Why?

Why would the New York Knicks spend so much and over pay Amare Stoudemire? Why would they want to build a team around an extremely one dimensional player.

Do they really think that:
A) He will be as good as he was in Phoenix without a player like Steve Nash dishing him off the ball?
B) That he will be the one who will entice the likes of Lebron James or Dwayne Wade to come to New York?
C) He will be healthy and strong enough to help the Knicks?

Let’s take a quick look at the 3 questions I pose above:

A) There is no way that Amare will be as effective as he was with Steve Nash or another top flight point guard who will be able to give him the ball in the paint so he can work his magic. Yes, Amare is a human highlight film and he is the best player that the Knicks have had since- “At center, at 7 feet from Georgetown, number 33, tri-captain, Patrick Ewing!”
Will Amare put up numbers? The answer is yes. Will he be as effective in the paint without other scoring options surrounding him? The answer is no.
His career numbers are impressive. Scoring over 21 points and pulling down almost 9 rebounds a game is good, but one has to look just beyond the basic statistics. Amare does not like to mess it up under the basket and in reality is not a great rebounder. He averages 6 defensive and 3 offensive boards a game. I would have liked to see his average a tad higher especially on the defensive side of the ball. He is not one to work in the trenches like Knicks of the past such as Charles Oakley. He only blocks 1.4 shots a game and turns over the ball 2.6 times a game. Those numbers should be higher and lower respectively.
Will he get the Knicks on Sportscenter? Yes. Will he lead the Knicks to the Promised land. No. At least not without a sidekick. Who is a better player than himself.
Chris Bosh has been looking for that same style of sidekick and he still is. Will Lebron be that #1 to Bosh’s # 2? Or will Lebron or D-Wade be that #1 to Amare’s #2? Well that leads us to question B.

B) Will be entice Lebron or Dwayne Wade to join him at Madison Square Garden? I believe the answer is No. He may have a good relationship with those two gentleman, but not enough for either one to sign in New York. And if they don’t sign in the Big Apple, who will be Amare’s partner? Well, that player may not come via free agency. He may come via trade. How about one Chris Paul? Now that would be a brilliant stroke of genius if plans A,B & C or however many plans the Knicks have. Or even better, can they pry away Carmelo Anthony who has one year remaining on his contract? There are other possibilities. The question still remains, do the Knicks have other options or plans that are not free agent related? What do they have as trade bait for these other clubs? But it is clear Amare can not lead this team himself. All he will be if he does that, a good player on a really bad team. Doesn’t Chris Paul have that distinction already?
C) That is a pretty serious question. He only played 53 games in 2008-09, 3 in 05-06 and 55 in 03-04. He has had knee problems and eye issues, and I would be very concerned about paying so much to someone who has had significant injuries. I have a feeling this is a disaster waiting to happen. For the Knicks sake I hope that they can make all the right moves, but I really don’t think this year’s off season will be as good as the team had been planning to make it over the past couple of years.

Thoughts from the Pulpit

1) MLB missed a great opportunity by not selecting Stephen Starsburg to the All Star team. Does he deserve to go? No. Should he be there because ratings will be through the roof if he comes in fro an inning of work, Yes. MLB should be promoting their hot new stars and have now as Abba Eban used to say concerning the Arabs, “they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” Instead of having the hottest prospect in years at the Showcase event, he won’t be on the roster. Too bad, but typical of MLB.
2) Javier Vasquez evened his Yankees record to 7-7 with a terrific game yesterday against Oakland defeating the A’s 3-1. Mark Texeira has upped his batting average to .242 after a miserable beginning of the season and the weak links on the New York Yankees roster seem to be straightening out. Good news for the World Champs, bad news for all the other teams.
3) Yossi Benayoun has signed on with Chelsea after a stint at Liverpool. Now at Chelsea the pressure will be on Yossi even more as the English Premier League Champion will look to repeat and of course try to win the Champions League. Good excitement for the Israeli coming up this year.