considered, I'd say STAT is probably the best physically gifted PF in the East. If he's lost it for whatever reason, so be it. But I haven't seen that yet.
I've seen him blow out a back dunking at an inopportune time.
I've seen him bulk up looking to mix it up but losing some speed and quickness. He learned his lesson and slimmed down.
The hand... like the eye freak accident.
The "bakers knee" was a cyst found after he banged knees in practice and got an MRI. That may be a blessing in disguise. The cyst has ruptured and was a result of his micro-fracture surgery.
The intent for that surgery is to stimulate growth of the meniscus. Roy and those unsuccessful showed little regeneration thus causing bone on bone pain and swelling after play.
STAT has not experienced that to my knowledge, therefore until that is the case, the knee should be stable. In fact it's quite possible that scar tissue and loose debris that can cause discomfort have been removed and he just needs to heal up. After that his knee could be better than it has it years.
And his stamina should not be an issue.
*I stayed at a Holiday in last night.