They asked Amar’e Stoudemire if he regretted saying that Lamar Odom had a lucky game in Game 1. Here is what Amar’e had to say:
“Nah, I’m gonna always be myself. That’s just my character,” Stoudemire said. “It’s just what I was feeling.” “He had a solid game..”
Lets go to the stats and see how solid Lamar was in comparison to Stoudemire.
Stoudemire has played a total of 76 minutes and grabbed 9 rebounds. Let me repeat — in two full games, Amar’e, at the power forward position… has grabbed 9 boards.
Odom has played a total of 64 minutes and grabbed 30 rebounds.
I know what you are thinking; Amar’e must be dominating in points
Amar’e is averaging 20.5 and Lamar 18 coming off the bench.
Charles Barkley had the quote of the basketball year in my opinion when he spoke on Stoudemire’s effort on the boards. He simply said:
“What do you call a power forward with only six rebounds? A small forward.”
Amar’e needs to listen to The Rock and:
KNOW HIS ROLE AND SHUT HIS MOUTH
If he defended and rebounded with the same voraciousness that he dunked, he would be a much more complete player. His indifference to rebounding and defense is one of the reasons the Suns are in a 2-0 hole right now.
With that being said I’m still not counting the Suns out, because as Phil Jackson says, “A series doesn’t start until a road team wins.”
But they are going to need less yapping from Stoudemire and more production.