As NBA teams kick off training camp, the talk surrounding the New York Knicks is all about one uncertainty heading into the season: can Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire coexist on the court?
For these two players, the mere notion of their inability to coexist is nonsense, though the dynamic duo has struggled to get in sync at times. The Knicks are 31-40 when both men are in the lineup — not exactly playoff-caliber basketball — but the blame cannot rest solely on the forwards’ shoulders.
Anthony and Stoudemire have had minimal time to get associated with one another in a season and a half. Locked out last season and playing together in just 71 of 95 possible games, they have yet to participate in a training camp together since the former’s acquisition in February of 2011.
Add in an offensive philosophy that failed to mesh with Anthony’s playing style — though Stoudemire has had substantial success in his career in former head coach Mike D’Antoni’s system — and the lethal forwards were destined to flounder playing side by side.
That doesn’t mean they can’t succeed together, and Anthony is willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
“That whole area near the basket,” he told the Wall Street Journal at a fashion event earlier in the week, “he can have it. It’s all his.”
Anthony, who excels when playing from the wing with the ball in his possession, realizes he must make adjustments to his game for the betterment of the team. At 28 years old, he recognizes that the time to win a championship is now. With the team that the Knicks’ front office has surrounded him with — Stoudemire included — the All-Star may never see an opportunity as good as the one he and the Knicks have before them this season.
If that means passing the ball more — something of an underrated value for Anthony — and letting Stoudemire do his thing in the low post, the 10-year veteran is ready to oblige.
“I’m tired of scoring 30 or 40 points a game. There’s probably going to be times where I have to do it, or I’m in a groove,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “But if I’m doing that night-in, night-out, we’re not going to have the balance that we need to win.”
Anthony could not be more right, as evidenced by the Knicks’ periodical struggles during the 2011-12 season. Since his acquisition two seasons ago, he and the team have had a tough time finding an offensive groove. But a new scheme, which may be more willing to cater to the talents of both Anthony and Stoudemire, should change that.
A distributor at the point guard position may help the Knicks as well. Anthony and Stoudemire have yet to play with a point guard capable of running the offense in a manner that utilizes their abilities while balancing the touches they get over the course of a game. Fortunately, the team added future Hall-of-Famer Jason Kidd to fill that role. This should help the offense run more smoothly and create scoring opportunities for a duo that combined for over 40 points per game last season.
For two seasons now, the Knicks have been a work in progress. With a full off-season to get onto the same page and find a way to make all the pieces — Anthony and Stoudemire especially — work as one cohesive unit, New York should be a serious contender in the Eastern Conference in 2012. The Knicks’ star forwards can coexist together on the court; it will simply take time for something special to blossom.
Louis Musto is a contributor for the Sports Journey Broadcasting Network covering the NFL and NBA. You can follow him on Twitter @LouisMusto.