Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire Must Step Up, Inspire Teammates on Defense

Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire are not really interested in the NBA or the Knicks right now.  Maybe they know something we don't, but it seems to me they have resigned themselves to a definite: There won't be a season in 2011-12, or at least not until 2012. Or maybe they're having too much fun to care.

The NBA lockout is sort of out of their hands and they're making the most of it.  Enjoy a little sabbatical after a combined rigorous 16 years of pro ball, have some pickup games with the boys, party in Vegas, chill in China, uh, get crazy in Baltimore, attend some fashion and charity events, do a little acting with a sworn enemy, enjoy some margaritas on the beach with Ciara. Tempting, especially that last one.  You can't blame them.

But come on guys, vaca's over, and it's never too early to improve your team.  You never know how much time you will need to become a champion.  Ask Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd.

And sometimes, for whatever reason, there isn't enough time. Ask Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley. The summer's over. Stop wasting time.

And, hell, let's try and keep up appearances.

Mr. Stoudemire: What happened to that team workout we heard about all summer?

Mr. Anthony: Who have you communicated more with this summer, the Knicks or the Melo league?

Well, I guess it doesn't really matter.  Anthonys, Stoudemires and other NBA players' itineraries and attitudes are telling us all the info we need to know.  I, too, have resigned myself to an optimistic half a season.  Let's hope everybody's wrong.

In the meantime, it's time for Anthony and Stoudemire to step up.  Do they want to win it all?  Are they sacrificing all they can to make that happen?  Are they working on gelling (I dare them to say that word next season whenever it occurs) or defense? Sorry, but the answer is no.

After pushing his team get-together from July to August to September, and now to October-November because he flat-out assumes (postures? knows?) the season won't start on time, Stoudemire shows up across the way in Miami, hanging out with Isiah Thomas and nursing his timid back. Ugh.

Anthony made a big splash with his Baltimore All-Star game a month ago — it was like an Elvis sighting.  He's set for another exhibition game this Sunday in Philadelphia.  Number of other Knicks in attendance? None. Ah, good times.

How about some grinding?  We're starving for a championship in New York and paying 49 percent more for one.

Here's a perfect opportunity to get the jump on other guys who are sleeping.  Uh oh.  We're those guys. They are going to get the jump on us.  Thankfully, there's an epidemic of apathy afflicting most players and teams.

Regardless, some proactive moves on the part of the Knicks' two leaders might just inspire the team to reach another level, that level without which the Knicks simply cannot win a championship.  Hard to do if nobody sees each other for six months and the extent of your team communications are via Twitter and email.

But there's hope.  The lapse can still be undone, because the Knicks, for the most part, only need to work on half as much as any other team in the Eastern Conference.  It's true.  The defensive half.

They're already the best offensive team in the East, and a healthy Big Three says that won't change.  Iman Shumpert has already been working on his Achilles' heel, his jumpshot; Toney Douglas doesn't really need help with his three-pointer; and frankly, Landry Fields could probably use the rest and a shortened season as he was a ghost in March and April.

The elephant in the room is and has been defense.  That's what needs to be worked on.  That's what new assistant coach Mike Woodson will direct the team's attention toward when the lockout lifts.

Until then, it is up to Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire to provide the inspiration on defense, the Knicks' Achilles' heel.

In the words of Allen Iverson, practice?  We're talking about practice.  These guys, STAT and Melo and Chauncey Billups — they don't need more than basic practice on offense, the dusting off of the ol' skills.  They don't even need to get the team together to maintain their scoring game.

Defense? Another story. It's not just a soundbite. It's time to get serious about it.

When the Knicks at long last rendezvous for their preseason camp, defense should be the focus from day one.  Enough already with ignoring that side of the ball.

If Anthony and Stoudemire walk through those double doors and hit the court espousing the importance of defense from the get-go, and back it up fiercely in practice, the effect would be dramatic, especially on such a young and impressionable a team.

If they do it every day, harp on it, work it, the Knicks would certainly become a better defensive team.  They have the athletic ability.

Practice?  The Knicks could use it, on defense.

It starts with Anthony and Stoudemire.