Amare Stoudemire had a rather somber week as he returned home to mourn the death of his brother, who was killed in a car accident last week. The New York Knicks forward has had time to clear his head and plans to return to the court on Tuesday night for his team's game against the Toronto Raptors.
Amare Stoudemire To Return To Knicks Tuesday Vs. Raptors
Stoudemire has missed the past several games, along with Carmelo Anthony, allowing the Jeremy Lin show to happen as the Knicks have gone on a winning streak. After practice on Monday, Stoudemire told ESPN New York that watching Lin exceed expectations was one of the few things keeping him upbeat while back home.
“The only positive for us during that whole week was we were watching the basketball games and we were watching Linsanity,” Stoudemire said following practice on Monday. “My family was getting a kick out of it. That’s the only smiles they really had all week. It was great to see that. It’s been a tough week.”
It’ll be interesting to see how the Knicks look with Stoudemire back in the lineup considering Lin has kind of made the Knicks his team over the past five games, but SB Nation’s Tom Ziller wrote on Monday that the team’s new point guard should have a positive effect on STAT:
The impacts on Amare are less explosive, primarily because he desperately needed someone like Lin all along. Stoudemire will take a number of Chandler’s pick-and-roll touches, at least immediately. If he thrives in that role, Lin will be heralded at the savior of S.T.A.T. If success doesn’t come, those whispers about Stoudemire’s end as an effective player will become audible. This season Amare has had the crutch of the team’s lack of a point guard to deflect those concerns. With Lin in place, that excuse goes out of the window.
That sounds good in theory, but it’ll be a whole ‘nother thing to see if it actually plays out that well against the Raptors on Tuesday night.
For more on Stoudemire and the Knicks, visit Posting and Toasting and SB Nation New York.
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