Without those two, coach Mike Woodson gave the backup center role to 6-foot-11, 245-pound Amar'e Stoudemire.
So perhaps it is time to consider an unusual idea: Transforming Amar'e Stoudemire into a three-point shooter.
By making six-time All-Star Amar'e Stoudemire a reserve this season, Knicks coach Mike Woodson may have reinvigorated Stoudemire's career.
Back in New York, a chastened Amar'e Stoudemire faced his media inquisition, wearing a gray T-shirt that read MARKED MAN.
An agitated Amar'e Stoudemire, upset about a call he didn't get from officials, got a technical early in the period.
These Knicks are supposed to be better, adding Tyson Chandler and having more time to fuse Amar'e Stoudemire to Carmelo Anthony.
The team did have star forward Amar'e Stoudemire back for his second game since returning from time off following his brother's death.
So, take a page from gentlemen like New York Knicks forward Amar'e Stoudemire and the Miami Heat's LeBron James, who wear color with bravado.
WSJ: Remix: Suits Brighten Up For Spring | Off Duty Spring 50
Carmelo Anthony scored 27, Chandler scored 13 and Amar'e Stoudemire (who sprained his ankle in the fourth quarter) scored 15 against the limping Lakers.
Amar'e Stoudemire led an early-season revival and Carmelo Anthony locked himself in the bedroom in Denver until the Nuggets dealt him to New York.
WSJ: Jason Gay: Stars Like Reyes Aren't Supposed to Flee New York
But the Knicks are old and expensive, and getting older, and expensive-r, without any significant wiggle, compromised by Amar'e Stoudemire's radioactive contract and fading health.
Beyond missing Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire, another problem with the Knicks' offense is how the Knicks get discouraged from going to the rim after being denied.
Phoenix, under the ownership of Robert Sarver, never recovered when power forward Amar'e Stoudemire turned down a deal to return to the Suns and left for the Knicks.
Smith, Raymond Felton, Amar'e Stoudemire, Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin.
Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni was asked over the weekend if, after Jeremy Lin's sudden rise to superstardom, sidelined stars Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony will be allowed back into the lineup.
"He wasn't himself out there, " said forward Amar'e Stoudemire.
Knicks forward Amar'e Stoudemire got tangled with Washington's Wall (21 points) early in the second quarter, and both were hit with technical fouls for jawing at each other near the Wizards' bench.
But beyond that, Anthony also got a surplus of shots, because the team's two other franchise players, Amar'e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler, went down with injuries in March that kept them out this month.
Knicks forward Amar'e Stoudemire is trying to work himself back to full health, but it is unclear if he will ever regain the stature he had when he first joined the franchise three years ago.
WSJ: Heard on the Field: Stoudemire May Not Start Next Season
Of course, it's worth saving Anthony since he's the teams only star left, with Jeremy Lin wiped out for what could be the rest of the season with a knee injury and Amar'e Stoudemire out with a back injury.
The Knicks, meanwhile, rebooted with Amar'e Stoudemire and, later, Carmelo Anthony and, despite some thrills, a sudden coaching change and a wild bout of Linsanity, they have basically hovered around .500 a respectable recovery from the bleak 2000s, but hardly elite.
Remember, the Knicks aspire to join the NBA's front-tier, adding World Champion center Tyson Chandler to complement Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony and bolster a flawed team that went 42-40 and got swept by the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
The Knicks are still without several other key big men, such as Amar'e Stoudemire (right knee debridement), Marcus Camby (left plantar fasciitis), Rasheed Wallace (fractured let fifth metatarsal) and Kurt Thomas (right foot acute stress reaction), which is why Woodson has had to rely more on the 6-foot-10 Novak and 6-foot-8 Copeland, who aren't nearly as capable defensively.
应用推荐