| Author | Thread |
|
holfresh
Posts: 38679 Alba Posts: 0 Joined: 1/14/2006 Member: #1081 |
8/21/2012 1:42 PM LAST EDITED: 8/21/2012 1:42 PM
STAT is a good dude and I'm hoping he bounces back strong this year.....
And he's ready to put it behind him. Stoudemire on Monday insisted that he is 100 percent healthy and looking forward to a big year in 2012-13. "(Last season) was a tough year for me but ... now I feel phenomenal," Stoudemire said at a signing for his children's book. "I feel like this year is going to be a great year for myself and for the team." Stoudemire struggled through most of last season, scoring just 17.5 points on 48 percent shooting, well below his career average. During the season, Stoudemire's older brother Hazell -- "my best friend," Stoudemire said -- died in a car accident. Stoudemire gamely tried to return to form after the All-Star break. But that never materialized. He missed nearly four weeks with a back injury late in the regular season. He returned in time for the playoffs but missed Game 3 with a hand laceration, the result of smacking a fire extinguisher in frustration after Game 2. Said Stoudemire: "Last season was probably the hardest season I had in my career." But he's ready to bounce back. To that end, Stoudemire's been training -- sometimes two to three times per day -- for the past 2½ months. The 29-year-old spent the last two weeks in Houston learning post moves from Hakeem Olajuwon. Last summer, don't forget, Stoudemire didn't get to play basketball because he was working back from a pulled back muscle. The extra offseason work this summer seems to have revitalized Stoudemire, who is entering the third year of a five-year, $100 million deal. "This is a totally different feel. Totally different workout regimen this summer. It's back to what I'm used to doing," Stoudemire said. "(Last summer), I couldn't play any basketball, have any contact, throughout the whole summer so I couldn't get in top shape. ... So this year is a totally different playing field. I feel phenomenal." IMPROVED DEFENSE: Stoudemire vowed to improve on both ends of the floor this season. He is oft-critisized for a lack of intensity on defense. "Obviously, defense is always the key to winning championships and that's something that I'm dedicated (to) also, to become a much better defensive player. And it's going to happen," Stoudemire said. "It's just a matter of preparation and practice and getting that chemistry down on that end of the court." MORE SHOTS? Stoudemire averaged 13.9 shots last season -- his lowest total in the last five years. He said on Monday that he's talked to Mike Woodson and, based on their conversations, he believes he'll be taking more shots this year. "We need that offensive threat and also defensive stopping from me," Stoudemire said, in explaining Woodson's expectations for him. "So I'm pretty sure (Woodson) is going too put the ball in my hand more and I'm going too be ready to execute and play to the best of my ability." ON THE BOOK: The first book of Stoudemire's children's book series, "STAT: Standing Tall and Talented", is titled "Home Court." It's centered around an 11-year-old Stoudemire and his response to bullying. "There's a lot of responsibilities in being a young teenager so the stories in the book relate to what they're going through as a youth," he said. Stoudemire said one of his goals with the book is to "empower the youth to read." "Being on the platform that I'm on, I wanted to find a way to educate the youth as best as possible and one of the avenues to do that is through reading. I think reading is very important for our youth and right now, it's almost as if it's not cool to read. And I want to change that mentality." Stoudemire stayed at Barnes & Noble for more than two hours and signed nearly 350 books. |
| AUTOADVERT |
|
holfresh
Posts: 38679 Alba Posts: 0 Joined: 1/14/2006 Member: #1081 |
8/21/2012 1:49 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/sports/basketball/knicks-amare-stoudemire-learns-from-hakeem-olajuwon.html?ref=sports Amar’e Stoudemire arrived in New York on Monday with nothing but praise for the Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon after working with him for two weeks at Olajuwon’s ranch in Katy, Tex. Barton Silverman/The New York Times Stoudemire spent his time focused on post play, looking to improve his ability to score in the low post and become a stronger offensive force for the Knicks. He called the results of his crash course with Olajuwon phenomenal. Knicks fans will have to wait until October’s training camp to see the benefits. “I’m looking forward to showing my opponents my moves that I’ve been working with Hakeem,” said Stoudemire, who did not go into detail about what Olajuwon showed him. “There are so many moves I picked up from Hakeem.” Mike Woodson wants to incorporate a more traditional inside-out approach on offense in his first full season as the coach, and to do that most effectively, he needs Stoudemire to be more of a threat in the low post. Woodson, a teammate of Olajuwon’s in Houston, helped put Stoudemire in touch with Olajuwon. Stoudemire realized he had to elevate and expand his performance after a difficult 2011-12 campaign, on and off the court. He came into camp last year a bit out of shape. His older brother, Hazell, was killed in a car accident in February. He missed time toward the end of the lockout-shortened season with a bulging disk in his back. “The hardest season I had in my career,” Stoudemire said. “It was a tough year for me.” By the time the Knicks fought their way to a playoff spot, the frustration had reached a breaking point for Stoudemire, who cut his hand when he punched a glass fire-extinguisher cover after a Game 2 loss on the road to the Miami Heat. “Falling short in the first round of the playoffs is not what I do,” he said. “I’ve built my career on going deep in the playoffs.” Woodson’s offensive game plan is a change from Mike D’Antoni’s fast-paced offense. When Woodson took over for D’Antoni last March, the Knicks gave the ball — and essentially the offense — to Carmelo Anthony. When Stoudemire and Anthony are in the starting lineup, the Knicks have a losing record. “It’s not the fact that me and Carmelo are not jelling,” said Stoudemire, who was in Manhattan promoting his children’s book “STAT: Home Court,” adding, “We are trying to build a championship-caliber team, and it takes a lot of changes to get to that point.” Point guard Raymond Felton will be the person most responsible for getting Stoudemire the ball. Stoudemire knows Felton will look for him to run the pick-and-roll at times, but being in the post more should give him an advantage. But before he could work with Felton, Stoudemire knew he had his own work to do. He found a mentor in Olajuwon. The two talked a lot during their two weeks together. Olajuwon had messages for his student, although Stoudemire wanted to keep his teacher’s words to himself. Then, Stoudemire made sure he explained why he took his time with Olajuwon seriously. “My motivation,” he said, “is to become a better player.” |
|
Vmart
Posts: 31800 Alba Posts: 1 Joined: 5/23/2002 Member: #247 USA |
8/21/2012 10:37 PM
There are times when a players play needs to do the talking and not the mouth.
|
|
mrKnickShot
Posts: 28157 Alba Posts: 16 Joined: 5/3/2011 Member: #3553 |
8/22/2012 11:27 AM
as long as he at least gives effort on the defensive end, I am content. No quitting.
|