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The uniforms won’t be the only new thing about the Knicks this season.
Amar’e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler helped unveil the team’s new uniforms for the 2012-13 season, but more importantly, the star duo will have a new mentality after the past summer.
“Last year when I came it was so quick, the season went fast, you didn’t have the chance to necessarily bond with the players off the court the way you want to,” Chandler said. “Being able to come into town with [Carmelo Anthony], and Amar’e with the type of work ethic and summer that he put on and having the regular season to be able to now join forces, to spend the time off the court and get closer. It’s good.”
Chandler spent the summer with Anthony helping lead Team USA to a gold medal at the London Olympics. The reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year believes that playing alongside not just Anthony, but stars such as Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and LeBron James will help the Knicks’ chemistry.
“I think any time you have the opportunity to play for the USA team, I feel like it turns you into a different player,” Chandler said. “You have a different sense of your ability, as well as getting the opportunity to play against the best of the best every day.”
In addition to spending the summer together, Chandler and Anthony will join Stoudemire and other Knicks players as part of a voluntary pre-training camp, a luxury the players did not have in last year’s lockout-shortened season.
“I’m proud of the guys, to be willing to come back early and bond together as a team,” Chandler said. “All of the great teams do, it’s a sign of maturity, guys willing to give up a month of their summer to come back to train and get to know one another and it will help us down the road.”
The team may also be able to see Stoudemire’s new repertoire of scoring moves after the 6-foot-11 power forward spent part of his summer in Houston training with Hakeem Olajuwon.
“The only thing I was focusing on was post moves and how to attack in the post and came back with some pretty good jewels,” Stoudemire said.
Training with Olajuwon helped Stoudemire find out how he can improve as a player in his 11th season in the league.
“Regardless of how many years you’ve spent in this league, there’s always room to improve and that’s my approach every single year, to come back better with a different skill,” Stoudemire said.
The cryptic Stoudemire also hinted that a rebound from last season, where he had the lowest scoring and rebounding totals for any full season since his rookie campaign, could be in order.
“We’re going to be OK, we can’t dwell on the past,” Stoudemire said. “We just have to have a productive season, when we win then everyone finds the guys who are really good. You’ll see the guys who are going to perform.”