If this isn’t an indirect indictment on Mike D’Antoni’s coaching prowess, I don’t know what is. Amar’e Stoudemire has been in the NBA forever, and recently told a reporter that this is the first time in his career that he is being taught defense. Now, does some of the onus fall on the player in terms of their natural instincts? Of course. But to never have been taught it by D’Antoni (who has coached Stoudemire the majority of his career in both Phoenix and New York) is interesting.
Just having a defensive coach for the first time in my career is going to help,’ Stoudemire said. ‘I’ve never been taught defense in my whole career. To now have a coach that actually teaches defense and teaches strategies and knows positioning and posture and how to guard different plays is going to be helpful. I’m going to take it as a challenge, accept the challenge and try to improve as a player.’
H/T: Newsday
