PORTLAND — Amar’e Stoudemire will have a huge audience Thursday to trump the Knicks when he sits on the couch with David Letterman on “The Late Show.”
Yesterday at the Rose Garden, Stoudemire got a head start, proclaiming the Knicks should not be counted out as a Eastern Conference title contender — even without Carmelo Anthony.
Yesterday, Anthony cast doubt on the Knicks’ chances, saying he’d love to play in New York but, “I don’t think they’re looking at me. I don’t think they want me to come in and mess what they have up.”
The Knicks have great interest but the Nuggets have shown little interest, and team president Donnie Walsh does not want to break up the team, preferring to focus on a top center this summer — with Marc Gasol and Tyson Chandler restricted free agents.
Even after the Knicks lost to the champion Lakers on Sunday, an upbeat Stoudemire said the club — as currently constructed — can make a Cinderella run to The Finals and perhaps take on the Lakers again.
With the Knicks’ renaissance continuing tonight in Portland, Stoudemire touched on several topics, from the ‘Melo-drama, to being overlooked in Phoenix as an enforcer, to proving preseason critics wrong, to saying the NBA should suspend Ron Artest for Sunday’s two dirty plays. (He won’t be, according to an NBA spokesman).
But most importantly, Stoudemire said he sees this cast as a potential top-four playoff team and being as dangerous as the Suns were last season.
“Confidence is starting to grow in us,” Stoudemire said. “Right now we’re understanding how good we can be because we’re playing smart. Anything can happen in this game. Last year, when I was in Phoenix, nobody expected us in the Western Conference finals and we could’ve gone to The Finals. I feel the same type of energy here in New York where anything is possible.”
Stoudemire has not been as vocal on the Anthony sweepstakes as this summer when he lobbied hard. When asked if he still feels they need another star for the roster to win a title, Stoudemire said: “No question. Absolutely.”
But perhaps knowing the Knicks currently are not in the race for Anthony — with the Nets closing in — Stoudemire continually suggests about being fine without him.
“With the team right now I think we’re pretty good, I really do,” Stoudemire said. “It’s a matter of us growing. We’re a very young team. We’re just a few shots away from becoming a much better team. [Sunday] we played great defensively but just couldn’t score offensively. We’re right there.
“It’s a tough situation,” Stoudemire added of Anthony. “We’re playing well. I don’t know the logistics as far as a deal. We are in a good groove.”
Stoudemire had an eventful if uneven night at the Staples Center in a 109-87 loss to the Lakers — in the middle of heated episodes all night. Stoudemire came away — despite a poor 7 of 24 shooting night — feeling better about the Knicks’ viability because they held the Lakers to 41.8 percent shooting.
“I think at the start of the year, a lot of folks didn’t have us making the playoffs,” Stoudemire said. “A lot of people didn’t think I’d be successful in New York. I think we’ve done a phenomenal job of keeping our composure. Now teams are saying, ‘Not only are they making the playoffs, but they even have a chance for a top-four seed. Expectations are growing.”
Stoudemire was never known as a shotblocker or enforcer in Phoenix, just a scorer. Now, he’s third in the league with 2.39 blocks per game.
“I just think a lot of my characteristics and the way I play got overlooked in Phoenix,” Stoudemire said. “Now being in New York, all eyes are on the situation and everybody’s seeing my style of playing, how I really play, and it’s not getting overlooked.
“Every team that’s won championships or contended for a championship has some type of toughness. It’s one of those qualities you must have. I think it’s the environment I was raised in. That’s how we played.”
However, Stoudemire feels Artest crossed the line on two incidents, including yanking him down by his neck on a drive and messing with Shawne Williams, the Knicks’ newest tough guy.
“I think the league should look at that,” Stoudemire said. “He put his hand around Shawne’s neck and also the foul on me when he put his forearm around my neck. Those are two plays that are not basketball plays and I think the NBA is going to do a great job of responding to that and see what happens.”