Amar’e Stoudemire gets a reprieve today and believes he is over his technical-foul frenzy. Stoudemire picked up his 16th technical Thursday in Dallas but the league rescinded it Friday.
Had it stood, Stoudemire would have been suspended for tonight’s game against the Pacers at the Garden. Stoudemire and the Mavericks’ Brendan Haywood got entangled in the first half and it appeared Stoudemire shoved him. “I’ve been trying to do a great job of not receiving technical fouls,” Stoudemire said. “So far, so good. We both know there was no altercation between Brendan and myself.”
Referee Bennett Salvatore was quick to issue double technicals – which illustrated officials have placed a bull’s-eye on Stoudemire’s back. It’s the third technical Stoudemire has had rescinded.
“I hope not,” Stoudemire said when asked if he thinks he’s a marked man. “I think the refs are trying to make the right call out there.” With the nullification, Stoudemire has gone nine games without an official T.
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This week’s Sports Illustrated portrayed Nuggets coach George Karl as ecstatic to get rid of Carmelo Anthony. Asked if he knew Karl desperately wanted Anthony traded, Chauncey Billups said, “He never expressed it to me. That’s kind of surprising. It’s a good trade for both teams, man. They’re happy to have Melo here. Denver is happy to have the old Knicks. That’s what a good trade is all about – both teams happy.”
Anthony said the new Knicks still are work in progress.
“The chemistry is not going to be there this early,” he said. “We’ve seen flashes of being on the same page but flashes of being out of sync. We’re getting better each day.”
Anthony, a former Syracuse star, said he watched most of the Orange’s Big East tournament games and will continue to do so during the Big Dance. “I think Friday night was a wakeup call for us,” said Anthony, referring to Syracuse’s semifinal loss to UConn. “It was a tough game. We’ll be ready come tournament time. I’m sure [Jim] Boeheim will get it right.” Anthony led Syracuse to the NCAA title in 2003.
