Amar’e Stoudemire wonders what could have been with he and Carmelo Anthony, especially if former coaches Mike D’Antoni and Mike Woodson had utilized them properly.
Addressing the media before the Heat took on the Knicks — Stoudemire didn’t play — the former $100 million man believes he and Melo’s best years together were wasted because of stubborn coaching.
“I don’t think we had enough opportunities to play together,’’ Stoudemire said in the Heat locker room Monday. “I moved to the bench and [became the] sixth, seventh man. When I was in the game, Melo, he was out of the game and vice versa. When we did play together, we showed some flashes of what we could do on the pick-and-roll.
“I don’t think that pick-and-roll offense between Melo and I was ever taken advantage of, which we could have. The way he shoots the ball, handles the ball from the outside and the way I attack the rim, it could’ve been a pretty good combination. I don’t think the coaching staff at the time really bought into that.’’
At times we could’ve taken advantage of our opportunity a lot more,’’ said Stoudemire, who missed 110 games in his time with the Knicks. “It wasn’t up to Melo and I. It was up to the coaching staff to figure that part out. We could never get the right system to figure that part out.’’
Stoudemire and Carmelo never got past the second round of the playoffs in four attempts together, and Amar’e cleverly left out the part about him missing 110 games during that span.