Mike D'Antoni Must Pace Amar'e Stoudemire Next Season To Avoid Burning Him Out

When Amar'e Stoudemire signed a five-year, $100 million contract with the New York Knicks, many were left wondering if he would play up to the value of his extraordinary deal.

We didn't have to wait long.

After Stoudemire took to his newest role as a member of the Knicks for his inaugural season with the team, the power forward immediately began to light it up. Although the Knicks' first contest was on the road in Toronto, Stoudemire didn't let an opposing crowd deter him, posting a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) in a 98-93 victory.

Stoudemire blossomed for the Knicks from the onset of the campaign, and in his first full month with the team (November), he delivered averages of 24.6 points per game to pair with 8.8 rebounds. Most impressively, Stoudemire averaged an incredible 2.1 blocks.

However, November wasn't Stoudemire's best month of the season. STAT peaked during his 13 games of December, when he mauled through the league to the tune of 29.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks, leading the Knicks to an 8-5 record over that time.

Unfortunately, that's about the same point in the season when Stoudemire's minutes began to build up in an unfavorable manner. Over the first 32 games of the season (October-December), Stoudemire played fewer than 34 minutes just five times, and two of those came in blowouts. Conversely, the big man played more than 40 minutes 10 times.

The wear and tear early in the season had an adverse impact on what Stoudemire was able to contribute down the stretch for his team, as his numbers steadily declined in every month after his beastly December.

While some of the drop-off in his production can be chalked up to Carmelo Anthony's arrival and a division in the offensive responsibilities, Anthony didn't arrive in New York until the final week of February.

Unsurprisingly, Stoudemire played fewer minutes as the season moved forward, and the heavy undertaking in the first half of the season left him with a little less than a full tank of gas for the final push.

It's certainly not surprising that Mike D'Antoni decided to lean heavily on Stoudemire given the fact that he carried the team in the early going, but the Knicks are going to be playing for far more than just regular season victories moving forward.

For New York to have the type of success that the team is angling to in the future, there's no doubt that Stoudemire's minutes have to be regulated.