STAT has never been known as a defensive presence, and there’s a reason for that. He stands 6’10 and possesses top-notch athleticism, yet he only averages 8.9 boards and 1.4 blocks for his career. It’s not just the numbers, either. He simply doesn’t seem to bring the intensity on the defensive end like he does when he’s trying to put the ball in the basket. That being said, his blocks per game are way up this season, and I was impressed with how he protected the rim a few nights ago in Charlotte. The Knicks are currently leading the league in blocks per game by a pretty large margin, but on the other hand they allow the 4th most points in the league to their opponents. The Knicks do play an uptempo style, and even when a team’s defense is solid a fast paced game will obviously lead to lots of points being scored… but then you look at the opponent FG% stat and the Knicks aren’t doing so hot there either… they’re opponents shoot the third highest percentage in the league. That means they have to be getting too many easy looks.
SOOOO, there’s how I feel about the defense of Amare and the Knicks, but there’s one other guy who wants to chime in: STAT himself (quotes taken from this interview by the New York Daily News)…
On winning games: “When trying to win ball games, defense is what does it. Getting stops, getting rebounds … it’s imperative for me to bring that defensive intensity.”
Sounds like he gets it. That’s good, I guess…
On his reputation as a poor defender: “It was fair. I was never taught defense. I just never was taught it in high school and also in the NBA.”
…kinda threw D’Antoni under the bus there…
On his improvent defensively: “I took it upon myself to get better defensively”
…dude, settle down. You’re blocking some shots, but no one’s confusing you with KG out there…
On who he credits (other than himself) for his improvement: “I’ve got to give it to Alvin Gentry. He really implemented some strategies that were helpful to me. I took what I learned last year and carried it over to this year.”
…coach Pringles is getting a little pissed now…
On reading books: “I once read in a book that Bill Russell says ‘you will never have a perfect game but you can always pursue it. It’s about getting better and if we continue to look at ourselves in the mirror and understand that we have a lot of room to improve, despite having success right now, we have a great chance to get better and win games.”
…is it just me, or does Amare often come off sounding like he’s feeling himself a tad bit too much? I mean, the guy talks about “success right now”… the Knicks are 8-8. They’re on a little winning streak, but uh…. no one’s that impressed (except for Amare, apparently).
