[h1]Amar'e Stoudemire says Knicks shouldn't blow up current roster to bring Carmelo Anthony to New York[/h1]
BY
FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Saturday, January 8th 2011, 4:00 AM
PHOENIX -
Amar'e Stoudemire is starting to sound like he doesn't want to see the
Knicks blow up their roster, which is what they'd likely have to do in order to acquire
Carmelo Anthony.
Saying "we don't really need much," Stoudemire seemed to suggest that he'd be fine if management gave the current roster a chance to prove itself this season.
"Right now, in New York we have a solid team," Stoudemire said Friday. "We don't really need much. We're playing well. We feel like the team we have can be very successful if we keep improving individually and as a team on the defensive end."
Anthony, who can become a free agent on July 1, is expected to be moved by the Nuggets before the Feb. 24 trade deadline. Anthony has made it known that the Knicks are his preferred destination, but team president
Donnie Walsh doesn't have the assets, namely first-round picks, to satisfy
Denver.
The emergence of
Raymond Felton and
Wilson Chandler has Stoudemire optimistic that the Knicks can be a solid playoff club. He also hinted that
Mike D'Antoni's willingness to stress defense more than he did in Phoenix has made a difference as well.
"We're not the Suns east, not at all," Stoudemire said. "We're the New York Knicks and we're playing great defensively. We're going to take that momentum on the defense throughout the rest of the year. But I do think the system Mike D'Antoni created was something special, and the fact that he now has it in New York and players willing to play defense from the point guard down to the center position, he's going to get the best of them."
In November, Stoudemire said the only coach to teach him defense has been current Suns head coach
Alvin Gentry, which was viewed as an obvious knock on D'Antoni. Yesterday, Stoudemire called D'Antoni "a genius" offensive coach and added, "For us now the difference is we're starting to figure out how to play defense and buy into it."
