Amare Stoudemire may be in Miami now, but he still thinks about his time in New York
The Heat forward said his Knicks teams could have had more success if he and Carmelo Anthony were on the court together more.
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“I don’t think we had enough opportunities to play together,’’ Stoudemire told the New York Post on Monday. “I moved to the bench and (became the) sixth, seventh man. When I was in the game, Melo, he was out of the game and vice versa. When we did play together, we showed some flashes of what we could do on the pick-and-roll.”
Mike D’Antoni and Mike Woodson were the coaches for most of the time Anthony and Stoudemire were together, before Derek Fisher took over the team last season.
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“I don’t think that pick-and-roll offense between Melo and I was ever taken advantage of, which we could have," Stoudemire said. "The way he shoots the ball, handles the ball from the outside and the way I attack the rim, it could’ve been a pretty good combination. I don’t think the coaching staff at the time really bought into that."
Stoudemire, who was released by the Knicks last winter before being signed by the Mavericks, has been paying attention to the Knicks. He said he likes what he sees, especially rookie Kristaps Porzingis.
“I’ve been watching him," Stoudemire said. “Been watching the entire team, actually. I think there’s more a sense of urgency with guys this year. They’re finally buying into the actual system now. Porzingis is doing a great job of being himself. You can tell he’s not pressured to being a certain type of player, playing his style of basketball. It always takes time to become yourself in this league, but he did a great job establishing that early."