KNICKED UP
Back may scuttle Knick surge
Stoudemire’s latest bout with back trouble couldn’t come at worse time
Bad backs and big men are always extremely dicey and that precarious position is exactly where the Knicks find themselves on Monday night — with their star big man suffering from a bad back and a huge game against Milwaukee at the Garden.
Welcome back to the NBA, Mike Woodson.
Except for his team inexplicably taking the night off in Toronto, Woodson has gotten the best out of the Knicks for seven games. But Amar’e Stoudemire came up with a stiff back against the Pistons Saturday night and there is no telling what that will mean over the last 17 games of the regular season or the playoffs.
But it’s probably not very good because Stoudemire was starting to show signs of life in recent games. He hasn’t been the same player he was in his first 50 games as a Knick, before Carmelo You-know-who came to town because Jim You-knowWho just had to have him.
But Stoudemire had started bearing some resemblance to that player of last season, showing some of the same offensive energy until he reinjured his back. At least this time it wasn’t on the Knicks’ lay-up line, as was the case up in Boston in the playoffs last season, but what’s the difference?
It’s a bad day for the Knicks when their top big man is forced to walk the media through his latest injury. No, it also doesn’t help that Jeremy Lin has a knee problem, but the alarms are sounding even more b because of f Stoudemire.
“It’s still a work in progress,” Stoudemire said of the Knicks, up in Toronto.
But the Knicks can’t make any progress, not when Stoudemire needs treatment for his back. They can only go backwards.
It’s a bad injury at a bad time because when the Knicks need a player to set them straight, if they’ve been joking around too much, Stoudemire will do just that. Of course, there are nights when he doesn’t rebound enough or lets his man score way too much or looks like a shell of himself.
But this is the worst time for Stoudemire to be ailing, even if he tried to downplay the injury late Saturday night. The proof will come when he takes the court Monday.
What was it that Woodson said before his team played in Toronto as if it was coming off a late night of celebrating its big win over the Sixers? He said, “I don’t think any coach likes stepping into the situation like I had to step in.”
He meant having to take over for Mike D’antoni with only 24 games to play and with no time for practice and not knowing if Anthony would buy into his coaching any more than he bought into D’antoni’s. But now that takes on an entirely different meaning.
This only puts the Knicks on about the same page as other clubs who have had their stars go down with injuries during David Stern’s 66game kamikaze run. Saturday was Stoudemire’s seventh game in 11 days, a ridiculous pace for any player, and especially one with previous back and knee issues. The Knicks play their last 17 games over 32 days, which won’t help Stoudemire.
But the Bulls have yet to make excuses for not having Derrick Rose, who has missed 16 games with back, toe and groin injuries, and have somehow managed to go 40-10. Saturday they clinched a playoff berth without the reigning MVP. Without Rose, they’re 12-4, which means Tom Thibodeau is Coach of the Year.
The Bulls always seem to find a way to win without their top player, and while he hasn’t been their best player on most nights, the Knicks might have to do the same if Stoudemire is forced to sit.
At least you won’t hear excuses from Woodson, even after he got the worst possible birthday gift on Saturday night. “Everybody is going through what we’re going through this season,” he said the other day. “It’s been a tough season, in terms of scheduling. But we’re not the only team that is going through it. So we can’t make excuses.”
Then Woodson talked about the goals the Knicks set, the pie-in-the-sky talk about going for a title this season, even without a top-notch backcourt and legitimate concerns about their defense.
“That hasn’t changed,” he said. “That’s the only way it should be, in terms of getting in the playoffs and trying to make something happen.” The Knicks try Monday to keep their playoff drive going against a team they’re battling for eighth place. The stakes are high and Stoudemire is hurting. Bad back. Worse timing.