NY Knicks: Breaking Down the Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire Predicament

The hype surrounding Jeremy Lin has not subsided, but it is no longer enough to carry the New York Knicks. And apparently, neither are Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire.

New York brought in Anthony with the expectation he would form a superstar tandem with Amar'e Stoudemire that would steamroll the opposition on a daily basis. But that just hasn't been the case.

Since the arrival of Anthony, the team has been a poster-child for inconsistency. They are a threat to win against any given team, but also liable to disappear at any given time.

Despite being owners of one of the deepest rosters in the NBA, the Knicks stand one game under .500 and find themselves struggling against the basement teams of the Eastern Conference.

That's not typical of a team contending for a title, but rather indicative of a team searching for an identity.

Or, in the Knicks case, the search for a superstar.

The grace period for Stoudemire and Anthony to develop a rapport is officially over, and arguably has been for quite some time.

This wasn't a coincidental pairing, but one the two asked for, lobbied for and straight-up forced. And that's why it's so troubling to watch them struggle, because this is what they wanted.

Stoudemire looks like he has absolutely no lift left in him. He isn't playing above the rim and continues to settle for jump shots despite the presence of Lin, a tendency reflected in his field-goal percentage.

Anthony, like Stoudemire, seems to have little lift left in him as well. He is barely leaving his feet on jumpers and has lacked the necessary explosiveness it takes to get to the rim, an ability he has had his entire career.

Their struggles are the reason New York often turns to their second unit to stay in games. They are the reason the Knicks turned to Lin in the first place. And they are also the reason why the Dwight Howard to New York rumors exist at all.

This isn't the tandem the Knicks thought they were forming.

Stoudemire looked like an MVP candidate only last season, and now, he's often outplayed on both ends of the floor by Tyson Chandler and Jared Jeffries. Anthony has continued to put points on the board, but only by taking an excessive number of shots and deviating from the seven seconds or less offensive system.

The emergence of a true point guard was supposed to resolve their cohesion issues, but even with Lin and Baron Davis running the show, the two have failed to meet expectations.

As much attention as the Knicks' second unit is drawing, they can only carry them so far, and consequently, the struggles of New York's two best players can only be overlooked for so long.

The rest of the team has been able to establish chemistry amid a condensed schedule and little to no practice time, so why haven't Anthony and Stoudemire? They, after all, are supposedly two of the game's most elite talents.

Yet Stoudemire's shots continue to get blocked, Anthony's open looks continue to carom off the rim and they collectively hurt the Knicks on defense.

Sans Anthony and Stoudemire, the Knicks have played like a team. And while the two aren't incapable of playing off one another, complacency is clearly an issue, as they have been reluctant to adapt to each other.

Until they do, the best the Knicks can hope for is an early postseason exit along with a plethora of unanswered questions.

Lin has given New York a point guard, but now the Knicks are left waiting for something they thought they already had an abundance of.

A superstar.

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