<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The pain has returned to Amar� Stoudemire's surgically repaired knees, and he said after Thursday's practice that he doesn't believe the Suns organization has complete confidence that he'll be the same player he was before the injuries. "I don't think so," Stoudemire said when asked about the team's belief in his full recovery. "I think they're waiting on me to show them. It's up to me to get back there." Coach Mike D'Antoni said Stoudemire did "almost everything" in practice Thursday but is still "a little stiff here and there." "You have to ask him more than me," D'Antoni said. "He looked OK. He didn't play a whole lot. He looks a little better. He's getting a little more athletic." Stoudemire was able to do more than he did on Wednesday, and said he has had "sharp" pain in the knees the past two days. He reiterated what he said during the team's training camp in Italy - that he's going to need recovery days to recuperate. He said his recent setback is similar to what he experienced in Europe after going hard for "seven or eight days in a row." He said that during the past couple of weeks he hasn't taken a day off except when the whole team was off. He also said that during the season when the Suns play back-to-back games, he might need a recovery day at practice. Whether he gets the blessing of D'Antoni and the Suns organization remains to be seen. "I haven't talked to them yet, but I definitely hope so," Stoudemire said. But Stoudemire sounded as if he believes he has the support of the team. "I hope so," he said. "I'm definitely doing whatever I can. . . . Whatever they've asked me to do; I'm definitely doing it. I pushed through the pain pretty much the whole practice."</div> Source Yesterday during TNT, David Aldridge said the Suns might limit Amare to only 20MPG to start the season off. Amare is having problems practicing on consecutive days, but D'Antoni doesn't feel he's pushing himself hard enough.
This is good news for other teams in the West. Amare say's he's working hard but his coach doesn't believe it. I see a trade coming as it's going to get harder for these two to be part of the same team.
The Suns style is predicated on the team having superior conditioning. I don't see how Amare can get back to full speed on this team without really ramping up his efforts off the court.
<div class="quote_poster">durvasa Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The Suns style is predicated on the team having superior conditioning. I don't see how Amare can get back to full speed on this team without really ramping up his efforts off the court.</div> Good point. D'Antoni's going to need to see some real effort on his part before he really trusts him to be a first team player again. He may have top flight ability, but without conditioning, he just doesn't work for this club.
At this point, I'm starting to wonder if Amare's career could be nearing an end. Microfracture surgery on one knee, an entire year off, and it's still giving him sharp pains if he plays more than a day or two in a row. And then the other knee, bad arthritis. Pushing through serious pain because his team is doubting him probably isn't going to help his recovery.
<div class="quote_poster">Squishface Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Good point. D'Antoni's going to need to see some real effort on his part before he really trusts him to be a first team player again. He may have top flight ability, but without conditioning, he just doesn't work for this club.</div>Wasn't D'Antoni the one rushing him back in the first place? It's a bad idea leave your franchise player's knee up to the guy who doesn't care about it.
Check out this article: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Arizona Republic - Amare Stoudemire met with Robert Sarver and Mike D'Antoni on Friday and they came out of the meeting with the air cleared. "We've pretty much got a good understanding," said Stoudemire, who planned to return today for treatment on the team's off day. "That's pretty much a done deal." He said his Thursday statement came out bolder than intended. "He doesn't feel that way and the organization doesn't feel that way," Sarver said as to whether the Suns doubt Stoudemire's ability to return. "He didn't voice that concern to me. "From my standpoint, it's just that he's progressing in the right direction. The good news is he's just one piece of our team and the other pieces are very good. He complements us, but the team isn't depending on him for success." "They have to understand that I'm totally honest with the way I feel and what I report to them," said Stoudemire, whose manager. "If I feel pain, it's just the fact that they have to trust my word."</div> Link
Reading that article about them encouraging him made me happy. I was just talking to a friend about that before that was printed that the team needed to sit down with Amare and let him know that they need him because they do. I see the team really divided. There's the Suns, then there's Amare. Such a division makes me wish that the team would've done poorly last season so the rest of the team wouldn't be going around telling all the media that they don't need Amare. I mean, that would depress the hell outta me if I heard from my peers that I was almost completely dipensable.
