Should we question A'mare's heart?

[Oakman88]

Wow every time we come on this forum someone posts something controversial. Now we are questioning Amare's heart. THe very person who rejuvenated and led the knicks by himself.

 

[Sons of Thunder]

Wow every time we come on this forum someone posts something controversial. Now we are questioning Amare's heart. THe very person who rejuvenated and led the knicks by himself.

Exactly. Way too many Chicken Littles running around on these forums clucking their heads off.

 

[KnicksFanFromQueens1985]

Strong post p0nder in terms of STAT's decline in 4th Q production & Stat n Melo working together has been & will continue be a work in progress, but once they figure it out? NY is going to the next level of a lower tier playoff team to serious contenders.

Fans who have no clue on how to 'support an up & coming team' act as if this is the "Final Walsh & MDA Plan" which makes them out to be wrong as wrong could ever be...

We just need to continue to improve by landing a talented FA Center during the offseason, & have faith that Walsh will continue to draft real talents such as Gallo, TD, Fields etc. Smart FA signings are next to follow to fill our depth.

I guess becoming relevant this year, landing 2 of the NBA's top 10 stars, Amare changing the culture of the Knicks, having two home grown talents in Douglas & the steal of the draft in Fields, forming a top 2 scoring offense & heading to the playoffs for the 1st time since 04 just wasn't "good enough" for the what have you done for me lately types of fans.

 

[NY17]

Strong post p0nder in terms of STAT's decline in 4th Q production & Stat n Melo working together has been & will continue be a work in progress, but once they figure it out? NY is going to the next level of a lower tier playoff team to serious contenders.

Fans who have no clue on how to 'support an up & coming team' act as if this is the "Final Walsh & MDA Plan" which makes them out to be wrong as wrong could ever be...

We just need to continue to improve by landing a talented FA Center during the offseason, & have faith that Walsh will continue to draft real talents such as Gallo, TD, Fields etc. Smart FA signings are next to follow to fill our depth.

I guess becoming relevant this year, landing 2 of the NBA's top 10 stars, Amare changing the culture of the Knicks, having two home grown talents in Douglas & the steal of the draft in Fields, forming a top 2 scoring offense & heading to the playoffs for the 1st time since 04 just wasn't "good enough" for the what have you done for me lately types of fans.

Homer fan is homerish, all the time.

 

[The Garden '95]

maybe we shouldnt question his heart but more so what he is willing to play for, because the defense he is playing doesnt show he wants a championship all that much, lookk at ray allen and paul pierce, they developed into good perimeter defender because they want to and both throughout their careers were below average defenders, amare has every physical tool to be a top 15 defensive beig but he doesnt execute so this leads me to believe it is his heart.

 

[StEpHoN_mArBuRy]

Ray and Pierce became decent to good defenders bcause Doc Rivers, Thibs and co put in a defensive strategy where they're players could succeed..And KG also helped alot in bolstering the defense. We don't have that type of coaching nor defensive anchor here..

 

[The Garden '95]

Ray and Pierce became decent to good defenders bcause Doc Rivers, Thibs and co put in a defensive strategy where they're players could succeed..And KG also helped alot in bolstering the defense. We don't have that type of coaching nor defensive anchor here..

exactly but a coach cannot make you play better defense, in the end you have to instill that mindset, jr smith used to be a cone that everyone got by but then he improved drastically to become a half decent defender, sometimes players have to take responsibility for their faults and not look for a coach to blame.

the things amare does not do on D is mostly hustle and heart things like rebounding and playing tough down low and those are things that a coach can patch up but in the end it has to be him that wants to do those things and i really dont think he cares for those things regardless of a defensive minded coach.

 

[StEpHoN_mArBuRy]

Precisely.. Those guys knew if they didn't hold their end they would be held accountable and pressed about it.. Here no one really fears the consequences of not getting back in transition on time, or letting his name drive in for a layup.. because defense takes a huge backseat to offense with this coach. While Doc would bench you while Garnett chews you out on the bench if this were Boston (see Big Baby)

 

[smokes]

Amar'e is not a franchise player. Steve Nash was the franchise player in Phoenix. Players like Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant or Tim Duncan are franchise players.

I said it before and I say it again: STAT is a very very one dimensional player and that's definitely not enough to be a franchise player. He's an excellent sidekick to a franchise player and would be devastating in combination with Kobe or Wade, but on his own he's just a scorer. No defense, weak rebounding, turnover prone.

Lucky we have our franchise player in Melo then huh!

