Amar'e Stoudemire is an Idiot

A couple posts ago I wrote about how Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics lost his cool and basically chest bumped a referee getting him suspended for their next game. As one of their top players, it was a big deal for Rondo to have to sit out in their series against a tough opponent in the Atlanta Hawks. I gave Rondo a bit of leeway on the matter being that it did appear he tripped on his way to accosting the official that subsequently tossed him from the contest. Luckily for the Celtics players like Paul Pierce stepped it up (36 points) in Rondo’s absence and the C’s were able to steal the second game in Atlanta 87-80. Rondo’s lack of composure really could have cost the Celtics but now the series is tied at one game apiece as they play game three in Boston tonight. When I heard about this story I was so quick to judge Rajon for his actions being that the playoffs are a time where cool heads prevail. Little did I know that the very next day another player would make similar headlines in a far more boneheaded manner. After falling 104-94 in the second game of their series against the Miami heat, Knicks starting power forward and six-time NBA all-star Amar’e Stoudemire took out his frustration on a fire extinguisher case and severely injured his hand. 

Amar'e and his injured arm

Did I say boneheaded, because I meant to, and even if I did I think it’s necessary that I say it once more. Stoudemire’s action was absolutely inexcusable. I gave Rondo a break but I simply can’t do it in this case. He took himself out of the series because he couldn’t keep his emotions in check. Maybe you can tell, seeing how the last couple posts I have written have been about the Knicks, but I am an enormous fan and to find out that one of their star players had to be treated by paramedics after the game  for a self inflicted wound made me blow a gasket. Stoudemire is the second most important player on the Knicks behind Carmelo Anthony and the affect his absence has cannot be understated. When attempting to take down arguably the strongest team in the NBA in the Heat you absolutely have to have all of your big guns. In Rondo’s case the Hawks are a good team but they are most definitely not the Heat. I would imagine that Miami’s “big three” of Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade and Lebron James started liking their chomps when they heard the news about Stoudemire’s injury. To go and basically derail any hopes of your team winning its playoff series is down right dastardly on Stoudemire’s part.

             

It has been a frustrating series for Carmelo

I realize that it was a dumb mistake that I’m sure he wishes he could take back but after watching the Knicks’ feeble attempt last night in game three I am not quite ready to let bygones be bygones. The game, which was played on the Knicks home court of Madison Square Garden, should have been a ruckus setting, but instead it was almost too painful to watch. After their starting shooting guard Iman Shumpert went down with a knee injury in the first game of the series you could see the Knicks had lost some of their swagger. Last night however, they looked like a team who had already thrown in the towel. The 87-70 drubbing by the Heat was close for the first three quarters but when it came down to it in the fourth, Miami steamrolled the undermanned Knicks to the easy victory.

             

Now down three games to none in their best of seven series the Knicks have their backs against the wall. Stoudemire will most likely not be able to redeem himself in this series as he will sit out again in game four due to his injured hand. It would appear that the Knicks playoff run will come to a close at least a couple games sooner than expected. They had such high hopes heading into the series with the Heat after winning 18 of their final 24 games on route to securing the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference. All of that seems like a long time ago now and the Knicks look ready to pack it up and start fresh next year.

Miami's three-headed dragon

At this point I would like to make it clear that I am not saying that with Amar’e New York would have prevailed, but it would have been nice to actually see their star player on the court, instead of on the sidelines with a wrapped up hand. I love the Knicks, but the Heat are a bona fide juggernaut and even if New York had played with all of their stars they would have been hard-pressed to take down Miami.


I’m not sure I’ll be able to get over this one for a while and I think my title makes that pretty clear.