It is the sentence I never expected to type and nobody ever expected to read:
Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony are about to be back in the Knicks lineup, but how do they blend them in?
It should be a no brainer fitting the Knicks two best players back in with their new point guard that runs the offense as designed. But things are never that simple in New York.
Jeremy Lin has transformed the Knicks on the court into a team that actually looks like a Mike D’Antoni coached team — fast pace, pick-and-rolls, floor spacing and guys making cuts to the basket. So, kind of the opposite of what we saw when Stoudemire and Anthony were in the lineup.
Stoudemire is due back first, he will return to the team Monday following the unexpected death of his brother, but also should be the easier to blend in.
Remember the STAT the Knicks signed two years ago? Remember what a beast Stoudemire was on the pick-and-roll with a real point guard? (Granted, an insanely good point guard in Steve Nash.) He rolls to the rim and finishes ferociously, he can pop out for the midrange, he reads the play well and makes the other team pay for mistakes in coverage. Now he has a real point guard to run the pick-and-roll with him again and he should benefit.
Carmelo Anthony is tougher (and it is unclear when he comes back, it is expected later this week). He has been playing the point-forward role — and to the best of his ability, his assist percentages are way up and his shots are down, but this is just not a role he was built for. Now he is freed up from that responsibility.
Instead he can catch-and-shoot off the ball, get points in transition and pick his spots when to take over the ball in isolation because the matchup favors him. He can put up points but he can work with the new point guard to do it efficiently. The question is will he — ‘Melo has been known to go outside the offense before. A lot. And stop the ball.
A lot of this responsibility falls back on Lin — his job as the point guard is to integrate these guys into the offense. He’s got to get Stoudemire the ball on the roll and ‘Melo when he has the matchup.
But if ‘Melo is his inefficient self, he’s going to hear it from New York fans. Right or wrong. Lin is now the savior and Golden Child who can do no wrong and if the Knicks struggle it is Anthony and Stoudemire who will take the blame.
On paper, this should all work out well. But as we said, do things ever go smoothly in New York?
