Amare Stoudemire arrived in New York with confidence and swagger, declaring that “The Knicks are back” and these days he is more than backing up his words with every unstoppable jumper and monstrous jam. The Knicks have won ten out of their last eleven contests with Stoudemire averaging 29.4 points during that time, including a ridiculous 34.2 points in his last five. I understand that their competition hasn’t exactly been the 86’ Celtics or 96’ Bulls, although they did defeat the Hornets behind 34 points and ten rebounds from Amare, but wins are wins in this league and Stoudemire’s Knicks are racking them up in bunches.
The bottom line? As crazy as this might have been to state six weeks ago, Amare Stoudemire is this year’s NBA MVP.
So far.
Over Dwight Howard, who I initially chose as my first-quarter MVP. Over Chris Paul. Over Deron Williams.
It’s not that those guys aren’t worthy, mind you. Stoudemire has simply been that fantastic and if you haven’t watched him play recently you are missing out on just how dominant this guy has been and may very well be all season.
Try these numbers on for size: During the Knicks’ past ten games he is posting the aforementioned 29.4 points along with 9.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks on efficient .536 shooting while forming a dominant pick-and-roll partnership with Felton in Coach D’Antoni’s fast-paced (#3 in the league) offense which currently ranks fourth in points-per-possession behind only the Lakers, Spurs, and Suns.
Speaking of the pick-and-roll, the Stoudemire and Felton combination ranks among the top three in points-per-possession both on plays in which the ball-handler shoots and when the roll man finishes the play, according to Synergy Sports and “The Point Foward” from SI.
If you disagree that Amare is worthy please review the five clips below. You’ll be glad you did. Simply click on the bold writing to view the videos.
The Knicks struggled out of the gate early, at one point losing six consecutive contests, but have since been demolishing foes behind Stoudemire’s brilliance, the surprisingly effective Raymond Felton, and the hot shooting of Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari.
But to say that these Knicks would be 13-9 and on this tremendous run without Stoudemire would be wrong, foolish, and misguided.
Mike D’Antoni is a good coach - when he has the horses to run his system and players have learned his offensive schemes the spacing is superb, the transition game is fluid, and the long-range bombs are falling. Not to mention the fact that Felton is tearing it up with season averages of 18.1 points, 8.4 dimes, and 2.0 steals while shooting the three (.376) with accuracy, a necessary component of running this offense.
However, his options are opened up significantly by Amare’s skill set and time will only tell how far these Knicks can go.
When the Knicks initially signed Amare this summer to a five-year, $100 million contract I was very skeptical about whether he was good enough to lead the Knicks back from the dark days of Isiah Thomas’ reign.
He is proving me wrong with each passing day.
When it dawns on you how incredibly abysmal their record has been this decade you realize why they are celebrating this resurgence - this is the first time New York has been over .500 this late in the season since 2000-01 when Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell were sporting the orange and white and Mark Jackson was actually playing, not providing horrific commentary for ESPN.
It appears that a light has emerged at the end of the tunnel for Knicks’ fans with a playoff berth within their sights and if they indeed add Carmelo Anthony or Chris Paul this year or next, look out.
On Monday Stoudemire said the following during a radio interview:
“I know one thing, as the season goes on, we’re definitely going to continue to improve. In the first month we’re showing that we’re a team to be reckoned with. If we continue to play as well as we have and keep improving, we’re going to be a pretty good team this year.”
I hope Amare keeps dialing it up for them all season.
Knicks fans certainly deserve this.