Leave it up to a guy like Stephon Marbury to open his mouth about team chemistry. A guy that was criticized his whole career for being a drama queen and not a team player is calling out the New York Knicks on their choice of personnel.
Marbury is clearly not a big fan of Amar’e Stoudemire. Having gotten a chance to play with him in Phoenix, he seems very critical of Stoudemire’s skill set.
"Amar’e needs a point guard like Steve Nash (to thrive). He's a pick-and-roll guy, a pick-and-pop guy. He can't play in the half court where everything's slowed down," Marbury said.
He went on to say that Stoudemire and teammate Carmelo Anthony would never be able to play well together and he wonders why Melo was even acquired by the Knicks in the first place.
"I don't know if (Knicks owner James) Dolan brought him in to win games or to make money," Marbury said. "I think it was to make money."
I guess you cannot argue with results.
Carmelo, Amar’e and the Knicks have never even been close to resembling a championship-caliber team. Lots of people keep waiting for it to happen, but they really just do not seem to gel the way that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh do down in Miami.
I actually agree with Marbury in this case. I think Anthony is a talented player but he causes more harm than good with his attitude. I also think Amar’e Stoudemire is a gifted athlete but not as good as a basketball player, meaning he needs someone else (like Steve Nash) to make him look good.
However, I do think these are fixable issues. I know Stoudemire has been working out with Hakeem Olajuwon this summer to improve his post game. We’ll see if that pays off.
As for Anthony, he may be a lost cause, but he still has time to prove everybody wrong. That is all on him. He needs to learn to play with the team.
The Knicks still have the most unreached potential of any team in the NBA, so they’re always going to be on the radar. Are we in for another disappointing year?
