Amar’e Stoudemire hasn’t lost his swagger despite the mountain of Knicks losses.
After the Mavericks’ rout Tuesday night, Stoudemire was asked about going mano-a-mano with former teammate Tyson Chandler in the post and saved a little dig for the former Knicks center.
Stoudemire couldn’t help himself from pointing out Chandler needed help.
“Tyson’s supposed to be a great defensive player, but they still sent double- and triple-teams at me,” Stoudemire said. “So that’s kind of a compliment if you ask me. For a guy known for his defensive presence the team still sends a double-team. It shows the coaching staff still has a lot of respect for my inside game.”
Stoudemire admitted the plan worked against him. He scores just 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
While Jose Calderon was quiet the Knicks other two point guards did nicely. Pablo Prigioni had nine points and five steals while ex-Maverick Shane Larkin scored nine points, hitting 4-of-6 shots with five rebounds.
Coach Derek Fisher certainly has taken his hits in print — for having 12 different starting lineups, for not setting an established rotation, to showing no emotion on the sidelines, to being overly positive after defeats.
Even before the Knicks faced Chandler and the Mavericks, Fisher tried to convince the media the Knicks aren’t that far away despite the second-worst record in the NBA and being on pace to become the worst team in Knicks history.
Fisher has fallen in love with the NBA’s new statistic classifying “close’’ games as within five points with five minutes or less to play. Seventeen of their first 26 games fell in that category.
“I’m not frustrated with them, I’m frustrated for them,’’ Fisher said. “I don’t think they understand how close they are and we are to winning those games. With our record the way it stands, one would think we just can’t compete and don’t know how to win. Until we win those games there’ll be those questions. But we’re going to toe to toe with some of the best teams in basketball. We just have to figure out how to win them.’’
Despite some reported rumblings the triangle isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, Fisher feels his rapport with the players is solid, considering he was battling them on the court last season.
“It’s a demanding job,’’ he said. “The relationships with the players have been solid after playing against them nine months ago. It’s been good so far. We just haven’t won games.’’
In the overtime loss to Toronto on Sunday, Fisher added another dimension to the triangle as the Knicks showcased some pick and rolls to get into the triangle set. He’s done now with additions and said it’s still about the triangle.
“We’re trying to grow as the season goes along,’’ Fisher said. “You don’t need a shiny new car when you can appreciate what you do have.’’
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle thinks Fisher is on the right track with his geometry.
“Well it’s a system that won 11 championships and he’s a coach who’s played in that system and won at least five to my knowledge,’’ Carlisle said. “Sounds to me like they’re onto something good. And they’re playing better basketball every game. I really like the job that he is doing coaching the team and they’re going to continue to get better.’’