Is Scary Amare Officially Back?
Surely you recall the terrifying performance put on by Amare Stoudemire during the Western Conference Finals against San Antonio in 2005. You know, the one where despite his team losing the series in five games, STAT announced himself to the world as an unstoppable force of nature, averaging an absurd 37 per game (and making Tim Duncan look silly in the process). Yeah, that guy!
Sure, the guy played well last season, but he wasn’t the whirling, tomahawking, nightmare we had gleefully welcomed into our lives a couple of years ago. Due to nagging knee problems, Stoudemire had transformed himself into a “smarter” ballplayer, relying more and more on his jumper and post game. If you’re inclined to believe what people in the Phoenix camp are saying, Stoudemire looks to be back to his frighteningly dominant self, and the rest of the League should be quite scared. From the East Valley Tribune:
“You forget how dominant he can be,” said D’Antoni, fighting a losing battle to keep the excitement of what he’s seeing under wraps. “He’s getting that quickness and that explosion back, things that maybe weren’t 100 percent there even last year.
“Everything is back in view again … that’s why he’s even more impressive.”
“It’s exciting to be back on the floor feeling this way again. It’s been two years, but it seems even longer,” Stoudemire said. “Last year, there were times I got in foul trouble because I tried to do too much — things I wasn’t capable of yet and it wasn’t smart…So the goal is to raise the bar, physically and mentally, and bring out all the capabilities.”
As a Laker fan accustomed to watching his team get its heart ripped out by Phoenix on an annual basis, it’s impossible for me to feel too happy about this; as a fan of the game, however, this is fantastic news.
If you get the chance, you owe it to yourself to catch that Spurs-Suns series on Classic sometime; no NBA player in recent memory (not LeBron, Kobe, or Wade) has been as jaw-droppingly exciting as Amare was during that amazing five game stretch. If he can return to anything resembling the player he was then, it’ll be cause for celebration.
42 Responses to “Is Scary Amare Officially Back?”
Oct.25 at 1:07 pm
Sko says:
um, first?
Oct.25 at 1:09 pm
Double A Ron says:
As a Suns fan, this is music to my ears. I hope that this translates to the defensive side of the ball though as well..
Oct.25 at 1:19 pm
peteb80 says:
Knowing is knowledge.
Oct.25 at 1:19 pm
Captain America says:
STAT can he really nasty.
Oct.25 at 1:22 pm
Sko says:
dam, I was first. I do think that’s a little obnoxious, but I always wanted to try it. on topic though, I would like to see a dominant team that is really exciting though, (I do like watching the Spurs, but they don’t electrify me) and I was kind of intrigued by the Garnett to PHX rumors this summer. It strikes me as odd that Marion nixed the deal and then decided he wanted to be traded anyway. I understand that he didn’t want to play in Boston, but he could have lobbied for a 4th team’s involvement, or something, with the understanding that if he is going to get traded,PHX has gotta get something out of it. He would, it seems, have had a better shot of going to LA via Boston than now, worked out well for Boston though. But as happy as I am for Amare, I really don’t understand PHX making a money decision on Kurt Thomas, I mean it’s like do you want to win or don’t you? pay the cost to be the boss, knaahmean? I thought Kurt played Duncan about as well as they could have hoped, and now they don’t have anybody who will do that. Skinner ain’t it. I did hear that PJ might get with a contender around Jan or Feb, maybe they have an inside track.
Oct.25 at 1:23 pm
Gumdrop says:
These comment good
Oct.25 at 1:30 pm
Hisham says:
That onehanded windmill dunk from just inside the freethrowline sounds a little exaggerated to me
Oct.25 at 2:17 pm
floe says:
in all fairness, as much as i hate on duncan and love amare’s game.. the year he dominated tim was the year when he was playing with the ankle injury. and then he came back the next year and won the title while amare wasnt back upto speed. now i’m already excited about this years playoff series. dang.
Oct.25 at 2:28 pm
Cheryl says:
just the regular season matchups with the Spurs will be exciting. And Duncan’s problem was plantar fascitis, floe. But whatever, he wasn’t 100%. I can’t wait to seem them go toe to toe this season.
Oct.25 at 2:38 pm
2nd seed says:
Nothing like a summer of stomping Tyson Chandler’s arse to improve one’s confidence.
Oct.25 at 2:43 pm
Permaculture says:
yippee! Bring on those PHX games. And I’ll enjoy seeing Pop in post game interivews (he is a snarky riot) and likewise D’Antoni (he’s boyish sometimes and he will have reason to grin)
Oct.25 at 3:17 pm
whooo! says:
to add to floe and cheryl, plantar fasciatas was the season they lost. in 2005, duncna was battling 2 bum ankles (1 from the season, another from the sonics series), and he looked “foolish” to the tune of 27, 14, nearly 2 blocks, while shooting 36 fewer shots than amare cuz of the double/triple teams. i know amare beasted, but how do you not consider the other side at all?
Oct.25 at 3:19 pm
whooo! says:
i meant to quote “silly.” hopefully both of them will be healthy for playoffs this year. any matchup of the trio of of phx/san an/dallas makes INCREDIBLE basketball and is a joy to watch.
Oct.25 at 3:45 pm
jay says:
he look sick in the usa games..lets hope he is healthy for the season..i want marion to go to la but that is just me!!!
Oct.25 at 4:14 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
should be fun. the suns still need to play defense in the playoffs to win anything
Oct.25 at 4:15 pm
ugh says:
Can we please, please, PLEASE quit using “scary” when referring to athletic potential? There’s nothing frightening in the least about Amare being dominant.
Oct.25 at 4:37 pm
Free Vick says:
1. A injured can can look silly when winning in five games.
2. Dwades piston and mavs series own amares stat and clutch wise. Plus he did the whole winning thing. And I hate the lil flopped dwade but home boy can have a monster series like no one else.
