Republic: Amaré makes strides in victory

[George O'Brien]

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/1016suns1016.html

Amaré makes strides in victory

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 16, 2006 12:00 AM


LAS VEGAS - Suns center Amaré Stoudemire's comeback is appropriately intertwined with a city where people start to get ahead and can't quit.

Stoudemire's yearlong journey through two knee surgery rehabilitations has given him plenty of doubts, but his recent on-court performances, such as the 15 points he scored Sunday in a 99-91 preseason victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, will keep him moving ahead.

Two months ago, Stoudemire was supposed to play here for USA Basketball but left town early after some sluggish practices. Stoudemire said this summer that he would be back in Las Vegas in February for the NBA All-Star Game.

On Sunday, Stoudemire's performance was somewhere in between but much further ahead than at the start of training camp. He cleaned up a Marcus Banks miss with a rocking, two-handed slam. He got caught under the basket, only to reverse his course and dunk. He even played more defense than he did most of the time before the knee surgeries, blocking shots from the weak side and coming up with five steals - "I've been watching Raja Bell tapes on defense," Stoudemire joked - to finish a nice stat line that included nine rebounds (four offensive).

"You guys don't understand how good it feels to really be back out there on the court with these guys," Stoudemire said. "It's been a long time. There have been times when I never thought I'd get back to this point. But I just maintain and make it through. I'm still trying to get better."

Most important, Stoudemire played 31 minutes, more than any other Suns player. Although Phoenix again thrived without him for the game's decisive, 14-0 run in the second quarter, Stoudemire stayed on the floor for the entire fourth quarter with an all-reserve unit, including Banks, Jumaine Jones, James Jones and Leandro Barbosa.

He helped stave off the challenges, although he mostly was facing off against reserve Ronny Turiaf on a night that Lakers coach Phil Jackson was not here and starters Kobe Bryant and Kwame Brown did not play.

"The big test is Tuesday; can he back this thing up?" Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said, referring to a preseason game against the Clippers at US Airways Center. "I'm going to play him until his lungs blow up, because he has to play."

Conditioning and confidence have been Stoudemire's biggest issues, but both seem to be inching closer to 2004-05 mode.

"Mentally, it may not come until physically he feels the confidence," point guard Steve Nash said. "His physical ability will really improve his mental game. To get a lot more confidence and belief in himself, I think then the game will slow down for him mentally. He's got a lot of work ahead of him."

 

[The Commish]

We will see how he fairs against good competition, but after being stuck in neutral for a long time Amare seems to be kicking it up a notch.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

he's still not there yet, but last night was a VERY nice step by amare. he had some explosion back that i didn't expect to see yet. but he's still outta control at times and his body can't do what his mind is telling him (i mean, getting owned defensively a couple of times by turaif??? c'mon . . . )

 

[dreamcastrocks]

he's still not there yet, but last night was a VERY nice step by amare. he had some explosion back that i didn't expect to see yet. but he's still outta control at times and his body can't do what his mind is telling him (i mean, getting owned defensively a couple of times by turaif??? c'mon . . . )

Lets not discredit Turiaf. I think that he can be close to a double double player this year for the Lakers.

 

[scoutmasterdave]

"I'm going to play him until his lungs blow up, because he has to play."

LOL - I love Coach D's quotes.

 

[Nash]

LOL - I love Coach D's quotes.

If you thought that was funny, check this out

D’Antoni on how guard Leandro Barbosa, who signed a fiveyear, $32 million contract extension over the summer, grew half an inch at age 23: “Maybe he was standing on his wallet when they measured him.”

-from an article on Oct 15, 2006

 

[hawaiiansun]

Lets not discredit Turiaf. I think that he can be close to a double double player this year for the Lakers.

hahaha, i really doubt that, I say at the most he'll get around 5 points and 4 boards a game

 

[CaptainInsano]

hahaha, i really doubt that, I say at the most he'll get around 5 points and 4 boards a game

He still is really foul prone and will completely bear-hug squash a person just to stop them from scoring.

 

[panfolk]

I didn't see another thread for this game so: Anyone know why Jumaine Jones cranked up 6 threes in 18 minutes? Does he have a reputation for making them normally? I've never seen much of him before this pre-season.

 

[George O'Brien]

I didn't see another thread for this game so: Anyone know why Jumaine Jones cranked up 6 threes in 18 minutes? Does he have a reputation for making them normally? I've never seen much of him before this pre-season.

Jumaine shot almost 40% for three with the Lakers, but was in the mid 30's with Charlotte. He's expected to shoot better with the Suns than the Bobcats because of getting more open looks.

 

[Amare32]

I didn't see another thread for this game so: Anyone know why Jumaine Jones cranked up 6 threes in 18 minutes? Does he have a reputation for making them normally? I've never seen much of him before this pre-season.

In the suns system I feel that may well just be JJ's role. Like It was with House. Although Jones is underrated at getting to the trim and plays good D. Be interesting how he does this season and what minutes he actually gets.