Jeremy Lin: The New York Knicks Sensation Will Thrive with Amar'e Stoudemire

Jeremy Lin is the new darling of New York City.  In 2010, New York's darling was new arrival Amar'e Stoudemire.  So will the Knicks' star and team leader co-exist well with their new point guard sensation?

After taking a one week absence to deal with his brother's tragic death, Stoudemire will return to the Knicks tonight. When he left the team, the Knicks were 8-15 and their season looked finished. Now, they are riding a five-game winning streak off the extraordinary play of new star Jeremy Lin.  

After Lin was put in the game against New Jersey on Feb. 4, Lin had 25 points on 10-19 shooting, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals to lead the Knicks to a win.  

Since then, he has led them to a 13-15 record and the current eighth seed in the playoffs while averaging 22 points and seven assists.  He is morphing into a true playmaker with court vision and a desire to get everyone involved in a flowing, efficient offense.  

Will Stoudemire's return help by providing a go-to scorer in the post or hurt because his lack of passing will change the flow of the offense?

Stoudemire's return is likely to help the Knicks.  His excellent years with Steve Nash prove that Stoudemire is actually at his best when working with a cerebral point guard who can deliver him the ball in the paint.  

Lin is hardly Nash's equal just yet but he does show some of the Canadian star's special court vision and ability to get every player involved in the offense.  Presumably, he will recognize what Stoudemire brings to the Knicks post offense and the two will co-exist quite well moving forward.

Knicks star Carmelo Anthony will be more difficult to reintegrate.  The Knicks' Lin-led flowing offense can survive one black hole in Stoudemire and will benefit from his infusion of scoring ability into the post-game.  But Anthony's penchant for isolation plays off the wing and dead-ball offense could spell trouble.

Lin will need to deliver Anthony the ball in positions to let him score but prevent him from completely disrupting the team's offensive flow on every play.  He could accomplish that by running the majority of the Knicks' offense through Stoudemire in the post and pushing Anthony to be aggressive off the wing and move without the ball rather than simply wait to get it and act in isolation.  

Of course, that is easier said than done.

If Anthony fails to become a workable part of the offense, who knows what might happen in New York?