Z-man:
nicos, I agree with the spacing issue, but my eyes (can’t necessarily back it up with stats) tell me that there was definitely a loss of explosion since his back injury. I wish we had access to measurables to back up or refute what I’m feeling. Since I don’t, I would guess that he has lost an inch or two off of his vertical. He still gets up high enough to dunk ferociously, but that inch or two matters. Translated into horizontal movement, it means that rotating guards have a split-second longer to get to him w/o slapping his arm instead of the ball, and that bigs can get a block rather than his arm.

I also watched him get beat off the dribble on D by slower guys like Pekovic to their strong side. The same thing is happening to Dwight Howard right now. The effect of a back injury on explosiveness shouldn’t be understated. Maybe Amare is finally all the way back from his back injury, but it never looked like it to me at any time last year, despite what his TS% numbers said. Now he has a sore knee on top of the back, so I doubt that he will be able to do all of the same things he did pre-back injury as effectively. Just my opinion. However, he has enough skill to overcome it if he isn’t stubborn about proving he is the same player he was.

I hope I’m wrong and that he jumps through my TV tonight, but I will not be surprised if he looks like a slightly different player, for better or for worse.

I agree that he’s lost an inch and that that inch matters. But I also think that he’s still a guy who can (and should) be attacking the rim on a regular basis. In his prime he was the best finisher in the league (and he had a few years as a finisher that were as good as just about anyone in NBA history). He’s not going to get back to that level but I think he can still be very effective in that role.

I also watched him get beat off the dribble on D by slower guys like Pekovic to their strong side. The same thing is happening to Dwight Howard right now. The effect of a back injury on explosiveness shouldn’t be understated. Maybe Amare is finally all the way back from his back injury, but it never looked like it to me at any time last year, despite what his TS% numbers said. Now he has a sore knee on top of the back, so I doubt that he will be able to do all of the same things he did pre-back injury as effectively. Just my opinion. However, he has enough skill to overcome it if he isn’t stubborn about proving he is the same player he was.

I hope I’m wrong and that he jumps through my TV tonight, but I will not be surprised if he looks like a slightly different player, for better or for worse.

Z-man:
Amare is a very proud guy and his work ethic is legendary. The real question for him is whether he can accept that he is not 24 years old and his game has to evolve to account for the decline/loss of his physical gifts. I have no worry about his shot or his ability to dunk and finish. My issue is that he can’t blow by opposing PFs or even C’s any more without either getting blocked, stripped, or committing an offensive foul. He should model his offensive game after Kevin Garnett, who rarely tries to blow by anybody anymore and just uses his length and savvy to score. Amare’s bigger issue is going to be on the defensive end, where he gets confused and is a split-second slow to react. That probably won’t change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL0Xp9pMVVY
Is Amar’e the same guy he was at 24? No, but I think the whole Amar’e has lost his athleticism thing is a bit overblown. I think a lot of his charges/turnovers last year had as much to do with poor spacing as anything. Most of those dunks in the video came with a second big on floor- he can still blow by most power forwards and finish over the top of a rotating big. He has more issues with guards sagging back into the lane who can either draw the charge or disrupt his dribble. And as the Knicks guards couldn’t shoot a lick last year the opposing guards were pretty much free to help whenever they wanted to on defense. This year should be different.

No other contender has a lineup that’s played over 100 minutes and been anywhere near as successful. On the other hand, the starting lineup is barely outscoring opponents since Brewer turned to shit, and most of the bench lineups (especially those featuring Novak) are pretty bad.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/53178/why-stoudemires-return-could-hurt-knicks

Amare has apparently been showing some of that old bounce.

I think people forgot how good this guy is; last year was weird for a ton of guys.

While not having Raymond hurts, you’re still getting back one of the premier scoring bigs in the NBA. We really aren’t that far removed from the great second half Amare had in 2010 and his MVP caliber first half of 2011.

He still has that in him, whether he’s even more prone to another injury is another question. But within this team concept, you’re still getting the same package.

And yes he’ll help defensively given how poor Brewer has been in team defense. A Kidd, Smith,Melo, Amare, Chandler/Camby should be one of the best defensive rebounding units in the league.

Amare will contest shots, as JK mentioned.