Grading Amar'e Stoudemire's Early Performances with the Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks addressed their desperate need for frontcourt depth by picking up Amar'e Stoudemire, who reached a buyout agreement with the New York Knicks last week. The veteran big man has only played two games with his new team so far, but the Mavs have received a little taste of what he brings to the table.
After sitting out the first two games since signing with Dallas, Stoudemire, 32, made a sparkling debut in the Mavs' 92-81 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Feb. 22. In just 11 minutes of playing time, he scored 14 points and grabbed three rebounds, while connecting on five of his eight shot attempts.
As soon as he entered the court, Stoudemire received a standing ovation from the attending fans. With the adrenaline pumping, Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle clearly looked to get his new player settled in as early as possible. The Mavs seemingly looked for Stoudemire on every possession, whether it was by getting him the ball in the post or simply dumping off a pass under the basket.
After the game, he admitted that he was eager to get out on the floor.
"I was anxious," Stoudemire said, according to Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. "I was ready to get going and set the tone from the start. … I think when you’re playing with good basketball players the game becomes easy. It’s a matter of finding the right spots on the court to get open and taking advantage of the opportunity and going for it."
Stoudemire looked a little gassed despite his short playing time, but it was understandable considering how involved he was. In Tuesday's 99-92 victory over the Toronto Raptors, he played in longer stints and registered 17 minutes. He didn't quite have as many scoring opportunities but still contributed with six points on three shot attempts.
Carlisle decided to rest Stoudemire in Wednesday's 104-87 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
Even though it's still early in Stoudemire's career as a Maverick, his first performances have been indicative of the kind of player he has been in the last couple of years. He has a relatively versatile offensive skill set, although it has deteriorated with accumulated mileage on his body. Unfortunately, he has a lot of limitations defensively, which have been on full display.
Stoudemire's post game is probably the most interesting addition to Dallas' offense. The Mavs have fed him the ball on a lot of occasions, and he gets quite a few touches down low whenever he is on the floor. He might not be an elite scorer with his back to the basket anymore, but he does have some tricks up his sleeve. For instance, take a look at this play:
Dallas clears out the floor and allows Stoudemire to work one-on-one against the Charlotte Hornets' Al Jefferson. He fakes a shot, and then bursts past his defender. Even though he doesn't quite get the finish, he creates a decent look for himself.
Stoudemire is still able to face up against guys in the post and beat them to the middle of the floor, especially when he is up against centers who are slow to move their feet. However, he hasn't looked like a willing passer out of the low post, which is necessary in Dallas' system.
On several occasions, opposing defenses have caught Stoudemire in the midst of making one of his favorite moves—a baseline drive into a spin toward the middle—and forced him to turn the ball over. It's great that he attacks the basket, but he can't be oblivious to his surroundings. The fact that he still draws double-teams is terrific, but he has to be able to find the open man when that happens.
Outside of his post-up game, Stoudemire has done relatively well in other areas too. Years of running the pick-and-roll with Steve Nash for the Phoenix Suns have made him into an effective participant of the two-man game. Tim Cato of MavsMoneyball.com provided a good description of his ability to create offense:
"Amar'e no longer leaves devastation in his wake like he once did in Phoenix, but the memory of him dunking on any and all comers and his reputation as one of the league's best roll men lives on in the minds of NBA defenders. Stoudemire's athleticism has fallen from its peak, but as he illustrated Sunday, he's still a danger whenever he approaches the rim.
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Stoudemire has shown some great timing on his rolls to the basket, sometimes cutting hard, while delaying his dive to the rim just enough to force defenses to freeze on other occasions. He hasn't had a ton of opportunities to link up with Dallas' versatile guards yet, but he should have no problem developing chemistry with them moving forward.
A missing component to Stoudemire's offensive arsenal has been his mid-range game. During his first season with the Knicks in 2010-11, he took over a third of his shots from that area, while connecting on 44.4 percent of those jumpers. Here is his shot chart from that year, via NBA.com's media stats page:
Stoudemire shot over four percent better than the league average from mid-range that season. This year, he has only taken 18.3 percent of his attempts from that area, connecting at a 33.9 percent rate.
He has a good shooting touch, and it would appear that he simply needs to regain confidence in that regard. Even though mid-range jumpers aren't particularly efficient, Stoudemire would become even more lethal within Dallas' offense if he regained his pick-and-pop prowess.
As intriguing as Stoudemire's addition has been to the offensive possibilities for Dallas, his defensive shortcomings are still present. He has done a decent job defending the post, but that's really about it.
Stoudemire's pick-and-roll defense has been atrocious in a lot of ways. He is capable of sagging off the ball-handler and contesting a mid-range shot but is exposed when having to contain explosive guards off the dribble. His is often out of position and is very slow getting back to his man. Here is an example:
Stoudemire doesn't drop far enough and remains frozen just above the free-throw line. For some inexplicable reason, he leverages his weight to the right, into an area that Dirk Nowitzki already has covered. This provides the Hornets' Lance Stephenson and Jason Maxiell with a wide-open lane to the basket. Stoudemire effectively gets out of the way and surrenders a layup on that possession.
There are plenty of examples of Stoudemire running out to the perimeter, planting his feet and freezing for a second or two, allowing the offense to act. Sometimes it leads to his own man scoring. On other occasions, it indirectly results in an open shot for another player when the Mavericks are forced to rotate. Here is a perfect example:
Stoudemire attempts to hedge on the pick-and-roll here and does a pretty good job initially. He bumps the Toronto Raptors' Lou Williams just enough to deter him from driving to the basket. After that, it gets a little ugly.
As Stoudemire is lethargic in recovering to his own man, Nowitzki is forced to step into the paint to pick up his man. It doesn't take long for Williams to find Patrick Patterson spotting up on the right wing, as Dirk desperately tries to close out. The Raptors get a great look as a result of Stoudemire's sluggish movement.
Whenever Stoudemire steps outside the paint, it's not pretty for the Mavs defense. It's possible that Carlisle will attempt to hide him in some of his zone schemes, but those take time to learn.
The hope was that perhaps Stoudemire would fill the role of the now-departed Brandan Wright, but that was never going to be the case. He is a more versatile offensive player, but not the two-way specialist Wright was.
Even so, having a player like Stoudemire coming off the bench for brief stints should be a net-positive for Dallas. He plays with a lot of energy, rebounds relatively well and his offense should come around as he settles into his new role.
It's tough to leave a huge impression having played just two games for a completely new team, but Stoudemire has gotten off to a pretty solid start and deserves a high grade.
Grade: B
You can follow me on Twitter: @VytisLasaitis
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