When Melo plays like last night, sharing the ball with ease, this team is amazing to watch. If Melo can reach that kind of level consistently he could potentially be the best SF in the league. If you look at Melo vs the other top SFs it goes pretty much like this:

Scoring - Durant > Melo > Lebron
Playmaking - Lebron > Melo > Durant
Defending - Durant > Lebron > Melo
Clutch ability - Melo > Durant > Lebron

Also Melo is almost as good as Durant going one on one or creating his own shot, really Durant just relies on his size to get easy scores over the top of smaller players and same for defense his size and length is a nightmare at the SF spot.

Anyway point being, when you compare these guys like that, you can see Melo is very very close to these guys in terms of overall skill and potency as a player. If he develops the kind of unselfishness he showed last night he would be an absolute force.

Oh and just to put this back on topic, Amare shot 6-20, it's not the end of the world. If he went 10-20 we would have been right in this game, probably still having the lead with 2 min to go and who knows how it would have gone down.

Amare is not a great defender but last night he actually played above average defense so to call him out right after that game is silly. He did shy away from Howard for most of the game, and in the 4th when he only had 1 foul he went on Howard, picked up 4 fouls in about 4 minutes. And just so you know the decision of who guards who is usually made by, you guessed it, the coach

As a TEAM you have to defend well which we did last night (to the best of the ability of the players on the floor), and on offense some of your guys have to make up for their lack of ability on defense. Remember David Lee won us plenty of games last year giving up 20+/10+ to his opposite number but himself putting up 25+/15+...

 

[KnicksFanFromQueens1985]

Can fans stop trying to compare this D to other great D's such as BOS for "proof" that DOC is a "better coach" than MDA or any of the other top NBA coach like Pops who has Duncan etc.

Why not compare this D & MDA to other teams & coaches who have a 35 year old PG, a rook 2G, the largest NBA hole @ the C position, a SF who not even George Karl could force to play D & a PF in Amare who ranks top 5 in blocks but yet has no help down low; a team that entered the season with GALLO as MDA's only returning starter etc.

The last time I checked KG was a freakin monster on D coming STRAIGHT out of HS & quickly became a top 5 NBA defender with Minny for many of years; way before Marbury came to NY & KG later moved to BOS to win a ring with Allan & Pierce (just like Amare & Melo are attempting to do) but, since whe did Rivers "teach" the best defensive PF how to "play defense"?

Who the hell is our Perkins & Shaq's of the world? Moz & Turiaf?

Rivers was almost RAN OUT OF TOWN with a hand given team. "Some" BOS fans.

 

[KnicksFanFromQueens1985]

Great post about Melo being a league of his own with LeBron & Durant. Right on bro.

Also, why does Rivers the coach get all the credit for Pierce & Allen improving on D? Ever heard of KG? What? He doesn't make his entire defensive team better like all the great one's who came before him?

Did the Twin Towers of Robinson & Duncan not improve the ENTIRE Spurs D' as well as the coaches "stats"?

I know enough about coaches, players, teams & basketball to know that you'll never have a top 5 / Championship defense without a GREAT defensive BIG out of the C or PF position.

Just like D.Williams improved the Nets & made their entire offense better... KG improved every defensive player on Boston.

People act as if a coach is GOD. How can a coach force a player to work harder, when those players are making millions & millions, leaving games & practices in 2010 Hummers to a Mansion home & sexy wife? Get real. Thats what seperates the KG's & Ewing's from the Amare's & Melo's on D; it's either in you or it's not.

 

[New New York]

Wow every time we come on this forum someone posts something controversial. Now we are questioning Amare's heart. THe very person who rejuvenated and led the knicks by himself.

Amare is my favorite player in the leauge and like you said he has been a great leader all season long.

When I saw the title of this thread I instantly thought of the play where he got burned on the break (thus the Van Gundy and Jackson reference about it)

But that play aside, you cant question if the dude has the heart to play in NY

Amare embraced NY when Lebron and Bosh went running to a safe place to play.

Amare very boldly stated NY is back and that was without any assurance of another star player coming to join him

Amare did not just take his money and chill like so many other's do when they get their second big deal in The NBA, Stat got better!!

Stat has heart (just look at what he persevered through as a High School kid)


But we all know the knock on him is defense, but that doesnt equate to a weak heart.


Just thought I'd make it clear I am not co-signing Amare not having heart.

 

[The Garden '95]

NOW DO YOU GUYS QUESTION HIS HEART! just because you express emotion doesnt mean you really mean it just look at t-mac and VC,amare is so soft i cant even belive it, KWAME FREAKIN BROWN sent amare a pair of diapers and an ensure can of milk because he is babying amare and matt carroll is just walking in the paint getting and 1's OMFG you guys need to see this guy for what he really is,he is like wax, when it is dry it is cool and hard but when under fire it is softer than fluff.

 

[The Garden '95]

AMARES NEW NICKNAME


S.O.F.T

Serious.Only.For.Television