When Amar'e Stoudemire initially signed with the Knicks, beyond the celebration of the team finally securing a true superstar were questions regarding the team's commitment to their new cemented leader. Of course, there was the $100 million awarded to Stoudemire, but more than anything else, the five-year contract was concerning to many.
Stoudemire's injury history--more specifically, his knees--may prove to be a cause for concern as he plays out the duration of his contract.
My friend Tommy Dee at "The Knicks Blog" references the importance of Stoudemire's ability to constantly hit mid-range jump shots throughout the rest of his time in New York as a major component to not allowing his knees to get banged up as time goes on. As Tommy notes, Karl Malone played a very similar style as he got older as a means of prolonging his career.
"If anyone questionably overshoots with low percentage shots it’s Amar’e who is trying to extend his game and range. If he can consistently bang down mid range shots, which we noticed all season before the trade, whether he is making more now with Melo or not, then the Knicks become that much more dangerous in the half court game and Amar’e becomes that much more likely, over time, to have his knees hold up. The eye test will tell you that Karl Malone turned into soley a pick and pop player after the age of 30 with SOME explosion,but was not the dunking machine he was in his 20s."
Moreover, Tommy makes some great points regarding just how much stock fans should put into the new plus/minus statistic included around various NBA box scores these days. The entire post is definitely worth checking out.
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