Amare Back tommorow?

[N4th4n]

Amare's great and Amare with an improved jumper would be very scary, but the last thing the Suns need right now is another perimeter forward who, for whatever reason, abstains from driving the lane, posting up or boxing-out.

A perimeter oriented Amare does the Suns NO favors, in my opinion.

Which is one reason I wouldn't push him to come back until his mind is right. It'll take some time to convince his psyche that he's not going to damage the leg if he drives the lane, or boxes out, but in my opinion, that's the only Amare that does the Suns good. He can't hesitate. Amare was so great on offense because he was instinctive. he saw what there was and reacted without a seconds notice. An injury-cautious Amare won't be that player. He'll be more likely to hesitate, then, since he was never apt to pass before, take a perimeter jumper.

Again, another perimeter big man does Phoenix no favors, no matter the name s ched to the back of the jerzey.

You make some good points , but do you ever see good in anything ?

[JMarkJohns]

I'm a realist. It's not my job to spread rhetoric to the masses.

Yeah. If Kurt Thomas and Amare return 100% healthy next season and them and Nash, Marion, Diaw and Bell all avoid big injuries, then I think they'll be in the Finals.

Health is the main factor and that's why I pray they don't things up with this impatience.

If you care to, take a stroll through my posts and see which side I come down on. I'm a Suns fan and no one can question that. What I'm not is a Suns fanatic who only believes in the good, ignores the obvious and pretends like bad does not exist.

I try my best to be objective. That doesn't fly with a lot of Suns fans.

[TOP_MODEL_M]

Best of luck to Amare!
However, I think he should listen to his head, rather than his heart and not come back until next season.Guess he's eager to help the Suns win it all but they're not there yet even with a fully healthy Amare.
Another (expected) WCF exit is not worth the risk.

[Rummpd]

As a doctor no one really knows if he is ready or not, this surgery is still pretty new as far as elite athletes trying to come back in their prime; and I am sure he has had all the opinions, from the best qualified out there on when and how to come back.

Actually the risk of immediate or short-term "reinjury" is probably not that great but the more relevant question is how effective he will be.

This will only be answered in a game situation not from 5 x5 scrimmages, and he is going to playing on a team that will play a demanding up tempo game.

Who knows really if he is ready? I for sure am not qualified to proffer an opinion, despite a lot of training and sportsmedicine experience from afar.

Time will tell and good luck to him, great player with an incredible upside!

As a Spurs fan I for one am glad he is at least trying to coming back, if indeed he has been counseled it is a low risk proposition; as he if he is 80% and Duncan is at an equivelant mobility of about 80% (albeit in a different fashion) = bring it on for an interesting series in the WC finals (after we get through some rigourous "prelims").

[CubanMustGo]

STOUDAMIRE TO START TONIGHT (OFFICIAL)

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns.../0323suns.html

Stat is back, will start tonight
D'Antoni says Suns big man will start tonight

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 23, 2006 11:33 AM


It’s official.

Suns forward Amaré Stoudemire will return to action tonight at home against Portland — as a starter.

“We want to warm him up,” Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said after the Suns’ shootaround at US Airways Center this morning. “He’ll probably go the first three to four minutes and we’ll see how it goes and how he goes. We want to win games.”

Stoudemire has not played this season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his left knee in October.

[SAGambler]

I wish him great luck on his return. I have always liked his game and even thought that he could someday maybe be found in San Antonio. I just hope all goes good for him. He is without a doubt one of the most exciting players to watch.

[Xylus]

He's going to receive limited minutes, obviously, but D'Antoni said he'd like to put him in for the first 3 or 4 min. of the game and see how he does from there.

I am so anxious right now. :p

[cheguevara]

break a leg amare.... I mean.. do a good job.

[leemajors]

it seems weird to play him spotty minutes but start him. then again, they are at home so it will probably get the crowd going like crazy early. good luck to him...

[CubanMustGo]

Yeah, I hope he doesn't get all hyped on the crowd love and end up doing something that'll cause problems. Good luck to Amaré.

[Catharsis]

Amare looked sluggish, uncomfortable, and sloppy tonight. And despite that he scores 20 points, has 9 rebounds and 2 blocks in 20 minutes. He even had a thunderous dunk off an offensive rebound. Damn it's going to be scary when he actually gets comfortable.

[Catharsis]

it seems weird to play him spotty minutes but start him. then again, they are at home so it will probably get the crowd going like crazy early. good luck to him...

If anything it makes sense to start him. Send him out when he's already warm instead of having him cool off on the bench and not be loose.

[Obstructed_View]

Amare looked sluggish, uncomfortable, and sloppy tonight. And despite that he scores 20 points, has 9 rebounds and 2 blocks in 20 minutes. He even had a thunderous dunk off an offensive rebound. Damn it's going to be scary when he actually gets comfortable.

Awesome. Hopefully he'll be full strength by the playoffs. No excuses allowed in the post season, baby.

[Xylus]

Please dear God, Gods, the spirit inherent in all of nature, etc. etc., whatever and so on...please let Amare stay healthy. Even if Amare is 80% in the playoffs, he will still give this Suns squad a better chance of contending. And though Amare had a nice game statistically and showed signs of his old self, I'm going to remain skeptical. This is only one game, so it'll be tough to tell what shape he's in until a few weeks from now.

