Amar'e Already Upset

It only took 10 games and Amar'e Stoudemire is already bitching about his new team. Here's what he said:

"It's definitely something that I'm not accustomed to. It's not fun," Stoudemire said to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. "We're a young team and we make mistakes but we can't keep doing the exact same thing every night. We just gotta find a way to grow up."

"I don't understand why we're not playing with the urgency. I'm not used to that," Stoudemire said. "We're not playing like we're on a four-game losing streak, now five. We don't have that sense of urgency. It's almost as if it doesn't matter and it's not something I'm used to."

"We just can't have guys complacent and comfortable with losing," Stoudemire said. "I can't stand that. It's more attitude. It's more heart. We have to show more heart and go after it."

"We're still not having that sense of urgency to dig for loose balls, get down on the floor. We're not showing that we really want it," he said.

"Maybe the winning mentality has never been here," Stoudemire said. "I'm used to winning."

"It's a foreign land for me right now," he said.

HILARIOUS!!! I guess it's not so great being the man and having to create your own shots. I've always thought Stoudemire was a great player (offensively), but it was insane of him to think leaving Steve Nash would be good for his career. I've said it before, he is going to be double and triple teamed from here on in and the only way the Knicks are going to win any games is when guys are drilling threes, which has happened 3 times this season. Stoudemire is who he is, a scorer who rebounds a little and plays no defense. At no point did anyone other than the Knicks think he was worth 100 million. In fact, I bet the Knicks could have waited a week or two and still got Stoudemire for about 20 million less. So in response to his comments about his team not playing hard or playing with urgency, I say to you...Good job Amar'e. As the Star it is your job to speak up. Call out teammates. And if you don't believe guys are playing hard enough you should complain. it's probably better to do it behind closed doors, but in this 24 hour news cycle we live in it's tough to avoid the media plus it gives me something to write about. So I'm glad Amar'e hates losing and expects more from his teammates, especially since I picked them to make the playoffs. It's easy for 100 million dollar player to sit back and coast and with any luck Amar'e won't be that guy. Hopefully Amar'e can hold himself accountable too, because a guy making that much money should be able to grab more than 8 boards a night.

-New Orleans is the last undefeated team in the League and I'm yet to talk about them. I'll say a couple things and then move on, because this isn't going to last for long. Chris Paul is a beast and David West is back to his old ways of knocking down open jumpers and playing pick and roll with Paul. Monty Williams is doing a great job as a rookie head coach. The team is defending well and playing hard. That's all you can ask for. The Hornets have two good trade chips, a huge expiring contract in Peja Stojacovichehhdnckhsdf and a solid young player in Marcus Thornton. If those two players and a draft pick can bring back a guy like Andre Iguodala this team could be a serious contender.

-Speaking of Philly, they need to get rid of the old and go with the new. AI should be traded for cap space and picks. Elton Brand should be traded for cap space and picks. Andres Noicini and Jason Kapono should be traded for cap space or picks, whatever they can get for them. Then the 76ers should build around PG Jrue Holiday, SG Evan Turner, SF Thadeus Young, and PF Mareese Speights. Two years from now that's a pretty could team, especially with their lottery pick this year and some other late first rounders from the trades. But it all has to start with moving AI's huge deal.