Amar’e Stoudemire is Frustrated With His Minutes Restriction

The Knicks have capped Amar’e Stoudemire’s minutes pretty tightly—he’s currently playing a max of about 10 minutes a game in two five-minute intervals—and it sounds like he’s growing pretty pissed about the whole situation. ESPN New York has the details: “Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire is growing frustrated with the minutes limit the team has placed on him. ‘It’s making me look like my game is gone or that I don’t have game anymore because when you play five minutes, it’s just tough to really get in a rhythm,’ Stoudemire said before Saturday night’s 110-90 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. In an effort to protect his oft-injured knees, the Knicks have placed Stoudemire on a limit of 10 minutes per game. He has been playing two five-minute intervals. ‘It’s tough to play five minutes and expect to be great in five minutes. It’s almost impossible,’ he said. ‘By the time you get up and down and get adjusted to the speed of the game, it’s already three minutes, and then in two minutes you’re out of there. And if you miss a shot, it feels [like] the world is collapsing on you because you’re expected to do so much and somewhat win the game in five minutes and it’s tough. It’s hard to deal with.’ Stoudemire has played in six of the Knicks’ nine games this season and sat out one game of each back-to-back set. Entering play Saturday, he had averaged 2.8 points on 37 percent shooting in 9.8 minutes. He had five points in a season-high 14 minutes on Saturday.”