Oct.25 at 4:55 pm
Kayce Online says:
i hope this is true.. but the wild card for the Suns this year is whether they can all stay healthy.. the icing on the cake would be if Barbosa has a similar year as he does last year, and if Diaw finds a way to contribute more consistently, i don’t think anyone has a shot in hell against them in a 7game series..
Oct.25 at 5:07 pm
tprince22 says:
i freaking love the suns!!!
Oct.25 at 5:18 pm
lane says:
dominated Duncan ? Check the stats for that series again sir - and then get back to me. Look at Duncans numbers and then look at the Ws
Oct.25 at 5:18 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
kayce, you must mean a 7 game regular season series(whatever that is) because you cant mean the playoffs. they still dont play nearly enough defense
Oct.25 at 5:26 pm
John E. Sanford says:
Duncan had two bum ankles and was 80% at best that year that Amare supposedly “embarassed” him. If I was averaging 27 pts, 14 boards and 2.5 blocks in a series that my team won 4-1, by the way, then that’s some embarassment I could handle.
Oct.25 at 5:40 pm
Justin Adler says:
**Makes Stephon scrunched up face** I get retardedly happy just reading these articles
Oct.25 at 5:45 pm
J-Bird says:
The Spurs are SO boring, I sincerely hope Amare is 100% so he can slay the bankshot master duncan.
Oct.25 at 5:50 pm
H-town nick says:
Amare at full strength does have the capability to score almost at will because of his basically inhuman combination of strength, speed, touch, and Nash passes. He may even be better offensively now since he’s worked on his jump shot the last couple of years, which could set up the slashing game. HOWEVER, he’ll never win a title until he learns to play defense. With his strength, anticipation, and quick jumping ability, he ought to be a solid defender and an awesome shot blocker, or else the suns offense will suffer to cover his defensive liability (see: playing Kurt Thomas)
Oct.25 at 6:39 pm
Allenp says:
Amare didn’t embarass Tim, but he did make the entire NBA get the stink face regularly that year and in the playoffs. The Suns missed Joe Johnson in the series, remember the Mavs took him out the round before. But Tim doesn’t need to prove himself against anybody, he’s the best big man in the league.
Oct.25 at 6:45 pm
Paniscus says:
yeah, to join the chorus of skepticism, it’s entirely possible that Pop and the Spurs meant to let STAT go buckwild during that series. I haven’t seen the games since they happened, but if memory serves the Spurs seems to lock everyone down at the arc and let STAT feast inside. And we all know what happened then: Spurs in 5. (But like I said, I haven’t seen the games since 05, so I’ll gladly admit to being wrong if someone can prove it.)
Oct.25 at 7:08 pm
James says:
I went to a bunch of suns games 04-05 in the cheap seats… amare would dunk all over someone and the crowd would keep yelling through the next possession, like vinsanity all over again. unreal.
Oct.25 at 7:23 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
There showing game 5 from this series on NBA TV hardwood classics right now.
Oct.25 at 8:17 pm
Teddy aka Air Haiti says:
STAT is a bad man. But over the summer when he was wit team USA it looked like he was jus tryna go over guys alotta times…it looked mad clumsy 2 me but i kno he got more post moves then that.
Oct.25 at 8:55 pm
chiqo says:
nbatv showing that suns practice is a beautiful thing.
Oct.25 at 9:21 pm
TonyG says:
I hate Stoudewhiner, but he’s obviously a beast offensively..he still needs A LOT of work on his D though..even pre-injury, he was a below average defender..he picks up WAY too many stupid fouls..
Oct.26 at 11:10 am
Steve says:
Duncan was injured and Pop didn’t want him to foul out trying to play D on Two bum ankles so he decided to give Amare a free pass to the rim and clamp down on the perimeter. Result: Spurs 4, Suns 1.
And on to Championship #3. You won’t find many other superstars who would be willing to let themselves look like they are getting owned so their team has a better chance to win - or coaches that would even Think of asking their superstar to do it. It was one of the great Team moments in modern sports history.
Oct.26 at 12:58 pm
eyehatedirk says:
I love the Suns. When John Paxson hit that shot in 1993 (you know what shot I’m talking about…….) and Horace Grant made that block, I flipped over the living room table. Both times, the second time while someone was putting stuff back on it. 5th grade rage will do that to you I guess. With that said, I am not getting my hopes up about this until the post season. I need to see this team stay together and a few guys get worked into the rotation so the team isn’t physically worn out by June. I have faith though…..
Oct.26 at 1:13 pm
Rubens says:
so, will the mohawk make a comeback too?
Oct.26 at 2:33 pm
J-Bird says:
The Spurs are a b*tch ass team who play dirty, flop ball. I wont subject myself to watching that crap, even if their playing PHX.
Oct.26 at 4:39 pm
davidR says:
forget amare vs duncan, amare vs foyle is the real ish: http://youtube.com/watch?v=MUY_TSpCkXk
Oct.26 at 5:18 pm
vmcb says:
scary Amare = a second microfracture surgury in sight
I hope Amare prefers to use his “smart” persona most of the time (ala Bruce Banner), only using “scary” Amare (The Hulk,baby) for the most important of times.
Oct.26 at 5:27 pm
vmcb says:
it’s sad seeing Joe Johnson and Q in the playoffs in that series.
Oct.26 at 6:58 pm
BK says:
Mutoni, by an annual basis do you mean the last two years?
Oct.28 at 3:06 am
Holly MacKenzie says:
Let me just say AMARE IS BACK and back BIG TIME.
A healthy Amare is a beautiful thing.
Oct.29 at 8:45 am
Sesa says:
Still, he’s a terrible defender. He made Kwame Brown looked amazing.