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Did the Suns Bring Amare Back Too Soon?

By YanksWS96, Section NBA
Posted on Sat Apr 01 2006 at 11:57 PM EST
More on: (all tags)

by Matt Wells

The high-flying Phoenix Suns combined with last night's opponent, the Toronto Raptors, to score 266 points in a 140-126 victory for the Suns.  This was done in regulation and it was done without their superstar center, Amare Stoudemire.

This tremendous output makes me ask this question: did the Suns really need Stoudemire to come back sooner than expected?  The answer is a simple "no," and they may have done Amare more harm than good by rushing him back.

Now, Stoudemire is a tremendous talent and one of the brightest young stars in the NBA, which makes this a little hard to say: the Suns DID NOT need Amare Stoudemire, at least for the regular season.  Why rush him back when you're easily on your way to the playoffs?

There was evidence all around the Suns organization that Stoudemire need not be rushed back before he was ready:

-Steve Nash, like always, was carrying the team.  In fact, some are mentioning Nash as an MVP candidate, which would give him two of those pretty awards in a row.  Seeing as how Nash's numbers haven't vastly changed since the return of Stoudemire, his numbers a week ago were around 19 points per game and close to 11 assists per game.  Nash was (and still is) making everyone on the Suns better, and he was proving that Stoudemire need not be in the lineup for the Suns to win games.  How do I know the Suns didn't need Amare Stoudemire in the regular season this year?  Without Joe Johnson (Atlanta) and Quentin Richardson (New York), the Suns were still one of the best teams in the West because of Steve Nash.  Joe who?  Quentin who?

-Shawn Marion, before the abbreviated return of Stoudemire, was averaging a career high in points per game, rebounds per game, and blocked shots per game.  Though Marion isn't a true center (think height and the number of three-pointers attempted), he seemed to be filling Stoudemire's shoes nicely as the inside man.  Before the return of Stoudemire, Marion recorded 52 double-doubles.  That's right...52.  There were only 14 games (out of the first 66) where Marion DID NOT record 10 or more rebounds.  And for all of you fantasy buffs out there, Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball has him ranked #1 overall.  Amare who?

-With Marion becoming the Suns' pseudo-center, Boris Diaw essentially took Marion's spot in the forward position.  The ex-Atlanta Hawk was expected to be a bit player for the Suns this year (if Stoudemire was healthy).  Instead, he was thrust into the starting role and, with help from teammates like Steve Nash, Diaw has seen this season give him career highs in almost every category - 13 points, 6 assists, and close to 7 rebounds per game.  Compare that to his previous career highs of 4.8 points per game, 2.3 assists per game, and 2.6 rebounds per game.  For those who doubted that Amare Stoudemire's shoes could be filled, think again.  Diaw's numbers might not be Stoudemire-like, but he made the Suns forget about Amare Stoudemire for a while.

-Finally, let's focus on in Tim Thomas, shall we?  This was a guy who hadn't played a game all year, until the Suns picked him up in early March.  Now, Thomas, coming off the bench, is averaging close to 11 points and 5 rebounds per game.  Even the bench was picking up the slack for not having the presence of Amare Stoudemire in the lineup.

Now, I could focus in on Raja Bell, Eddie House, and Leandro Barbosa, but I'll stop here.  My point is this: without Amare Stoudemire in the lineup, the Suns had won 45 of their 66 games behind the strength of the stars - Nash and Marion - and the understudies - Diaw, Thomas, etc.

After their victory over Toronto last night, the Suns placed Stoudemire back on the injured list.  Some in the organization now feel that Stoudemire might miss the rest of the season, including the playoffs.  Stoudemire played all of three games, averaging just 8.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

Stoudemire had had microfracture surgery on his knee, which caused him to miss all that time.  Keep this in mind: other players who have had that procedure (Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway) have never been the same since that procedure.  The Suns hope that trend reverses itself.

Earlier in March, Stoudemire had said that there was a 50-50 chance of him returning this season.  Now, the question that remains is this: did the Phoenix Suns do irreparable damage to Stoudemire's knee by rushing him back when they didn't need to?  Did they do more damage than good by thrusting their injured star back into the spotlight?  They were cruising along just fine without him...

Now, Stoudemire might be lost for the playoffs.  Can they beat teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks without Amare Stoudemire?  Odds are that they would have a better chance with him.  Who knows?...the Suns could have been a force in the postseason with a HEALTHY Amare Stoudemire in the lineup.  Now, by rushing him back, the Suns may have watched their chances of a title fly right out the window.