The Works: Amar'e at Center (Again); Can the Blazers and Jazz Contend?

Filed under: Jazz, Knicks, Trail Blazers, The Works

In The Works today, we break down our first two NBA Mid-Majors and delve into the unconscious of Rudy Fernandez.



But first, a brief history of Amar'e Stoudmire at center.



Matrix Unloaded



It turns out that New York's amazing power forward acquisition -- maxed out Amar'e Stoudemire -- might be New York's amazing center acquisition after all. The entire preseason, coach Mike D'Antoni has played Stoudemire at PF next to one of the roster's two true centers: Ronny Turiaf or Timofey Mozgov. It hasn't worked, because Howard Beck of the New York Times reports Amar'e could very well line up in the middle come opening night, with Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari (two true small forwards) with him in the frontcourt and Raymond Felton and Roger Mason in the backcourt.



Sound familiar? It shouldn't, because D'Antoni never had a regular lineup that meek in Phoenix. There are two central issues at play here, at least in the context of this lineup experimentation happening in New York, where David Lee manned the middle in recent years.



The first is the difference between Stoudemire and Lee, and how the team's identity changes with what is essentially a one-for-one swap of the two. But perhaps more importantly, given that it's D'Antoni at the wheel and Amar'e in the front seat, the question of comparison between Chandler and mid-decade Shawn Marion looms largely.

 

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Full story at http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/10/18/the-works-amare-at-center-again-can-the-blazers-and-jazz-co/