Amar'e Stoudemire has been a non-factor so far this season for the New York Knicks. The often injured forward has been seen wearing a suit on the bench over wearing a uniform on the court. Many assume he is just injured like usual, but Stoudemire says that is not the case.
Stoudemire is stressing that he is healthy and currently has no physical limitations to his name. So what is the reason for not playing? The forward is blaming Mike Woodson for that.
"From a doctor's standpoint, there hasn't been limitations since the first week of the season," Stoudemire said, via ESPNNewYork.com. "So we can't keep saying limitations -- that's a coach's decision at the end of the day. I feel great. I am ready to play. But it's up to him if he wants to play me or not."
Stoudemire has missed time for a back injury, a knee injury and most recently four games for an ankle injury. During the team's loss to Miami, he played four minutes. Against Milwaukee on Monday, Stoudemire played just 17 points. Right now, the forward is averaging 18.9 minutes and 9.3 points on 53.9 percent shooting. He stressed how healthy feels, noting that he would love to play more each game.
"I feel great man," Stoudemire said. "It don't take much for me. I have been playing at a high level my entire career. I know what it takes to get back to the top of the game. I know what it takes to feel confident. That's never going to go away. It's just a matter of how the coach is going to play me. I am available if they need me. If not, then we go with that."
The Knicks need Stoudemire. The team has been searching for a solid rotation behind Tyson Chandler. The Knicks have been forced to play smaller ball because the amount of injuries and lack of playing by Stoudemire, Kenyon Martin and Andre Bargnani. New York considered signing Andrew Bynum before the Indiana Pacers grabbed him and now they might be forced to make a trade before the deadline. Woodson did not comment on Stoudemire's words, but simply said they need to figure out a better rotation.
"Metta hasn't been playing, so you can't really put him in the mix. Kenyon and Amar'e will be back in the rotations. I still have to be open-minded with Amar'e and Kenyon. Amar'e's missed some games, so I'm not going to play him 30 minutes. We just got slow-walk it again. Jeremy will be in and out - not playing the big minutes he was playing. I'm going bac to the regular guys and try to work him in," Woodson said.
