The ball still will move because Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony’s reputations are on the line to keep it moving.
“When Earl Monroe came [to the Knicks], didn’t they say, ‘He’s a ball stopper, can’t play with these guys?’ ” Mike D’Antoni said. “Well, he wanted to [win] and did.
“I’m sure Carmelo didn’t come just to go to Broadway. He wants to win, so no reason you can’t figure it out. With USA Basketball, all those [stars], wanted to [blend] because they wanted to play for the USA. These guys want to play for New York. They’re going to be great.”
If the Knicks add size, defenders and either Chris Paul or Deron Williams over the next two years, they too have a chance to be great. Until then they are going to be fun. And even if they struggle enough in the remaining 28 games to jeopardize a playoff spot, their re-education is going to be compelling.
“It’s a matter or working together and communicating offensively and defensively,” said Stoudemire. “[Anthony and Chauncey Billups] are smart players, so it shouldn’t take long.”
It’s going to take longer than they think, longer even than it is taking the Heat, never mind its 33-7 surge following an 8-8 start. Just as it has been shown time and again one star isn’t enough to win a championship, it has been proven repeatedly NBA teams have to lose before they can win.
A loss still is scheduled for the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. But over time they will not fail because either Stoudemire or Anthony doesn’t get enough shots. If they have to take fewer, said D’Antoni, create better ones.
“In a great world, they shoot higher percentages and their averages don’t go down,” he said. “It doesn’t matter 26 or 24 (points per game), they always are going to be twentysomething.
“LeBron [James] or [Dwyane] Wade isn’t leading the league [in scoring] right now and they don’t care. They want to win a championship.”
James and Wade struggled together for a month because they both became pass-first players who probably deferred too much. Stoudemire and Anthony were put on this earth to score, but they also never have had problems passing out of double teams. And Billups, though in the twilight of his career, still sees the court in floodlights.
“Chauncey also is a great shooter off the screen-and-roll, so that’s going to open up the court a little more,” said Stoudemire. “Carmelo is a guy who can space the floor from the 3-point line out. With myself in the paint finishing and also able to shoot the mid-range, it’s going to be hard to guard us.”
Indeed, D’Antoni made his reputation in Phoenix helping good players become hard to guard.
“Carmelo can come off of Amar’e, [when] you gotta double Carmelo — What do you do with that?” the coach hypothesized.
“You have Chauncey running with Stoudemire, and Carmelo in the back, do you help on Carmelo or just leave Amar’e by himself? Or, are you going to [guard] underneath and let Chauncey shoot?
“There’s a lot of good stuff, the offense is going to be really good. Now, can we guard? That’s why I get anxious.
“We’ll zone it to death!” he added, with a laugh.
The Knicks will run picks while the critics nit and pick, but they’ll ultimately be happy they grabbed a top-five offensive talent and kept their best role player, Landry Fields.
Depth may be a short-term problem. But ultimately they will succeed because the two stars who sought New York have thick skins and not thick skulls.
jay.greenberg@nypost.com