Reports started swirling on Monday that Amare Stoudemire was going to be out longer than first reported, now 6-8 weeks, because his knee was still giving him problems. And nobody was really all that shocked.
On Tuesday the Knicks confirmed the situation — Stoudemire is going to have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and will be out 6-8 weeks, as confirmed by the Knicks as well as Howard Beck of the New York Times and other Knicks writers.
So you are looking at a mid-to-late December return for Stoudemire. That would be 20 games at least into the season, likely more.
And yet, no Stoudemire could be a real blessing for the Knicks — Mike Woodson has hesitated to play Carmelo Anthony at the four because that is Stoudemire’s spot, and ‘Melo fancies himself a three on the wing. Which often leads to a lot of 20-foot contested jumpers, and while he’s arguable better at that shot than every NBA player who is not a 7-foot German scoring machine, it’s still an inefficient way to get your points.
But ‘Melo plays better at the four and the Knicks are better when he’s there. As our own D.J. Foster pointed out yesterday — according to 82games.com, Anthony had a PER of 29.5 as a power forward compared to a 17.4 PER at small forward. Look at the Knicks most efficient five-man lineups and they had no Stoudemire and Anthony at the four.
This injury forces Woodson and Anthony to do what is right for the team.
Not that things are all good. This injury leaves the Knicks thin along the front lines — Marcus Camby is questionable at best for the opener, Rasheed Wallace’s mind is willing but his flesh is out of game shape, and then you’re down to Chris Copeland. Tyson Chandler is going to get some heavy minutes early.