[Obstructed_View]

Please dear God, Gods, the spirit inherent in all of nature, etc. etc., whatever and so on...please let Amare stay healthy. Even if Amare is 80% in the playoffs, he will still give this Suns squad a better chance of contending. And though Amare had a nice game statistically and showed signs of his old self, I'm going to remain skeptical. This is only one game, so it'll be tough to tell what shape he's in until a few weeks from now.

That's probably the right at ude. The Suns really have no shot at a le IMO, but they have a shot at about the next ten or twelve with a healthy Amare.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Please dear God, Gods, the spirit inherent in all of nature, etc. etc., whatever and so on...please let Amare stay healthy. Even if Amare is 80% in the playoffs, he will still give this Suns squad a better chance of contending. And though Amare had a nice game statistically and showed signs of his old self, I'm going to remain skeptical. This is only one game, so it'll be tough to tell what shape he's in until a few weeks from now.

i think its cool that you're a sigur ros fan

and amare looked solid tonight it seems.

[GrandeDavid]

What a freaking super stud Amare Stoudamire is. What a uva return he made. Daaaaaaaamn!

[Sec24Row7]

Saw he came back.

Anyone watching?

Does he have his explosion off the floor?

[Xylus]

He doesn't have quite the same explosiveness in the paint. He was blocked once or twice right under the basket, which was pretty abnormal last year. But he was surprisingly aggressive inside and on the boards, scoring a small chunk of his points on put-backs. He had 5 offensive rebounds, which is a very, very welcome addition to a team that absolutely sucks at rebounding. His outside shot doesn't look as wooden as it did last year, but that's no surprise; he's had a year to work on it.

Some highlights:
-Amare got blocked, rebounded the ball right away and slammed it home for his first dunk of the season.
-A nice little behind-the-back pass to Skita under the hoop. It was Nashesque.
-He scored the Suns' first 2 points.
-They scored 76 points in the first half, a season record for the team.

Regardless of his old self, Amare is still more explosive than just about everyone.

[Catharsis]

He doesn't have quite the same explosiveness in the paint. He was blocked once or twice right under the basket, which was pretty abnormal last year. But he was surprisingly aggressive inside and on the boards, scoring a small chunk of his points on put-backs. He had 5 offensive rebounds, which is a very, very welcome addition to a team that absolutely sucks at rebounding. His outside shot doesn't look as wooden as it did last year, but that's no surprise; he's had a year to work on it.

Some highlights:
-Amare got blocked, rebounded the ball right away and slammed it home for his first dunk of the season.
-A nice little behind-the-back pass to Skita under the hoop. It was Nashesque.
-He scored the Suns' first 2 points.
-They scored 76 points in the first half, a season record for the team.

Regardless of his old self, Amare is still more explosive than just about everyone.

He seemed to get more explosive as the game went on. He was SLOW running up and down the court, but that's more to do with his conditioning then his knee.

One thing to add from Xylus' list:

• Amare won the opening tip-off.

[Xylus]

He seemed to get more explosive as the game went on. He was SLOW running up and down the court, but that's more to do with his conditioning then his knee.

One thing to add from Xylus' list:

• Amare won the opening tip-off.

Ah ha, I can't believe I forgot that, Catharsis. When he won the tip, I remember thinking to myself..."He's back."

[Sec24Row7]

Coming from a Spurs fan, that is ing awesome.

I was so worried that he would come back a shadow and play out his career like Gramma Ma.

Thank God he is doing better than that.

He is an Amazing player and I wish him all the best.

Grats Suns.

(Now all you have to do is teach him to make free throws after push ups)

[cs100]

This was a good game for Amare to return. Portland is a non playoff team, probably lottery bound. Now Friday, will be a real test, when Phoenix faces the Denver Thuggets. Hope he is ready for some banging and bumping by Friday. Or maybe D'Antoni will keep him out of this game. It will be a good test for the team, since it is possibility (if both teams make it to the second round) they will play each other in the playoffs.

[Xylus]

Coming from a Spurs fan, that is ing awesome.

I was so worried that he would come back a shadow and play out his career like Gramma Ma.

Thank God he is doing better than that.

He is an Amazing player and I wish him all the best.

Grats Suns.

(Now all you have to do is teach him to make free throws after push ups)

I've seen a lot of Spurs fans cite the push-up incident. I didn't know until I came here that it was a big deal. Then again, I don't really remember the cir stances and I did view the whole thing through purple-and-orange-tinted glasses.

I'm a little worried about this game against the Nuggets. Despite the fact that the Suns have owned them since Nash arrived, they are probably the most physical team in the league. I'm boycotting Colorado, Bill O'Reilly-style, if anything happens to Amare.

Also, another interesting stat from tonight's first half:

The Suns outscored the Blazers 34-15 when Stoudemire was on the floor.
The Suns were outscored by the Blazers 48-42 when he was off the floor.

[JMarkJohns]

Speaking of free throws, the only stat I care about is 5-6 from the line in 20 minutes. That's right around his old 40 minute average. I was at work, so I didn't see the game, but I did follow it online enough to figure he was tentative in the first 12 minute (just 1 free throw) and more agressive in the next 8 (5 free throws).

Hopefully the agressive side continues, so long as his leg can handle it.