New York Knicks Must Keep Amar'e Stoudemire in Starting Lineup

A debate has been going on in New York Knicks country for quite some time now and it continues to rage on to this day: Should the Knicks move Amar'e Stoudemire to the bench and make him the sixth man?

It's an idea that would have been thought to be impossible only two short years ago. That was when Stat was still a dominant player putting up MVP numbers. During the 2010-11 season, Stat averaged 25 points and eight rebounds per game.

His 2011-12 numbers weren't as impressive, but the 17 points and nearly eight rebounds Stoudemire averaged is still a solid contribution. The problem is that Stat can undoubtedly score more buckets per game.

If Stat could restore his points per game to a little over 20, the Knicks could potentially have a scenario where two players are scoring around 50 points per game when Carmelo Anthony is thrown in the mix.

The importance of having such a 1-2 punch in the same lineup is crucial to any title hopes the Knicks will have.

By comparison, an unstoppable combination of LeBron James (27.1) and Dwyane Wade (22.1) of the Miami Heat put up a combined 49 points per game last season.

To say that Stat and Melo can't perform up to those standards offensively is offensive.

Putting Stat on the bench would decrease his minutes and thin out the Knicks starting five. Melo and Stat would be playing separately on more occasions and take out any real chance of New York having a successful 1-2 punch that gives opposing defenses nightmares.

Besides, just who could the Knicks plug in to replace Stat?

Kurt Thomas and Marcus Camby are the only options at the moment until New York makes another free-agent signing. Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen's names have been mentioned as of late, but nothing is close to imminent.

None of those options come close to what Stat could produce when healthy, in shape and playing at a high level.

Stoudemire will not be the same player he was last season, either.

The compressed schedule didn't leave much room for rest, so a player with the negative injury history like Stoudemire had the deck stacked against him the moment the 2011-12 season began.

Add to that the fact that Stat was out of shape and you have a disaster in the making.

Stoudemire has spent the offseason getting in shape and trying to learn a new post game from Hall of Fame center, Hakeem Olajuwon. There is tangible hope the Knicks power forward can rebound this upcoming season.

The best thing for this team is to have their two star players happy and playing at a high level together on a daily basis. With all things considered, the only way the Knicks have a shot at truly achieving that is if Stoudemire remains in the starting five.