Amar'e Stoudemire knows The Art of War

Sun Tzu

 Amar'e had his sixth straight 30 point game to lead the Knicks over the Raptors this evening at the Garden for their seventh straight win.   Most importantly, 18 of his 34 points came when it mattered most in the fourth quarter.  The Knicks have not had a post player this good, this dominant since number 33 was the marquee attraction at the World's Most Famous Arena.  Amar'e's talents may have been taken for granted when he played on the west coast alongside Steve Nash, as many credited Nash with making Amar'e look so good.  Well, Raymond Felton is a quality point guard, but should he be credited with making Amar'e look like one of the most dominant bigs in the NBA?  Of course not, as Amare's numbers speak for themselves. As shown below, he is currently third in the league in scoring and doing it under the bright lights of Broadway. 

RK	PLAYER	TEAM	GP	MPG	PTS
1	Kevin Durant, SF	OKC	18	39.9	27.4
2	Kobe Bryant, SG	LAL	21	33.2	26.7
3	Amare Stoudemire, PF	NYK	22	36.9	25.3
4	Dirk Nowitzki, PF	DAL	21	36.0	24.9
5	Derrick Rose, PG	CHI	18	38.8	24.9
6	Monta Ellis, SG	GSW	21	39.6	24.8
7	Eric Gordon, SG	LAC	20	37.6	24.3
8	LeBron James, SF	MIA	22	37.1	23.7
9	Russell Westbrook, PG	OKC	22	37.4	23.7
10	Carmelo Anthony, SF	DEN	20	34.7	22.8

This isn't the old Knicks where Jamal Crawford or David Lee could score 20 points by padding their stats with Knicks trailing by double digits in the fourth quarter.  No, Amar'e is playing like one of the elite players in the NBA, contributing to the team's success and making New York relevant again to free agents. 

What has led to Amare's tremendous early season success?  Clearly, it's his current bedtime reading of Sun Tzu's The Art of War.  Regarded as one of the most definitive books on military strategy and tactics, The Art of War has provided Mao Zedong, General Vo Nguyen Giap, Baron Antoine-Henri Jomini, and General Douglas MacArthur with inspiration.  Now you can add Amar'e Stoudemire to that list.  I can't wait to see how he plays once he finishes all thirteen chapters!  


Many critics are quick to point out that the Knicks recent success has come against weaker competition.  But what they fail to mention is that the Knicks have been one of the weakest teams in the NBA for the past decade.  To be a good team, you have to beat the teams that you are better then and the Knicks should be credited for doing that right now.  They are five games over .500, sharing the basketball, and buying into Mike D'Antoni's system.  It wouldn't be surprising to see the Knicks continue rolling when they start playing stiffer competition.