Amar’e Stoudemire: Possible 6th Man?

There is no I in team. There is no I in Amar’e Stoudemire. There is no I in bench. But there is an E in all these words, and there is an E in ego.

Ok I really don’t know where I was going with that but the Knicks head coach Mike Woodson could possibly switch up the starting lineup this upcoming season. If you go in and pop in 2k13 when it comes out, the 3-4-5 positions will be Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler. Awesome on paper, but does it give the Knicks the best chance to win and giving them their most fluid lineup?

We know the point guard position will be the duo of Jason Kidd and Raymond Felton, with the shooting guard probably being J.R. Smith while Iman Shumpert recovers from his torn ACL. When the Knicks paired Melo and STAT together, they envisioned a dominant duo in the paint that will simply outscore most opponents. All signs indicated that these two stars generally liked each other and on-court chemistry. We all know that this plan hasn’t been executed that most of us thought it would be.

When Amar’e  and Jeremy Lin went down last year, it was Melo’s team for the first time. He played what I like to call “bully ball” where he was in the paint “postin’ and toastin’” as Clyde Frazier would say. He was using his big frame and punishing defenders. Not many 4’s can defend him on the post with his speed, quickness, and toughness and when you add in his shooting range, I’d take him over any 4 in the league. Carmelo showed in the Olympics he could play under the boards as well as shoot the jay. If he started in the 4 or played a lot more in the post, I would be a happy camper.

The next question would be what to do with Stoudemire.  Chandler is the unquestionable starting center so STAT will not be playing there, especially with the signing of Marcus Camby. If Mike Woodson fully believes that the Melo-STAT experiment on the floor isn’t working and Melo would benefit playing down low in the post, he needs to starting thinking about making Stoudemire the 6th man.

I don’t think this will happen because if you take Amar’e out of the lineup and slide Melo down into the 4, who plays the 3? No more Landry Fields and hell will freeze before Steve Novak starts over Stoudemire. If the Knicks had a good enough backup 3 on their roster I can possibly see this happening but it will not. I also think this move would devastate Amar’e, who has been working with Hakeem Olajuwon to improve his post game. This will possibly give him the feeling that the organization does not believe him in anymore. Every athlete has an ego whether they admit it or not and a move to the bench where you suppose to be in your prime wouldn’t fly with Amar’e.

Oh and James Dolan isn’t paying $19.9 million dollars for a 6th man. It might make some basketball sense putting Carmelo in the post, but with lack of another small forward and Amar’e being Amar’e, this move will most likely won’t happen.